Colorado - UW Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
On Overall Performance of the Team
“The only thing I can say is this was a really disappointing loss because we scored 72 points at home and that is good enough to win. There Is a lot of ways you can look at this game and see how we lost it. You can look at the free throw line and you can look at our defense in the second half, they shoot almost 64% in our building in the second half. We did a great job creating turnovers and kind of rattling them a little bit, but we just could not get over the hump and we could not make shots. We had some really good looks I thought in the lane and from three that didn't go in and at some point, you got to make shots to help yourself win and at some point, you got to make free throws to help yourself win. We got beat and Washington deserved to win. They were the better team and I apologize to our fans. Our fans deserve more than they're getting from this team. They deserve more than they're getting from me their coach. And this building was ready to explode tonight, and we couldn't get over the hump to give to give them a win and for that and I apologize.”
On what needs to happen to win the game
“When your defense isn't good enough and you got a guy like Keion Brooks who was just lighting us up. I mean, he was player of the game, not to state the obvious, but 25 points on 12 shots. We didn't do a very good job on him as a team or individually. You got to get the ball inside, get the ball to the rim, and you got to get to the foul line. And we got to the foul line 20 times, we had 20 foul shots, but when you take Julian Hammond out of the equation, we are 5-for-12. So, we you got to find other ways to win. And Washington is 20th in the country, their 20th in the country in guarding the three-point line. So, this this was not news to us and the reason they're 20th in the country is they're long, they're athletic, and they run hard at shooters. They run them off the line, they run out and they can test shots late and we did not do a good enough job especially in the first half of shot faking the guy running at you and letting him go by you and now you can drive it and get it to the rim, or you might be able to get somebody else a shot. We settled for jump shots especially in the first half. So, we just we weren't good enough in any facet of the game. Now, we forced 22 turnovers, and we had 16 offensive rebounds. That's the other thing you tell him when you're 3-for-19 from the three-point line. So, you got to get second shots and we got 16 offensive rebounds, but we had 11 second chance points. I will watch this film, and I'm going to tell you it's going to come down to defense, our defensive miscues had them with a 64% field goal percentage in the second half in our building.”
On how frustrating the defensive struggles were tonight
"It's unbelievable. We had Julian Hammond III and KJ Simpson in a pick and roll in the second half defensively and we didn't switch it, and they got the ball deep in the lane for two points. Out of bounds underneath in the first half and they hit three because we're not ready to play. They have an inside cut, which we're supposed to switch. We've talked about it, we've worked on it, but we don't do it. It's the defensive lapses mentally, and that is frustrating. I tell our players, I get angry at three things. I get angry at lack of effort, lack of concentration, and selfishness. I don't think we have a selfishness problem. I think these guys play together. Now sometimes they're selfish when they don't run the floor when they're supposed to run the floor. They're selfish when they don't talk and they're supposed to talk. That's a form of selfishness. So, you could argue that, but in terms of sharing the ball, we don't have any issues. Our lack of concentration absolutely drives me crazy, and we had a lot of that tonight."
On the recent struggles of KJ Simpson
"KJ Simpson is a good player. He is a good player that's not playing well right now. That's the fact of the matter, and it's my job as his coach to help him get better and help him recognize mistakes. We didn't lose his game because of KJ Simpson. We lost the game as a team. But I've got to do a better job of helping KJ Simpson better than I'm doing right now. I have to do that with a lot of our players."
On Julian Hammond III
"You see his minutes tonight and you look at his production and you're like, why is he not playing more? That's a question we have to ask ourselves as a coaching staff. Julian Hammond III is a good shooter. Number one, he can make open shots for sure. Every player on our team has been inconsistent. You name one player, and you can you can make an argument that they are an inconsistent performer, offensively and defensively."
On coaching an inconsistent team
"When you're coaching a team like this, where you don't know what you're going to get from a particular player on a given night. You're just throwing them out there and seeing who's got it tonight and who doesn't have it tonight. Sometimes I'll stick with guys I think can get it, and when they don't get it then I look like a fool as a coach. Inconsistency is something that we've got to figure out and we've got to be consistent defensively. We have been consistent the last four games. I've praised our team the last four games with their defensive effort and their defensive execution. In the half court tonight, it wasn't there. I don't know why, but it wasn't there. They have to answer that. I'm going to watch the film and show them things that they need to do better. That's what I have to do as a coach. We're going to practice tomorrow and Saturday. We're going to try to get ready for Washington State on Sunday. If we guard like we guarded tonight Washington State will hit 20 threes the way they shoot the ball from three. We better figure out how to guard the three-point line better, certainly better than we did tonight."
Colorado Players
Jr., F Tristan da Silva
On what went wrong tonight“It started from the get-go. I feel like we didn't come out in the first half like we were supposed to and that kind of sluggishness kind of continued throughout the whole game. They’ve got good players so we’ve got to make sure we're locked in from the get-go and make sure that we guard the way that we have to stop them.”
On what went wrong defensively
“Just break downs I guess, defensively. We’re trying to double team and then kind of force rotations there and they always figured out a way to get the ball to the basket, either get a foul or a layup or a kick out.”
On F Keion Brooks
“He’s a good player so he knows what kind of shots he can take and make. He got a couple of wide-open looks that we kind of handed to him and when a player like that starts feeling it then it's easier for him to keep rolling. We’ve still got to figure out how to gap up and how to get a team effort going on players like that to make sure we contain them.”
On the feeling in the locker room
“It stings. There are so many more possessions that you could pick out where we didn't do our job and we let them off the hook defensively and in a one-possession game, which it was essentially, you could pick out any possession.”
On the struggle to get into a rhythm offensively
“We were getting great looks so that wasn't the problem. It’s just a different look than you get from your regular defenses in college basketball and the Pac-12 so you’ve got to adjust a little bit. We've been doing that in practice. We've been working on those shots but that's why we don't focus on offense. When game time comes around, we focus on defense, and that's what we were lacking today.
So., G Julian Hammond lll
On what Coach Tad Boyle was telling them during the last timeout“Basically just get a stop because we were right there, we were on a run but we just couldn't get stops to get over the hump of the three points, five points. Every time we would get a bucket, they would too so we never got over that hump.”
On free throws
“We want to attack the zone, get paint touches whether it's driving the ball, passing the ball in there, and there were a few gaps I thought that could be driven so when you see gaps, just drive in.”
On moving forward after three straight losses
“We’ve just got to come to practice tomorrow ready to go because this game is over with and we have another one Sunday so we’ve just got to come back prepared, practice hard, and just be ready to go.”
Washington Head Coach Mike Hopkins
On the game overall“In the first half, we were really ready to play. We had a couple really good days of practice. Got it later last night, but we were locked in on what we had to do. I felt like we executed it. We're up by seven at halftime. I felt like it could have been even bigger. I didn't feel like we ended the first half well. We came out in the second half. And the same thing, I thought we were really good. We got the ball where we needed to get it and we were shooting a high percentage. Our defense was really good. I don't even know what the score was with 10 minutes to go, but the game changed. And Tad went for us. They did a good job. We would get rattled and throw it away a few times. They sort of blitzed on ball screens and just tried to get more possessions, which got them back in the game. Some poor decision making caused head scratchers. It was due to the pressure. It was a great opportunity for young guys to work and learn. But at the end of the day Brooks made some big shots. We made our free throws down the stretch. PJ hadn't played much, but came in and played believable defense and they threw it out of bounds. Got a foul call. Braxton made two great foul shots. Cole made two foul shots, which is our show. It's huge”
On other teams trying to press
“When we are able to get out of a time out and have that long pass and we were able to score. They just got to be more poised. We have the solution. It really hasn't hurt us. It was kind of our own self-inflicted, meaning not being in the right spot and not seeing where the traffic is coming from. Colorado does this so well. We’ll be more prepared. Hopefully we're lucky to be able to learn from it in the game and come out on top. Rather than going on, hitting our heads up against the wall because of a loss.”
On Noah Williams being able to handle the press
“He is a senior. Tough moments, Tough as nails. He loves it. He loves being in the dirt. He, I thought, you wouldn't look at it statistically, but he was the one who calms us down and we got it. He made a couple of kick outs to Cole in the corner and made other important passes. He's physical and his game is to slow down in many fields. So he has that Sam Casell, Gary Payton pace going on right now. And he just makes plays to win games.”
On the team’s shooting
“We've been trying to get a lot of shots. Keion Brooks was really good. In practice, we focus. Our whole thing has been an offense. And we're able to shoot 54 percent from the field, shoot close to 50 percent for three points, and 85 for free throws. I thought that was a step forward in the right direction offensively for us against a very good defensive team here.”
On not using Braxton Meah’s advantage on the inside
“The second half when Colorado started to trap them, they blitzed all ball screens so they were forcing passes. It caused Braxton to become a playmaker instead of being on the inside around the basket. A couple times tonight we were looking for the lob. We got one of them, but we threw it away three times trying to find him in the back. So, there are certain times and areas when we're trying to get the ball in our court.”
Washington Players
Sr., F Keion Brooks
On the overall game“It was a hard-fought game. Both teams play hard. Colorado played really aggressively. They went on a run late to make it close. We just stayed together and stuck with each other. And we made some free throws at the end.”
On Colorado’s press
“They were shooting aggressively. They’ve got some long range of defenders. But at the right time, we stayed with it and stayed. They fouled us and we went to the free throw line. We made our free throws. We stood there, snapped our wrist, crackled in the net pop, and then that's how we did that."
On the team’s poise
“We've been preaching that all year. That's one of our key words, phrases: poise. And that's what we were able to do. They kind of got us sped up a little bit sometimes, but we never hung our heads. We kept picking each other up. It was hard to play in the building with the elevation and had a great crowd, great student section. I got a lot of points, but we had to get through it together.”
On his offense improving
“We wanted to be offensive all year. It's finally starting to happen for me. To be able to get the ball at my spots and I can’t take all the credit. My teammates find me for wide open shots in areas that I'm comfortable with. So the combination of meeting them, being patient, and open looks and they're helping me be more efficient.”
On improved teammates
“Yes. We're staying together more than early on in the year”
On constant handshakes in the game
“I think that just shows how much we care for wanting to see the next person succeed. They made a mistake. We take pride in celebrating each other. Talking about celebrating each other. It's not going to be easy, but we have to stick together.”