Colorado-Towson Quotes
vs
Montana State
Nov 3 (Mon)
7 p.m.
Colorado vs. Towson
Nov. 6, 2023, CU Events Center.
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement
“Good first win. A tale of two halves, I thought we fought the adversity in the first half we had offensively, and came out in the second half and figured things out. I was really proud of our defensive effort in the first 20 minutes. We really guarded at a high level and we pretty much did that the whole game. We had some breakdowns a little bit here and there but I was really happy with his team's defensive and rebounding, which is something I stress, every day and every game. Offensively, 22 assists on 26 baskets is fantastic. I mean, that's as good as it gets. Sharing the ball, moving the ball is critical. We’ve got to take care of our turnovers. We had 16 again tonight, and again this is a good basketball team, a good defensive team we played tonight. They proved that in the first half. That's one of the reasons we struggled. We did a better job in the second half."
On how proud he was to respond that way after a disappointing end to the first half?
"We talked about two things offensively at halftime. We talked about putting pressure on the rim, whether that's by cutting, big guys rolling or slipping out of ball screens and diving. Whether that's driving the ball, and we talked about ball movement. You look at the first three, four possessions of that second half, we put pressure on the rim. [G] J'Vonne Hadley was terrific. Slipping out of those ball screens. We found him going downhill, and he made plays. The ball moved. We found the open man and he knocked down shots. I always talk about the basketball gods because I believe in them. I have been in this game a long time, and when you come down and you don't move the ball and you shoot a quick three, they don't go in it for whatever reason."
On when KJ hit the first one and the feeling in the arena was like a sigh of relief.
"Basketball is a momentum game. I think three-point shooting, much like free throw shooting, can be a little contagious. We were 0 for 7 from three in the first half. I thought we had good looks. Part of basketball is fighting through that. We held them to 24 points in the first half so we were still up by 4. You don't feel like you've accomplished a lot. When the shots do start falling, you can break that thing open and that's what happened. We kept guarding and that was the key. We didn't get in the habit of trading baskets with them, which I'm pleased with.”
On what you thought of the young guys
"Cody's going to find his way. There's no doubt about it. He's a good player. We've seen him in practice. We've had 28 practices and two competitions, now three competitions. He wasn't at his best tonight, but he's a good player and he's going to find his way. In this system, he's still figuring things out as a freshman. [C] Eddie [Lampkin], I wouldn't consider him a young guy, but he's still playing himself in his shape, figuring out the offense. He's going to get better and better. I thought [G] RJ Smith had some good minutes. I thought he was really good off the bench tonight in his role. [F] Assane [Diop] and [F] Bangot [Dak], they are two freshmen bigs and are going to keep getting better and better. They're figuring it out. I was pleased with them tonight. They didn't play a lot against Texas, but they played a lot against Metro. I think they found out the difference in physicality between a division one team, and a division two team. Towson is big, strong, physical, and tough. I got a lot of respect for their coach and a lot of respect for their players who are tough minded guys. And so, I thought it was good, a good learning experience for our young guys."
On the potential for a high assist group
"When we share the ball, when we move the ball. When we attack the paint, we get the ball moved side to side. I want the ball to move from one side of the floor to the other, and I want the ball in the paint, whether that's on a drive, on a roll, or whatever it might be. Then we get that thing spread out and make one more pass."
On how efficient [G] KJ Simpson was
“Absolutely three assists, no turnovers. Seven of nine from the field and just let the game come to him, but still aggressive. Finding that balance, that's the one thing KJ and I've talked about a lot. As we head into this season now, he's a junior now he's an upperclassman. KJ is wired to score. He is wired to score and we need him and want him to score. But he's got to find that balance between scoring and distributing. I thought he did a phenomenal job of that tonight. If he keeps doing that, this team is going to be really good because we've got guys that are capable of playing more efficiently than they did tonight. The nice thing too about this team, is that we don't have to rely on one guy every single night. Julian Hammond had efficient minutes. Four assists and one turnover, we got coming off the bench. It doesn't have to be the same guy every single night. We need some level of consistency.”
On what it means to know the freshmen and transfers haven't gotten their legs on them
"I know what they are capable of. I know what Cody's capable of, and it's not like they played poorly tonight. When we get everybody hitting on all cylinders and figuring it out we are going to be a good team. Eddie's in a new program, trying to figure it out. Cody's a freshman, playing college basketball at the highest level. He's got a target on his back. Everybody knows he's not your typical freshman in terms of scouting reports, People are going to try to be physical with him. They're going to try to get up on him. Towson was a physical team and Cody's learned how to handle that and he will continue to learn and get better. That's why I don't worry about Cody and Eddie. I really don't. I just know when they do get their legs under him and start feeling a little bit more comfortable in the system, look out."
On Sr. F Tristan da Silva only taking one shot during the first half
"Well, I didn't say it to our team but I did say it to our staff. We need to get him involved in part of our offense. Not to say that he needs a score it every time or look to make a play every time. Tristan [da Silva] is really unselfish which is a good thing -- that makes him who he is. He needs more than one shot in 20 minutes and our players need to understand that too. That's where [Jr. G] K.J. [Simpson] or [Jr. G] Julian [Hammond II] or [R. Fr. G] RJ [Smith] or [Fr. F] Cody [Williams] need to understand that and maybe look for him a little bit more. Again, Tristan when he's guarded with a three-man like he was tonight is sometimes not quite as effective as when he's guarded -- when he's guarded with a big guy, that's when the mismatch opportunities come. There three-man was 6'7" and pretty physical. The beauty of Tristan's game is he can post up any play outside and even shoot threes. Finally, we got him some looks in the second half but he has to have more than one shot in a half."
On the CU Women's Basketball team's win over #1 LSU and the expectations for both basketball team's at CU
"I don't think it's really any different path to be honest with you. I'm sure [CU Women's Basketball HC] JR [Payne] would probably say the same thing. She's so focused and dialed in on her program and her team and we're so dialed in and focused on ours. I knew a year ago just from watching a few practices and seeing a few early games how good they were going to be last year and obviously they were they went to the Sweet 16. Obviously, with the majority of their production coming back and a few additions they're going to be better this year and I think JR felt like that. The thing about JR that I appreciate is that she doesn't talk a lot of smack. She doesn't beat her chest so to speak. She kind of waits for the opportunity and the opportunity to play a program like LSU on opening night. I mean, nothing but upside and there realizing that upside tonight. Now, they'll have a target on our back as they progress and become higher ranked, but I'm really proud of her and her staff and her players and their program because I know how hard they work and the time and effort they've put in. I don't know -- what this is her eighth year? So really happy for her. She's a quality person, quality staff, quality people, quality players. I'm happy for JR and their program."
On seeing CU Women's Basketball HC JR Payne's Progress
"Yeah, absolutely because you watch them. You see them. I don't get to see him as much obviously because a lot of times when we're at home, they're on the road and vice versa. But I'll follow the scores and you see their recruiting and we pull for each other. I sent her a text today wishing her luck and glad they got the win. That's a big, big win for their program and for this university."
On how solidified their second rotation is
"[I'm] still feeling it out. I didn't realize -- it's funny [Fr. F] Cody [Williams] played in the 30 minutes this game and I wanted to get him back in there at the end because I want to get him more experience on the floor because he is a freshman. [Assistant Head] Coach [Mike] Rohn's like 'You know Coach, he played 30 minutes.' and I said I didn't realize that. Okay, let's let [Jr. G] Julian [Hammond III] go because I trust Julian Hammond. I know how good he is. He's kind of been battle-tested. So, these freshmen in those situations I want to get our freshmen -- whether it's Cody, whether it's [Fr. F] Bangot [Dak], whether it's [Fr. F] Assane [Diop] as many minutes as I can here early in the season. I know and you guys know, when PAC 12 play starts, that rotation gets shrunk. We'll look at that. We always tweak it a little bit and it's sometimes it's based on foul trouble and sometimes it's based on how guys are playing. Early in the season, it's more based on foul trouble because I want to let guys play through mistakes and get a little a feel for the rotation and not pull them in and out so quickly."
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle (Cont.)
On what was going through his mind during the first half`
"Well, I'm like, 'Okay, this is where we need your best players to start making some plays offensively' -- within the flow of the offense. Whether it's what we're running or who we're getting shots for, that's what I'm thinking. Especially as you head into halftime. I knew [Sr. F] Tristan [da Silva] didn't get many looks. We had to get him more looks. [Jr. G] KJ [Simpson] is a guy -- he's going to find his [shots]. He's so explosive and he's got the ball in his hands a lot so I don't worry about getting KJ shots because KJ will get himself shots -- as long as they're good shots like they were tonight. I'm great with it. Tristan is a guy we need to make sure he's aggressive [and] under control. [Fr. F] Cody [Williams] needs to be aggressive [and] under control. [Sr. G] J'Vonne Hadley -- again, he doesn't get enough credit, aggressive [and] under control. That's the biggest thing and that under-control piece is why we have turnover problems. We have to play more under control."
Colorado Players
Tristan da Silva, Sr., F
On the one shot strategy in the first half:
“Ain’t no strategy. I just wasn’t playing like myself, I wasn’t being aggressive out there. I know these guys want me to be out there to take shots and stuff, so second half I was really frustrated with myself in the half time break…. but these guys talked to me and really picked me up, made me feel like I should go out there and be aggressive, that’s really what it’s all about.”
On going back in the locker room after not playing well to reset:
“Well, you’re a little in your own head, maybe let off some steam, but, you know, that’s what you got teammates for - to pick you up and talk to you to keep you motivated. I wanted to step out there and fight with them and, you know, do anything out there for them.”
On what they saw from the young players tonight:
“It’s just funny, you know, I remember when I was a freshman out there running around, and I just feel like these freshmen that we have are way more experienced and way more calm out there than I was as a freshman. I’m excited for them - you know, we talked about this last game too, but they’re finally getting their feet wet, out there getting after it.”
On how the final numbers looked good:
“Yeah, I mean, we talked about it in the locker room, you know, our goal is to hold opponents to under 40%, and then I’ll rebound them by at least 8, so that’s what we did tonight and that’s basically the recipe to success for us. Everything else will take care of itself.”
KJ Simpson., Jr., G
On the message in the locker room at the half:
“I think just playing with more patience. In the first half, we were kind of more stagnant and not moving as much, that’s why we had a lot of turnovers in the second half. We got guys cutting - shoutout Javon rolling hard. We just made easy and simple plays, you know, one more pass is getting easy shots, really just simple basketball. We played with more paste in the second half and that’s really all that coach was trying to talk about.”
On working on efficiency:
“Yeah, that’s what you want to see season by season, you just want to improve. I put a lot of work in over the summer, been watching a lot of film, that’s pretty much where I want to be and how I want to be.”
On if tonight was an example of what this team is capable of:
“For sure. I mean, I love this group. I feel like we have a lot of talent, but we have a lot of unselfish guys as well - that’s really the dangerous part of our team. Anyone can score the ball - I don’t think anyone really cares who does it.
On if Javon is getting the respect he deserves:
“No he don’t man, no he don’t. I mean, he’s just a dog for us. You know, a lot of the stuff that he does not show up on the stat sheet. I talked about playing with more pace, and the reason why we got a lot of open shots was because he would set screens and roll real hard - he would put pressure on the rim. He was boxing out and opposing the big men. He just does so much for us, I talked to him a lot about it last year and I just knew that this was the mindset he was going to have and the way he was going to play. He’s going to get the recognition he deserves and he’s going to be great for us.”
On what kind of energy Javon has brought in:
“He feeds off the crowd's energy. You want a guy like that on the team - when stuff’s not going as it should or we’re kind of playing slow and the energy isn’t there…he just wants to see this team win, he doesn’t care how he does it. He just wants to have a good time out there and play with the guys.”
On if he noticed the spacing change:
“Exactly, yeah. That’s the whole reason why we wanted to get him over here. I already knew that was going to happen, so it’s going to be fun seeing guys trying to guard that.”
On mindset taking care of the ball individually and as a team:
“Yeah, I mean, that’s all just working over the summer and improving each year - that’s a big focal point I try to focus on. You go out there and show it, I’m capable of doing that on any given night and that’s just something that I’ve put the work in for, not trying to force everything right away. Just playing more simple basketball.”