Colorado-USC Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement
“I told the team, as soon as we figure out that basketball is a 40- minute game rather than a 20 minute game, we're gonna be pretty good…but, until that time, we're going to have nights like this. We were obviously not very good in the first half in any capacity - our defense, our offense, we were lucky to be down 13 in the first half. I mean, we were fortunate to be down 13 to be honest. However, credit to our guys - they regrouped in the second half, they strung some stops together, and they kept believing in each other. The crowd was great, I mean, for this kind of temperature we're dealing with right now and to come out at eight o'clock on a Saturday night…our students were great, and we didn't give them what they deserved in the first half. We did in the second half because we strung together stops, we got out, transitioned, and that got our ball movement better. They're playing that zone, going to man, we kind of figured that part of it out too. Next Thursday, when Oregon comes to town…this was a good precursor for us. Good win, I was proud of our guys for gritting out in the second half. Eight turnovers, fantastic. Nine assists in the second half, fantastic. 24% field goal percentage defense, fantastic. We did enough things to win a game tonight, but we weren't at our best.”
On the first half defense and what changed:
“We switched all the ball screens in the second half, and we doubled the post if it was coming in the post against our guards…so that's basically it. We just changed our ball screen coverage. For me, it was a last resort - it was like a frustration. We had to move because our ball screen coverages were so bad, our ability to guard the ball was so bad, but in the second half our guys did a great job with the switches and with our communication. We didn't get hurt inside when our guards switched on their bigs. I think we got hurt one time on a switch where we didn't crack down on the roll guy and they got an easy layup, and then we tired him out. I mean, USC was short handed and two of their best players were out, so we wanted to wear them down. I thought our pressure in the second half defensively and our energy was so much better than in the first half. And that created some havoc for USC.”
On what impressed him about Cody Williams defensively:
“Cody's using his length and keeping them in front of him, getting through screens, and then other guys guard him when you get switched off, but I thought Cody did a good job of getting through screens. He's really good at using his length and not fouling - I think he fouled one time there in the second half. (They) got two free throws out of it, but for the most part, Cody's length and his ability to time and contest shots is really, really good for a freshman, and so he's an important defensive presence for us and J’vonne Hadley. I thought defensively he was great with his energy level, and Eddie (Lampkin) switching on the ball screens, and KJ all of our guys in the second half were fantastic.”
On how he approached things at halftime:
“It's easy to yell and scream because I'm frustrated, but I know our players are also frustrated. I'm not saying they were doubting themselves, but they were disappointed. So I think if I felt like they didn't feel that way, I might have reacted a little bit differently and lit into them, but my thing was guys will figure this out but we have to start on the defensive end and we have to dictate with our defense. Switching the ball screens helped, but our energy level or not letting them just pass it wherever the heck they wanted to pass it. We kind of let them do whatever they wanted to do in the first half, and in the second half we dictated with our defense…so we talked about that at halftime. And our guys, our guys did it. Credit goes to the players, players win games. I like to sit here and say coaches win games, but coaches don't win games. I can help lose a game…but I can't win a game. These guys, the players, win games, they make plays.”
On winning despite not shooting well:
"That's what you have to do in league play because you're not always going to be at your best every night. Now we've got to be better than we were tonight, next Thursday against Oregon. USC was short handed tonight without their two best guards. We have to continue to get better and understand that it's not going to be easy. You're gonna have to find different ways to win games. I just think offensively we got a lot of guys that identify themselves with their offense and it's if we can get their defensive identity where it needs to be then we will be able to win big games and a lot of games in this league. But if we kind of go back and forth, it's gonna be tough."
On J'Vonne Hadley:
"He's so much more, a glue guy does not do him service. I mean he is because he does so many little things. To me, that's the definition of what a glue guy does. They do the little things, they set screens, they play defense, they get their hands on balls, but he's become an offensive weapon for us. He's very unselfish, he makes the right play nine times out of 10 offensively, and he competes his tail off defensively. He had nine defensive rebounds."
On offensive rebounding:
"I just think offensive rebounding was something we talked about with USC that we could do and we needed to do. We missed 20 shots in the first half and we had three offensive rebounds. So again, that's effort, that's energy. It's like if you just go crash you're gonna get some. We still have a high ceiling that we've not even scratched the surface with yet."
On having a balanced scoring attack tonight
"I told our guys after the game, the thing that makes this team so good in my opinion, and so dangerous is we've got multiple guys that on any given night can score the ball. Against Cal, [Sr. C] Eddie [Lampkin Jr.] had 22. Against Arizona State [Sr. G] J'Vonne Hadley had 19 -- a career-high. Our balance is so good and that's what that's what we need to understand. We just have to rely on each other offensively and not have an agenda. Make the right play. The defense is going to dictate what play needs to be made. Whether you're shooting a jump shot or your post feeding the ball or you're cutting or you're hitting the roll guy. You're throwing back for you know a fill up jump shot off a ball screen. The defense dictates what you need to do and if our guys will just understand that and adhere to that and make simple plays and have eight turnovers, we're going to have multiple guys in double figures which we've had many times this year. We wanted our best offense. We didn't shoot the ball as well as we're capable of shooting the ball tonight. We figured out a way."
Colorado Players
J’Vonne Hadley, Sr., G
Emotional Roller Coaster
“Just trying to stay together, especially battling injuries and things like that, a lot of people are getting banged up. A lot of our key guys too, so that's always a challenge. It's so easy to put your head down and think that things are bad and we went 0-3 through Arizona, like, it wasn't a good trip. Just coming back we knew we had to try to turn something around so especially in the first half, as well, just knowing that we're down and that's kind of where that fight came from, as well.
What was the message at halftime
“It was pretty positive, actually, at halftime, a lot of our open shots weren't falling and stuff like that. We knew that it just comes down to defense. They were getting to easier looks and stuff like that, we usually try to pride ourselves on defense. Our defense wasn't there in the first half. That's a key point that he mentioned at half and , another thing that he mentioned was exactly what you just said, we're a first half usually in the second half, we kind of fall off a little bit and he said, it's gonna be the opposite tonight. So that's where he left halftime with. Kind of just boosted us to that one.
Shutting down Kobe Johnson
“With Kobe Johnson he's just a confident player. Especially because he made a big jump from last year. He's taking on the role of bringing the ball up and Cody did a great job, heating them up and putting that pressure on him. Pressure really bothers him. Just pressuring him and making him feel uncomfortable. With any player, especially at this level, when you're comfortable, you're a pretty good player, regardless of where you are. When you're uncomfortable, you start to overthink and panic a little bit. That's what we tried to do.”
Forcing 10 turnovers in the second half
“The turnovers really ignited our offense. We thrive in transition. We practice every day, we run at altitude, we're built for turnovers when the other team turns the ball over, when we get out and run and transition, we're a really hard team to stop. But when you don't get stops, you don't get those opportunities, and we didn't really get those in the first half. And the score really said that.”
Student Section
“It's always fun when a lot of fans and a lot people just wanting support, especially at home, that's another reason we feel we feel comfortable playing at home, especially when everybody comes and shows love, we just appreciate everybody that comes out and, shows appreciation even though sometimes we're struggling so we do appreciate that. Shout out Buff Nation!!”
Found a way to come back and win-
“ Yeah, just noticing that we're not going to be perfect, especially at all times. We're not a perfect team. Nobody's perfect. Just getting those key stops and, in those moments, maybe it's a tie game, you need to stop like that. Just the key stops. Realizing that we're not going to be perfect, is super big.
Tristan da Silva, Sr., F
Energy was better in the first half
“I feel like we're trying not to just because we've been on the flip side of it, he had me and Cody out. We went 2-0 and the first two games of conference play, so they can't really be our mindset going into games, that their main guys are out and that they're just going to give up and give us a W and obviously you could see they were playing well in the first half. And then as Jvonne said, we kind of turned it around in the second half and really locked in.”
How impressed were you with Cody’s defense-
“I feel like I've been saying this since the beginning of the season. His maturity and his knowledge of the game for a freshman is crazy. I'm not surprised, he does this in practice. He had that mindset coming into trying to be a defensive force for us. Having him on the perimeter, especially with his reach and his length definitely gets our opponents in trouble. He's a smart player, he knows how to defend well.”