Colorado-Stanford Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement
Tad opening statement-
"Another good win. Especially on a night where we honored two young men who are to me, what college athletics is all about. They haven't ever given up. They've gone through tough times each in their own way, and to see them honored tonight and given the love that they deserve tonight from our fans and their teammates warms your heart as a coach. To me that's what Colorado basketball is all about. It's about young guys learning from old guys, paying their dues and just getting better. Both Luke and Tristan have gotten better each and every year and it doesn't happen overnight. They've just trusted the process and that's encouraging to know that there's still people out there that want it right away. I'm really proud of them and really proud of our team."
On Tristan's postgame speech-
"To me that's what college sports is all about. You don't get that when you bounce from school to school. We always talk about owning the Colorado jersey. Tristan da Silva owns the buff jersey. Luke O'Brien owns the buff jersey. There's a lot of collegiate athletes right now that are renting jerseys. Good for them. The world is round and everybody has choices to make. I'm not casting stones on anybody. I'm just trying to make the point that these two young men are what this program is about. I hope we can continue to build it this way. I hope we can continue to have success. KJ mentioned they came from good families. Thank God I'm not a football coach so we don't have to find 25 guys a year. We got to find like three or four. They're out there, and I think the kids we signed early in November are going to come here, and are going to put in the work to be great players too."
On how seniors and what kept them here for four years:
“I think the fact that they love it here…you have to be having a good experience to want to stay here. So part of that is what we do at Colorado, and the academic support that they receive, the compliance support that they receive, from the strength and conditioning coach, and from the coaching staff - they gotta be having a good collegiate experience for them want to stay, and it's not like we've never had players transfer out of our program - we have and we will continue to have that, that's not going to end. It's just to see the kids that have success and be a part of a 20 win season again and have a chance to go to the NCAA tournament, they put themselves in a position where we are right now down the stretch. It's nice to see kids rewarded and feel good about that decision.”
“Again, it's not for everybody, there's going to be certain kids that come and go, and that's not going to change, but man, when you see guys like Luke - and I don't know what caused him to stay, other than his loyalty. We talk about the recruiting process and it's a two way street. I've stayed loyal to Luke. I've stayed loyal to Tristan…if a kid leaves our program, it's not because I've given up on it - it's because they're not getting what they want out of it, and that's okay. I'm not going to fail them…we at Colorado are not going to fail them. We're going to provide a great experience to the best of our abilities, and in a perfect world, everybody would stay but that's not realistic either. So, you just take it day by day, year by year, and you just recruit great kids from great families that have the three core values of our basketball program - character, trust and work ethic.”
On if the team is hitting another stride going into the last road trip:
“Offensively, I see us slowing down. If we just finished the game tonight, and we turned the ball over four of our last five possessions and we ended up with 12 turnovers - we got eight if we just finished strong. So I didn’t like the way we finished the game tonight, but in terms of the way we played for the first 38 minutes of the game…our guys believe in each other and they’ve overcome injuries. It's next man up. The other night, (Javon) Ruffin comes in and hits a couple of threes, Assane Diop has seven rebounds in 30 minutes tonight…the stats don't always tell everything, but the activity is confidence. To me, that’s what makes me most proud of this team - all of the injuries that we have overcome, and it hasn't gotten us down. We haven't made excuses, we just keep chugging along. We’ve won 20 games, that says a lot for all the adversity that we've had to fight as a group - players and coaches with the injuries.”
On other guys stepping up:
“He (Dak) saved a layup, we got beat. It was gonna be a layup for Stanford, but he got his hand on the ball and deflected it out of bounds. Those plays are so important and that’s when I knew he was ready to play, he's ready to go tonight. Last year, if you remember, J’Vonne Hadley in the last 10 or 12 games of the year, maybe 15…and KJ got mono late…so Julian Hammond got thrown in the fire, Luke O'Brien got thrown in the fire, and we've benefited from that this year because of that silver lining of the injury. Ruffin gets the minutes, Dak gets the minutes, Assane gets the minutes now. We’d love to have Julian back, we'd love to have Cody back as soon as they can, but it's definitely been the next man up, and that will help us down the road this year and next.”
On Tristan’s performance in the second half:
“The thing about Tristan is that you just gotta go play and be aggressive - Tristan is at his best when he's aggressive. It doesn't mean he needs to score every time or shoot every time, but put pressure on the defense. He's done that, J’Vonne Hadley’s done that, KJ does it…just instinctively, but when when Tristan is aggressive, as long as he's taking good shots, which he does for the most part…sometimes he misses really easy shots wide open and they'll make that left hand swooping off the glass, which is a difficult shot…but he's so talented and so skilled that we just wanted to be aggressive under control.”
On defensive effort this season
“KJ should be considered for the all-defensive team. There's no doubt about it. Now. Many times, that goes to guys that get a lot of steals. And the thing about KJ is he gets his fair share of steals, but when you go for steals, and you miss them, you put your defense in jeopardy, and you gamble. KJ is not a gambler. He's a rock-solid defender. He gets through screens and takes on challenges. He's always a guard and is one of the best perimeter players in the entire team. J’Vonne Hadley should be considered for defense all-defensive team to me; those two kids, night in and night out, are being asked to really lock down the other team's best perimeter and sometimes post defenders and J’Vonne case but we went small little bit with that he's foul trouble, and we had to double the post a little bit and switch ball screens which we did an excellent job of, I thought in the second half.”
On Cody William and Julian Hammond III
“You gotta practice before you can play. So we'll see. We're gonna take off tomorrow. We're gonna practice Tuesday and Wednesday this week and head to Oregon on Wednesday, and then we'll play Thursday. So, hopefully they're back sooner than later. I don't have the answer to that.”
On the mark Tristan and Luke had on this program
“I think the mark that Tristan and Luke left on this program is what I alluded to earlier in that they persevered through tough times, and they built a lasting, lifelong relationship and friendship that will go beyond Colorado; it'll be with them the rest of their lives. I didn't know that Luke took a German class, but it speaks to the fact that those guys love each other, they've built a relationship, and to me, that's what college athletics is about. And again, you don't get that by playing with somebody for one year. You get that through going through tough times, hanging out off the floor, and getting to know each other's families. Luke's a huge, huge Denver sports fan. He loves the Avalanche, he loves some Nuggets, he's a front-runner, but I haven't seen him wear Rockies gear because the Rockies haven't been winning. The fact is that he's brought Tristan into that fold, and you see them go down to Denver to an Avalanche game, Nuggets game, Broncos game, whatever. Not that they go down a lot. But when they do you see pictures posted, you just love seeing that from your players. That they've developed a bond and a friendship so they've set an example in a lot of different ways, not just on the court but off the court as well for our younger players.”
Colorado Players
Luke O'Brien, Sr., G
On senior night –
“It was surreal. I didn't think it would ever come to this. It just went too fast for us, but we enjoyed it. Tristan is my best friend. We've been through many ups and downs, so it's tough to sink in that this was our last year.”
On being a second family to Tristan –
“It's been a little frustrating because my dad likes him more. He wears the merch of Tristan and it's a little frustrating. No, but actually, it's great it's basically having another brother, and my brother is up in Montana. So, he basically fills up the void a little bit, which is cool. But it's just like a family. I just looking at him, and I know brother.”
Tristan da Silva
On hearing from former teammates –
“For my opponents, my brother was speaking before the game, but I haven't really talked to anybody. I probably will after this game, but I know our former teammates in our corners. I know Dallas Walton was out here. So I appreciate those guys.”
On favorite on-the-court moments together –
“I don't want to talk too much online, but the win against Arizona was pretty neat. As a team. Yeah, and then whatever happened after.”
On hitting 3s in the second half –
“I wasn't even aware. I was just getting them up, I guess. But it felt good. I had a couple of games where I've been struggling, so it always feels good when you make shots. And I feel like our defense broke the game open, and we got on transition and got to run. They didn't have their defense set. So that's how we got good looks and started creating for each other.”
On relationship with (former CU Assistant Coach Anthony Coleman –
“He has been a great mentor for me in basketball and social life. I'm just making sure I'm set for what's to come. His knowledge of the game. His knowledge of the people or the business leads me in the right direction. And making sure that everything works as it's supposed to for myself and us as a team. He's a guy I can go to for advice. We've built a pretty strong relationship during the recruiting process and then obviously kept that communication going after he left, and he's another shoulder to lean on. Another person whose advice I cherish.”
On post-game moments –
“Playing against Stanford was a full circle. It has been crazy. The first season was awkward with the artificial crowd noises and stuff like that. But yeah, it's great to play in front of this crowd. And I mean, I told him after the game how much they've impacted this experience and how much I valued every moment in front of the crowd.”
KJ Simpson, Jr., G
On if it was a difficult game to play with the pregame and knowing it is a must win-
“I wouldn't say it was difficult. They're a good shooting team and we let them get going. They played an interesting defense on us. They threw a lot of different coverages at us, so just having to adjust to them. They have a good offense and good players. I feel like we found ourselves more as the game went by and credit to this team for doing that. Glad to get the win for the seniors for sure.”
On what sparked them in the first half-
“Honestly just trying to shut their water down. Trying to take away their easy looks and make them have to earn some. After we did that, things started to open up for us on the defensive and offensive side.”
On Stanford and its trapping defense-
“Yeah, we watched film but we didn't see that. That was just something we had to adjust to as the game went by. It was an interesting defense. It was a press almost, and then they trapped the first pass, but we were able to break it a couple of times. We just were able to understand that the more patient we are, things will start opening up for us.”
On Playing Clean (limited turnovers) last few games-
“I think the last couple games our turnovers have been a lot lower than what they've been throughout the season. That's just credit to understanding what the defense is giving us understanding we needed to get the ball moving side to side.
KJ on what it's been like the last few years seeing Tristan and Luke's relationship-
“I mean, they're honestly brothers. Luke took a German class. He thought he was German as well. It's just been fun to see them grow up and mature to be great leaders. They come from great families, and I've got a chance to get to know them over the years. Ever since I came in as a freshman, they kind of took me under their wing and I'll forever be grateful for them.”
Opening Statement
Tad opening statement-
"Another good win. Especially on a night where we honored two young men who are to me, what college athletics is all about. They haven't ever given up. They've gone through tough times each in their own way, and to see them honored tonight and given the love that they deserve tonight from our fans and their teammates warms your heart as a coach. To me that's what Colorado basketball is all about. It's about young guys learning from old guys, paying their dues and just getting better. Both Luke and Tristan have gotten better each and every year and it doesn't happen overnight. They've just trusted the process and that's encouraging to know that there's still people out there that want it right away. I'm really proud of them and really proud of our team."
On Tristan's postgame speech-
"To me that's what college sports is all about. You don't get that when you bounce from school to school. We always talk about owning the Colorado jersey. Tristan da Silva owns the buff jersey. Luke O'Brien owns the buff jersey. There's a lot of collegiate athletes right now that are renting jerseys. Good for them. The world is round and everybody has choices to make. I'm not casting stones on anybody. I'm just trying to make the point that these two young men are what this program is about. I hope we can continue to build it this way. I hope we can continue to have success. KJ mentioned they came from good families. Thank God I'm not a football coach so we don't have to find 25 guys a year. We got to find like three or four. They're out there, and I think the kids we signed early in November are going to come here, and are going to put in the work to be great players too."
On how seniors and what kept them here for four years:
“I think the fact that they love it here…you have to be having a good experience to want to stay here. So part of that is what we do at Colorado, and the academic support that they receive, the compliance support that they receive, from the strength and conditioning coach, and from the coaching staff - they gotta be having a good collegiate experience for them want to stay, and it's not like we've never had players transfer out of our program - we have and we will continue to have that, that's not going to end. It's just to see the kids that have success and be a part of a 20 win season again and have a chance to go to the NCAA tournament, they put themselves in a position where we are right now down the stretch. It's nice to see kids rewarded and feel good about that decision.”
“Again, it's not for everybody, there's going to be certain kids that come and go, and that's not going to change, but man, when you see guys like Luke - and I don't know what caused him to stay, other than his loyalty. We talk about the recruiting process and it's a two way street. I've stayed loyal to Luke. I've stayed loyal to Tristan…if a kid leaves our program, it's not because I've given up on it - it's because they're not getting what they want out of it, and that's okay. I'm not going to fail them…we at Colorado are not going to fail them. We're going to provide a great experience to the best of our abilities, and in a perfect world, everybody would stay but that's not realistic either. So, you just take it day by day, year by year, and you just recruit great kids from great families that have the three core values of our basketball program - character, trust and work ethic.”
On if the team is hitting another stride going into the last road trip:
“Offensively, I see us slowing down. If we just finished the game tonight, and we turned the ball over four of our last five possessions and we ended up with 12 turnovers - we got eight if we just finished strong. So I didn’t like the way we finished the game tonight, but in terms of the way we played for the first 38 minutes of the game…our guys believe in each other and they’ve overcome injuries. It's next man up. The other night, (Javon) Ruffin comes in and hits a couple of threes, Assane Diop has seven rebounds in 30 minutes tonight…the stats don't always tell everything, but the activity is confidence. To me, that’s what makes me most proud of this team - all of the injuries that we have overcome, and it hasn't gotten us down. We haven't made excuses, we just keep chugging along. We’ve won 20 games, that says a lot for all the adversity that we've had to fight as a group - players and coaches with the injuries.”
On other guys stepping up:
“He (Dak) saved a layup, we got beat. It was gonna be a layup for Stanford, but he got his hand on the ball and deflected it out of bounds. Those plays are so important and that’s when I knew he was ready to play, he's ready to go tonight. Last year, if you remember, J’Vonne Hadley in the last 10 or 12 games of the year, maybe 15…and KJ got mono late…so Julian Hammond got thrown in the fire, Luke O'Brien got thrown in the fire, and we've benefited from that this year because of that silver lining of the injury. Ruffin gets the minutes, Dak gets the minutes, Assane gets the minutes now. We’d love to have Julian back, we'd love to have Cody back as soon as they can, but it's definitely been the next man up, and that will help us down the road this year and next.”
On Tristan’s performance in the second half:
“The thing about Tristan is that you just gotta go play and be aggressive - Tristan is at his best when he's aggressive. It doesn't mean he needs to score every time or shoot every time, but put pressure on the defense. He's done that, J’Vonne Hadley’s done that, KJ does it…just instinctively, but when when Tristan is aggressive, as long as he's taking good shots, which he does for the most part…sometimes he misses really easy shots wide open and they'll make that left hand swooping off the glass, which is a difficult shot…but he's so talented and so skilled that we just wanted to be aggressive under control.”
On defensive effort this season
“KJ should be considered for the all-defensive team. There's no doubt about it. Now. Many times, that goes to guys that get a lot of steals. And the thing about KJ is he gets his fair share of steals, but when you go for steals, and you miss them, you put your defense in jeopardy, and you gamble. KJ is not a gambler. He's a rock-solid defender. He gets through screens and takes on challenges. He's always a guard and is one of the best perimeter players in the entire team. J’Vonne Hadley should be considered for defense all-defensive team to me; those two kids, night in and night out, are being asked to really lock down the other team's best perimeter and sometimes post defenders and J’Vonne case but we went small little bit with that he's foul trouble, and we had to double the post a little bit and switch ball screens which we did an excellent job of, I thought in the second half.”
On Cody William and Julian Hammond III
“You gotta practice before you can play. So we'll see. We're gonna take off tomorrow. We're gonna practice Tuesday and Wednesday this week and head to Oregon on Wednesday, and then we'll play Thursday. So, hopefully they're back sooner than later. I don't have the answer to that.”
On the mark Tristan and Luke had on this program
“I think the mark that Tristan and Luke left on this program is what I alluded to earlier in that they persevered through tough times, and they built a lasting, lifelong relationship and friendship that will go beyond Colorado; it'll be with them the rest of their lives. I didn't know that Luke took a German class, but it speaks to the fact that those guys love each other, they've built a relationship, and to me, that's what college athletics is about. And again, you don't get that by playing with somebody for one year. You get that through going through tough times, hanging out off the floor, and getting to know each other's families. Luke's a huge, huge Denver sports fan. He loves the Avalanche, he loves some Nuggets, he's a front-runner, but I haven't seen him wear Rockies gear because the Rockies haven't been winning. The fact is that he's brought Tristan into that fold, and you see them go down to Denver to an Avalanche game, Nuggets game, Broncos game, whatever. Not that they go down a lot. But when they do you see pictures posted, you just love seeing that from your players. That they've developed a bond and a friendship so they've set an example in a lot of different ways, not just on the court but off the court as well for our younger players.”
Colorado Players
Luke O'Brien, Sr., G
On senior night –
“It was surreal. I didn't think it would ever come to this. It just went too fast for us, but we enjoyed it. Tristan is my best friend. We've been through many ups and downs, so it's tough to sink in that this was our last year.”
On being a second family to Tristan –
“It's been a little frustrating because my dad likes him more. He wears the merch of Tristan and it's a little frustrating. No, but actually, it's great it's basically having another brother, and my brother is up in Montana. So, he basically fills up the void a little bit, which is cool. But it's just like a family. I just looking at him, and I know brother.”
Tristan da Silva
On hearing from former teammates –
“For my opponents, my brother was speaking before the game, but I haven't really talked to anybody. I probably will after this game, but I know our former teammates in our corners. I know Dallas Walton was out here. So I appreciate those guys.”
On favorite on-the-court moments together –
“I don't want to talk too much online, but the win against Arizona was pretty neat. As a team. Yeah, and then whatever happened after.”
On hitting 3s in the second half –
“I wasn't even aware. I was just getting them up, I guess. But it felt good. I had a couple of games where I've been struggling, so it always feels good when you make shots. And I feel like our defense broke the game open, and we got on transition and got to run. They didn't have their defense set. So that's how we got good looks and started creating for each other.”
On relationship with (former CU Assistant Coach Anthony Coleman –
“He has been a great mentor for me in basketball and social life. I'm just making sure I'm set for what's to come. His knowledge of the game. His knowledge of the people or the business leads me in the right direction. And making sure that everything works as it's supposed to for myself and us as a team. He's a guy I can go to for advice. We've built a pretty strong relationship during the recruiting process and then obviously kept that communication going after he left, and he's another shoulder to lean on. Another person whose advice I cherish.”
On post-game moments –
“Playing against Stanford was a full circle. It has been crazy. The first season was awkward with the artificial crowd noises and stuff like that. But yeah, it's great to play in front of this crowd. And I mean, I told him after the game how much they've impacted this experience and how much I valued every moment in front of the crowd.”
KJ Simpson, Jr., G
On if it was a difficult game to play with the pregame and knowing it is a must win-
“I wouldn't say it was difficult. They're a good shooting team and we let them get going. They played an interesting defense on us. They threw a lot of different coverages at us, so just having to adjust to them. They have a good offense and good players. I feel like we found ourselves more as the game went by and credit to this team for doing that. Glad to get the win for the seniors for sure.”
On what sparked them in the first half-
“Honestly just trying to shut their water down. Trying to take away their easy looks and make them have to earn some. After we did that, things started to open up for us on the defensive and offensive side.”
On Stanford and its trapping defense-
“Yeah, we watched film but we didn't see that. That was just something we had to adjust to as the game went by. It was an interesting defense. It was a press almost, and then they trapped the first pass, but we were able to break it a couple of times. We just were able to understand that the more patient we are, things will start opening up for us.”
On Playing Clean (limited turnovers) last few games-
“I think the last couple games our turnovers have been a lot lower than what they've been throughout the season. That's just credit to understanding what the defense is giving us understanding we needed to get the ball moving side to side.
KJ on what it's been like the last few years seeing Tristan and Luke's relationship-
“I mean, they're honestly brothers. Luke took a German class. He thought he was German as well. It's just been fun to see them grow up and mature to be great leaders. They come from great families, and I've got a chance to get to know them over the years. Ever since I came in as a freshman, they kind of took me under their wing and I'll forever be grateful for them.”