Players Mentioned
CU-Harvard Postgame Quotes
November 24, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
“I think the thing that is so satisfying about this win today is how we got it, and the team that we got it against; because I have the utmost respect for (Harvard head coach) Tommy Amaker and what he's done with the Harvard basketball program since he's been there. It's something nobody thought could be done, two-straight NCAA tournaments We beat a team that's veteran, has good players, well coached and it wasn't easy for us but our guys found a way, and for that I am extremely happy and proud for our players. And, I thought the fans were terrific today. The Coors Event Center helped us get a win. We'll talk about what's ahead of us but in terms of today, was a good day. Kind of a tale of two halves when it comes to offensively and defensively, for both teams.”
On The Significance of Having Harvard On The Schedule
“I didn't want to make a big deal of it before the game, but we all know what college basketball is all about and what's down the road. It's too early to say if we have most wins on our schedule, but at the end of the year, we are going to have to have some good wins on our resume. We are going to have to try to avoid bad losses. This wouldn't have been a bad loss today because of Harvard and who they are, but it's a good win. The fact that we were at home helped us, but it was big in terms of that. We can't start talking about that right now, I'm not talking about it with our team.”
On What He Told The Locker Room At The Half
“Number one is respecting them (Harvard players) as shooters. Again, No. 0 (Laurent Rivard) is a guy coming in, we knew was a knock down shooter. The rest of them are capable but they haven't been shooting the ball well. [Siyani] Chambers is a good example. He shot 42% for three last year, so he's a capable shooter as a freshman. He was shooting 13% for three coming in, so don't get caught up on that 13 percent, understand that he can shoot. It was just playing with a sense of urgency and getting their shooters and moving on the pass, was the biggest thing that we didn't do. I think we did a better job second half. Harvard is such a good ball movement team. They move the ball quickly and if you are not moving on the pass in your defensive adjustment, you are going to bet beat. And I think that was the thing in the first half. But we did a better job of that the second half. ”
On The Slow First Half
“Our team's got fight in it, there's no doubt. We've got competitors in that locker room. But what we've have to understand is that it's a 40 minute game and some teams are going to come out hot like that. They didn't make those shots in the second half, thankfully. They had some good looks in the second half but they just didn't make them. Again, playing here, and I thought the depth issue was our advantage, even though I didn't play the bench quite as much as I wanted to. I thought they wore down a little bit and those jump shots that were going in in the first half weren't going in in the second half. If a team comes in and shoots like they did, as long as it's over a hand, I have no problem with it but, some of those first half looks were wide open. Some of those second half looks were wide open. But, we rebounded the ball. I thought the difference in the game defensively, quite frankly, was Wesley Gordon and Josh Scott, in the second half. They really clogged up the middle. They changed and altered shots. Harvard, like us, wants to attack the rim. They want to play inside out, like we do. And those guys defensively in the second half, were really good. And this was a physical game, I think you noticed, I'm sure our fans did. It was officiated differently than our first six games were. But that's okay. It's about adjusting to what's going on out there on the floor that night with those three guys and I thought our guys did a good job of that in the second half.”
On The Team Growing Up
“Absolutely, I think we did. I looked up at the score between 4:30 and 5:00 minutes to go in the second half. 15 minutes had expired in the second half and they had scored 10 points. They had 52 while they had 42 at half. I was like, that's how you get back in games. When you get three threes back to back to back, it helps get the crowd into it, helps the momentum going, and those two by Xavier Johnson were big, and Spencer nailed the third one, which was huge. Hopefully we can be an explosive team offensively like that as the year goes on, but I'd like to be more consistent, not rely on that.”
On The Importance Of Getting Five Consecutive Stops
“Absolutely, that's the key. And you know, we were down nine at one of the timeouts, 50-41, and I said to the guys, we do not have a nine point play. So, let's not try to get all of this back at once. We have to do it by getting stops and hopefully getting some things in transition, and we did. Those threes came in transition and that was the difference in the game.”
On Josh Scott's Performance In The Second Half
“He just exerted his will. You know Josh wants the ball down there and we need to get him the ball down there. I thought Wesley Gordon was good on the block, he had a nice pass over to Xavier Johnson. Wesley had four turnovers tonight, and that's not typical of his game. Josh was just, demanding the ball offensively. He got to the foul line. But I do think Josh was terrific in the second half as well as Wesley Gordon.”
On The Change In Josh Scott Since The Beginning Of The Season
“Well, he's finishing through contact better. He's not avoiding contact. Last year, he would avoid contact a little bit, when he would go to the basket. I thought today, in the first half a little bit, he was kind of expecting the whistle and it wasn't coming. So, you'd better put the ball in the basket, just like our perimeter guys when they drive to the hole. Put the ball in the basket. If you get fouled and they call it, you get to the free throw line for an extra free throw. If they don't call it, we got a bucket. Our post guys have to remember the same thing. I think their post guys really made it look easy. Kyle Casey is a heck of a player. He made some big time moves. You look at his line, he's five for 14. So we may have missed some shots too but again, that gets to the defense that I thought Josh and Wesley played when they were on him. But, Josh finishing his contact is the short answer to that long answer.”
On Spencer Dindwiddie's Playing Tonight
“Spencer has a good feel for the game. I trust him to make good decisions. He came off of screen and shot a three without getting inside. It was an open three but I trust him. I trust all of our players. But Spencer is a very calming influence on our team with the ball and on defense as well and he's playing at a high level. He wanted this game. It's funny. Harvard recruited Spence and Wesley Saunders. We recruited Spencer and Wesley Saunders. Wesley went to Harvard and Spencer came here, so I think the game meant a lot to both those kids. I have respect for both of them and I'm glad I get to coach one of them.”
University of Colorado Student-Athletes
Josh Scott, So., F
On The Second Half Offensive Communication
“I don't think it changed very much. What I think changed was our defense, we locked them down, literally, in the second half. I think that was the big change, they are a good team and for us to do what we did to them in the second half is pretty impressive.”
On His Improved Play In The Second Half
“I wasn't in foul trouble. In the first half I was plagued by a couple fouls and it's hard to get rhythm when you're in foul trouble.”
On His Foul Trouble
“When you get in foul trouble it's really tough to get into the rhythm of the game, that's not an excuse, it's just kind of how it works out, so I wasn't scoring and I wasn't exactly blocking shots so I figured I'd play defense and rebound and shots came afterwards and I shot well from the free throw line.”
On Harvard
“They're a really good team. For us, we needed a big win, we'd played Arkansas State, and Harvard, they're not Arkansas State, they're a really good team. Looking forward, if we can play two halves like that we can beat anybody.”
On The Altitude's Effect On Harvard
“Breathing hard, their shooters for a good ten minute span were short on a lot of shots or wide off with their shots. They weren't running as fast as they were in the first half, you could just tell, it's hard to explain but I think the altitude just got to them.”
On The Altitude
“I think that sometimes it's the atmosphere with the fans combined with the altitude. Arizona last year, I think it got to them, Oregon last year, I think it got to them, I mean there are many games where I think the crowd and also the altitude destroys people.”
On Thanksgiving Break
“We're pretty excited to have a little rest time. We've pretty much had an every other day game schedule, which is fun, but it wears on you, we're on thanksgiving break right now for school so it will be pretty nice just to be on the basketball schedule and then chill out for the week.”
Xavier Johnson, So. F
On His Go-Ahead Three
“Pretty much it's all just game plan, Coach Boyle lays out the game plan for us and I was able to hit the open shot. We had great ball movement, we played inside out and I was able to be open for the jump shot.”
On Coach Boyle's Halftime Speech
“He didn't say that much. I think we wanted it for ourselves, we don't want to get beat at home or anywhere. No one wants to lose a game, especially at home, today we got great support from our fans and our team just wanted to win for them and for each other.”
On The Crowd
“After halftime we were down 12, so we needed the crowd behind us to get the W. It's great to know you have the support to get confidence for the next shot you take.”
Harvard Head Coach Tommy Amaker
On What The Difference Was Between Winning And Losing
“Well, I thought we played exceptionally well in the first half. We shot the ball well. If you look at the shooting percentages for us in the first half versus the second half and I'm very disappointed in us not being able to make some open shots. I thought we had a boat load of them in the second half, and I give [CU] a lot of credit. I thought they dug in and ratcheted up their defense and I thought their energy was outstanding. Their kid Johnson [Xavier Johnson] made two back to back, back breaking threes against us, and they outplayed us in the second half. I thought we outplayed them in the first half, but the margin was the difference. The rebounding on the offensive end, and they did a heck of a job in the second half. We played very poorly.”
On The 12 Point Run By CU In The Second
“The certainly made some shots. I thought that they didn't make in the first half, and [Spencer Dinwiddie] is an outstanding player. I thought their guards penetrated and made plays off the bounce. [Askia Booker] is very quick. [Josh Scott] was in foul trouble but certainly came in the second half and gave him some big minutes getting to the foul line and making some free throws. I just thought their offense was in much better rhythm. They made shots. Anytime you make shots you feel better about yourself, and you feel better on the defensive end. We were just the opposite. We missed shots and I thought we hung out heads a little bit. I thought we didn't play as hard as we needed to play against a very good team on their floor on the defensive end.”
On Shot Selection In The Last Ten Minutes
“It wasn't great. I thought that we missed some and got frustrated, and then I thought we were trying to do things that ordinarily we shouldn't be trying to do and trying to make up for it. So, our shot selection wasn't the best that it needed to be given that we missed some wide open shots and I think we got frustrated.”
On This Loss Being Tough
“Yeah, it's a very tough loss. We think we have a team that has a chance to have a solid year, but they're an outstanding basketball team. I think it's obvious. Tad Boyle has done an excellent job here with their program. Obviously I thought being at home really gave them the energy and the “shot in the arm” that they needed. Certainly it hurts for us because we thought we did some pretty darn good things especially in the first twenty minutes, but you know you have to play forty minutes. “
On Keeping Up With CU, Being Their Toughest Opponent Thus Far
“We did. It was our first true road game and I thought we did an exceptional job at managing the game. We had a lot of poise and composure in the first half and I was disappointed that we didn't display that as much as we needed in the second half.”
-COLORADO-