Players Mentioned
CU-UGA Postgame Quotes
December 29, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
“I told our team in the locker room, this is a good win against a quality SEC opponent. These guys are going to win a lot of games in the SEC. They are a talented group, but this is a time for us to exhale for a day. We are going to take tomorrow off even though there is no break and just try to enjoy what we've done up to this point, and then we are going to get back in the gym on Monday morning and start preparing for Oregon State. To be 11-2 with the caliber of schedule that we played says a lot about this group, and we've got a lot of basketball ahead of us. Season number one is over with, our nonconference portion is done, and now we are going into an 18 game marathon of the Pac-12. Our league is very good, and we're going to have to be ready mentally, physically, emotionally, spiritually, the whole nine yards. We're excited about it, and I'm proud of what our guys did tonight.”
On the Surprise Strength of the Season
“I think rebounding. The biggest question mark, especially with us losing Andre [Roberson] going into the NBA draft was how are you going to replace the second best rebounder. Well, we rebound the ball very well as a team. Josh Scott's upped his game, Wesley Gordon has come in and done what we thought he was capable of, Xavier Johnson rebounds the ball and our guards, we continue to challenge them. As a team, rebounding is one of our strengths right now, and I think our offense continues to get better. I was really pleased with the way we shared the ball tonight, and it showed up in our field goal percentage numbers. 51 percent for the game shows that we shared the ball, we got inside out and we had patience, and now we're looking for that consistently.”
On Awareness of Perfect Free Throw During the Game
“Coach [Jean] Prioleau said it one time. I asked him not to speak about it again. Coach [Rodney] Billups came up a few minutes later and said it on my right. I asked him not to talk about it again. Obviously, I'm proud of what the team did at the line, but I don't talk about it when we miss them, and I'm not going to talk about it when we make them. It's a personal thing, an individual thing, and I want our guys to take individual pride, and when they do that, nights like this are fun when you don't miss any. I don't want to discount it, but I don't want to be a hypocrite about it, pat the guys on the back when they do and call them out when they don't. It's an individual thing, but I was proud of them. It's such a mental thing, and I want our guys relaxed. I want them confident. Concentration and relaxation is what it is all about, and whether you've made ten in a row or missed ten in a row, you have to think the eleventh one is going in. The fact that we didn't miss one is nice. It's nice for school records and stats, but in the big picture of things, there might be some games where we're going to want some of those back. That's just basketball.”
On Booker's Second Half Performance
“Askia [Booker] was feeling it tonight. He was very efficient and he took good shots. I thought he was terrific. He led us in assists and he was 7-for-12. We'll take 7-for-12 from Askia every night. I thought his floor game was good. You could tell he dialed in, and every time he shot it, you felt like it was going in. When he plays well and he plays efficiently offensively and Xavier Johnson plays well and plays efficiently, we're pretty darn good. We know usually what we are going to get from Josh [Scott]. We know usually what we're going to get from Spencer [Dinwiddie]. Spencer was very efficient, 4-for-5 from the field and 7-for-7 from the line. I thought it was a great offensive performance by our team, best one we've had this year against a quality team.”
On Handling the Break
“This team is interesting. It's not always the best practice team, but for the most part, on game nights, they've shown up, they've been ready to go. We haven't always played well for 40 minutes, but I like the mental toughness of this team. Even when you look back at Oklahoma State, we didn't play well, but the guys competed their tails off and we played them to a five point game. We didn't play well against Baylor and it was still a relatively close game coming down the stretch. I like this team, and the upside continues to be there. When we put a game together, when we guard the way we want to guard and we execute offensively the way we did tonight, those are going to be the fun nights.”
On Strategy for Sustaining Booker and Xavier's Performances
“Number one is you just take good shots and be aggressive. Don't try to force things when they're not there, and you understand that our identity needs to come on the defensive end and rebounding the ball. If that's what you concentrate on and not worry about how many shots you're getting or if your shots are going in, if you dial into what is important and let the rest come and not think about it too much and not press too much, the thing about Askia [Booker] and the thing about [Xavier Johnson] is they are both competitive guys and they are both good teammates. When they don't shoot the ball well, they feel like they're letting their team down, and I don't want them to think like that. I want them to think that when they don't guard and they don't rebound, they let their team down. Relax and play offensively because they are both good players.”
University of Colorado Student-Athletes
Xavier Johnson So., F
On Establishing Offense Early In The Game
“It was good just being able to have Spencer [Dinwiddie] give me the ball for open jump shots, and I was able to knock them down. It's always easier to shoot at a court you've been shooting on for two years. So, it was good. I enjoyed it.”
On Maintaining Momentum Going Into Pac-12 Play
“I'm glad we won, pretty much. Coach [Tad Boyle] would have been on our heads and we would have been really mad if we had to practice tomorrow. So, it's really good that we got this win. It gives us confidence going into Oregon State, and then from there on. I just need to stick with it. I was shooting air balls at the [MGM Grand Showcase vs. Oklahoma St.]. So, I just need to stick with it and keep shooting. Coach says I'm a great shooter, so I have to just shoot it.”
On Difficulty Coming Off Of The Break
“It really sucked coming back and practicing on Christmas. But Coach [Tad Boyle] said to me: 'This is like your four years to my forty years that I've been doing this.' So, it kind of put it into perspective that it's not that bad actually. I was happy that we were able to come back, practice, and get the win tonight.”
On Letting Up In The Second Half
“I don't think we did. I just felt like they just started hitting more shots and getting more to the (free throw) line. That was our fault defensively not stepping up and being more aggressive. But we learn from our mistakes.”
Josh Scott So., F
On This Win Setting Up Buffs For Pac-12 Play
“I mean, we're 11-2. We've played really good teams, and had a really good out of conference schedule. We're feeling pretty confident going into Pac-12 play. We're going in trying to win it. So, it's good.”
On Offensive Efficiency
“I mean we've always been, and this year, really good at the free throw line. They were fouling us and we were taking it to the rim. When they weren't fouling us I thought we were moving the ball really well. I don't know what our assist numbers are but to me it felt like we were making the extra passes multiple times. I think we had a couple more turnovers than we wanted to but for the most part I thought we did a good job playing “hot-potato” with it.”
On Not Missing From The Free Throw Line Tonight
“I didn't even know that we didn't miss. It's all those free throws after practice. I had no clue; I'm kind of shocked. I think our guys are probably taking more upon themselves to shoot more. I think we make fun of our guys, for instance Jaron Hopkins], when he misses free throws badly we're all on him. So, I think it encourages people to make their free throws and practice and work on it.”
On Being More Aggressive Than Normal On The Boards
“Not anymore than I think I have at all this year. [Andre Roberson] is gone so we have to pick up the rebounds somewhere. I'm just been trying to do my job.”
On Getting His 6th Double-Double This Season
“I was pretty confident coming into this season. I put on weight. I thought that was probably one of my shortcomings last year. This whole entire thing was just going to the Pac-12's for me. I had a little slump last year and my goal is to have eighteen great games instead of the thirteen I had last year. I'm really looking forward to it and I have all the confidence in the world right now.”
Georgia Head Coach Mark Fox
General
“It's a lot harder on the road, but this a great experience for us. We got beat by a better team, and we've got to learn from it and get ready for the next one. I have to give Colorado's defense credit. We didn't get as much done in the second (half) and we've got to give credit to their defense. It was a loss to a good team. We lost to a very good team. Losing is not what we came to do. We have to give Colorado their respect.”
On Rebounding and Free Throws
“We were concerned about their rebounding and the free throw line, and both of those ended up being two of the major keys to the game. We felt like coming in, they had been going to the free throw line about 35 (times) per game and we didn't want to send them there. They're a terrific team and they got to the foul line and they won the rebounding battle, and that's the difference. We give them credit, they had to hit them and they hit them all.”
On the Difference in the Game
“There weren't a lot of surprises. We thought they were terrific. They're very balanced offensively and they're difficult to guard. I don't think there were a lot of surprises. It was those two key areas. We didn't have them like we wanted to.”
On Three Point Shots
“We had one kid make a mistake on coverage early, he had a couple of wide open looks right out of the gate, and it was just a rotation mistake. We thought they were a good three point team, we knew they weren't living and dying, but we give them credit, they made them tonight.”
-COLORADO-