Players Mentioned
Colorado-Kansas Quotes
December 07, 2013 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
“I'm not quite sure what to say after that one, it's hard for me to put this win into historical perspective. I know for where our team is right now, and where our program is in the evolution stage, this was a hump game. Especially after what Kansas did to us last year at Allen Field House and the amount of talent they have on their team, it was just a great day. I look at the stat sheet and I wonder how we won, shooting 41 percent, having Kansas shoot 52 percent, missing the number of free throws that we normally make, but our guy's resiliency and guts won out. I'm just glad we had the ball at the end, because they were scoring pretty quick, and pretty easily at the end. Askia [Booker] made an unbelievable play and we're going to take it and not look back. Our crowd was great, to me it was just a great day for college basketball in the state of Colorado and I'm really proud of our guys.”
On Askia Booker's Shot
“Well we work on that play and the idea is to get the ball to Spencer [Dinwiddie] in the middle of the court and have Askia [Booker] and Jaron [Hopkins] streaking down the sideline. I thought Xavier Johnson made an unbelievable pass to get the ball to Askia. As soon as he let it go I knew it was in, it was money. It was one of those games where whoever had the ball last was going to win.”
On The Win
“I have great respect for Bill Self, their program, and the history they represent in college basketball; so that's what makes it so sweet. I played there so long ago I can't even remember, I can't even remember what I had for breakfast. It's special, but that's kind of worn off, I think it's the fifth time we've played them, but this is the first time we've beat them so that makes it really sweet. Deep, deep down I have some Jayhawk in me, but I am 100 percent Buff down to the core when push comes to shove.”
On C Ben Mills' Performance
“Ben's minutes in the first half were unbelievable. There are certain teams that he matches up with better, and this was one of them, they had a big front line and big bodies and he made some nice plays offensively, got a big offensive rebound. The thing that makes Ben so special is the kind of teammate he is and the way the guys in the locker room feel about him. And I got on him a week or so ago in practice, I said you have to make sure you're ready, we didn't know Wesley [Gordon] was going to go down, but he was ready when his number was called and that's what coming off the bench is all about.”
On Playing Zone Defense
“I swallowed my pride when I went zone, if they would have made some shots against it in the first half early I probably would have gotten out of it, because I'm not committed to it. But, they didn't, they struggled with it, and so we stayed with it. Second half we tried to flash it and keep them off balance a little bit. It's hard sometimes man to man once they get in a rhythm to stop them, and I think the zone helped keep them off balance.”
On The Fans
“I want our fans to understand that it's not about Kansas. It's about Colorado. That's what we have to do as a program, that's where we need to go; where our fans expect us, not hope for us, but expect us to win these games. When they come to follow the Buffs and watch the Buffs, not based on who the Buffs are playing that day, that's when we'll know we've gotten this program to where we need it to be. Last year against Arizona I was mad the students rushed the court, I was happy for them today because of what this win means to them and the support that they've given us.”
On Askia Booker
“Askia is important to us, he's our emotional leader. He can't let his play affect his leadership on this team, and it's hard, it's hard to lead when you're a shooter and you're not shooting it well. It was really big for us, and our program, to have him make the shot.
“The capabilities there. If I didn't see it in practice and he's shooting that percentage then I'm the dumbest coach in America to be playing him. But I see it in practice, and we've seen him do it before, he's a proven player, he's not a hopeful player, he was the MVP of the Charleston Classic two years ago we don't win that tournament without him.”
On Rebounding
“I thought Xavier Johnson was a beast in the second half going after rebounds. I thought our guys really picked up for having Wesley [Gordon] out. I'm not ever pleased being out-rebounded but I was pleased the way we battled.
On Being Able To Practice More
“I think you play how you practice, I really believe that. Over the next couple weeks we don't have as many games, we'll have more practice opportunities, so hopefully we can show some drastic improvement between now and Elon, and when we go to Vegas to play Oklahoma State before Christmas. This is an opportunity in the schedule to get better.”
On Defensive Strategy
“We wanted to make them a jump shooting team whether we played them in man or zone. With the zone it's easier to keep the ball out of the post and they're such good post feeders and such good post players and the zone helped keep the ball out of the post and force them to take jump shots.”
On The Pace Of The Game
“We wanted the pace fast, [KU C Joel] Embiid got really fatigued you could see it in the first half, we wanted the pace to be up and down. We wanted an up and down game and we were able to do that. This is a great day for our program and I'm glad everyone is here to experience it.”
University of Colorado Student-Athletes
Askia Booker, Junior, GuardOn making the game-winning shot at the buzzer
“I'm not sure I ever thought that would happen. At the same time, I think it's a testament to Coach Boyle and how we go through our late clock plays in practice. The reason he does that is for nights like this. Thankfully I came out and hit that shot. It felt great when it left my hand. I told the media after the game, I was actually in a straight line, which is great for a shooter. You don't want to be fading away to the left or the right or backwards. I was going straight for the basket. My momentum held my form up and it went right in.”
On his confidence level going into the last shot
“Honestly, that shot was great for me in the corner, but at the same time that play was initially for Spencer [Dinwiddie]. I think that they expected that so they left me open. I was wide open and it let me make the play.”
On if it was the greatest finish he's been a part of
“It is without a doubt. Unless I'm in the NBA Championship, that's the only thing that could top that.”
On missed free throws throughout the game
“They almost came back to bite us. At the end, I thank God that I made that shot. If I hadn't made that, we would have gone right into overtime and it would have been a 50/50 chance for either team. If I hadn't have hit that, it would have sucked. That's a testament to us and our defending and rebounding and having the game be as close as it was.”
On competing with a top-ranked team
“Something that Coach [Rodney] Billups talked about was poise. He said that they might make a run and that they would be aggressive and attack the basket. That's exactly what they did. [KU guard] Andrew Wiggins got to the line and then made some hard layups. At the end of the day, if we don't keep our poise, we don't win these games.”
On Ben Mills
“This guy comes to practice every day and works his butt off. Although he may not play as much as he wants or as much as he should, when his number was called, he was ready. Without him, we wouldn't have won the game.”
Ben Mills, Senior, Center
On what a win over Kansas means for the program
“It's huge. I think this is the highest ranked team to come in and have us beat them, so that's huge. I'm glad I was a part of it.”
On playing without forward Wesley Gordon
“Wesley going down was huge for us. He's one of our best defenders and he's just a great player. We needed guys to come in and step up and we had that tonight. With our whole bench, we played well and executed.”
On his contribution in today's game
“It was so much fun. This is something you dream of as a kid, a packed house at the Coors Events Center and the fans going nuts. To come in and play well in front of the fans and put on a show for them was great.”
Kansas Head Coach Bill Self
On Nearly Forcing Overtime
“Yeah, we actually played pretty well down the stretch, we just didn't get stops. We kept fouling and putting them on the free throw line. Unfortunately for us they were 4-for-7 [FTs] late, which gave us a chance. We did some good things we competed hard for the stretch, but I still think it was a game. After the first 10 minutes, they controlled the game. We were up nine, and then after that [CU controlled the game]. We scored 21 points in the first 9 minutes, and then we only scored nine points in the last 11 minutes of the first half. [CU Guard] Askia Booker won the game for them, at the end of the first half and in the second. Naadir Tharpe couldn't have guarded him better than the first half, and then they could go up three and in most situations that would be a tied game. The step-through move Booker made late was a great play.”
On Whether Or Not Askia Booker Traveled In The Last Play
“I thought he traveled. I don't know. It may have been that euro big two-step deal so it didn't make any difference. We let him get ahead of us, and you have to make him catch it in front of him and we got him aside. They can't do that. That's a little frustrating. We did a good job. Landen Lucas did a good job on the ball. We got a deflection the first time, which probably ended up being a blessing for them because instead of a 3.0 in the dead corner they get it out to the free throw line and it's 2.9. That turned out to be a blessing for them. He made two good plays in the half and at the end of the game.”
On Defending The Last Play
“Our philosophy is that you make them catch it in front of them. Make it catch it in front and switch all ball strings or hand-offs. You guard them and make them make a hard shot. But, in that particular situation we got on the side. We got on the side, and then he was able to clear himself. It was more of a credit of him making a good play than it was bad defense but still I wish we could do it over again.”
On KU's Lack Of Flow
“We're not playing very good. We're not playing good at all. The pieces just aren't quite fitting yet and we're trying to find ourselves. We're not a real good shooting team yet, we're not a real good passing team, and we're not a real physical team. Those are things that we have to improve on big time. I knew that we would labor, but it seems like to me that the thing we can make up with that is energy and stealing extra possessions. We become a team that is losing out on that battle too often and that was certainly the case today, especially in the first half.”
On Frank Mason Struggling Against The Zone
“We weren't very good against the zone because we were nervous getting in there and making a play. They were letting two guys guard four guys. So, we didn't make them pay. When it was getting late we had to make plays, and you have to play. That's how you should be attacking it the whole time. You can't put it on Frank Mason or any one player, but just as a whole we didn't play very good, very tentative.”
On Andrew Wiggins On The Foul Line With Three To Shoot Being A Game Changer
“No, not really. It just would have been a tie and then we would have played for one. So, it would've been the same outcome no matter what. It he would've made all three it's a tie game playing for one. Or, if Perry Ellis makes the shot it's a tie game playing for one with three seconds left. We we're fortunate after he missed the second one that we were able to get a tie game. Perry Ellis made a good play. It's a tough place for any body to be in. He hasn't shot his free throws great so far but he shot them 7 for 9 tonight. He missed a big one but it didn't matter because Perry made the play late so we were exactly where we would have been.”
-COLORADO-