Players Mentioned
CU-Oregon Quotes
January 05, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
General
“Well that was a high level basketball game, obviously. It was a treat for anyone who was in the building today. They got treated to a knockdown drag out by two very good teams and legitimate top 20 teams. I'm glad we were at home. Our guys really hung in there when we got down in the second half. This team has toughness, they have resilience and they believe in each other. We were kind of at the brink there when we called the timeout and we were down by 10. Our guys responded. I'm really proud of our team, but I also want to make everyone understand that what makes this win so satisfying is the respect that have and that I have for Dana Altman and the Oregon program, the players. We beat a good team today. It wasn't given to us. We had to earn it, and that team is going to win a lot of games in our league. I don't know if we don't have to or we don't get to go to Eugene this year. I'm not sure how to phrase that, but that's the only time we're going to play them until maybe the conference tournament. It was fun.”
On Key To The Offensive Game
“Attacking the basket [is key] and getting downhill, getting in the lane. They play the matchup zone. They are so explosive offensively and they exert so much energy on the offensive end, that sometimes defensively, you can get them standing and flat footed. I thought our guys, Spencer [Dinwiddie] and Ski [Askia Booker], our two guards, really in the second half especially, attacked. We came out in the second half kind of tentative, standing around. They [Oregon] trapped us and forced us into that first timeout, but you have to fight fire with fire. When they're trapping you and they're attacking them defensively, you have to attack them. What made us effective all night, when we were effective, was attacking the basket either on the bounce or getting the ball into Josh [Scott], Wesley [Gordon] and [Xavier Johnson] down low.”
On Defensive Improvement After Timeout in Second Half
“I think [getting] a sense of urgency was the difference, and they missed some shots. They used their depth. They subbed early and they subbed often. They've got good depth, but I thought our guys had a sense of urgency in terms of getting the three point shooter and guarding the ball. Those are the two things that we just hammered home when we prepared for Oregon. You have to guard the ball because they're going to put their heads down and drive it, and you have to get the three point shooters and make them make tough shots. They made some tough shots over hands. Spencer [Dinwiddie] was shaking hands with them one time at one end, Ski [Askia Booker] was shaking hands with them at one end, [Xavier] Johnson was shaking hands with them. We didn't want to foul jump shooters, but defensively, we stepped up after that timeout. To me, that's what won the game. When you look at the field goal percentage, the percentage in the second half, they were 39 percent and we were 55. Holy cow, they are explosive offensively. They are a good basketball team.”
On Spencer Dinwiddie Conducting Offense
“He can [take over a game], there's no doubt. He definitely felt it there during that period [in the second half]. We've talked about it many times and my interviews, but we want Spencer [Dinwiddie] to be aggressive. He has the ability to score. He's really hard to keep in front of, he's got great size, he can finish and he gets to the foul line. Both he and Ski [Askia Booker] got to the foul line tonight, and I thought he really stepped it up. I kept asking both those guys throughout the second half if they needed [breaks], and they always said, 'no.' I had to give them each a rest. I got them a small one, but it was just one of those games where you have to go with the ones who got you here, and Ski, Spencer, Josh [Scott] and [Xavier Johnson], those guys are the ones who got us here.”
On Spencer Dinwiddie and Askia Booker Working Together
“They had 11 assists between the two of them. They were playing together, they were making plays for each other. When Ski [Askia Booker] and Spencer [Dinwiddie] are on the same page and dialed in together [they play well]. They both do a good job of looking inside. They haven't gotten selfish. We understand that to beat teams like Oregon, Ski can't do it by himself and Spencer can't do it by himself. We have to do it together, and I think our guys understand that.”
On Outscoring The Top-Scoring Team in the Nation
“It was good. We want to run. I wish every team would come into the Coors Events Center and run with us like Oregon. It'd be fun for you guys, fun for our fans. That's the way we want to play, we really do. I would've liked to hold them in the 70's if we could, but again, they're explosive. That's the way we want to play. We want to play fast, get up and down and have high possession games. It's fun to watch, it's fun to play and it's fun to coach. That was fun today, and to me, that's what college basketball is all about. I wish everyone would come in and run the way Oregon does. I don't think everybody will, but they're going to beat a lot of teams playing that way.”
On CU's Front Court Performance
“They were [good]. Rebounding was the key. We were back to our old selves. We were plus-6 on the boards. We let them get a few too many second shots. They ended up with 19 offensive rebounds, that's way too many, but 33 for the game. We got 39, we'll take that number, but it could've been plus-10 if we had boxed out. They're [Oregon] very active and athletic. The thing that makes Oregon good is their aggressiveness offensively.”
On Team's Youth
“I was worried about the youth. I look at guys like Dustin Thomas, Tre'Shaun Fletcher, George King, Eli Stalzer that aren't getting the minutes that they would like and that I would like them to get, but I've got confidence in those guys. It's just the ones that have gotten us to this point, I've got so much confidence in them that I stick with them a little bit more. I want our young guys to see this kind of game, appreciate it and let them know what they are going to be in for at some point down the road because those guys are going to be good for us. Jaron Hopkins is going to be a key for us as we look forward to next year. Our recruit from Denver East, Dominique Collier, was in the building and it was good for him to see this game and understand what he is going to be in for next year in the Pac-12 and high level games like this. I want our young guys to learn. Sometimes you learn by being thrown into the fire, and sometimes, you have to learn by being on the bench for a while. That's just the way it goes.”
On Being Able to Do More than Expected
“Yes, [we can]. No question. We're a little bit further along with the youth of this team, and the way our schedule was devised before the season and maybe I even thought, I try not to go into the season with win totals, if we win this many games because it's such a long season and you don't know if you're overscheduled or underscheduled, but these guys have handled it well. There's still a lot of basketball to be played. Nobody cares about games on January 5 come March other than looking at your résumé, but we have to continue to get better and improve. We have to go prove that we can win on the road in this league, which we for the most part have not done since we've been here. There's always another bogey out there to shoot for.”
On Team's Communication Throughout Game
“The thing I'm probably most proud of with the team today, not necessarily that we shot the ball well and we won, but we challenged them before the game to communicate, that our communication would be challenged, and to guard the ball without putting your hands on them and getting your hands out. Our guys did a good job of both those things. The communication and not fouling the ball handler. A lot of times, our guys to put their hands right here, which is an automatic foul and would've been called and it wasn't tonight because our guys had their arms out, they were moving their feet. When they take things from practice, from the scouting report or that you challenge them with and they go out and do them, it's pretty satisfying.”
On Scott's Fifth Straight Double-Double and Performance
“He's a beast, and he is so reliable. You can tell that when our guards have the ball, they're looking for him. They want to give Josh [Scott] the ball. He turned it over a few times out of the double teams tonight, but he's learning from it. The thing I like about Josh is that last year, sometimes he'd make mistakes and he'd make excuses, maybe point the finger. This year, there's none of that, so the maturity level is just [great]. For your sophomore big guy to play like that and to take ownership in the way he's playing, both good and bad, is terrific. He's got a lot of confidence right now, and his team has a lot of confidence in him.”
University of Colorado Student-Athletes
Askia Booker Jr., PG
On Feelings Associated With Knocking Off No. 10 Oregon
“It's really fun. I thank my teammates for getting me the ball in the right positions. I think I got a lot of my buckets in transition. Once we broke the press coach [Tad Boyle] told me to be aggressive, and I think this is the most this season that I got to the foul line. I went 10-for-12 so, that's pretty good.”
On Assessing His Role On The Team
“Besides me playing well, I think when we get the ball to the paint that's when we're at our best. I got to the free throw line, I got to the paint, and Josh [Scott] made some big free throws – he shot a lot. Spencer [Dinwiddie] shot a lot of free throws. That just tells you that when you get the ball to the paint, get to the free throw line, score when the shot clock is stopped, and find open shooters it makes us a lot better.”
On Match-Up With Oregon's Back Court
“The mindset we have to have is that we were not going to let them score. They're players on their team, Joseph Young and Damyean Dotson, they made big shots towards the end of the game. I think they have about five great guards on their team, and they could probably start anywhere if they went somewhere else. When you play a game like that you just have the mentality of they're not going to score. If my teammates get beat, I'm going to help them out. We did a great job of that tonight.”
On Impact Of The Win
“We have to thank the people in the stands; we can't do it without them. That's what makes us so tough, is the fans.”
On Him And Spencer Dinwiddie Combining For 50 Points
“It's wonderful. I think he's probably the best point guard I play with. He's 6'6” and handles the ball like me, almost. [It's nice] to have somebody like that on my side and know I can trust him. There's times when he missed a free throw and I went up to him and said, 'we don't do that,' and he made the next one. It's just a trust thing we have in each other, and I think that the past two years that we've played with each other have been great. I think we're learning to get along and read each other on the court.”
Spencer Dinwiddie Jr., PG
On Regrouping After Oregon Took A Ten Point Lead
“I think luckily we had the same type of situation. We were down 21-12 and we fought back and took the lead. We never want to put ourselves in that type of hole, but we kind of told ourselves, 'look we did the same thing in the first half, you know they were kind of rolling and hit shots.' They were also hitting deep twos, contested two's. But, you know, those are shots we want them to take. We trust in our principles, we gave up too many layups, and we try not to give up layups and make them take those same shots and hope they stop falling. We started counteracting their pressure and then we started scoring and got the lead back.”
On Scoring Efficiency
“It's pretty simple. When [Askia Booker] plays really well, we play really well; we kind of go as he goes. Me, Josh [Scott] and Xavier [Johnson] don't change that much. Xavier can be a little up and down. No offense Askia knows it he can be up and down. When he's up we are one good team, and when he's down we struggle. I guess that's a sign of a very good player when he has that kind of effect on a team. He played extremely well today and we got a good win against a top-ranked team.
On Second Half Adjustments
“I think the added pressure spread them out a little bit. You get quick swings and when you get [Mike] Moser or [Richard] Armadi closing out on you then it's your chance to drive on them. When you get those types of mismatches you have to drive it and try to get to the free throw line and convert. That's kind of what we started doing. When they went to their pressure we started attacking the basket.”
On Impact Of Win
“We thought we kind of made a statement with Kansas. We got on the board. We aren't going to lose at home. We haven't yet, at least. We are a tough team at home and we showed that. Now it's time, like coach [Tad Boyle] says, “To show on the road.” We're good on the road too.”
On Impact Of Win
“We thought we kind of made a statement with Kansas. We got on the board. We aren't going to lose at home. We haven't yet, at least. We are a tough team at home and we showed that. Now it's time, like coach [Tad Boyle] says, “To show on the road.” We're good on the road too.”
On Team Communication
“Yeah, especially on defense because we had line changes we had to get and match-ups. We held them to 46 percent, and coach [Tad Boyle] wants us to be right around that area, and we were there against a very potent team. This was an extremely high possession game, and it was indicative of the kind of defense we played.”
On Mindset Of Out-Scoring Oregon
“Coach [Tad Boyle] preaches defense and rebounding. We go into every game feeling like we have to stop the team. He always does competitions in practice and scrimmages based on defense. His whole philosophy is that if they don't score any points then all you have to do is get the lucky shot. That's how we try to play. When that starts clicking, we score a lot.”
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