Colorado-Portland Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement:“It’s a great win for us, especially as we head into the Colorado State game on Saturday. I thought the first half…I was really disappointed with our defensive intensity and effort, they shot 48 percent in our building. And I felt like some of our frustrations on offense, because we had been shooting the ball so well, all of a sudden you miss some shots and things aren’t clicking offensively it affects you on the defensive end and we can’t let that happen for our guys. I got after them pretty good at halftime and they responded in the second half. One of the things that we talked about at halftime was that they have to take ownership in what we’re trying to do defensively, and I really feel like they did in the second half. It started with McKinley but it didn’t end with McKinley, we had some really good defensive possessions and broke the game open and had a run away. Good win overall and again opportunities to learn and get better, we still are a work in progress. Some good things are happening with this team, if we can stay unselfish we have a chance to be pretty good.”
On Balanced Scoring
“We’ve got a lot of weapons on this team. Some of the guys who weren’t in double figures tonight are capable of being in double figures, I feel like our assists number was a little low, we had 11 and we want to be in the 18 to 20 range. I thought McKinley really distributed the ball well especially in the second half and he could’ve had four or five more that weren’t finished. For 31 baskets we should have over 20 assists and we didn’t have that tonight so that’s an area where I think we can get better, making plays for each other.”
“We’ve got a lot of guys that can shoot the ball, we’ve got a lot of guys who can make plays off the dribble. I thought Daylen Kountz made a lot of really great plays off the dribble tonight, he had three assists at halftime, we know Namon can score the ball, Deleon mad some nice plays off the dribble tonight. We’ve got a lot of different weapons, a lot of guys that can shoot the ball. I wasn’t too concerned about our offense, what I am concerned about is our execution of our offense and our ability to stay unselfish and not think about ‘how many shots am I getting? How many points am I scoring?’ If we can keep that out of our mindset this team is going to be fun to watch. We’ve scored over 90 I think three times now over our first five games which is a testament to that. We’re not going to score 90 every night, we’re going to play against better defensive teams, obviously San Diego was one of them, but we can be explosive.”
On McKinley Wright Sparking Second Half Run
“It was vintage McKinley Wright. He just says ‘ok guys it’s time to get this train moving’ and the train starts moving. What I’d like to see is that train start moving from the jump. Not that we’re going to go on a 16 to 1 run from the jump but we have to be ready mentally and emotionally. And sometimes over the course of a 30 game season there’s going to be times where we’re not ready and that’s my job as a coach to make sure we’re ready. And I felt like maybe I failed in that regard a little bit tonight because I feel like we weren’t ready defensively to tear the nails out of the floor.”
On Lucas Siewert
“He carried us in the first half offensively. Our players understand how much of a weapon Lucas is offensively. He’s such a tough matchup because he can shoot the 3, his post moves are getting better by the day, and he’s got a mid-range game. Lucas is a big time weapon for us and he’s playing very well right now.”
On Evan Battey Getting More Comfortable
“Evan is such a consciousness kid. When you talk as a coach, he’s listening to every word you say, he understand the game, he’s still learning. He’s a joy to coach and a joy to play with, he’s a really good player and he’s just going to keep getting better and better.”
On If CSU Game Will Be A Measuring Stick
“I know our players will be ready to play on Saturday at 1 o’ clock. I don’t know about a measuring stick, CSU is going through a new system, a new staff, new coach. Our players will be ready I can guarantee you that, emotionally and mentally. We just have to make sure we don’t get too keyed up for this game. It’s a rivalry game, we know we’re going to get CSU’s best shot. We always do and we always have, so we’ve got to be able to handle that and keep our emotions in check and play Colorado basketball. We don’t have to do anything special, we just have to be who we are, play the way we’re capable of playing and it should be a great game. We’re playing this game for our fans so I hope they understand that and appreciate that, I know there will be some CSU fans down here cheering for the Rams so we need to have this place rocking at 1 o’ clock.”
Colorado Players
Lucas Siewert, Jr., FOn his career high in points tonight
“I felt great in the beginning, I was hitting shots and that got me going early, and that got the team going. Once their defense started focusing on me, other guys started scoring, and that was good for our team.
On remembering defense sets the tone
“I don’t think it’s hard to remember, it’s something that we talk about every day. We just have to come into the game with the mindset that we’re going to play defense and turn that in to offense. It’s something we talk about every day, we got to keep getting stops and that’s going to get our offense going”
On playing with more confidence.
“Since the beginning of the season I’ve been playing pretty well and that got my confidence going. Every game I’m going to come out here and play with confidence, because I know that the work I’ve been putting in will start to show.”
On establishing himself in the post
“I knew that when we lost Dallas, I knew that was something I would have to step on. We lost Dallas, which was a big loss for us, and I think I can start filling those gaps now.”
McKinley Wright IV, So., G
On his impact on their big run in the second half
“Yeah, I think I’m starting to get back in my groove. Earlier in the year I think I was trying to force it, and not play the way that I normally play. Coach told me in practice to trust my teammates and I thought about it and realized that the once players that I have around me get them going early in the game it creates more for myself and gets the defense off me a little bit. I’m getting more comfortable it’s just trusting my teammates making sure they’re getting involved too.”
On the defensive turnaround
“In the first half we weren’t playing with our principles, Shane and I got caught going over the handoffs when we normally go under. There were a couple of other mistakes that we made as a team, not being in help defense and stuff like that. We talked about it at halftime, and we need to play with our principles, and trust our principles. Once we did that we got stops and rebounded the ball, and got out in transition, and that’s when we’re at our best.
On upcoming matchup with CSU
“We’re ready for it. That’s all I’m going to say. It’s going to be fun Saturday.”
On what makes the offense flow
“Once we get stops, we get out in transition and that’s when we’re at our best. We’re trying to focus on defense this year. We just have to get out in run, we’re one of the best teams in the country when we get out and run.”
On reaching 90 points in three of the past five games.
“We’ve got so many scorers. I need to do a better job of getting these guys shots, everybody can play and once we get these guys playing at their best, we’re one of the best teams in the country.”
Portland Head Coach Terry Porter
General
“Our guys did a good job in the first half. They turned it up a notch and we didn’t play with great poise at the offensive end; quick shots, bad shots on the road led to the easy opportunities that we gave them. We really gave them some great momentum, I thought that in the first half we did a lot of good things in regards to not turning it over and not allowing them to get open court. In the second half we just didn’t do a good job of that; we just got selfish offensively at times, we took some bad shots that led to the easy opportunities.”
On What Made the Difference Between the First and Second Half
“We were moving the ball side-to-side, I thought that our guys were really getting into the gaps, turning the corner, getting to the rim, making plays. In the second half we just started settling for a lot of jumpers, a lot of jumpers without ball movement. Give them credit they turned up the intensity. We didn’t do a good job of working to get open and creating angles for our passes. We were just assuming that those passes were going to be able to be delivered; you know give them credit we knew that, we told them this team does a great job in regards to getting up in your airspace and playing good defense. We just didn’t do what we needed to do in the second half to win the game.”
On Foul Troubles
“Welcome to being on the road, that’s what happens. You know we have to do a better job, fouling without our hands. We have to move our body playing defense. That’s what happens, that’s what happens on the road. Give them credit they did some things defensively, got some charges on some of our guys. We didn’t do a good job of when we did drive it, we left our feet a couple of times so it is something we need to grow in.”
On Josh McSwiggan’s Offensive Performance
“His performance offensively is huge, we expect him to make shots and make plays for us. He has been a consistent scorer for us, we ask him to do that for us. He does a good job moving the ball and that is something that we have to continue to rely on.”