Colorado-South Dakota State Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement
“Good win against a really quality team and program. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I was happy with our offensive performance tonight. We had a lot of good individual performances. The big disappointing thing was the way we guarded the three point line. We let another team come in here with good shooters, and make 11 threes on us. We have to be better than that. (Oscar) Cluff is a big part of that because he demands a lot of attention in the post. We tried to give him different looks based on different lineups, but we have to guard the three point line. A lot of things we can still get better at.”
Putting a lot of focus on defending Cluff leading to some more openings
“We practiced against it. You can guard him or double him. He's a very good passer. If you double him, he's going to pass out of the double team. You have to be in rotations and they need to be great. You need to have multiple efforts in those rotations. If you don't double him and you dig hard, he's a really good passer. You have to be in rotations off the dig. We worked on that a lot this week in practice. They had a three off a bad switch in the first half, a three off a no communication switch in the second half, and a transition three by their best shooter in the first half. Their threes came as a result of our breakdowns, not because our rotations were bad. Our communication was bad and our understanding of the scouting report wasn't what it needed to be. Once you let a guy make a couple, you better get him off the line. You have to close out and make him drive the ball if he's a shooter. Those are adjustments you have to make as the game goes on that we weren't great at. That's really the only part of the game I was extremely disappointed in.”
On Julian and Elijah in the two man game
“Elijah is a load down there. He was seven for eight from the field. When they guard him one on one and he gets angles, he's really tough to stop. They doubled him and we did not handle the double team well. That's something we've worked on. We're going to continue to work on that. If we don't get better in that area, then it doesn't do us any good to throw it into him. We want to throw it in to him, but we have to make them pay for doubling us. Julian was terrific. He played like a senior point guard. 23 points on 14 shots, six assists, and one turnover. We'll take that every night from Julian.”
On disappointment with Elijah at the end of the second half
“At that point of the game, the clock is your friend. The clock is your friend. We want to use the shot clock. Now, if you got a layup, great. Take a layup. We broke the press; we got a dunk. We'll always take layups. We'll always take dunks. When you spin, fall down and step out of bounds, when there's 20 seconds to go on the shot clock, and we're up eight or whatever, it's a time and score situation that I was a little disappointed in. Again, opportunities to grow and improve, but we will.”
On Julian Hammond III’s performance and play similarities to KJ Simpson
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Julian [Hammond III]. If I didn't, we would have signed a point guard out of the transfer portal in the spring. Actions speak louder than words. I believe in Julian. I think he's had a great career here. He has been playing behind KJ. I don't expect him to be KJ Simpson, but if Julian Hammond is the best version of Julian Hammond, that's good enough for us. He's a good player. The one turnover is the thing I'm most proud of. I love the six assists. I love the made three there at the end. He's a good shooter. I thought he played really smart in the second half. I told our guys, and we fell for it, it's kind of like, you're either the fisherman or you're the fish. We were the fish sometimes tonight by taking the bait of taking an early three, because I told our guys, we're going to be able to get a three at any point of any possession in the shot clock against South Dakota State. The way they guard, they dare you to take threes. They want you to take threes quick and early in the shot clock, and we fell for that a couple times in the first half. Julian had opportunities where I know he wanted to shoot it, because he's a good shooter, but he passed, he got the ball downhill and we played the next. You turn down a good shot, you get a great shot, and that's what he did a lot tonight. Really proud of him. I thought he was terrific.”
On staying focused and ignoring ticky-tack calls
“Look, our guys got to be better. They're actually better in the games than they are in practice, believe it or not. That's just part of it. The world is round, sometimes calls are going to go for you, and sometimes they're going to go against you. There might be a ticky-tack one called on us, but there might be a ticky-tack one called on them. We’ve had good officials. The great thing about being here 15 years is I feel like I know these guys, and I think they know me. I've really made an effort, certainly this pre-season, to coach my team to get our team better, and our players have to understand. Officials officiate, coaches coach and players play. If they can always remember that, they'll be fine. If they let that stuff get to them mentally, they're going to have a problem.”
On awareness of how players are doing and thought process behind getting them more attempts in the game
“What I want is a great shot for our team and another area we can improve is on the floor, rather than saying, ‘Okay, I gotta make a play call to get RJ (Smith) a shot’, people can scout plays. It's hard to scout when the ball is moving and guys are making the right place. What I want is, I want our players to understand. This is for guys like Julian and (Javon) Ruffin and Andrej (Jakimovski) and even Elijah. All of our big guys like, ‘RJ made a couple, let's set a screen for him’. Let's penetrate, and if this man helps at all, we're kicking it to him. Our players have to understand. Whether it's RJ tonight or whether it's Andrej. Andrej missed some wide open looks tonight, that's, that's part of it. There's gonna be nights when RJ misses wide open looks. As long as we're getting great shots from good shooters, that's what I want. The guys that have proven it in practice, are the guys I want shooting it. The guys that haven't proved it in practice, I'd like them to maybe pass up some of those early threes. Now, if you got it late in the clock, and that's all you got, take it. But we got some guys that think they're shooters, but they're not. It gets back to the shot takers and the shot makers. RJ has been a shot maker here lately, so we gotta get him more shots.”
On the 3 turnover first half and how that was different from other games
“The way South Dakota State plays, they don't get out in the passing lanes and pressure you, they don't show hard or trap ball screens. They do trap the post, and I don't know where those three turnovers came from off the top of my head, but we did a better job. 10 turnovers in the game, we had 10 assists and three turnovers at halftime. I was pleased with our offense pretty much the whole night. We shot 50% in both halves. We had 10 assists at half and it was 16, but our offense is not our problem. It's our defense that has to become more consistent and lock down. We're not quite there yet. We're there in stretches and at times, in certain possessions. First half, we got one kill. Second half, we got our three. We broke it open, and we would have broken it up more if we would have guarded the 3 point line.”
On SDSU rebounding strength
“Yeah, they were plus 11 rebounds a game. I said, ‘Hey, that rebounding battle is going to dictate who wins this game’. Because I really believe a lot of games will come down to that, especially in Big 12 play. Because look, guys are going to make shots, miss shots. Other teams are going to make shots, miss shots. If you can defend and you can rebound at a high level, you give yourself a chance to win. You give yourself a chance, doesn't mean you're going to win, but you give yourself a chance every night. Those two areas should never have off nights. We should never have an off night rebounding, We should never have an off night defensively with our effort. Now, we're in play against better teams, better players, bigger teams, better bigger players. So, that plus eight and 40% is going to be harder and harder to get once you get in the league. But we gotta keep striving for it.”
Colorado Players
Julian Hammond III, Sr., G
On his 4 point play.
“We just started the play kind of late, because we want to get downhill at the end of the shot clock. When I saw those four or five seconds left and Andrej (Jakimovski) slipped out, I just had to find a way to get up a shot. That's a shot that I do practice. I know it's not a great shot, throughout the course of a game, but you never know when you might have to shoot that at the end of the shot clock. So I felt comfortable in it, and it was just the right shot for the right situation.”
On defending South Dakota State from 3-point range.
“I think we just needed to rotate a little better at times, because even though their guys' percentages aren't good, you guys see the kind of threes that they're shooting. They're taking wild threes so you know that they can shoot. When they're open, it’s good. The only thing we knew coming in was we have to take away the three. We didn’t do a very good job, and that's why the game was close coming down the stretch.”
On working the two-man game with Elijah.
“They try to go under ball screens a lot. So Elijah was getting really good angles. So I could get downhill. When we get downhill, we're playing two on one with the big. We just try to get down and make the right play, whether it's a pass, a little floater, or whatever.”
On key for the team coming into this game and the upcoming week:
“We got to get in every day and work on our gains. We gotta stay in shape because that first win when you come back to a real game is different. I don't care what anybody says. That first real run after not playing for a while, you’re gonna feel it a little bit more. So we have to make sure that we're staying in shape, getting shots up so that come Saturday we're ready to go, and we don't feel like we’ve had any rest.”
On if they we’re looking to set lobs to Bangot Dak:
“I don't think we're necessarily looking for the lob every time. I think we're just trying to find the big on the role. This team [SDSU] packs it in, so that lob isn't there. But then, with BD [Bangot Dak] he jumps high, so the first look for him is a lob, and then we look for the pocket. But since they were sucking in so much, it was really hard to hit the big role today. I thought we just had to look at it, get off and get behind and see if we can get the ball inside a different way.”
RJ Smith, So., G
On shooting well.
“For them defensively, they are really packed in and they double the post. Elijah's a big force down low, and then force the rotations. I was happy to get open and make my shots.”
On the team winning the rebound battle.
“That's just our focus every game is to out rebound our opponent. We're long, we're big, so the team should not rebound us if we're playing hard and tough.”
On conversation after SDSU took the lead:
“Really just slow down. Execute. Get the ball inside, make them rotate. Who’s taking quick shots and first pass threes. We had a bunch of open threes that weren't falling.”
On key for the team coming into this game and the upcoming week:
“[We] can't have any regrets at the end of the season. We have to finish the conference strong.”
On if they are using Bangot Dak to cut to the paint:
“No. If he's open, we're obviously going to hit him at the cut. But he's such a threat at the rim that it draws attention and then that corner side will be open. So there can be options”
Opening Statement
“Good win against a really quality team and program. I knew it wasn't going to be easy. I was happy with our offensive performance tonight. We had a lot of good individual performances. The big disappointing thing was the way we guarded the three point line. We let another team come in here with good shooters, and make 11 threes on us. We have to be better than that. (Oscar) Cluff is a big part of that because he demands a lot of attention in the post. We tried to give him different looks based on different lineups, but we have to guard the three point line. A lot of things we can still get better at.”
Putting a lot of focus on defending Cluff leading to some more openings
“We practiced against it. You can guard him or double him. He's a very good passer. If you double him, he's going to pass out of the double team. You have to be in rotations and they need to be great. You need to have multiple efforts in those rotations. If you don't double him and you dig hard, he's a really good passer. You have to be in rotations off the dig. We worked on that a lot this week in practice. They had a three off a bad switch in the first half, a three off a no communication switch in the second half, and a transition three by their best shooter in the first half. Their threes came as a result of our breakdowns, not because our rotations were bad. Our communication was bad and our understanding of the scouting report wasn't what it needed to be. Once you let a guy make a couple, you better get him off the line. You have to close out and make him drive the ball if he's a shooter. Those are adjustments you have to make as the game goes on that we weren't great at. That's really the only part of the game I was extremely disappointed in.”
On Julian and Elijah in the two man game
“Elijah is a load down there. He was seven for eight from the field. When they guard him one on one and he gets angles, he's really tough to stop. They doubled him and we did not handle the double team well. That's something we've worked on. We're going to continue to work on that. If we don't get better in that area, then it doesn't do us any good to throw it into him. We want to throw it in to him, but we have to make them pay for doubling us. Julian was terrific. He played like a senior point guard. 23 points on 14 shots, six assists, and one turnover. We'll take that every night from Julian.”
On disappointment with Elijah at the end of the second half
“At that point of the game, the clock is your friend. The clock is your friend. We want to use the shot clock. Now, if you got a layup, great. Take a layup. We broke the press; we got a dunk. We'll always take layups. We'll always take dunks. When you spin, fall down and step out of bounds, when there's 20 seconds to go on the shot clock, and we're up eight or whatever, it's a time and score situation that I was a little disappointed in. Again, opportunities to grow and improve, but we will.”
On Julian Hammond III’s performance and play similarities to KJ Simpson
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in Julian [Hammond III]. If I didn't, we would have signed a point guard out of the transfer portal in the spring. Actions speak louder than words. I believe in Julian. I think he's had a great career here. He has been playing behind KJ. I don't expect him to be KJ Simpson, but if Julian Hammond is the best version of Julian Hammond, that's good enough for us. He's a good player. The one turnover is the thing I'm most proud of. I love the six assists. I love the made three there at the end. He's a good shooter. I thought he played really smart in the second half. I told our guys, and we fell for it, it's kind of like, you're either the fisherman or you're the fish. We were the fish sometimes tonight by taking the bait of taking an early three, because I told our guys, we're going to be able to get a three at any point of any possession in the shot clock against South Dakota State. The way they guard, they dare you to take threes. They want you to take threes quick and early in the shot clock, and we fell for that a couple times in the first half. Julian had opportunities where I know he wanted to shoot it, because he's a good shooter, but he passed, he got the ball downhill and we played the next. You turn down a good shot, you get a great shot, and that's what he did a lot tonight. Really proud of him. I thought he was terrific.”
On staying focused and ignoring ticky-tack calls
“Look, our guys got to be better. They're actually better in the games than they are in practice, believe it or not. That's just part of it. The world is round, sometimes calls are going to go for you, and sometimes they're going to go against you. There might be a ticky-tack one called on us, but there might be a ticky-tack one called on them. We’ve had good officials. The great thing about being here 15 years is I feel like I know these guys, and I think they know me. I've really made an effort, certainly this pre-season, to coach my team to get our team better, and our players have to understand. Officials officiate, coaches coach and players play. If they can always remember that, they'll be fine. If they let that stuff get to them mentally, they're going to have a problem.”
On awareness of how players are doing and thought process behind getting them more attempts in the game
“What I want is a great shot for our team and another area we can improve is on the floor, rather than saying, ‘Okay, I gotta make a play call to get RJ (Smith) a shot’, people can scout plays. It's hard to scout when the ball is moving and guys are making the right place. What I want is, I want our players to understand. This is for guys like Julian and (Javon) Ruffin and Andrej (Jakimovski) and even Elijah. All of our big guys like, ‘RJ made a couple, let's set a screen for him’. Let's penetrate, and if this man helps at all, we're kicking it to him. Our players have to understand. Whether it's RJ tonight or whether it's Andrej. Andrej missed some wide open looks tonight, that's, that's part of it. There's gonna be nights when RJ misses wide open looks. As long as we're getting great shots from good shooters, that's what I want. The guys that have proven it in practice, are the guys I want shooting it. The guys that haven't proved it in practice, I'd like them to maybe pass up some of those early threes. Now, if you got it late in the clock, and that's all you got, take it. But we got some guys that think they're shooters, but they're not. It gets back to the shot takers and the shot makers. RJ has been a shot maker here lately, so we gotta get him more shots.”
On the 3 turnover first half and how that was different from other games
“The way South Dakota State plays, they don't get out in the passing lanes and pressure you, they don't show hard or trap ball screens. They do trap the post, and I don't know where those three turnovers came from off the top of my head, but we did a better job. 10 turnovers in the game, we had 10 assists and three turnovers at halftime. I was pleased with our offense pretty much the whole night. We shot 50% in both halves. We had 10 assists at half and it was 16, but our offense is not our problem. It's our defense that has to become more consistent and lock down. We're not quite there yet. We're there in stretches and at times, in certain possessions. First half, we got one kill. Second half, we got our three. We broke it open, and we would have broken it up more if we would have guarded the 3 point line.”
On SDSU rebounding strength
“Yeah, they were plus 11 rebounds a game. I said, ‘Hey, that rebounding battle is going to dictate who wins this game’. Because I really believe a lot of games will come down to that, especially in Big 12 play. Because look, guys are going to make shots, miss shots. Other teams are going to make shots, miss shots. If you can defend and you can rebound at a high level, you give yourself a chance to win. You give yourself a chance, doesn't mean you're going to win, but you give yourself a chance every night. Those two areas should never have off nights. We should never have an off night rebounding, We should never have an off night defensively with our effort. Now, we're in play against better teams, better players, bigger teams, better bigger players. So, that plus eight and 40% is going to be harder and harder to get once you get in the league. But we gotta keep striving for it.”
Colorado Players
Julian Hammond III, Sr., G
On his 4 point play.
“We just started the play kind of late, because we want to get downhill at the end of the shot clock. When I saw those four or five seconds left and Andrej (Jakimovski) slipped out, I just had to find a way to get up a shot. That's a shot that I do practice. I know it's not a great shot, throughout the course of a game, but you never know when you might have to shoot that at the end of the shot clock. So I felt comfortable in it, and it was just the right shot for the right situation.”
On defending South Dakota State from 3-point range.
“I think we just needed to rotate a little better at times, because even though their guys' percentages aren't good, you guys see the kind of threes that they're shooting. They're taking wild threes so you know that they can shoot. When they're open, it’s good. The only thing we knew coming in was we have to take away the three. We didn’t do a very good job, and that's why the game was close coming down the stretch.”
On working the two-man game with Elijah.
“They try to go under ball screens a lot. So Elijah was getting really good angles. So I could get downhill. When we get downhill, we're playing two on one with the big. We just try to get down and make the right play, whether it's a pass, a little floater, or whatever.”
On key for the team coming into this game and the upcoming week:
“We got to get in every day and work on our gains. We gotta stay in shape because that first win when you come back to a real game is different. I don't care what anybody says. That first real run after not playing for a while, you’re gonna feel it a little bit more. So we have to make sure that we're staying in shape, getting shots up so that come Saturday we're ready to go, and we don't feel like we’ve had any rest.”
On if they we’re looking to set lobs to Bangot Dak:
“I don't think we're necessarily looking for the lob every time. I think we're just trying to find the big on the role. This team [SDSU] packs it in, so that lob isn't there. But then, with BD [Bangot Dak] he jumps high, so the first look for him is a lob, and then we look for the pocket. But since they were sucking in so much, it was really hard to hit the big role today. I thought we just had to look at it, get off and get behind and see if we can get the ball inside a different way.”
RJ Smith, So., G
On shooting well.
“For them defensively, they are really packed in and they double the post. Elijah's a big force down low, and then force the rotations. I was happy to get open and make my shots.”
On the team winning the rebound battle.
“That's just our focus every game is to out rebound our opponent. We're long, we're big, so the team should not rebound us if we're playing hard and tough.”
On conversation after SDSU took the lead:
“Really just slow down. Execute. Get the ball inside, make them rotate. Who’s taking quick shots and first pass threes. We had a bunch of open threes that weren't falling.”
On key for the team coming into this game and the upcoming week:
“[We] can't have any regrets at the end of the season. We have to finish the conference strong.”
On if they are using Bangot Dak to cut to the paint:
“No. If he's open, we're obviously going to hit him at the cut. But he's such a threat at the rim that it draws attention and then that corner side will be open. So there can be options”