Colorado-TCU Quotes
Colorado Head Coach Tad Boyle
Opening Statement
“It's amazing, when you defend at a high level and you rebound at a high level, how the score kind of takes care of itself. That's something, for those of you who've followed our program since I've been here, are probably tired of hearing about, but it's the facts, it's the truth, and we did both those things today at a high level. We didn't take care of the ball very well early, and midway through the second half, we didn't do a very good job of that either. We had six possessions consecutively, and five of them, we turned it over, and that's when they cut it to three, and I called a timeout. But I'm really happy for our five seniors. We really challenged our guys today, to play for them, get out of yourself, don't worry about you, and let's give everything we got for those five guys. I thought our guys did that, and I thought they played well. [Javon] Ruffin played well. He was hampered by foul trouble, obviously. Trevor [Baskin] got 16 rebounds. Julian [Hammond III] played extremely well. We got Jack Pease in at the end, and then Andrej [Jakimovski], his defensive presence that he's been for us all year, did a great job there. Really happy for our five seniors.”
On seeing the seniors gain a win after the season’s turbulence
“It’s heartwarming, because they're such great kids. I said it out there, on the floor, they've been well raised. They've got great parents, and so I feel blessed to coach young men that have the character that they have. Losing does not build character, I think it reveals it. This team could have sacked their bats and gone home a month ago. They could have quit, they could have started pointing fingers and [expletive] and moaning. There were times we felt sorry for ourselves a little bit this year, and I try to get us out of that mode, but high character group, and to see them rewarded on senior night is really special. And it’s a new season. 0-0, that's why they have postseason conference tournaments, so you can go there and let it all hang out and see what happens. But I'm happy for those guys.”
On what worked defensively
“I think with TCU, like a lot of teams, it starts with your ball screen defense. I thought our bigs did a good job, because we wanted to show hard and try to keep their guards in front of us. When they cut the lead to one, they were kind of having our way with us in terms of just putting their heads down and driving it, and playing without fouling was going to be critical down the stretch, which we did a better job of. I think it starts with the ball screen defense, and then I think having good individual performances. Felix [Kossaras] is getting better now, as a freshman, he's got good size and he's a good defender. Julian took on a challenge defensively tonight. Andrej's been rock solid. Our bigs did a good job, like I said, in the ball screens. And I thought Trevor played with great energy and great activity tonight. Then we finished possessions, that's the key, and that's been a problem for us all year. They had eight offensive rebounds, but two of those were team rebounds, where the ball just went out on us. You take those two out, we held them to six, which is the number we want to hit.”
On Javon Ruffin
“When you see a kid that's been injured off and on throughout his whole career, never really got into a groove, and this year, he's been better, obviously, and that's that's been good, but he doesn't have the experience to fall back on that Julian has. I said to Mark Johnson, as he walked out of my office tonight today, when we did the pre game, our senior guards have to play like senior guards for us to win today. And guess what? They did. Both Ruff and Julian, I thought played like senior guards. I thought RJ [Smith] really played well for us as well. So guard play was thumbs up today for the Buffs.”
On Julian playing hurt
“He wasn't at 100%. Once he got his sweat going, he got it rolling. One of the reasons we held him out against Texas Tech was not because we didn't think we needed him or didn't want him. It's just we wanted to make sure he was ready to go today. Lower backs are tricky. I've had lower back issues. It's no fun. So he fought through it. He's a tough kid, and I think he showed a lot of toughness tonight.”
On Pease at the end of the game
“To me that's what college basketball is all about. It's about those guys that come to practice every day. They don't get the accolades, they don't get written about, they don't get talked about. They're kind of behind the scenes, but they're critical to our success. Jack Pease is critical to our success and our program. All of our walk-ons are. When you see the crowd react the way they reacted. Then you see his teammates react the way they reacted on the bench. It doesn't get any better than that as a coach. They're truly happy for him. Our thought during our last practice was true happiness is being involved in something greater than yourself. Whether that's your family, whether that's your team, whatever it is, those guys experienced that today.”
On Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak
“They're a big part of our future. Sebastian didn't have his best day today. But freshman games and seasons are like that. They're going to be up and down. But tomorrow's a new day. We play Tuesday in Kansas City. Felix is a big part of our future as well. I'm trying to grow this program organically with retention and development. Doesn't mean we're not going to use the transfer portal. Doesn't mean we're not going to go out and try to get our team better in the spring. We will once I know who's coming back and who's not. That's the conversation for a later date. I hope it's much later.”
On maintaining momentum
“It gives our guys confidence. Because TCU won nine games in this league. They've beaten some good teams. They're a solid team. They're like us. They're a little bit offensively challenged at times, but they got good players. They're well coached, they're hard nosed, and they defend. You look at their numbers, nothing jumps out at the page. Just like when you look at our numbers. You're like, are they that good? But they've won nine games. We won what, three? They've done a better job of grinding stuff out than we have. Again you look backwards now and remember the Cincinnati game, the West Virginia game, the Central Florida game, and there's 3 where we could be up there but we were not. So we have to grow and learn and get better.“
On Bangot’s dunk
“It's pretty high up there. I'm not a dunk ranker, but that was a big time play. Against the unbelievable Jace Posey whose dad played in the NBA. He's an athlete himself. But Bangot’s length and his forcefulness on that play is what we need to see more of from him. Bangot is just scratching the surface. He's like a freshman. But that dunk was right up there. I don't rank them, but that was a big time play.”
On resting the players this week
“I think rest for our guys right now, mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. We got to get our batteries charged up and understand it's a one game season. A two hour practice isn't going to get us any better this time of year. Whoever we play we've played before once or maybe twice, whoever that ends up being. I want to see our guys rest. We have our banquet tomorrow. We'll watch film Monday morning. Then travel to Kansas City and get a good practice in. Then let it all hang out on Tuesday.”
Colorado Players
Julian Hammond III, Sr., G
“On emotions of senior night and last game at the Events Center
“It was great. We've been together for four years now and we've seen a lot of ups and downs throughout our time here. It's just great to go out on a win and have a good game too. It's just kind of crazy to know it's over with, I'm done playing here.”
On playing through his back soreness
“I was making sure that I was playing today no matter what. There’s still some pain, obviously, but it’s fine. I played thirty to thirty-three minutes and I feel good and ready to go. I could probably play again in two days. So I’ll be good”
On possibly matching up against TCU in the first round of the Big 12 Championship
“We know what they’re good at. We’ve seen them twice now. We saw today if we defend and out rebound them, shout out Trever (Baskin) he had 16 rebounds, to keep them out of transition and take care of the ball. If we do turn the ball over, hopefully it’s not live ball turnovers that aren’t leading to points. We know what we have to do, we’ve lost to them once and we’ve seen what we have success with.
Javon Ruffin, Sr., G
On emotions of senior night and last game at the Events Center
“This is really the longest I've ever been anywhere. I'm gonna miss it. I'm just excited and glad that we got to get a win, and really grateful for the four years that I had”
On getting CU Senior Jack Pease into the game
“It was huge. I think there were eight minutes left and I was like, guys we got to get this to at least 15 (point lead), we got to get Jack(Pease) in here. He's put in so much work for the program. And that's a guy that I'm really close to, having known him for four years. It means a lot when you're able to do that for him. So that was a big moment. It's just full circle, he got to reap some of the benefits of his work today.
On ending the regular season with a win and going into the BIG-12 playoffs with momentum
“Momentum is what it’s all about. At this time of the season, the teams that go far and the teams that make runs are teams that are playing well now. The fact that we’ve been on an uphill trend this last month or so and also leaving on win and potentially beating a team that we could see in the first round, it just gives us a ton of confidence and really sets us up for the best possible tournament (BIG-12 playoffs) we can have.”
On reflecting on his collegiate career at CU
“After my second knee surgery, I always knew that I wanted to come back and I would. But there’s always a few question marks there. My biggest goal coming into this year was to play every game. I didn’t play every game, but I was very close to it. I’m just really grateful for that. I didn’t know if my body would hold up, but I figured it out. Man, we made it. We’re here.”