|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
PACIFIC-12 CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 13, 2014Askia BookerTad BoyleXavier TaltonLAS VEGAS, NEVADA Colorado – 59 THE MODERATOR: Coach, an opening statement, please. COACH BOYLE: I first want to say how much respective for Cal and their program and their players. I think the world of them, all of them. But I couldn't be more proud of our team and the way they played today and how they've represented this university and our program. You could tell from the start that our players really wanted this game and they had that intensity about them that was pretty evident. It was to a man. It wasn't just one guy; it was the whole group. We were cut up with a lot of 50‑50 balls and long rebounds and all the plays that we talk about that win basketball games. These two guys to my left made big time plays after big time plays, especially on the offensive end for us. We talked about it yesterday how in March it gets a little tougher to score, every game you're scouted. They know your sets. We ran our motion offense today a lot in the second half because that's something that they can't scout, and it's just basketball players making basketball plays. Our guys did a terrific job of it. Really proud of them. Q. Cal had a bunch of chances to take the lead there in the second half. What did you guys do defensively to get stops on those possessions? COACH BOYLE: Well, again, I think it's a testament to what our guys have really bought into since I looked back at the Arizona loss at home and the Utah loss on the road since that game, and we went on the Bay Area trip, and really played with an intensity on defense, and we really played well defensively on that trip. We've played well defensively since we've been here. It's a mentality. You know, they've got good players. Kravish is a good player. You can play great defense on him and he can make the shot. Justin Cobbs is a great player. They've got good players. They make tough shots. We just wanted to make them earn everything. We still gave up a few too many lay‑ups; but, again, we got stops when we had to get stops. When you come down the stretch of games like this, it's the teams and the players that make plays that win. Our guys did it today. Q. You guys went through that scoring drought that allowed them to get back in the game and you ended with that three. How big was that three do you feel at the time to get you guys back on track, get the lead back up to four? XAVIER TALTON: That's something that I've come to do. I try to spark us and give us a little energy on the offensive end as well as the defensive end. As far as that three, I think it probably came at one of the big times. My teammates also gave me confidence in making the shots. Q. Coach, Cal got a few big rebounds there in the second half offensively. Was that one of the marks you had during the timeout to really get back in the games and control the glass? COACH BOYLE: Yeah, we talked about it before the game and we talked about it at timeouts. For the most part our guys battled. Richard Solomon is a beast on the board. He's one of the best rebounders in our league, if not the best this year. So all you can ask for out of your team is that they battle and they compete, and our guys did that today. You just asked about X's three, and that was a huge three in the game. One of the things he does for our team is help space the floor because you've got to be able to make shots at some point. I mean, your offense is only as good as the shots you make, whether that's in the Lane or at the rim or from behind the arc. I know we'll probably talk about it tomorrow a little bit, but we're going to need to make some shots tomorrow. These guys need to get some rest and pack their jumpers. Q. Askia, you talked yesterday about how if you were going to get the win today, you were going to have to make the winning plays that you made yesterday against SC. Can you talk about the other guys that kind of made those plays today? ASKIA BOOKER: Yeah, I think Xavier Johnson and Wesley Gordon and Josh Scott, I think they did a terrific job tonight on the boards, and we talked about that last night. Richard Solomon and Kravish, those two are going to jump over your back, and if they don't call the foul, you're going to have to keep playing through it. I think the guards, whether Wesley or X or Josh got a hand on the ball, we cleaned it up sometimes. Those are the winning plays that you need to have down the stretch to get your team extra possessions. Q. You talked about mental toughness yesterday. You had two guys go through the free‑throw line in the final 12 seconds who hadn't been there all day to day. What's that say about that mental toughness? COACH BOYLE: Well, it's been tough, yesterday's game and today's game. We haven't gotten to the free‑throw line like we normally do. It's a different game out there. So when you get there, you have to make the most of it. I thought Ski's two free throws gave our team a lot of confidence. We wanted to corral Cobbs a little better than we did, and he scored quicker than we wanted him to score. We wanted to slow him up and keep him in front of us. But those two free throws were big. Eli, that is a tough position he hadn't played all second half. I stick him in there and he makes a front end of the one and one, which is the hardest one, and so I've got confidence in all of our players at the line but big time plays. I would add, getting back to your question about guys stepping up, Jaron Hopkins I thought was really big tonight. I've seen a big growth in his game. He got in some foul trouble tonight, but his energy, effort and intensity and just his focus on defense has really helped his team these last two games, and we need that again tomorrow. Q. Ski, last year in Tucson you told me that Arizona‑Colorado was your rivalry. After what happened in Boulder, how much are you looking forward to another opportunity, and what do you guys have to do differently this time around? ASKIA BOOKER: Yeah, it's a great rivalry in my eyes. They have great guards. I mean, when I was a freshman, Josiah Turner was still there, and that was a guard I competed in with Kali, and he's not there anymore. So Nick Johnson, he's a great guard, may be one of the best in our conference, may be one of the best in the country. So I'm going to take on that challenge and try to compete as much as I can with him. But it's not just about me and my rivalry. It's about the team. We're going to have to keep them off the boards and take away their second chance points because that's where they're really good at. If we do that, I think we're giving our team a good chance to win. Q. Ski, would you talk about your free throws there in the last 12? ASKIA BOOKER: They just needed to go in. Coach told me to go get the ball, and that's what I did. Thank God he had confidence in me and I have confidence in myself. I just tried to take my time and knock them in, and that's what I did. Q. Second straight night that you guys have watched the opponent put up a three to try to tie this thing. What are the emotions like in that moment as you just try to hold your breath a little bit? XAVIER TALTON: It's a scary feeling knowing that there are good players out there and they can make shots over hands. It really comes down to us not having to get to that point and not having them get the last shot. Q. What makes Arizona so good? COACH BOYLE: Their defense. They're the best defensive team in our league. It's not even close. They're the best rebounding team in our league. It is close there. I think we competed a little better on the boards. But we're going to have to guard Arizona like they guard everybody else, and that is, again, we've got great respect for their players, their coaches and their program. But the one thing about these guys, they're playing with a sense of purpose and competitiveness about them as a group that we haven't seen in a while. It's come and it's gone throughout the year, but these guys are focused. They're confident. Again, Arizona is a good team, but we're a good team too. I told these guys in the locker room, all you can ask for in life is an opportunity. We have an opportunity tomorrow to go play against one of the top teams in the country and prove ourselves. But we're going to have to make shots. We're going to have to take care of the basketball because their defense, again, it doesn't break down. Their ball screen defense is good. Their rotations are good. Their players are good. We're going to have to make shots and we're going to have to play Colorado basketball offensively, which is inside out, play through our bigs and attack the rim. If we don't get to the rim we have to kick it out and make some shots. We've got to guard them. Q. X, Cal has a possession to tie the game with 20 seconds left. Kind of get the feeling it's going to Cobbs. What kind of confidence does it give you that Coach leaves you on Cobbs there? XAVIER TALTON: Oh, a lot of confidence. I think that is one of the main things that we focus on as a team is defense. I think he's instilled it in all of us that when it comes crunch time we need to get stops. Staying in front of Cobbs is obviously a hard job to do, but I did it tonight. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|