Feb. 11, 2012
Recap | Box Score | Photo Gallery
ASU guard Trent Lockett:
ON MISSING SHOTS DOWN THE STRETCH:
We didn't shoot the ball well from the floor. Especially the way they're turning the ball over we have to convert on offense.
ON THE MAIN MESSAGE IN THE LOCKER ROOM:
Just have to play better. We shot 35 percent from the floor--combined with our turnovers, that's putting a lot of pressure on our defense.
ON Jordan Bachynski'SFOUL TROUBLE:
He's been [playing well. He's really been playing well lately, so I think not having him in there hurt us a little bit. He has to play smarter, but he knows that. He'll be fine next game.
ON THE LACK OF FLOW FOR THE OFFENSE:
I think we have to put a little bit more bite in our offense and be a little bit crisper. I think that'll help us down the stretch.
ON HOW HE FELT IN HIS SECOND GAME BACK FROM INJURY:
Obviously, my explosiveness isn't there when I'm around the basket and I'm having a hard time getting past people, but I'm getting better every day.
Head Coach Herb Sendek:
OPENING STATEMENT
Looking back to the first half, our biggest problem again was our turnovers, finishing with 12 at the half. Obviously, those really helped fuel Colorado's transition game which is a challenge even on made field goals. They ended up for the game with 19 points in transition. Although we didn't turn the ball over as much in the second half, cutting it to six, the 18 turnovers in the game really were a significant problem for our team coupled with our inability to put the ball in the basket. Shooting 36 percent from the field coupled with our 18 turnovers really put a tremendous burden on our defense. I thought for the most part our half court defense was pretty good. Of their 63 points, 19 came off of transition, once again fueled by our turnovers, and 10 came off of second shots. Even though they only had seven offensive rebounds, when they got one they made us pay. They got 10 points on those seven shots.
ON CONTINUOUSLY HAVING THE BALL DEEP INTO THE SHOT CLOCK:
I thought the ball really did stick too much. We didn't have fluid ball movement today. It certainly wasn't by design. Jordan (Bachynski) who has been playing so much better for us really never got on track. He picked up two fouls almost immediately. Because the game was relatively close and tight, I elected to save him for the second half. He immediately picked up his third. Then I rolled the dice and gambled because we were trailing, and then no sooner picked up his fourth. Then I played him with relatively a lot of time left in the game because at that point there was no point in saving anybody. He ended up not picking up his fifth but he never got into the flow. His foul trouble I think changed some things for us tonight.
ON BACHYNSKI'S FOUL TROUBLE AND THE TEAM TURNOVERS:
He just has been a big part to what we've been doing the last few weeks, and he's been playing really well. He ended up only playing 14 minutes and was never in the flow of the game--battling severe and immediate foul trouble. We can try to make this as complicated and as analytical as we want, and we can look at a lot of different things and turn it upside down and all around--tonight is a microcosm of our season. We turned the ball over too much. We have not found a way to consistently get that number to a more manageable size. That being said, it just doesn't give us any wiggle room in any other area you're going to talk about. I thought our guys competed on defense, and they tried, but it just seemed like we just didn't give ourselves with the turnovers.
ON THE SHOT SELECTION:
I thought the shots we got tonight for the most part were relatively the same as we always get. They were makeable shots for the most part. We had some possessions when the shot clock went down, which obviously didn't result in the best of looks for us. I think we had some makeable shots. It wasn't just from the field; I think around the basket we had some opportunities. I just thought, going back, whether it was ball movement or if you want to talk about the attack mentality, we only took eight free throws in the game. I'd like to see us get to the line for more than eight free throws. So we don't get to the free throw line, we have high turnovers, and we shoot a low field goal percentage. Our defensive field goal percentage that you see is really an illusion to some degree because it's not against our defense, it's against our offense in so many situations, and obviously the last 7:50 of the game we were almost in desperation mode with the press and doing things that we ordinarily don't do. That probably didn't help our cause either when you look at the final numbers.
ON THE DISCOURAGEMENT FROM THE TURNOVERS:
You can look at the turnovers, and today they came in a variety of ways. It all comes down to the fundamentals--basically everything in our sport does. Everything we do, the air we breathe, is a function of fundamentals. For example, we had two turnovers where basically the ball was knocked out of our hands, which is a function of triple threat. We had some turnovers in the post where guys tried to bounce it under the influence of traffic. We had a handful of turnovers, where instead of just making the simple play, we tried to thread the needle no different than a quarterback in football who thinks the receiver is open and goes for it. If he makes the play, it's heroic, but sometimes the best play is the one you don't make. We emphasize all the time just making the simple, easy play. I thought there were three or four of those plays that are right now prominent in my mind. We had one maybe illegal screen--I'll take that one. We're not going to play with no turnovers because we don't want to walk on eggshells, either. For our team right now I'd like it to be 12 or less. That would be a nice start. Then if we really got good, I'd say let's get it under 10, which would be a whole new stratosphere. That'd be rarified air.
Colorado's head coach, Tad Boyle
ON BEING RELIEVED AFTER THE GAME
“Yes a little bit (relieved). You can tell your program has come a ways when you go on the road and expect to win. We expected to win. There were some butterflies before the game because Arizona State has gotten better since we played them. I thought their match-up zone has gotten a lot better. They’ve made some adjustments since we’ve last played them and Lockett coming back is a difference maker. He’s a good player and their big guys are getting better. They’re a physical basketball team and that’s one thing we talked about before this game, we’re going to have to match their physicality.”
ON SPENCER DINWIDDIE
“I think he was more aggressive. He didn’t take a shot in the first half and I really respect Spencer for that because he’s a good offensive player but he kind of just let the game come to him and I thought our shot distribution tonight, as a team, was really good. We really wanted to play inside-out against that zone and show some patience and I thought our guys did a good job of that.”
ON THE HALF-TIME TALK
“We talked about getting back to Colorado basketball which is defending and rebounding. We challenged our guys.”
ON THEIR FRESHMAN
“They are getting better and I think they both are smart. They’ve been coachable and they’ve learned a lot this year on the fly. That’s sometimes hard to do. Sometimes its easier to learn from the bench or the sidelines but they’ve had to learn as the game goes on.”
ON BEING IN THE RACE
“It is (fun) and I think our players are relishing it. I think they’re not playing nervously but just taking care of business at hand. We want to control our own destiny and right now we still do. We just have to take care of the next game.”
ON STARTING THE SEASON RANKED AT 11th
“It feels good but we have to stay there. We’re in this race, we belong in this race and we want to prove that we belong in this race. We have to prove that by winning on the road. This is another step in that process. We talk about being picked 11th a lot and its great motivation for our guys.”