Colorado State University Athletics
CSU vs. CSU-Pueblo Postgame Quotes
11/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 10, 2006
CSU Quotes
Head Coach Dale Layer
"I thought it was a very competitive game, we knew that (CSU Pueblo) would be quite a challenge after beating Denver by 38 on Saturday. We knew they were very good. They shoot the ball extremely well, Coach Eberhart has got them playing very hard, they are going to win a lot of games."
"They gave us everything that we can handle. I thought the game turned defensively in the second half. I thought our intensity and aggressiveness was much better. I thought our on-the-ball defense was much better in the second half and that was instrumental to not allowing them to penetrate and kick to open shooters."
"Obviously Tyler (Smith) had a terrific game, I thought he might be a little more rusty, but when he had some aggressiveness I thought that he took our team to another level."
"I thought our on-the-ball pressure was better and when your on-the-ball pressure is good, everything else just kind of follows."
"I thought (CSU Pueblo) were very scrappy, and I thought that they held there own."
"I expected a close game, anyone who can beat Denver by 38 can beat us. Coach Eberhart has done a great job with them and they are going to win a lot of games."
Forward Jason Smith
"It was a struggle, we had a slow start coming out. We overlooked them even though they had a big win over (Denver); but we picked it up in the second half and got the win."
"Tyler Smith had a great first game and played his heart out. He is an amazing basketball player, as soon as he steps on the court he knows what to do."
"Hearing that CSU Pueblo beat DU got me a little nervous."
"Tyler is a great defensive player as well as on offense...he directs us out there."
On CSU Pueblo's scrappy defense: "That's just the way (CSU Pueblo) are, you have to fight thought that. There were some breakdowns that we had, we have to box out and get better boards."
"I was a little jittery before the game, I'm not going to lie."
Guard Tyler Smith "I just out there and did what I did to help my team win." "Coach kept calling my number, so he had confidence in me, I wasn't trying to let him down. I wanted him to keep calling my number, so sometimes when they tried to double me I would pass it down to (Jason Smith) or one of my other teammates so that they could get the open shot."
"We have the talent on our team to score points on the offensive end, but we had to stop them from getting second shots and from getting open shots. They were out rebounding us in the first half, so we had to come out in the second and get some rebounds."
"The nucleus of our team is kind of new, so we were kind of jittery. But we all are going to have those pre-game jitters. Now we got the first one out of the way I think we should be good to go and just head to Spokane (Preseason NIT) and do well up there."