Sometimes, coaches say things to get their point across. Getting the attention of young adults can be difficult, especially in a competitive setting, so intensity is warranted.
Things said in the heat of the moment or in a closed-door locker room setting are one thing, but things said in front of a microphone and to an audience of media members is something else entirely.
Colorado head basketball coach Tad Boyle found that out the hard way after Monday night’s game against Kansas.
The Buffaloes, now 11-17 (2-15 Big 12), lost in a hard-fought 71-64 game dominated by Jayhawks’ big man, Hunter Dickinson, who had a season-high 32 points and 13 rebounds.
In discussing his team’s struggles to keep Dickinson under control, Boyle appeared to lose sight of where he was and who he was speaking to.
“Post defense is not for pussies,” Boyle said. “It is for men. You have to be a grown men to play post defense on Hunter Dickinson.”
The frustration of another heart-breaking loss appears to have gotten the better of Boyle, who’s not one to mince words. Dickinson absolutely changed the outcome of this game, too, as KU head coach Bill Self pointed out.
“If it weren’t for Hunter we would have been annihilated on the glass,” said Self. “He played like an All-American tonight.”
Dickinson made 13 of 18 shots and was 6 of 10 from the stripe for the Jayhawks, who will now close out their season with consecutive games against Arizona, Houston, and Texas Tech.
