Brooks: Musings At The Big 12's Mid-Way Point

BOULDER - Half-way home . . .

The Big 12 Conference basketball season is at the mid-way point. Thus, a few mid-term observations on the Colorado men's team:

Coach Jeff Bzdelik was dead on in October when he said the Buffaloes could be better, but playing in such a brutally difficult league, that improvement might not be reflected in CU's record. The Buffs are 2-6 in conference (11-11 overall), with four of the six league losses by a combined total of 17 points.
If/when a young team learns to finish, the close losses will morph into satisfying wins. Imagine sitting at 6-2 with victories rather than agonizing defeats against Kansas State (87-81), Texas A&M (67-63) Iowa State (64-63) and Kansas (72-66, OT). One would hope that trend is about over.
Underscoring the obvious, the Buffs are in dire need of an large inside presence who can score, rebound and complement three proven wing players - Cory Higgins, Alec Burks and Marcus Relphorde. Think Bzdelik and his staff don't know it? They're combing the countryside for "bigs." It's Bzdelik's version of Monster Quest.
Burks (16.1 points, 4.7 rebounds a game) undeniably is among the nation's top freshmen. Could his presence made a difference at Iowa State (he left the game after a couple of minutes with a mildly sprained left knee) and against No. 1 KU? Can't say for certain, but him being on the court certainly wouldn't have been a detriment. He's on his way to becoming an elite player, and an off-season in the weight room will help get him there.
As Relphorde begins to show his versatility and athleticism, he's also learning how physically demanding the Big 12 is - and nightly. A hip bruise sidelined him late in the Texas A&M loss, and he got elbowed on the injured spot in the overtime loss against KU. But he battled through it. Jayhawks coach Bill Self described Relphorde as probably the "hardest guard we had" - meaning Relphorde (18 points, 11 rebounds) was difficult to defend.
Bzdelik's recurring sermon since mid-October has been about the total team effort required to rebound. Think it registered before the KU game? The mountainous Jayhawks won the board battle, but didn't dominate (45-41). Still, averaging a league-worst 29 rebounds a game, the Buffs need the energy and intensity they showed against the Jayhawks on a nightly basis.
What's happened to CU's free throwing shooting? Bzdelik has joked that being ranked first nationally in that category several weeks back apparently was "a kiss of death." Can't argue with him. CU remains the best in the Big 12 (76.2 percent, 409-of-537) but has slipped to No. 7 nationally. The Buffs missed seven foul shots against the Jayhawks, who left the door gaping by missing 20 (18-of-38).
Got to admire senior Dwight Thorne II's leadership ability and his adjustment to coming off the bench. Plus, if you desperately need a trey, who you gonna call? My text goes to Thorne, who leads CU in three-point field goal percentage (49.1, 27-of-55) in his 21.3 minutes a game.
Seem to you that Higgins' visibility has slipped a bit? Think again. Look at his mid-way stats: he remains the team leader in minutes (33.1), points (18.1), steals (39) and free throws attempted (142) and made (119). Burks' presence has shifted the spotlight a bit, but Higgins' dependability is unquestioned.
No secret here, but to finish the second half of league play with more than two wins, the Buffs need more consistent minutes - scoring, rebounding, ball handling, defense . . . the works - from their other regular contributors. The list is comprehensive - Nate Tomlinson, Austin Dufault, Levi Knutson . . . every guy who suits up.

BURKS' STATUS: After watching the KU game from the bench, he's practiced for the past two days and says his left knee "feels good, feels back to normal." However, Burks again will abide by Bzdelik's decision on whether he'll play Saturday against Missouri (2 p.m., Coors Events Center, Altitude).

"I feel like I can play, but he's the coach and he's looking out for the best interest and my future, so I respect every decision he makes," Burks said Friday.

He was to have been evaluated after Friday's practice, but a final call might not be made until Saturday morning when "we see what kind of reaction his body might have" after two days of work, Bzdelik said.

Burks conceded watching the OT loss to KU was difficult: "It was very hard . . . I feel like I could have helped my teammates a little bit. If I was out there, we might have got the 'W,' you know. But it's neither here nor there; I'm just glad we fought hard."

A Missourian (Grandview), Burks won't admit to being either a Jayhawks or Tigers fan: "I'm more of a player person instead of a whole team. I'm not a Missouri fan, but there are a lot of them where I'm from."

40 MINUTES OF HELL: Mizzou (16-6, 4-3) lives and dies with its pressure defense. Burks' antidote: "Don't turn the ball over, stay in the offense, play calm, collected and move the ball around. If you can do that, you win the game."

Added Bzdelik: "We want to . . . keep our turnovers to a bare minimum. Take the first best shot we get, however, whenever that is - that's what we'll do."

The Tigers lead the league in steals (12.5 a game) and turnover margin (7.95). Mizzou forces an average of 21.4 turnovers a game.

NO HANGOVERS: Bzdelik's message to his players on Friday was, in essence, "Don't let KU beat us twice."

Taking the nation's top-ranked team to overtime didn't put anything extra in CU's tank - at least not from his perspective.

"Nope, because it's only about winning . . . there's only categories for wins and losses - not 'C' for confidence," he said, adding bouncing back from that defeat might be more difficult because of how much a victory would have meant to his program.

Still, the OT loss must be flushed.

"All losses hurt, but that (win) would have been special," he said. "We can't be hung over emotionally (and) I sincerely hope our fans aren't hung over emotionally as well because we desperately need them as well. They've been awesome for us."

COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: Relphorde's first career double-double was bittersweet because of the KU outcome.

He refrained from calling it his best game at CU "because we didn't get the win. If we got the win, I'd probably say that. I played well, but I could have done more to help us win."

He did acknowledge, though, that the Buffs must keep up their rebounding intensity: "Knowing how big they (Jayhawks) were, it kind of put a sense of urgency in us to go to the boards so we wouldn't get outrebounded bad.

"I know Missouri is not as big, but I hope that intensity we had carries over . . . we just have to keep that going."

Noted Bzdelik: "Unbridled effort can make up for a lot of things - lack of size, talent . . . effort is a great trump card."

THE GRINER WATCH: The CU women get their first look Saturday (6:30 p.m. MST, Waco, Texas) at Baylor's 6-foot-8 Brittney Griner, the 2009 recruiting cycle's most heralded signee and the central reason the Lady Bears were the coaches' preseason choice to win the Big 12 Conference.

Griner has played up to her billing, but the Lady Bears are 16-5 overall and 3-4 in the league, putting them in a three-way for fifth place and one game ahead of the Buffs (2-5 conference, 12-8 overall).

No. 15/17 Baylor is coming off a 65-47 win on Wednesday night at Kansas State in which Griner scored 26 points. Griner has been the leading scorer in 17 of Baylor's 21 games, and it took her only 14 games to break the school's single-season shot blocking record (86, Danielle Wilson).

Griner now has 122 - an NCAA record.

Oh, yes, and Griner dunks - well and often. She threw it down 52 at Houston's Nimitz High School.

Said Baylor coach Kim Mulkey at the league's preseason media briefing: "I've never seen a girl that can effortlessly dunk it any way she wants - left-handed, right-handed, two-handed jam. I think the only dunk I've not ever seen her do is the windmill.

"But there's more to (her) than dunking the basketball. She understands there's so much more to basketball than dunking . . . right now, she's probably more known for her dunks than anything. But when she's in the weight room for a longer period of time and she's played at this level for a longer period of time and has had time to adjust, I think she's going to be special."

Averaging 31.5 minutes, Griner is producing 19.1 points and 8.5 rebounds a game.

CU coach Kathy McConnell-Miller said the Buffs' strategy for Griner will be similar to what other teams have shown: "They make her take tough shots over the top. They don't give her angles. They don't front her and completely deny the touches . . . most post players go over their left shoulder, she turns and goes right. Somebody early on taught her that move, and it's pretty effective."

McConnell-Miller also said Griner has been "very good" at identifying double teams and kicking the ball to an open teammate - although Baylor is No. 10 in the league in three-point field goal percentage (31.2).

"(Baylor) is not most effective from beyond the arc; they're drivers and they've got good personnel," McConnell-Miller said. "But (Griner) is the key."

The Buffs hope to "push her off the block and make her take a contested shot, as opposed to the high-low catch," McConnell-Miller said. "Don't give her anything . . . she's getting some good looks, but teams have been successful being a little physical with her."

The players CU hopes can do that are 6-4 Courtney Dunn, 6-3 Julie Seabrook and 6-7 Melissa MacFarlane.

The Lady Bears' on-court leader, junior Melissa Jones (Legacy High School), didn't play Wednesday at Kansas State and has been in and out of the lineup for the past several weeks while nursing a stress reaction, the precursor to a stress fracture, in her right leg.

Jones has played in 16 games, averaging 11.3 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists.

After last weekend's 80-64 loss against No. 6/4 Nebraska, CU has had an open week, giving McConnell-Miller and two members of her staff an opportunity to make out-of-state recruiting trips.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU