Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Hoping Post-Wyoming Layoff Pays Off
December 18, 2011 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
But some of the Buffs don't care for a complete purge of that 65-54 loss, which saw a 30-30 halftime tie morph into a final 20 minutes dominated by the Cowboys. CU seemed incapable of preventing it, and a few players such as freshman guard Askia Booker want that ugly memory kept fresh, reminding how it felt to be kicked around for a half on his home court.
"We're not going to forget about it, but that can be a good thing," Booker said a couple of days ago. "We're taking that as an offense almost; it'll still be there to remind us that we were in that spot and we don't want to be there again."
Added sophomore post Shane Harris-Tunks: "It's really not something we want to forget. You want to use it and channel it. It really exposed our inconsistencies in a 40-minute game. We know we have to get better at that and play for a full 40 minutes."
But then there was senior point guard Nate Tomlinson, whose approach to the Wyoming loss appeared the polar opposite of Booker and Harris-Tunks. Said Tomlinson: "Wyoming was good, but if we played them again I'd put my money on us. I believe in our team; we just had a bad night. If guys want to hold on to it as a motivator, that's fine. What motivates me is just winning the next game."
Whatever works for his players is what second-year coach Tad Boyle wants them to latch onto. But with a 5-4 record and three non-conference games remaining before they debut in the Pac-12, Boyle is trying to make sure his team is reaching for and holding onto the right things. He was beyond perplexed after the Wyoming loss, with the Buffs being outrebounded 34-29, committing 15 turnovers and breaking down offensively at the crux of his frustration.
Boyle gave his players last Saturday and Sunday off, and was planning on making last Monday's practice a brief one - even wrapping it up with a round of whiffle ball to lighten the mood as his players headed into semester finals.
Nice thought, but the more he pondered it, Boyle couldn't see the Buffs' second-half whiff against the Cowboys being conducive to whiffle ball. Monday was business as usual - and then some.
"I just couldn't do it," Boyle said of scratching the play time and making last Monday a teaching/correcting session. "We're 5-4 . . . there's just too much we have to improve on."
He changed up a few things last week, one being returning to taping practices - something he usually discontinues once the season begins. He also specified for each of his players two or three phases of their games he expects them to upgrade. If it was a case of restating the obvious for some players, well, coaches must restate until they see results.
Harris-Tunks was told he needs to "score or get fouled" when he gets the ball in the low block. "I knew that," Harris-Tunks said. "Obviously, I haven't been finishing as strong as I'd like. Coach is always asking us to give more of ourselves, and he wants more from us as well."
Booker was told he needs to "cut down on turnovers, play under control, and listen and hear what (Boyle) is saying all the time." Booker realizes his role is "to come off the bench and help; I can't do that if I'm turning the ball over. But those things are obvious to me. In the last three games I've turned it over too much (eight total). I noticed it and I take responsibility."
And the enigmatic Tomlinson was told to "take care of the ball, take good shots and put the team first." Tomlinson, who went scoreless against Wyoming for the first time this season and committed a season-high four turnovers, said he's sometimes felt pressured by his role as a point guard "to put it on myself if we're not scoring . . .
"I know I have to get everything running, but at the same time I can't do that and put the ball in the bucket. I'm trying to find the middle ground - be aggressive in scoring as well as getting people open and involved. I know I have to do something different, and coach Boyle wants me to as well."
Two areas of team-wide improvement that almost can go unspoken for Boyle (but don't bet on it) are in defense and rebounding. With the Buffs shooting only 38.8 percent from the field against the Cowboys, one of Boyle's postgame responses was, "We have to figure out how you win this game 54-53."
On the rebounding front, which didn't please him either, Boyle and his staff have added a twist to the way they chart boardwork, keeping a statistic that reflects rebounds per number of minutes played. Boyle believes that figure offers a more accurate read on who is rebounding more efficiently. The Buffs can count on sophomore Andre Roberson, who is averaging 11.8 boards a game. The next-highest number (4.8) belongs to senior Austin Dufault, but Dufault left the Wyoming game with one rebound. (Any guess about one of the areas of improvement Boyle targeted for Dufault?)
The adjusted rebounds-per-minutes-played stat also fits more comfortably into a more comprehensive individual efficiency rating that Boyle has borrowed from Jerry Krause, Gonzaga's director of basketball operations who has Colorado ties. (He's a former Loveland high school coach and assistant at Northern Colorado.) Krause, according to Gonzaga's on-line media guide, has authored 30-plus books on basketball and produced that many instructional videos. The Gonzaga website touts him as "the most widely published coach in basketball history, surpassing the legendary Clair Bee."
But Krause's individual efficiency rating, a formula that translates stat sheet information into a letter grade, is what Boyle is most interested in. He has game-by-game letter grades for all his CU players dating to last season, when the Buffs won a school-record 24 games.
Boyle said the individual marks and corresponding letter grades don't lie: "They're right on and they can be used at any level. You could go back with this formula and give Bill Russell game-by-game grades."
Most of the nine-game grades earned by his current players are well below being "Russell-esque" or even approaching marks earned last season by a quartet of departed Buffs.
Boyle wants his players to take advantage of their current home stand and smooth out the rough edges before Utah visits on New Year's Eve to open Pac-12 play. Monday night's game against CSU-Bakersfield (7 p.m.) is the third of eight straight at the Coors Events Center. (Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased at CUBuffs.com/tickets or by calling 303-49-BUFFS.)
In addition to prescheduled position workouts early last week, the players took it on themselves to organize a couple of team practices. That buoyed Boyle, and, hopes Booker, will create more of a sense of urgency for the Buffs to successfully close out the non-conference schedule and spring into their new league.
"It's been pretty intense around here," Booker said. "Everybody is awake now. I don't think everybody was awake before, just taking everything a little too lightly. Now, there's a mentality that you can see and feel in practice. Nobody wants to lose anymore and we're taking that pretty seriously. It's a good feeling to have, but we have to come out next game and show it. That's where it starts."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
