Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Big 'Ifs' Abound As Buffs Enter Pac-12 Play
December 30, 2011 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
Not so fast . . .
Strangely enough there is excitement, mainly because Top 25s and RPIs before New Year's Day mean exactly diddly come crunch time - or mid-March. Granted, most Pac-12 teams haven't been overwhelming thus far, but there's still plenty of time for a revival before Selection Sunday.
The league's Thursday/Saturday scheduling module is underway, sending Utah to Colorado on Saturday afternoon for both teams' first-ever Pac-12 game (4 p.m., Coors Events Center, ROOT Sports). Plenty of good seats and storylines are available.
The Buffs, even the youngest among them, have tracked the non-conference results and heard the dire forecasts for their new league. And the Buffs know dire; the media's preseason poll put CU among the Pac-12 bottom three, tied with Washington State for 10th and ahead of only Utah.
Nonetheless, CU freshman Spencer Dinwiddie is revved up for New Year's Eve and the start of a new season. "I'm excited - we all are," he said. "I definitely think we can be competitive; if we can stay consistent, there's no reason we can't compete at the top of the conference. They say there's a lot of disparity in the league and, yeah, teams have had their stumbles. We feel we can compete in this conference."
The same preseason media poll that pushed the Buffs toward the league's bottom had UCLA, California and Arizona - in that order - as its leading trio. But the surprise team through non-conference play has been Oregon State, which at 10-2 was off to its best start since 1989-90. The Beavers lost their Pac-12 opener Thursday night, while Stanford won its first league game and is the only Pac-12 team to even receive votes in this week's Associated Press Top 25.
According to Thursday's RPI, the Pac-12's highest ranking trio was Arizona was at No. 57, Oregon at No. 85 and CU at No. 94.
In the Pac-12's new order, the Buffs (8-4, 0-0) are looking up at Stanford (11-2, 1-0), Cal (11-3, 1-0), Oregon (10-3, 1-0) and Washington (7-5, 1-0). Suffering opening-night losses were OSU (10-3, 0-1), UCLA (7-6, 0-1), Southern California (5-9, 0-1), and Washington State (8-5, 0-1). Like CU, Arizona (9-4), Arizona State (4-8) and Utah (3-9) begin league play Saturday.
The Utes have been as unimpressive as their record, losing their nine games by an average of 15 points. Their three W's were earned against San Diego Christian (58-55), Idaho State (71-59) and Portland (72-67). But two of the three wins have been in the last three games, perhaps an indicator that the Utes are close to remedying whatever sent them spiraling on an eight-game losing streak after winning their opener.
But here's what CU coach Tad Boyle is telling his team about Utah's record and the Buffs' focus perhaps waning because of it: "They better not (lose focus) . . . one thing we've talked about is this being a new season - and not only for the Colorado Buffaloes, but it is for the Utah Utes. They probably have a sense of what's past is past, it's in the rearview mirror. They have just as much incentive and want-to as we do. We're 0-0, just like they are. That's the message we're trying to get across to our players."
Chief among Boyle's players unlikely to lose focus for the Utes is senior Carlon Brown. He transferred from Utah two seasons ago, sitting out last season per NCAA transfer rules. Brown, CU's leading scorer (13.0), has been asked about Saturday's game for the last couple of weeks, but the interview requests have multiplied over the last couple of days.
After the Buffs' 92-34 mauling of New Orleans on Thursday night, the affable Brown said he wasn't concerned about his former Utah connection becoming a distraction. Brown will approach Saturday's game just as he did the previous one.
"I'm going to try and be aggressive early and make plays and get to the (free throw) line," he said. "If my shot is falling, then take it; if guys are open, hit them. I'm going to practice with the same emphasis and play it like it's another game, because if I put too much emphasis on it, it might take away from the team and what we're trying to do - and I don't want that."
Brown's teammates aren't worried about that happening. "Watching him every day in practice, he doesn't worry about the past or the future - it's just about the moment he's in," freshman Askia Booker said. "He's only worried about Colorado basketball."
Added Dinwiddie: "He hasn't talked about it; he's done a great job of being a team-first kind of guy. It hasn't been an individual thing for him. But we all know; it's definitely no secret. He's playing his old school and we should beat them for him."
Boyle likely will speak with Brown about not getting "over hyped," but he added that might be more of an issue when the Buffs travel to Utah in late February. Of more urgency now for Boyle is whether his team can sustain the full-game consistency and intensity it found against UNO. There's also the matter of how the Buffs defend Utes senior point guard and leading scorer Josh Watkins (16.1).
Watkins, said Boyle, "makes them go. They'll set a lot of ball screens for him. He has the ability to get the ball in the lane. He's not tall (5-11), but strong and stocky (211 pounds) and he uses his body well. He creates shots for himself and teammates . . . he's the straw in their drink. We have to make sure we contain him, keep him in front of us."
This is the second season that Boyle will have had to acclimate to a new league. His first year at CU brought his initial tour of the Big 12; Year 2 brings entry into the Pac-12. He'll know more about travel to new venues, the Thursday/Saturday schedule, teams' and coaches' personalities, etc., after this first western trek.
Still, he doesn't foresee "a huge difference. The venues and teams are different, but in terms of preparing for conference play, I don't think our veterans have that sense. We've talked about the historic nature of being (CU's) first Pac-12 team and setting the standard for teams to come," he said. "We want it to be a standard that's high, not low. I think our freshmen are excited, particularly our LA kids - that's one of the reasons they're here, because we went to the Pac-12. So for those kids, yeah, there's a sense of excitement and anticipation."
Those three would be Booker, Dinwiddie and Damiene Cain, whom Boyle expects to be available Saturday. The 6-7 forward has missed the past three games, the first due to sickness and the last two with concussion symptoms. He's played only against Fresno State (6 minutes) and Wyoming (12).
"It's been frustrating," Cain said. "It's been one thing after another. I came back (to the team), got sick and couldn't play. Then came back, got the concussion and couldn't play. Now I'm back and I'm hoping this is the last of it."
Said Boyle: "I can see that he's frustrated; Damiene wants to play. If he wasn't frustrated, something would be wrong. That frustration is a good sign. We're glad to have him back, I'll tell you that."
Cain conceded his conditioning isn't up to speed, but he believes he'll come around quickly in that regard. "I'm just excited to be back and about starting the Pac-12," he said. "Coach Boyle says my role hasn't changed; he wants to keep me in the post and have me rebound . . . anything I can do to get out there and help them out is what I want."
If Cain can stay healthy, if Dinwiddie can maintain his pace (double-figure scoring in the last seven games), if Booker plays in control, if Brown plays within himself, if Andre Roberson continues to be Mr. Double-Double (he has eight this season), if Austin Dufault remains consistent, if Nate Tomlinson finds an even keel and stays on it, if the Buffs have learned a full game requires playing two halves . . . .
That's close to an overdose of ifs, but if the Buffs can deal with them, Year 1 in their new league might bring a respectable run. Their search for answers starts Saturday.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
