Brooks: After Slow Start, Dinwiddie's Game Coming On

BOULDER - His name has always set him apart, his basketball talent takes it from there. Seven games into his career at the University of Colorado, Spencer Dinwiddie is finding himself, although he realizes the discovery process is ongoing.

The gifted freshman from Woodland Hills, Calif., might not have expected much of a break-in period at the college level, but he encountered one nonetheless. CU's first five games offered glimpses of Dinwiddie's overall capabilities, but the most recent two games have been more in focus with a bigger picture that coach Tad Boyle envisioned when Dinwiddie signed with the Buffs a year ago.

A seven-game starter, Dinwiddie totaled 24 points in his first five college outings. But he's led CU with 16 points in each of the past two games against Georgia, a 70-68 win, and Colorado State, a 65-64 loss.

Several conversations with Boyle have helped settle Dinwiddie, one of their most recent coming after a two-point, two-turnover, four-foul performance in the Buffs' overtime win two weeks ago at Air Force.

Recalled Dinwiddie: "He told me to not worry about things. He understands that I'll make mistakes, but he says to just go out and play, have some fun, be myself - the person he recruited."

During Dinwiddie's recruitment in the summer of 2010, Boyle and his staff "always kept coming back" to Dinwiddie. One reason: The 6-5 point guard wasn't at all difficult to track. His AAU team - Double Pump Elite - won the under-17 championship in the adidas Super 64 tournament in Las Vegas, with Dinwiddie named the tourney MVP.

He encored during the winter by being named the MVP of the West Valley League, as Taft High School finished 29-3 and won the Los Angeles city championship. Dinwiddie was the L.A. City Section Player of The Year and was among seven prep players - CU teammate Damiene Cain of Harvard Westlake also was in the group - to win the John R. Wooden Player of The Year Award.

The pace of the college game hasn't been Dinwiddie's biggest obstacle because he's been subjected to about six months of it in practice and "we do such a great job with that," he said. His initial difficulty has come from that "little bit of a learning curve . . . you try to be aggressive in practice and just try to hit a rhythm and understand what to look for."

In his two most recent games he's seen things better, and Boyle saw "a much different player than he was in the first five games." The improvement is traceable to an upturn in Dinwiddie's early confidence, his aggressiveness, and his approach to the game.

CU senior point guard Nate Tomlinson has seen all those things, too.

"There's definitely been improvement; he's understanding the style of play and that every possession is important - that's been really big for Spencer," Tomlinson said. "His shot selection was a little bit messed up at the beginning, and I think that's a reason why he's scoring more now. He's taking more efficient and better shots in the offense."

In CU's first five games, Dinwiddie was 7-of-30 from the field; against Georgia and CSU he was 10-of-18, including three-of-seven from behind the three-point arc.

"When you're making shots, you're going to get more confident," Tomlinson said. "He just has to take good shots and he'll make them - and that's what he's been doing."

Added Boyle: "The biggest thing is he's been aggressive, but also he's taking what the defense is giving him and not forcing things too much. The great thing about Spencer is he's a good decision maker; I feel very comfortable when he has the ball in his hands. I think he can be a much better assist guy than he's proven because he's a very good passer. And he's instinctively unselfish."

Dinwiddie's nine assists put him in a fifth-place tie with sophomore Andre Roberson. Tomlinson leads the Buffs with 22, followed by senior Carlon Brown (17), freshman Askia Booker (15), and senior Austin Dufault (11).

Dinwiddie's size, court awareness and playmaking abilities were apparent to Boyle during his recruitment, and Tomlinson immediately noticed those attributes when Dinwiddie arrived on campus this summer.

"He sees the game really well," Tomlinson said. "Point guard to point guard, I saw that when he first came in here. He can still pick up more of the little things, and the coaches have done a really good job of staying on his back and not letting him slip with any of those. I think that might annoy him a little right now, but it's going to do him good down the track. The coaches are staying on top of him and making sure he's doing the right things, because obviously he's going to be a good player here in the future."

Dinwiddie was acquainted with Cain and Booker from L.A. area high school hoops and said he also knew CU sophomore guard Shannon Sharpe, of Corona, Calif., "a little bit." There's been no difficulty meshing with the rest of the Buffs, a group Dinwiddie calls "very cohesive . . . we're all pretty much friends. When it's game time we come together; there are no individuals, no crazy outstanding personalities. We all just get along."

In addition to his obvious court talents, Tomlinson approves of Dinwiddie's humility. "I don't want to say I've done much to help him, but I have talked with him and offered advice when he's asked me," Tomlinson said. "He's a smart kid who will listen to his elders - people who've been here and done it before. That's a good trait; he's willing to listen, and that's a key part of learning."

Dinwiddie's goals are team oriented, but if he could play well enough to earn a long look as Pac-12 Conference Freshman of The Year, of course he'd be honored. For now, though, he wants two games of improvement to become three, three to become four, four to reach five . . . and continue on that course through mid-March.

"Now that I feel like I'm coming along," he said, "I don't want to take a step back."

BUFF BITS: Fresno State, CU's opponent Wednesday at the Coors Events Center at 7 p.m., hasn't played in Boulder since 1975. Tickets start at $10 and can be purchased at CUBuffs.com/tickets or by calling 303-49-BUFFS . . . . The Buffs will be the Bulldogs' second consecutive Pac-12 foe; Fresno State (4-4) hammered visiting Utah 82-52 last weekend . . . . CU has won 26 consecutive non-conference home games . . . . Boyle is looking for improved execution from his team. In their one-point loss at CSU, the Buffs missed a dozen layups, committed 15 turnovers and clanked 16 free throws. CU also shot 36.8 percent from the field, and he's addressed shot selection with his players. "I can't do anything about missed layups, that's on the players," Boyle said. "But the execution part and the shot selection part, as a coach, I have to take care of it." . . . . While Dinwiddie has come within four points in each of the last two games, CU hasn't had a 20-point scorer in its last three games . . . . Boyle likes his scoring options in crunch time, mentioning Tomlinson, Brown, Dinwiddie, Booker and Roberson. "There's a lot of different guys we have on this team who can have the ball," he said. "I don't want to be predictable, and I think the strength of this team is our balance and the fact that we do have a lot of different weapons on any given night - not just one or two guys we have to count on. Sometimes even if you have a go-to guy, he's going to be double-teamed . . . you've got to have different guys who can step up." . . . . Boyle sees "the rust" starting to leave sophomore center Shane Harris-Tunks' game, but adds, "There's lots of room for improvement." The 6-11 Harris-Tunks, who missed last season due to knee surgery, is averaging 4.3 points and 3.1 rebounds in 17.1 minutes a game. "I'm pleased with his rebounding," Boyle said, "but I want him to finish low on a more consistent basis. He's a great defender and screener."

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU