Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Buffs Have Plenty To Prove On Pac-12 Road
January 11, 2012 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
On the upside, they did what was required of them by winning three league games at home. On the flip side, who in the conference knows anything about the Buffs once they leave Boulder? And that happens for the first time in Pac-12 play this week, with Bay Area stops on Thursday night (California) and Saturday afternoon (Stanford).
Count ESPN.com college blogger Eamonn Brennan among those who doubt CU will return from its debut Pac-12 junket enjoying its current standing. In a couple of words, Brennan ain't impressed; he believes the Buffs are hoops homebodies and will be exposed on the road, where last season they were 2-6 in both the non-conference and conference (Big 12).
Brennan's weekly Pac-12 Power Rankings list Cal and Stanford as the league's Nos. 1a and 1b (in that order) and CU as No. 3. But Brennan has "serious doubts about whether Colorado is really this good, but at some point you have to acknowledge the only team still undefeated in conference play. That's Colorado.
"To be fair, the Buffaloes were impressive last week, particularly in their 87-69 thrashing of a Washington squad that appeared to be finally putting its considerable talent together (and was itself ranked No. 3 last time we tried to make sense of this league). Tad Boyle's team is clearly improved from its early-season struggles, and the 3-0 start has to count for something."
OK . . .
But before you think poorly of Brennan and his ancestry, know this: Boyle's own assessment lines up pretty close to Brennan's - and that's what Boyle is communicating to his players before they pack their bags. Boyle is nothing if not honest with his guys; he told them at the conclusion of Tuesday's practice that they haven't earned the respect of their Pac-12 peers simply because they're 3-0 at home, that now is the time to step up their play because the level of their competition is about to take a large step up, and that pride and toughness are two elements they pack alongside their toothbrushes and change of socks.
(Quick facts: Cal is unbeaten at home this season - 11-0 - and winning by an average of 21.3 points at Haas Pavilion. Stanford is 9-1 at home. Both teams are 3-1 in the conference.)
I asked Boyle on Tuesday if he perceives there's still a large amount of uncertainty out there about his 3-0 team. His answer: "Absolutely . . . I don't think we've gained an ounce of respect yet, and I'm not saying we should. The only way you do that is by going out and winning on the road. That's what we have to do. It doesn't mean you have to win every game, but we've got to play and be competitive and give ourselves a chance. If we defend and rebound, we'll do that."
If you need a refresher on Cal, flash back to the Golden Bears' second-round NIT visit last March to the Coors Events Center. CU won by 17 points (89-72), but Buffs sophomore Andre Roberson remembers the Bears as being "well-coached (by Mike Montgomery) . . . they love to compete, they can compete with anybody in the country and they've got pretty much everybody back."
The Buffs weren't perfect on that boisterous night in March but they were very efficient, forcing the Bears into 13 turnovers while committing only five and shooting 45.6 percent from three-point range (9-of-20).
Oh, and they had a couple guys named Alec Burks (25 points) and Cory Higgins (22) in the starting lineup and another named Levi Knutson (10) coming off the bench. And when Cal visited, CU's focus might have been at a season high. The Buffs had been spurned by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee and began NIT play with a collection of SUV-sized chips on their shoulders.
Another factor that night was the early departure of Cal guard Jorge Guiterrez, a Denver Lincoln High School product who scored 16 first-half points but left the game with just under 141/2 minutes remaining. He suffered a sprained right ankle, took a knee to the head and suffered a possible concussion.
At the time, Boyle called it "a big blow" for the visitors. "When he went down it was advantage Colorado."
On Tuesday, Boyle was every bit as expressive about Guiterrez and his current worth to the Bears, as well as his own dismay that Guiterrez ever was allowed to escape the Front Range.
"He's the leader of their team - emotionally, spiritually . . . that hasn't changed. And he's even better now," Boyle said. "The thing that frustrates me is he should be in a Colorado uniform . . . he should be a Buff and that bothers me. There's nothing we can do about that; we've just got to live with it and make sure we don't let any more get away from the state."
Guiterrez, who spent a year at Findlay College Prep in Henderson, Nevada before heading to Cal, is one of four starters returning from the team that visited Boulder. And just a guess here, but I'm thinking Guiterrez has had CU's Berkeley visit in his sights since the Pac-12 schedule was released.
Boyle's evaluation of Guiterrez couldn't be much higher, and he's not alone. Guiterrez, a senior, and teammate Allen Crabbe, a sophomore, were named to the prestigious Wooden Award watch list in October.
In the NIT game, Crabbe scored nine points on three three-pointers (seven attempts, 12 total from the field). It wasn't a stellar shooting night for the 6-6 freshman, who would be named the Pac-10's 2010-11 freshman of the year.
And it certainly wasn't the kind of performance current CU freshman Askia Booker remembers from their time together at L.A.'s Price High School, where Crabbe was a Parade All-American and The Gatorade Player of the Year.
"Great player . . . probably the best high school player I played with," Booker said. "He might even be 6-7 and he can shoot the ball from unlimited range. He's very strong, not afraid to take it to the paint and he's really smart. He knows when to take good shots, the shots he needs to take. All that makes him really, really good."
Crabbe being honored last season as the conference's top freshman didn't surprise his former high school teammate. "I thought he could play anywhere in the country," said Booker, who considers Crabbe a close friend and still corresponds with him.
Crabbe, averaging a team-best 16.5 points, scored a career-high 26 points - 23 in the second half - and collected 12 rebounds on Sunday in Cal's 77-60 win at Oregon. Crabbe canned six three-pointers and leads the Pac-12 in treys made (50 total, 2.94 a game), but teammate Justin Cobbs (12.9 point average) leads the league in three-point shooting percentage (63.0).
Aside from U-Dub's visit to the Events Center, Booker calls the upcoming road trek "our top test . . . but if we keep working and stay consistent defensively I feel like we're as good as anybody in the Pac-12."
Added Roberson, the conference's rebounding leader at 11.7 a game: "We're motivated. We struggled a little on the road last year, but I feel like this year we've got a chance to make some noise. We have to concentrate on defense, and I think we're doing well with that right now. We have to go out there (to the Bay Area) and step it up. It's definitely a real test to see where we are in the conference."
The Buffs can be assured of this: There will be no shortage of interested observers.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
