Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Booker, Buffs' Bench Offering Prime Minutes
January 06, 2012
Truth be known, it was more than that. It was a talk of the heart-to-heart variety - and it wasn't about that night's choice of entrees.
As Booker recalls, Boyle wanted to discuss expectations - some met, some not through the Buffs' first 10 games. The coach let the player know he had confidence in him, was counting on him . . . and was waiting on him to consistently produce.
"That's pretty much how it was," Booker, a freshman guard from Los Angeles, said Friday. "He sat me down and told me that he knows what I'm capable of and if I can take on that responsibility that he sees in me, who knows what can happen for me?
"It fired me up, it opened my eyes. Coach can't sit everybody down individually and talk to them. So for him to do that with me, it showed me a lot . . . and it showed me he has confidence in me."
Booker hadn't exactly disappeared in his first 10 games at the college level, but neither had he proved to be a picture of consistency. He had reached double figures in scoring three times, and while those numbers were OK, it was the zero turnovers and 14 points posted against Georgia that Boyle saw as a standard Booker was capable of meeting.
Problem was, Booker's decisions weren't allowing him to consistently get close to reaching it. A stomach virus sidelined him for CU's spotty win against Texas Southern, then came UNO and the Booker-Boyle pregame dialogue. Since then Booker has scored 13, 14 and 12 points - and hasn't committed more than one turnover in any of the three games.
In CU's surprising 87-69 handling of Washington on Thursday night, Booker scored nine of his total in the second half when the Buffs had the Huskies on a short leash and didn't want to turn them loose. UW remained tethered, with Booker and the Buffs' other bench contributors a key reason.
"'Ski' is 'Ski' . . . he just comes in with no fear and gives the gusto that we need," said Boyle, adding that his bench's performance against the Huskies boosted his confidence in reserves such as Sabatino Chen and Jeremy Adams while also providing promising glimpses of Shane Harris-Tunks.
"Hopefully, we can get Damiene (Cain) in the mix a little bit, and Shane needs to continue to develop and have quality minutes," Boyle noted.
One of the messages the Buffs bench hears most frequently from Boyle and his staff is this: "Don't count the time, make the time count." Boyle translated: "If you're only out there for seven minutes, make it a great seven minutes. If it's twelve, make it a great twelve. It's quality more than quantity, and the higher the quality, the quantity takes care of itself."
Chen is a 6-4 slasher and non-stop defender that Boyle initially recruited when he was at Northern Colorado and Chen was playing for Monarch High School. Chen wound up at the University of Denver and was considering shifting to UNC. Then CU hired Boyle, and Chen followed. His three first-half layups were instrumental in CU overtaking UW.
"Our bench has been a big benefit, especially when teams come up here to altitude," said Chen, who averages 12.6 minutes a game - second only to Booker among non-starters. "We want to be able to give our starters a rest and still maintain our momentum, like we did (Thursday)."
Booker, described by Boyle as "a sixth starter, if you will," averages 21.6 minutes. Although they play different positions, Booker is cast in the role this season that Andre Roberson was as a freshman last season - a high-energy plug-in when Boyle believes one is needed.
"(Booker) comes in and puts a lot of pressure on the defense," Boyle said. "As long as he's taking good shots . . . that's one of the things we talked to him about (Thursday). We just don't want jump shots over a hand. But when he's open we want him to shoot it - and he wants to do that, too. He was really key for us in the second half."
At Price High School in L.A., Booker "had the freedom" to take more perimeter shots. Recently, he's been trying to improve his three-point accuracy in working before and after practice with assistant coach Jean Prioleau. Booker is 43.3 percent (13-of-30) from behind the arc, while the Buffs as a whole are shooting 39.6 percent (91-of-230). Their current three-point percentage is a school best.
Boyle called Booker "a capable shooter," but added, "The whole key with 'Ski' is his decision making - when to shoot, when to pass, don't force the issue, take what the defense gives you. I thought he made some great decisions (against UW), especially in the open floor in transition."
Two games into Pac-12 Conference play, increased bench productivity has given Boyle more latitude with and confidence in his rotation than he might have had before Christmas. The reserves' improvement, said Booker, has come from their knowing and accepting their roles and playing with the same intensity they do in practice.
"Sometimes coach separates the starters from the bench and we practice that way . . . there's a chip on their shoulders - including myself," Booker said. "I'm not a starter, so I have a chip on my shoulder as well. When you come in the game you push that much more to show coach that you can play and you want to help the team out. It all starts in practice really; it's really intense.
"But my feeling is to just help the team out, whether I'm starting or not."
DON'T COMPARE SCORES: Washington State, CU's opponent Saturday in the Coors Events Center (2 p.m., FSN), was beaten 62-60 in overtime Thursday night at Utah. The Buffs pounded the Utes by 40 (73-33) last weekend in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
Boyle knows his players are aware of those scores, and this is his antidote for whatever comparisons might be made: "You have to talk about it. You don't just assume that players are going to be as dialed up for Washington State as they were for Washington. So it's our job as a coaching staff to get them dialed in. (But) I like the mentality of our team."
Added Booker: "You don't focus on what Utah did to Washington State, you just keep in mind what we did (Thursday) and keep it going . . . you just build on what you did last and keep going from there."
Boyle admitted that Utah's OT win "surprised me a little bit, yeah . . . it just goes to show you that winning on the road is hard. I'm sure Utah had a little wakeup call after our game. There are some good things that sometimes come out of those situations."
WSU, which arrived in Boulder for a mid-afternoon practice on Friday, is 9-6 overall and 1-2 in the conference. The Cougars are 1-2, 0-1 on the road.
FIRST-PLACE BUFFS: At 2-0, CU is the Pac-12 only unbeaten team and alone in first place. OK, so it's very, very early, but it's still nice to be No. 1. Boyle's perspective: "We've had two home games; it's an 18-game schedule so anything can happen . . . it's wide open, but like in any league race, winning on the road is a premium."
The conference appears to be a playground for parity, and that doesn't surprise senior Carlon Brown. CU's long-standing goal, he said, was to open "3-0 at home (and) hopefully take a few on the road and that will put us in a good position in February and March to be in contention for the title."
Brown wasn't sure what kind of statement the Buffs' 2-0 start has made to the league. "I don't know what teams are thinking of us," he said. "But I think most teams think they can handle business at home and so far we've done that. We're just looking forward to doing it again (Saturday)."
HANG TOUGH, HANG UP A 'W': Of late, Boyle and his staff have put a premium on a gut-it-out style of play, and it paid clear dividends against UW after an erratic start.
Mental toughness has been emphasized as much physical toughness, said Brown, "But obviously we showed a little bit of both (Thursday). It's our execution, that's we're focusing on. If we can handle that and play defense and rebound - our two key signatures of this program - then we should always have a chance to win the game."
The Buffs have won five straight and eight of 10 since returning from Puerto Rico in mid-November. Losses to Colorado State and Wyoming, and an almost costly second-half lapse against Texas Southern have been educational, according to Brown.
"It's good to learn as quickly and early as possible, so in the latter part of the season you won't have those lapses and mistakes," he said. "We benefitted and learned from it, and now we're hitting some sort of a stride that hopefully we can maintain."
AND NOW, THE TOP 10: Brown made ESPN's nightly Top 10 on Thursday night - but it wasn't for the play you might think. With the shot clock winding down, Brown spun off the dribble, passed to himself off the backboard, caught the ball and laid it in.
But that wasn't what caught ESPN's eye. It was his first basket of the night (and CU's first) when he went over UW's Aziz N'Diaye for a layup that left Brown sprawling. Brown made the shot and a free throw, but the trip above the 7-0 N'Diaye and the descent left Brown shaken.
Said Brown: "It was scary, man . . . I came down on my wrist and hand. But everything was OK."
OK enough for him to finish with a team-best 18 points and the No. 2 spot in the nightly Top 10.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
