Brooks: Huggins Has Range; Complete Game Is Next Goal

BOULDER - Even at first glance - and the glance occurred when she was a middle-schooler - Lauren Huggins made a knockout, make that a knock-down, impression on her future college coach.

Here's what Linda Lappe recalls seeing: "I saw Lauren shoot it from (three-point) distance in the eighth grade. I remember thinking then, 'Man, who's this skinny kid out there, 5-10, maybe 5-11, who's knocking down these threes?' Even back then she was one of the taller players, but her range was incredible. She kept that and kept on expanding it."

Now, as a freshman (make that a freshman with an asterisk) for Lappe's No. 11 Colorado Buffaloes, Huggins is a 6-1 three-point specialist who's working hard to become more than that.

Not that Lappe is disappointed with how Huggins is filling the long-range role - quite the contrary. Lappe and Huggins are interested in her development as a complete player, beginning of course with stronger defense and more efficiency in getting to the rim. Shooting her pull-up jumper will get attention, too.

There are no issues, noted Lappe, with Huggins' willingness to learn. She is keenly aware of every area in which she needs to improve and is an eager pupil.

"She knows her role now," Lappe said, "but she's developing herself as an overall player. She genuinely wants to do it."

Currently, Huggins's most valuable attribute to the unbeaten (8-0)Buffs is the long-range shooting that Lappe saw early on. Averaging 22 minutes through CU's first eight games, Huggins leads the team in three-pointers attempted (48) and made (21). She's averaging 8.8 points and 2.3 rebounds, with 13 assists, 11 steals (tied for the team high) and 10 turnovers. Her 21 successful treys ranks her fourth in the Pac-12 Conference and her 43.8 three-point percentage ranks her sixth, which Lappe says is "right where she needs to be . . . obviously, having a 50 percent three-point shooter is what you would strive for, but that's a pretty high mark."

Here's Lappe's analytical look at Huggins' 43.8 percentage: "We'd like her to stay the same if not get better, but I think 43 percent shows that she's taking good shots. If she wasn't taking good shots it wouldn't be that high. And you know the competition is going to get better."

Huggins, who was rated as the 64th best player in the nation and the 11th best wing by ESPN HoopGurlz when she was a senior at Heritage High School, credits her father (Jerry) with helping her develop a range that she says extends to "anywhere from three to five feet beyond arc . . . he spent countless hours with me in the gym, teaching me proper form. He would say, 'Let's push you back, push you back' until I reached that deep range."

Going deep in the women's game now is the same as in the men's. A couple of seasons ago, the NCAA made the men's and women's three-point arc 20 feet, 9 inches, so that puts Huggins' maximum range at 25-9. But, she adds, "If I see a (longer) shot I feel I can make I'm not going to pass it up."

Saying Lappe has given Huggins a "green light" to fire away might be misconstrued as Huggins being given license to operate as what was commonly (and unkindly) known back in the day as a shot fiend. Not so, said Lappe: "Lauren generally takes very smart shots. She generally finds open gaps very well in our offense, she moves to open spots very well for kick-outs. When she has her feet set, which she's becoming a lot more consistent in doing, she's pretty tough to guard."

That's because of her length (nearly 6-2 with long arms) and having a high release on her shot. "It's tough for people to get out there and guard that," Lappe said. "Add her range to that and you've got to be right on her for her not to be able to get a great shot off. She can get great shots off even when defenders are fairly close . . .

"A lot of people think if you're taking all those shots you're being fairly selfish. For her, that's what she does, that's what she brings to our program. If she doesn't take an open shot, to me that's being selfish because she's thinking too much about the last shot or 'what if I miss this one?' Or maybe she's not getting her feet set. We want her to take those open shots that usually her teammates have worked hard to get her. If she's not creating her shot, she's moving to open spots and reading defenses and somebody else has done a really good job of creating a shot for her - and she's got to be ready to knock them down."

Huggins is officially classified as a freshman, but that's a bit of a misnomer. She's in her second year at CU, but after playing in only five games last season was diagnosed as having a stress fracture (lower leg) and sat out the rest of the season. A medical hardship was granted, returning her to a freshman classification this season.

If the season of watching and waiting was tedious for Huggins, it also was beneficial. Huggins concedes it was "tough . . . definitely not how I envisioned having my freshman season go. But at the end I knew it would be the most beneficial thing for me, just watching and seeing what it takes to get on the floor and see what Colorado basketball is all about. But 'freshman' just a label; after last year, coach Lappe expects me not to be a freshman. She can't treat me like a freshman and she doesn't have to."

Lappe had a similar situation with forward Arielle Roberson. "I saw the same thing with (her)," Lappe said. "I never looked at Arielle as a freshman last year and I never did with Lauren this year. It always helps being able to see how it's done, how to do something or how not to do something. Being able to understand game and level of play without having to be thrown into the fire - there's always a benefit to that. There is a benefit to being thrown in the fire, but when you don't have a choice I think she took advantage of learning and watching."

And it wasn't like Huggins' time off was idle. When she was able toward the end of last season, she was helping in scout team scenarios and learning how Lappe wants different defenses attacked and what Lappe expects from CU's defense.

Said Lappe: "I told her should be one of our best players in terms of knowing and learning scouting reports, how to play different players and teams. She's a smart player who understands the game and that puts her far and above any other freshman."

But that's not to say that Huggins has mastered her learning curve. While she's stronger physically now, which has helped her maintain (maybe even extend) her range and shoot all of her shots with consistent form, Lappe said Huggins should get better at understanding defensive positioning and "trust her feet" more. "Defensively, she's ready for the next step."

Offensively, "As she gets older, being able to handle pressure a little better and do more in terms of driving to the rim, shooting a pull-up jumper and making defenses pay when they flying out at her - those are things she needs to work on," Lappe said. "As she develops, she's already gotten much, much better at her pull-up jumper. That's the next step - for her to feel confident that's money as much as her three-point shot is. From there, driving all the way to the rim is next."

None of that critique is lost on Huggins - particularly the defensive part. "I'm getting there," she said. "I definitely see improvement even from last year and the few games I played. We're known for rebounding and defense here, but I'm not quite to the high standard yet."

When Pac-12 play begins next month, Huggins knows how she will show up on every opponent's scouting report: "Shooter" so they're going to come running out at me and I need to try and make passes to our posts, Jen (Reese) and Rachel (Hargis) down low. You have to be more than one-dimensional."

She's working on it, but until she gets there, that one dimension makes her valuable to the Buffs. "She was recruited because she was a really good three-point shooter," Lappe said. That's what she brought and we needed that."

Chances are very good the Buffs will need it even more in January, February and March.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU