Brooks: Miller Pushing For A Quiet Storm In SLC

SALT LAKE CITY - The roar of the home crowd revs up Tory Miller. But weighed against silencing a crowd on the road, well, in Miller's estimation it's no contest, a clear no-brainer. He'll take that experience every time.

"I love home but I also love the road trips," Miller said the other day after he and his Colorado teammates had wrapped up weight work and a short practice.

"(The road) is a different environment," he continued. "It's one thing to hear the crowd screaming for you, it's another to make a crowd quiet. That's always a good feeling. Everything is going crazy then you hear the silence. Yeah, I actually like that a lot more."

Truth is, CU's blossoming 6-9 freshman forward doesn't have that much road experience. He and his Buffalo buds haven't yet hit the mute button on many crowds outside the Coors Events Center.

But their time, their opportunity, is coming. Fast.

The Buffs visit No. 9 Utah Wednesday (7:05 p.m., ESPN2), providing Miller with his first Pac-12 Conference road experience. Attendance thus far in the Jon M. Huntsman Center has averaged 10,758, but the building seats 15,000 and CU coach Tad Boyle wouldn't be surprised if 14,000 seats are filled.

If the Buffs can silence that crowd, you can consider this trip to the other side of the Rockies a resounding success.

No way around it, the Utes are rolling. Like the Buffs, they went 2-0 in their first weekend of Pac-12 play. Somewhat unlike the Buffs, they didn't dally with their common opponents. While CU (9-5) was dispatching UCLA 62-56 and USC 86-65, Utah (12-2) was destroying both, clubbing the Bruins 71-39 and the Trojans 79-55.

But an impressive asterisk belongs alongside both Buffs wins; they were accomplished with starting post Josh Scott on the bench because of an ailing back. That CU started 2-0 in conference play without him - even if was in the comfort of the CEC - is noteworthy and could be exactly what Boyle's bunch needed to begin rounding off the rough edges as it wades into the Pac-12.

Confidence gained sans Scott by younger players like Miller might be immeasurable. Miller logged 8 minutes against UCLA and 12 two days later against USC. He was most productive against the Trojans, with his six points and four rebounds both season highs. And his pair of blocked shots tied him with Wesley Gordon for a team best.

MILLER IS AS GREGARIOUS a freshman as Boyle has had in a while. He's also supremely confident without allowing that to erode his humility. When I asked him if Scott's absence was an unspoken directive for him to elevate his play, he answered, "Yes and no . . . obviously this was an opportunity I've been waiting on. I've always been ready; I've been working toward this for the last 18 years of my life. Give me the chance and I know what I can do, I'll do what I need to do."

He'll be needed again Wednesday night, even though Scott is expected to return to the lineup. Scott is practicing again and showing no ill effects from the back spasms. In the two games minus Scott, Boyle toyed with a smaller lineup, but against the Utes "small ball" doesn't appear to be an option.

Utah coach Larry Kristkowiak has access to pair of 7-footers and a 6-10'er for his front court. One of the 7-footers - Austrian freshman Jakob Poletl - is averaging 9.8 points and 8.3 rebounds. He picked the Utes over Cal and Arizona, and Utah is oh-so-much-better because of it.

If Scott were to miss a third straight game, Boyle concedes Poletl's presence would cause serious matchup problems for the Buffs. "Without Josh, yeah," Boyle said. "I wouldn't say he creates matchup problems as long as we've got Josh, but he's somebody to be concerned with for sure."

There's also 7-0 senior Dallin Bachynski and 6-10 junior Jeremy Olsen for the Buffs to consider and contend with off the bench. "They've got three GÇÿfive' men who are all good players in this league," Boyle said.

But the guy who draws the first look from Boyle is 6-5 senior guard Delon Wright. The Buffs know him well. In CU's 79-75 overtime win last season in Boulder, Wright had 17 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals. In Utah's 75-64 win in the Salt Lake City rematch, Wright scored 21 points, collected five rebounds, had four assists, blocked three shots, and made two steals. He's averaging a team-high 15.1 points now.

No wonder Boyle calls him "a pretty special player . . . he's the key to their team, no ifs, ands and buts about it. He makes everybody else better; good players make themselves great, great players make everyone else better. Wright makes everyone around him better."

The Buffs' defensive mandate on Wright, who last season was Utah's first ever All-Pac-12 selection as well as a first team all-conference defensive team choice, is to "keep him out of the lane," Boyle said.

That task likely will fall first to 6-6 Jaron Hopkins, who (with some help from reserves) effectively silenced UCLA 3-point specialist Bryce Alford last Friday night. Alford went 0-for-9 from beyond the arc, but containing Wright is an altogether different challenge.

BOYLE LIKES WHAT SHOULD have been a confidence boost for his players in last weekend's 2-0 Pac-12 start minus Scott. "Being without Josh is not something I was really encouraged about on Friday when I found out he wasn't going to play," he said. "But I think in retrospect it might have been a good thing for our team and some of the guys - Dustin Thomas, Tory Miller, Wesley Gordon.

"Maybe our team gained some confidence . . . we know how good Josh is and how important he is to us. But to be able to win two games against quality opponents, to start conference play without Josh can help us. There's some good things that happened this weekend, no doubt."

But he's also aware of how much that confidence needs to be packed up and flown across the mountain to the Buffs' first Pac-12 road stop. Utah has become scary good, maybe faster than Krystowiak imagined.

After seeing the Utes' improving as last season progressed, Boyle spoke with Krystkowiak "a little bit" in the off season. "I'm not sure he thought they would be as good as last year as quickly as they were," Boyle said, noting that Utah didn't schedule many, if any, holiday treats in November and December. The Utes' two losses were at San Diego State and Kansas, and they've beaten Wichita State (2OT), BYU and UNLV.

"They've handled that schedule and that's why they're in the top ten," Boyle said. "They're a good team, no weaknesses. They defend, they rebound, they're good offensively. They play together and are deep. It's a challenge."

Added Miller: "We've been preaching this for a while: the preseason is done and we're 0-0. Now we're 2-0. We've started off strong and now we just want to continue this kind of play. We just have to keep it rolling."

Quietly rolling if he has his way. Keeping the noise down in the Huntsman Center would be a good start.

Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU