Colorado University Athletics
Buffs Back To Work, Prepare For Auburn
November 15, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Roughly 48 hours after the the Colorado Buffaloes dropped their season opener to No. 7 Iowa State, they were back in the gym in Boulder, preparing for Tuesday's game at Auburn (1 p.m., ESPN).
After reviewing film of the game, CU coach Tad Boyle said the opening 68-62 loss “hurts even more.”
“What stood out to me is how poorly we executed offensively and how many layups we gave up defensively,” Boyle said. “You get more frustrated watching the film because you feel like we should have those things shored up by now.”
But, as Boyle also noted, despite not playing particularly well in a variety of areas, the Buffs still had their chances. After allowing the Cyclones to build a 14-point lead midway through the second half, the Buffs cut the edge back down to three, and were within four at several junctures late in the game.
“I told the guys there's something that we did right, because we didn't play really well offensively, we didn't shoot the ball well, we didn't play particularly well defensively, we got outrebounded by five — and somehow, we're still in the game,” Boyle said. “Obviously, we did some things well.”
The Buffs did play good perimeter defense, limiting the Cyclones to just two 3-pointers in 10 attempts. But a 23-for-63 shooting effort from the field (36.5 percent), 18 turnovers and allowing ISU a 52-24 edge in points in the paint — many of those off of layups — was too much to overcome.
Boyle, though, isn't overly concerned yet about CU's shooting percentage. Many of the Buffs' missed shots were high-percentage tries from near the rim that simply didn't go in. Big man Josh Scott was 2-for-12 from the field at one point before finally finishing with a 5-for-16 night, while fellow frontliner Wes Gordon hit just two of his seven field goal tries.
“I'm not really that worried about it,” Scott said. “It wasn't my night. I had a lot of shots go in and out on me. They're all shots that I shoot and make in practice. In my opinion I should have had probably about 20 points. But I'm not really stressed about it because I know those looks will go down. Sometimes it's just not your night.”
Boyle admits the opening loss hurts because it was a chance for the Buffs to make a statement out of the gate. While it's far too early to worry about such things as RPI, a win over ISU in November could have been a huge boost in March.
“My expectations for this team are pretty high,” he said. “That's an opportunity that we'll never have again. That's what I want our players to understand.”
One of the brighter spots in the game was the play of redshirt sophomore George King, who came off the bench to score a team-high 14 points and grab six rebounds, second only to Scott's 11. King also played 27 minutes, second to Scott's 34.
Boyle, though, said he likely won't shuffle King into the starting lineup.
“I look at Josh Fortune, Tre'Shaun Fletcher and George King, and only two starting spots for them,” Boyle said. “I don't worry about starters. If I make a change, it's going to be because of something egregious — usually defense and rebounding or turnovers are a big issue and we've got to make a change. You need to look at who finishes a game, not who starts a game.”
Of all the Buffs who played at least 10 minutes, only sophomore guard Dominique Collier shot better than 50 percent from the field. Collier finished 5-for-9 — including 3-for-5 from 3-point range — for 13 points. And, while Collier was credited with six of CU's 18 turnovers, Boyle said two of those were the result of calls for illegal screens, a new rule that's still causing confusion.
But there were plenty of other turnovers that Boyle said can be eliminated.
“We had six of them that were just ball-handling, dribbling, by guys that can handle the ball,” Boyle said. “I don't worry about the illegal screens right now. It's something we can correct. But decision making, passing, catching, dribbling, footwork … we have to eliminate what you can eliminate and we haven't done that yet.”
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
