Colorado University Athletics
Brooks: Scott Eyes Saturday Night As Chance To Return
February 06, 2015 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
BOULDER - Josh Scott's last night in a Colorado basketball uniform wasn't a memorable one for him or the Buffaloes. It was Jan. 5 in Salt Lake City, and although CU's 6-10 junior forward tried his best to run the court in Utah's uproarious Huntsman Center the 28-minute experiment - and that's what it was - returned him and his ailing back to square one.
"I was hurting, I think that's kind of obvious," Scott said Thursday after a two-plus hour practice that left him and coach Tad Boyle highly encouraged. "It's not my favorite game; it was kind of a 'figure this thing out' type of deal. And that's what we did."
What Scott, Boyle and CU's medical staff figured out in the Buffs' 74-49 clubbing by then-No. 9 Utah was that Scott simply wasn't ready to return; his back problems, which included but weren't limited to spasms, needed more evaluation, more treatment, more rest.
His numbers that night: three points on three-of-four free throws, three missed field goal attempts, two rebounds, two blocked shots, one steal and one turnover. It was Scott's only Pac-12 game to date, but it was hardly a Scott-type night.
Just over a month later, once again against the Utes, Scott is eyeing another return - this time without the experimental tag and hopefully with different results for him and his team. No. 13 Utah visits the Coors Events Center on Saturday (8 p.m., Pac-12 Networks), with CU needing a win to begin pulling itself free of the conference "muck" that Boyle sees piled up behind Arizona (8-1) and Utah (7-2). The Buffs (4-5) have the rest of February and early March to make a move, and playing five of their last nine games in the CEC should help.
Getting Scott back should help just a little too. In his words, he's "way better" for this Utah game than he was in early January. "It's nice to be healthy. I have a newfound sense of loving for my health. I pity older people - no offense - with back issues. It's no fun not sleeping, having pain walking, having pain sitting down. I have some sympathy."
Averaging 13.2 points and 7.2 rebounds when he was sidelined, Scott conceded when he returns he might be "a little rusty for a while, it's just how it is." He has worked to maintain his conditioning and has gotten "a lot of rest for sure. But I'm just kind of ready to go. It's been a tough month, a disappointing month for myself. I'm just ready to get back at it."
He has practiced with no restrictions since Monday, with Boyle noting on Thursday that Scott "looks great . . . I feel good about him playing; how much I don't know. We'll see how he is (Friday); every day is a new day, a new adventure here."
If the decision is made to play him, Boyle and Scott will confer about how much. Boyle says he likely will "ease him back in rather than throw him in the fire. But when it's game on, it's game on. You can't be a little bit pregnant; you're either in or you're out. He's going to have to play or not play. I think he's going to want to, but how much and at what capacity we'll figure out."
And Scott is on board with that.
"He's the coach, I'm the player," he said. "If I'm healthy and can play, it's his job to tell me how much I'm going to play or not play. But I have to be healthy and he knows that. He's been very supportive of that . . . he can tell me how many minutes and I'm accepting of that."
Scott agreed that being limited to one game in a month was "easily" the most difficult stretch of his basketball career in his most difficult season. "Toughest season, toughest month - it's just been tough," he said. "It's disappointing, but I also have to realize that there's a lot of season left."
He believes the Buffs can still reach the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive season, although most of his individual goals have been scaled back. "That's disappointing, but at the same time we can still accomplish some goals we have as a team. I'm looking forward to that challenge. It's going to be fun," he said.
There was no fun in sitting and watching. He gained a deeper appreciation of what former Buffs guard Spencer Dinwiddie endured last winter after a knee injury ended his season in mid-January. Scott came to the realization that nothing - not even practice - should be taken for granted.
"Yeah, even practices," he said with a laugh. "I missed practice, and that's a weird thing to say . . . you learn to cherish every moment. It's kind of a realization that if something ends real quickly - God forbid - like a season-ending injury. It might happen. You need to take advantage of every moment you've got. It's a clich+¬, but it's very true. Very true . . .
"I don't think people understand unless you're an athlete how much work you put into your job, this game, and when you can't do it it's a realization (and) it's tough to watch your brothers fight and you can't be there. Just a tough situation all around."
In Scott's absence, other frontcourt Buffs were offered more minutes, more opportunities. Scott's Colorado Springs buddy, sophomore Wesley Gordon, has averaged 11.2 rebounds over the last four games. Sophomore Dustin Thomas has averaged right at 8 points and four rebounds over that same span, while freshman Tory Miller has been at 7 points and 6 rebounds - including his first career double-double (11 points, 13 boards) in last week's triple overtime win at USC. Junior Xavier Johnson has been spotty during that stretch, missing one game due to a suspension and another due to an ankle injury.
The Buffs obviously are better with Scott in the lineup - especially against the Utes with their pair of 7-footers, Jakob Poeltl and Dallin Bachynski. Gordon says his friend's 6-10, 245-pound body returning to the paint "would be big for us . . . I told him to come back as soon as possible. I know his back's been hurting, but I didn't want him to come back too early and reinjure it. I don't want him back not being 100 percent."
The beating the Buffs took in Salt Lake City, said Gordon, is certain motivation for the rematch: "We get one more crack at them. They're not going to embarrass us like that again. It's like losing a fight and getting another chance."
For Scott, it is simply his first chance to return. "Anyone who really knows me knows that I don't stay up here in Boulder just to work out, sit on the bench and be injured," he said. "It was tough watching games from home while my teammates (played). That was probably the toughest thing. I'm not built for it. So I'd say I'm pretty damn excited - I'll even say damn. I'm pretty damn excited about it."
Ditto for Boyle and the Buffs.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
