Colorado University Athletics
Buffs' Robinson Looks Forward To Payne's Up-Tempo Plan
October 25, 2016 | Women's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado sophomore Alexis Robinson likes the direction new head coach JR Payne has for the Buffaloes.
Robinson is an athletic guard. Payne wants to develop an up-tempo, transition-oriented offense that will take advantage of the Buffs' guard-heavy lineup.
See where this is going?
"I like how she gives the guards a lot more freedom to make plays," said Robinson at CU's Media Day on Tuesday. "It opens up a lot of possibilities. I like to play fast and so far, that's what we've been practicing. We're a fast team and we're getting faster every day. I think it really sets the team up for success."
Payne said her philosophy is to adapt her style as much as possible to the players available. When she and her staff arrived at Colorado last spring, they found a team that had just lost its leading scorer and rebounder, post player Jamee Swan.
But still on the roster were a trio of players who could push the pace from the frontcourt: Robinson, fellow sophomore Kennedy Leonard and senior Haley Smith.
"We're going to try to play as up-tempo as we can this year," Payne said. "I think the strength of our team is our backcourt, so being able to transition and to get early opportunities in transition will be really important for this group. It's going to be very aggressive and very high tempo."
That fits Robinson's style. The long, lanky (5-foot-10) Ashland, Ky., prep product is one of the most athletic players on the team. Her ability to get out and run in transition perfectly suits Payne's plan.
"Alexis is great," Payne said. "She had a great freshman season and we expect her to be the athlete she is. She has the fastest feet on the team, she's quicker than everybody and she should be able to kind of exert her will offensively and defensively. We're going to ask her to do more of that. She's a kid who loves offense, but we need to be able to use her athleticism on the defensive end as well as rebounding."
Robinson averaged 7.6 points and 3.2 rebounds per game last season as a true freshman. Her season-bests included a 21-point effort against UMass, 10 rebounds at Long Beach State, seven assists at Loyola Marymount and three steals two different times.
While Payne would like to see Robinson increase those numbers across the board, it's the last category — steals — that Robinson knows could help her change the momentum of games.
"I have to be able to make my mark on the defensive end," Robinson said. "I have to get a lot more steals and use my athleticism and my length to determine plays on the defensive side. I think I can impact a game on defense. It's all about working hard, and if I do that, I can have that impact."
Payne inherits a team that finished with a 7-23 record a year ago (2-16) in the Pac-12. But she believes her first Buffs team will be competitive.
"We talk so much about three things: being the toughest team in the country, being the hardest working team in the country, and being very disciplined in everything we do," Payne said. "Those three things are non-negotiables for us."
Robinson said that kind of attitude will take the Buffs a long way this season.
"The best teams don't always have all the McDonald's All-Americans," Robinson said. "If we come together collectively and work hard and believe in each other, I think we can do big things. I wouldn't trade this team for any team in the nation. This is my team and we're going to play hard every night."
The Buffs open the season on the road with a Nov. 11 game at Northern Colorado. They'll play their home opener two days later with a 2 p.m. game against Air Force at the Coors Events Center, followed by a Nov. 19 game against Kentucky.
Other tidbits from Payne's Tuesday press conference:
On senior Haley Smith's role: "She is a great leader. I tell everybody I wish I had 10 Haley Smiths. She's our kind of player, she's very versatile, she can do a variety of different things. She's also a kid that gives 100 percent effort in absolutely everything she does. We had an intra-squad scrimmage last week and she led us rebounding, led us in scoring, led us in steals. She's the player that's going to have to do everything for us. … She's an absolute rock for this team."
On incoming freshmen: "We have two fabulous freshmen. Quinessa Caylao-Do is from Tacoma, Washington. She's aggressive, she's going to play the one and two, she's versatile in that she can shoot the ball, penetrate, she likes to defend, which we love because she has that gritty, tenacious attitude on the floor. ... Eleanor Jones is our 6-4 freshman from Scotland. She's maybe the most athletic player I've ever coached. She's been injured so she's been out most this fall, and just yesterday actually started easing back into practice. Again, she's extremely athletic, she lays the ball up at the rim, she can dunk, she can run, she might be one of the fastest two or three players on the team. She's one that will be very exciting in the future."
On Boulder's altitude: "I love it. It's a huge advantage. When I coached at Southern Utah we were about 300 feet higher, but we had the same advantage. For a team like us that likes to play up-tempo, it's awesome. As time goes on and we get deeper and deeper, it'll become an even bigger factor when we can continue to push in transition for 40 minutes. It's a huge factor, and people that say it's not are lying, because I've also coached at sea level and had to play at altitude and it's always a mind game. Do you talk about it? Do you not talk about it? But for us it's a huge advantage."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
