Photo by: Tony Harman
Brooks: Buffs Hope To Count On ‘Good Fortune’ As Pac-12 Play Opens
December 31, 2016 | Men's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
Senior appears to have rediscovered shooting touch in last three games
BOULDER – Josh Fortune arrived at Colorado three years ago as a Providence transfer packing the reputation of a dead-eye shooter. He has no doubt that he still is, and as Pac-12 Conference play looms for the Buffaloes, Fortune is intent on reaffirming it.
After a couple of games in his senior season of not making a field goal – the most recent oh-fer (0-for-8 from the field, 0-for-6 from behind the arc) was in the mid-December loss at BYU – Fortune's accuracy seems to be slowly trending upward.
Still, he's not alone in needing to regain his touch. Fortune finished last season shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point range on a team that would lead the conference in 3-point shooting percentage (38.9).
This season, Fortune's long-range accuracy has dipped to 32.7 percent while the Buffs' has dropped to 33.8 – sixth in the Pac-12. Their overall field goal percentage is 43.8 – No. 11 in the conference.
Yet over the last three games, or since his night of zeroes at BYU, Fortune and his shot have resurfaced. In CU's last three wins, he's made 10 of his 23 field goal attempts, including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc.
"I think I've gotten my shot back, at least it's going better than another couple of games I've had," he said after a practice prior to CU's departure for Utah, where they open league play on Sunday (4:30 p.m., ESPNU).
"There were two games where I didn't make a shot at all," Fortune continued. "Being able to make a few shots feels good, it allows me to help the team."
In trying to regain his stroke, the 6-5 Fortune hasn't altered his shooting routine. "Same things, take shots in practice, get on the gun and shoot . . . same things," he said.
The ball simply not going in – be it one game or a week or longer – is what every shooter will encounter over time. When shooting mechanics were sound to start with, the biggest hazard becomes a loss of confidence. Fortune insists that never happened.
"I've seen a lot of players go through slumps," he said. "I've been through slumps myself. I just know it's a process; you have to stick with the same routine and not get down on yourself when you're not shooting good.
"It's a matter of keeping a positive mindset (but) yeah, it's tough too. You want to make the shots, you know you can make the shots, and in the game you have to keep that same mindset."
CU coach Tad Boyle hasn't lopped off Fortune's minutes and still has him in the starting lineup. Fortune agrees with Boyle on this: Even when shots aren't falling contributions to the team can be made.
"If I'm not making shots I'll keep telling myself to do other things like rebound, guarding at my position," said Fortune, who is averaging 8.9 points and 3.5 rebounds.
An often-used maxim in hoops contends that "shooters need to shoot their way out of slumps." Boyle agrees – to a point.
"Obviously you have to make shots," he said. "But to me it's about taking the right shots. As long as you're taking the right shots I want him to shoot the ball. I don't want him to shy away from it. I just want him to take good shots. When George (King) is open I want him to shoot it, when Josh is open I want him to shoot it. I just don't want him taking contested shots. Don't force it, take it as it comes . . ."
As a team, Boyle said if the Buffs' collective shot selection hasn't been "100 percent perfect," it still has produced "the kind of thing where we're taking seven or eight bad shots a game and that's why our percentages are down. We're only taking two or three bad shots a game."
Which leads to this: The Buffs' most prominent shooting woe has been missing uncontested shots, and that can magnify any shortcoming in rebounding, defense – any category where stats are kept.
"Making shots makes up for a lot of ills," Boyle said. "Hopefully that will happen."
Until it does, Boyle pushes Fortune and his teammates to understand that "every game is a new game and that's how I really want them to approach it. I don't want them to approach it like 'just because I played well I assume I'm going to keep playing well.' On the flip side, 'just because I've struggling with my shot means I'm going to keep struggling.'
"Every game is a new game, every possession a new possession. I just want us to play with the maturity level it's going to take to understand that. It's about the next possession, the next play – not the last one, not last game, not next game . . . it's about the possession we're in right now. Having that mindset is critical for any team to be successful."
WILL KUZMA PLAY OR SIT? The largest personnel question hovering over the Utes (9-3) is the status of their leading scorer (14.4 points) and rebounder (10.2) for Sunday. Forward Kyle Kuzma suffered an ankle injury in the first minute of play three games ago and missed the following two games.
Still listed as questionable, the 6-9, 225-pound junior has nonetheless shed his walking boot, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. His availability for Sunday depended on his practice participation this week.
Boyle said the Buffs were preparing for the Utes "with or without (Kuzma) . . . he's a good player obviously, averaging 14 a game, but they've got six guys averaging 10 points or more. So it's not just Kuzma; they've got a lot of balance offensively."
Utah, 5-3 in its last eight games after starting the season 4-0, has lost to two ranked teams – then-No. 18 Butler 68-59, then-No. 13 Xavier 77-69. CU (10-3) defeated Xavier 68-66.
WES IS WES IS WES IS WES . . .: Don't get him wrong: Boyle is a big, big Wes Gordon fan. But after 41/2 years, Boyle also is still trying to find and tune in to the 6-9 fifth-year senior's frequency.
It's different, which often leads Boyle to say only, "Wes is Wes."
"He's a good player, a good rebounder, one of our best defenders. He's a capable scorer," Boyle said. "(But) you always want a little more out of your guys. You hope as seniors they step into that senior type sense of urgency mindset. Hopefully that will come over Wes as we head through this conference play."
Gordon is averaging 7.2 points and 8.5 rebounds. In his two most recent games he's scored a combined 21 points and collected 19 boards, including his second double-double of the season (11 points, 10 rebounds) against Eastern Washington.
He's had five games this season with nine rebounds, and in two of those he scored 10 or more points – narrowly missing double-doubles. But like the rest of the Buffs, consistency in all things has been a recurring issue.
"That's the one word to hone in on, to dial into," Boyle said of Gordon and his teammates.
ON EARLY ROAD/EARLY HOME GAMES: The Buffs open with five of their first seven conference games on the road. After their visit to Utah, they play at Arizona State (Thursday, 7 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) and Arizona (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks). They won't return to Boulder after Sunday's game in Salt Lake City, instead flying to Arizona for an extended stay on the road before the spring semester begins.
Five of seven road games to open Pac-12 play might seem severe, but the schedule balances itself in the conference season's final month. And Boyle is more concerned with imbalance in another area.
"I know how the schedule plays out," he said. "I look at it like we have nine at home, nine on the road . . . if we had five of our first seven at home, I think that puts more pressure on you. There's probably less pressure starting on the road . . . now, getting out of the gate, if you get a couple of road wins in the first week or two of the season then you're ahead of the game. Now you've got to protect home court."
More significant to Boyle is having UCLA and USC, Arizona State and Arizona appear just once each on the schedule.
"I think that needs to be talked about more – the unbalanced schedule – than how many you have on the road to start or what kind of start do you get off to," he said. "You get off to a good start you better be mentally tough to maintain that. You get off to a bad start you better be mentally tough to dig yourself out."
Boyle said his teams have started both ways. "The key is you've got to win more than you lose, steal some on the road and protect home serve," he added.
GETTING MORE FROM THE BENCH: The 2016-17 Buffs are built on depth and balance. That calls for a bench that contributes consistently – which CU needs more of in conference play.
"Our bench is going to be really important to us," Boyle said "The depth of this team, the balance, is the team's strength . . . we're not going to be a team that relies on six or seven guys and have that kind of rotation."
Logging the most minutes in reserve have been guards Bryce Peters (14.6 minutes) and Thomas Akyazili (14). A tick or two behind them is guard Deleon Brown (13.8), with Dominique Collier and Tory Miller next (12.8 each). Lucas Siewart (10.9), along with Miller, sub for the Buffs' "bigs."
Collier is averaging 6.0 points – the best among the subs – but he's only played in four games of 13 games after being shelved by an early foot injury. His minutes are likely to go up in Pac-12 play.
Miller (5.6 points, 3.3 rebounds) also has missed a couple of games due to injury and Boyle expects Miller's conference minutes to increase.
The Buffs need Akyazili, who is averaging 2.9 points, to return to the form he showed in his first season in Boulder. "Thomas has struggled . . . he's not played as well as last year," Boyle said. "I think he's pressing a little, and that's where a guy like Deleon (Brown) has stepped his game up."
Brown, as freshman along with Peters and Siewart, has played in all 13 games and is averaging 4.8 points. Peters is at 3.2, Siewart at 1.9.
Recently watching SMU on TV, Boyle saw a rotation that consisted of only six or seven players. Boyle consistently plays 11 and notes that "every team is a little different . . . to develop your bench in the preseason you've got to play them. We've tried to do that."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
After a couple of games in his senior season of not making a field goal – the most recent oh-fer (0-for-8 from the field, 0-for-6 from behind the arc) was in the mid-December loss at BYU – Fortune's accuracy seems to be slowly trending upward.
Still, he's not alone in needing to regain his touch. Fortune finished last season shooting 38.5 percent from 3-point range on a team that would lead the conference in 3-point shooting percentage (38.9).
This season, Fortune's long-range accuracy has dipped to 32.7 percent while the Buffs' has dropped to 33.8 – sixth in the Pac-12. Their overall field goal percentage is 43.8 – No. 11 in the conference.
Yet over the last three games, or since his night of zeroes at BYU, Fortune and his shot have resurfaced. In CU's last three wins, he's made 10 of his 23 field goal attempts, including 7-of-16 from beyond the arc.
"I think I've gotten my shot back, at least it's going better than another couple of games I've had," he said after a practice prior to CU's departure for Utah, where they open league play on Sunday (4:30 p.m., ESPNU).
"There were two games where I didn't make a shot at all," Fortune continued. "Being able to make a few shots feels good, it allows me to help the team."
In trying to regain his stroke, the 6-5 Fortune hasn't altered his shooting routine. "Same things, take shots in practice, get on the gun and shoot . . . same things," he said.
The ball simply not going in – be it one game or a week or longer – is what every shooter will encounter over time. When shooting mechanics were sound to start with, the biggest hazard becomes a loss of confidence. Fortune insists that never happened.
"I've seen a lot of players go through slumps," he said. "I've been through slumps myself. I just know it's a process; you have to stick with the same routine and not get down on yourself when you're not shooting good.
"It's a matter of keeping a positive mindset (but) yeah, it's tough too. You want to make the shots, you know you can make the shots, and in the game you have to keep that same mindset."
CU coach Tad Boyle hasn't lopped off Fortune's minutes and still has him in the starting lineup. Fortune agrees with Boyle on this: Even when shots aren't falling contributions to the team can be made.
"If I'm not making shots I'll keep telling myself to do other things like rebound, guarding at my position," said Fortune, who is averaging 8.9 points and 3.5 rebounds.
An often-used maxim in hoops contends that "shooters need to shoot their way out of slumps." Boyle agrees – to a point.
"Obviously you have to make shots," he said. "But to me it's about taking the right shots. As long as you're taking the right shots I want him to shoot the ball. I don't want him to shy away from it. I just want him to take good shots. When George (King) is open I want him to shoot it, when Josh is open I want him to shoot it. I just don't want him taking contested shots. Don't force it, take it as it comes . . ."
As a team, Boyle said if the Buffs' collective shot selection hasn't been "100 percent perfect," it still has produced "the kind of thing where we're taking seven or eight bad shots a game and that's why our percentages are down. We're only taking two or three bad shots a game."
Which leads to this: The Buffs' most prominent shooting woe has been missing uncontested shots, and that can magnify any shortcoming in rebounding, defense – any category where stats are kept.
"Making shots makes up for a lot of ills," Boyle said. "Hopefully that will happen."
Until it does, Boyle pushes Fortune and his teammates to understand that "every game is a new game and that's how I really want them to approach it. I don't want them to approach it like 'just because I played well I assume I'm going to keep playing well.' On the flip side, 'just because I've struggling with my shot means I'm going to keep struggling.'
"Every game is a new game, every possession a new possession. I just want us to play with the maturity level it's going to take to understand that. It's about the next possession, the next play – not the last one, not last game, not next game . . . it's about the possession we're in right now. Having that mindset is critical for any team to be successful."
WILL KUZMA PLAY OR SIT? The largest personnel question hovering over the Utes (9-3) is the status of their leading scorer (14.4 points) and rebounder (10.2) for Sunday. Forward Kyle Kuzma suffered an ankle injury in the first minute of play three games ago and missed the following two games.
Still listed as questionable, the 6-9, 225-pound junior has nonetheless shed his walking boot, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. His availability for Sunday depended on his practice participation this week.
Boyle said the Buffs were preparing for the Utes "with or without (Kuzma) . . . he's a good player obviously, averaging 14 a game, but they've got six guys averaging 10 points or more. So it's not just Kuzma; they've got a lot of balance offensively."
Utah, 5-3 in its last eight games after starting the season 4-0, has lost to two ranked teams – then-No. 18 Butler 68-59, then-No. 13 Xavier 77-69. CU (10-3) defeated Xavier 68-66.
WES IS WES IS WES IS WES . . .: Don't get him wrong: Boyle is a big, big Wes Gordon fan. But after 41/2 years, Boyle also is still trying to find and tune in to the 6-9 fifth-year senior's frequency.
It's different, which often leads Boyle to say only, "Wes is Wes."
"He's a good player, a good rebounder, one of our best defenders. He's a capable scorer," Boyle said. "(But) you always want a little more out of your guys. You hope as seniors they step into that senior type sense of urgency mindset. Hopefully that will come over Wes as we head through this conference play."
Gordon is averaging 7.2 points and 8.5 rebounds. In his two most recent games he's scored a combined 21 points and collected 19 boards, including his second double-double of the season (11 points, 10 rebounds) against Eastern Washington.
He's had five games this season with nine rebounds, and in two of those he scored 10 or more points – narrowly missing double-doubles. But like the rest of the Buffs, consistency in all things has been a recurring issue.
"That's the one word to hone in on, to dial into," Boyle said of Gordon and his teammates.
ON EARLY ROAD/EARLY HOME GAMES: The Buffs open with five of their first seven conference games on the road. After their visit to Utah, they play at Arizona State (Thursday, 7 p.m., Pac-12 Networks) and Arizona (Saturday, 7:30 p.m., Pac-12 Networks). They won't return to Boulder after Sunday's game in Salt Lake City, instead flying to Arizona for an extended stay on the road before the spring semester begins.
Five of seven road games to open Pac-12 play might seem severe, but the schedule balances itself in the conference season's final month. And Boyle is more concerned with imbalance in another area.
"I know how the schedule plays out," he said. "I look at it like we have nine at home, nine on the road . . . if we had five of our first seven at home, I think that puts more pressure on you. There's probably less pressure starting on the road . . . now, getting out of the gate, if you get a couple of road wins in the first week or two of the season then you're ahead of the game. Now you've got to protect home court."
More significant to Boyle is having UCLA and USC, Arizona State and Arizona appear just once each on the schedule.
"I think that needs to be talked about more – the unbalanced schedule – than how many you have on the road to start or what kind of start do you get off to," he said. "You get off to a good start you better be mentally tough to maintain that. You get off to a bad start you better be mentally tough to dig yourself out."
Boyle said his teams have started both ways. "The key is you've got to win more than you lose, steal some on the road and protect home serve," he added.
GETTING MORE FROM THE BENCH: The 2016-17 Buffs are built on depth and balance. That calls for a bench that contributes consistently – which CU needs more of in conference play.
"Our bench is going to be really important to us," Boyle said "The depth of this team, the balance, is the team's strength . . . we're not going to be a team that relies on six or seven guys and have that kind of rotation."
Logging the most minutes in reserve have been guards Bryce Peters (14.6 minutes) and Thomas Akyazili (14). A tick or two behind them is guard Deleon Brown (13.8), with Dominique Collier and Tory Miller next (12.8 each). Lucas Siewart (10.9), along with Miller, sub for the Buffs' "bigs."
Collier is averaging 6.0 points – the best among the subs – but he's only played in four games of 13 games after being shelved by an early foot injury. His minutes are likely to go up in Pac-12 play.
Miller (5.6 points, 3.3 rebounds) also has missed a couple of games due to injury and Boyle expects Miller's conference minutes to increase.
The Buffs need Akyazili, who is averaging 2.9 points, to return to the form he showed in his first season in Boulder. "Thomas has struggled . . . he's not played as well as last year," Boyle said. "I think he's pressing a little, and that's where a guy like Deleon (Brown) has stepped his game up."
Brown, as freshman along with Peters and Siewart, has played in all 13 games and is averaging 4.8 points. Peters is at 3.2, Siewart at 1.9.
Recently watching SMU on TV, Boyle saw a rotation that consisted of only six or seven players. Boyle consistently plays 11 and notes that "every team is a little different . . . to develop your bench in the preseason you've got to play them. We've tried to do that."
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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