Colorado University Athletics
Coach JR Payne makes her point during an early Buffs practice.
Photo by: CUBuffs.com
Brooks: Payne’s Buffs Still Attending To Details In Final Pac-12 Stretch
February 02, 2017 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
WSU, No. 10 UW to visit Coors Events Center on Friday night, Sunday
BOULDER – Just past the halfway point of the 2016-17 Pac-12 Conference, the Colorado women's basketball team has matched last season's league win total and has eight regular-season games remaining to surpass last winter's pair of 'W's.
OK, that might not qualify as raising the bar to extraordinary heights, but first-year CU coach JR Payne signed on last spring knowing that improvement in Season One would be incremental. It didn't begin that way, with the 'W's – 10 of them in a row – coming in a flood that was reduced to a trickle once conference play began.
It clearly illustrated that Payne's team (12-9 overall, 2-8 Pac-12) is in rebuild, which doesn't surprise her and shouldn't startle anyone else who's been paying attention. But the reconstruction has featured more daylight than dark, the brightest spots being the Buffs retaining their competitiveness through hard times and buying in to Payne's system and how they're being coached.
Overall consistency and 40 minutes of attention to detail have been the dark areas. Payne believes the Buffs have "shown we can play with every single team in our league. Now, we haven't played Washington State or Washington (they visit the Coors Events Center this weekend) so that's yet to be told. But we've shown for a half or three quarters or whatever, we can play with everyone.
"For us it always comes down to excellence in the details . . . Saturday (at Utah in a 58-53 loss) it was in the last five minutes. Those details cost us. I think we need to see those things and realize we're right there.
"We're capable of competing with those guys – we're up on Stanford, we're up on Cal, we're up on Oregon . . . but when we don't do our jobs, when we don't execute and don't excel in the details then we don't deserve to win – and we won't win. So that's where our growth needs to come over the next month or however many games we've got left."
And that brings us to the next two – Wazzu on Friday (6 p.m.), UW on Sunday (noon, both games on Pac-12 Networks, ESPN Radio 1600 am). Conventional wisdom – and a glance at records and league stats – will tell you that CU's best chance for a third Pac-12 'W' comes on Friday night.
But Payne will tell you to slow it down, noting WSU's 84-79 home win last Sunday against Cal, a team that defeated the Buffs 65-53 on Jan. 14 at the CEC. WSU, said Payne, "is capable of beating anyone," and beating the Bears broke a four-game losing streak and was the Cougars' fourth league win (six losses, 9-12 overall record).
Still, Wazzu is a bottom feeder in most Pac-12 statistical categories while No. 10 U-Dub resides at the other end of the numbers. Washington (20-3, 8-2) is tied with UCLA for second in the Pac-12 behind Oregon State and Stanford (both 9-1).
The Huskies lead the league in scoring (86.6 ppg), scoring margin (24.7), 3-point percentage (40), 3-pointers made per game (11.09) and free throw percentage (78). They're No. 2 in field goal percentage (47) and No. 3 in rebounding margin (plus-9).
Then there's senior guard Kelsey Plum . . . she scored 44 points in UW's weekend loss (72-68) to Stanford, a game that the Cardinal had to rally to win. Plum is the nation's leading scorer (31.3 ppg) and second nationally in 3-pointers made (82). In that same category, teammate Natalie Romeo is second in the Pac-12 (69 treys) and averages 10.2 points a game. Plum is hitting 45 percent of her treys, Romeo 40.
Most of the Huskies' front court work falls to Chantel Osahor, who's No. 1 nationally in rebounding (14.5 a game) and also averages 15.2 points.
Which prompts a couple of obvious questions for Payne:
(1) Is UW the most talented team in the Pac-12?
Answer: "There's a handful of teams in this league that are really good for different reasons. Each team poses a different threat personnel-wise, style-wise, in strengths and weaknesses. I haven't been able to see (UW) but they're fantastic on film. They were up on Stanford but ended up losing, and Stanford is fantastic. All of these teams are really good."
(2) Who guards Plum?
Answer, with a laugh: "Who knows . . . Shandrika (Lee, assistant coach) is probably our best defender. I don't know. It's not one person who can guard her, it has to be by committee. It has to be by tremendous effort, will and don't hang your head when she knocks down a tough shot because that's what she does. But, no, it won't be one person."
More than anything that either Wazzu presents on Friday night or U-Dub shows on Super Bowl Sunday, Payne is interested in the Buffs.
"We need to focus more on us," she said. "Everyone's schemes are different, not everyone has a Plum but everyone has a kid who can score the ball . . . we have to know those things, but if we can't box out on a free throw and give up an Osahor put-back and lose the game, then knowing those things doesn't really help you any.
"So we need to take care of our ourselves, we need to do our jobs and individuals, as teammates, as coaches. That's where our success and failure lie."
WOMEN OF STEAL: The Buffs lead the Pac-12 in steals (12 per game) and Payne says her players take pride in that stat: "It's something we're good at, it's something that creates offense when we take advantage of it and execute on the other end. We feel strongly about it."
CU has three players among the league's top six in steals – Kennedy Leonard is No. 1 at 2.52 per game (53 total), Alexis Robinson is No. 5 at 2.05 (43), and Haley Smith is tied for No. 6 at 2.00 (42).
Payne said her Santa Clara team last season "led the country in forced turnovers for about two-thirds of the year . . . we were really long and athletic so it made it look easier. But it's something we like to do. Our (CU) players early on bought in to the aggressive mentality that it can help create."
PERSONNEL UPDATE: A lower leg injury has sidelined sharpshooter Lauren Huggins for the entire season, but Payne was hopeful the senior from Littleton (Heritage) could begin practicing this week. "She eased in a little last week . . . she needs to kind of jump in and see how it goes," Payne said. "She's ready to play and wants to go for it." . . . . Freshman Eleanor Jones continues to battle illness. Payne said the 6-2 Jones, of Salisbury, England, "had a great week last week" then got sick again. "It's been a lot of different things with her – injuries, illness, back to illness. I really think if she could just practice and train and be in the weight room and do everything that everyone's doing she would have a great opportunity to contribute. She just hasn't been healthy. She's got a lot of upside (but) a lot of things to catch up on." Payne and her staff had discussed the need to play Jones and get her more game experience. "Now she's sick again . . . it's tough." Jones has participated in only 10 games.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
OK, that might not qualify as raising the bar to extraordinary heights, but first-year CU coach JR Payne signed on last spring knowing that improvement in Season One would be incremental. It didn't begin that way, with the 'W's – 10 of them in a row – coming in a flood that was reduced to a trickle once conference play began.
It clearly illustrated that Payne's team (12-9 overall, 2-8 Pac-12) is in rebuild, which doesn't surprise her and shouldn't startle anyone else who's been paying attention. But the reconstruction has featured more daylight than dark, the brightest spots being the Buffs retaining their competitiveness through hard times and buying in to Payne's system and how they're being coached.
Overall consistency and 40 minutes of attention to detail have been the dark areas. Payne believes the Buffs have "shown we can play with every single team in our league. Now, we haven't played Washington State or Washington (they visit the Coors Events Center this weekend) so that's yet to be told. But we've shown for a half or three quarters or whatever, we can play with everyone.
"For us it always comes down to excellence in the details . . . Saturday (at Utah in a 58-53 loss) it was in the last five minutes. Those details cost us. I think we need to see those things and realize we're right there.
"We're capable of competing with those guys – we're up on Stanford, we're up on Cal, we're up on Oregon . . . but when we don't do our jobs, when we don't execute and don't excel in the details then we don't deserve to win – and we won't win. So that's where our growth needs to come over the next month or however many games we've got left."
And that brings us to the next two – Wazzu on Friday (6 p.m.), UW on Sunday (noon, both games on Pac-12 Networks, ESPN Radio 1600 am). Conventional wisdom – and a glance at records and league stats – will tell you that CU's best chance for a third Pac-12 'W' comes on Friday night.
But Payne will tell you to slow it down, noting WSU's 84-79 home win last Sunday against Cal, a team that defeated the Buffs 65-53 on Jan. 14 at the CEC. WSU, said Payne, "is capable of beating anyone," and beating the Bears broke a four-game losing streak and was the Cougars' fourth league win (six losses, 9-12 overall record).
Still, Wazzu is a bottom feeder in most Pac-12 statistical categories while No. 10 U-Dub resides at the other end of the numbers. Washington (20-3, 8-2) is tied with UCLA for second in the Pac-12 behind Oregon State and Stanford (both 9-1).
The Huskies lead the league in scoring (86.6 ppg), scoring margin (24.7), 3-point percentage (40), 3-pointers made per game (11.09) and free throw percentage (78). They're No. 2 in field goal percentage (47) and No. 3 in rebounding margin (plus-9).
Then there's senior guard Kelsey Plum . . . she scored 44 points in UW's weekend loss (72-68) to Stanford, a game that the Cardinal had to rally to win. Plum is the nation's leading scorer (31.3 ppg) and second nationally in 3-pointers made (82). In that same category, teammate Natalie Romeo is second in the Pac-12 (69 treys) and averages 10.2 points a game. Plum is hitting 45 percent of her treys, Romeo 40.
Most of the Huskies' front court work falls to Chantel Osahor, who's No. 1 nationally in rebounding (14.5 a game) and also averages 15.2 points.
Which prompts a couple of obvious questions for Payne:
(1) Is UW the most talented team in the Pac-12?
Answer: "There's a handful of teams in this league that are really good for different reasons. Each team poses a different threat personnel-wise, style-wise, in strengths and weaknesses. I haven't been able to see (UW) but they're fantastic on film. They were up on Stanford but ended up losing, and Stanford is fantastic. All of these teams are really good."
(2) Who guards Plum?
Answer, with a laugh: "Who knows . . . Shandrika (Lee, assistant coach) is probably our best defender. I don't know. It's not one person who can guard her, it has to be by committee. It has to be by tremendous effort, will and don't hang your head when she knocks down a tough shot because that's what she does. But, no, it won't be one person."
More than anything that either Wazzu presents on Friday night or U-Dub shows on Super Bowl Sunday, Payne is interested in the Buffs.
"We need to focus more on us," she said. "Everyone's schemes are different, not everyone has a Plum but everyone has a kid who can score the ball . . . we have to know those things, but if we can't box out on a free throw and give up an Osahor put-back and lose the game, then knowing those things doesn't really help you any.
"So we need to take care of our ourselves, we need to do our jobs and individuals, as teammates, as coaches. That's where our success and failure lie."
WOMEN OF STEAL: The Buffs lead the Pac-12 in steals (12 per game) and Payne says her players take pride in that stat: "It's something we're good at, it's something that creates offense when we take advantage of it and execute on the other end. We feel strongly about it."
CU has three players among the league's top six in steals – Kennedy Leonard is No. 1 at 2.52 per game (53 total), Alexis Robinson is No. 5 at 2.05 (43), and Haley Smith is tied for No. 6 at 2.00 (42).
Payne said her Santa Clara team last season "led the country in forced turnovers for about two-thirds of the year . . . we were really long and athletic so it made it look easier. But it's something we like to do. Our (CU) players early on bought in to the aggressive mentality that it can help create."
PERSONNEL UPDATE: A lower leg injury has sidelined sharpshooter Lauren Huggins for the entire season, but Payne was hopeful the senior from Littleton (Heritage) could begin practicing this week. "She eased in a little last week . . . she needs to kind of jump in and see how it goes," Payne said. "She's ready to play and wants to go for it." . . . . Freshman Eleanor Jones continues to battle illness. Payne said the 6-2 Jones, of Salisbury, England, "had a great week last week" then got sick again. "It's been a lot of different things with her – injuries, illness, back to illness. I really think if she could just practice and train and be in the weight room and do everything that everyone's doing she would have a great opportunity to contribute. She just hasn't been healthy. She's got a lot of upside (but) a lot of things to catch up on." Payne and her staff had discussed the need to play Jones and get her more game experience. "Now she's sick again . . . it's tough." Jones has participated in only 10 games.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
Players Mentioned
G/F
/ Women's Basketball
F
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G
/ Women's Basketball
G/F
/ Women's BasketballTuesday, June 02
Wednesday, April 15
Sunday, April 12
Monday, April 06