Boyle Says Buffs Focused On 'Task At Hand'
February 20, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado basketball coach Tad Boyle had a simple message Monday afternoon.
"The season's not over today," Boyle said after practice. "We've still got three games and a Pac-12 tournament ahead of us, we know that. Let's just play it out and figure out how to beat Utah on Thursday."
It is, of course, that time of year when the postseason is on the mind of every college hoops fan, and Buffs followers are no different. Boyle also knows what expectations were for his team when the season began, from fans, players and the CU coaching staff.
But at 16-12 overall and 6-9 in Pac-12 play, and with three conference games remaining — plus the conference tournament — Boyle isn't ready to start concocting scenarios or conceding anything.
"So much emphasis is put on the NCAA Tournament, preseason expectations," Boyle said. "I can't control any of that stuff. All you can control is where are we today and where do we need to get to win on Thursday night. At the end of the day — this season, let's wait for it to play out before we cast judgment. That's how I look at it."
Boyle even hearkened back to his second year in Boulder (2011-12) as an example of what can happen late in the season — even to a team that hasn't quite lived up to expectations.
"Our first year in the Pac-12 they had a send-off for us here in the Coors Events Center," Boyle said. "The women were going to Seattle; we were going to Los Angeles (for the conference tournaments). They had a pep rally for both of us. Internally I was thinking, 'Why the heck are they having a pep rally for us?' Number one we don't deserve one, and we're just going to go try to beat Utah in L.A.'
"If we didn't beat Utah LA, that season's over with. We're not even an NIT team. And we got on a run and we went to the NCAA Tournament and we won a game."
Indeed, that was a CU team that limped into the Pac-12 tournament with a 19-11 record, having lost three of its last four regular season conference games. But the Buffs went on a historic four-game run through the tournament to pick up an automatic bid, then knocked off UNLV in the NCAA opener before falling to Baylor.
Not that Boyle is predicting any such reoccurence this year. That year's Pac-12 did not include three of the nation's top 10 teams, which is currently the case.
Rather, it was his way of saying that the Buffs' only concern now should be the next game on the schedule, which happens to be Thursday's 9 p.m. matchup with Utah (17-10, 8-7).
"It's about taking care of the task at hand, and that's what we're focused on," Boyle said.
The Utes will arrive in Boulder with a two-game losing streak in hand and a four-game skid on the road. Their most recent loss, a 68-67 decision at Oregon State — the Beavers' first conference win of the season — knocked them out of a tie with USC for fifth in the conference standings.
But Boyle said neither team's last game will have an effect on Thursday's affair.
"The Utah-Colorado game on Thursday has nothing to do with the Utah-Oregon State game on Sunday or the Colorado-Oregon game on Saturday," he said. "It's about who's going to be better that night, who's going to be more prepared to play, who's going to want it more, who's going to play harder, who's going to make the plays. That's what it comes down to, so we want to be that team on Thursday night."
Utah won the first meeting between the two teams, 76-60, in the conference opener for both squads, a game that began a seven-game conference skid for the Buffs. CU has won six of eight since the 0-7 Pac-12 start.
Boyle also said Monday that the suspension of freshman Bryce Peters for violating team rules was still "indefinite" in length. Peters did not play in Saturday's game at Oregon.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
