Colorado University Athletics
Freshman Kountz's Role Grows For Buffs
January 29, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — As the Colorado Buffaloes' depth issues have become critical, the roles of players still available have become equally more important.
That includes some of CU's younger players, who may have seen their development come at a slower pace under normal circumstances — but now find themselves playing substantial — and critical — minutes in conference play.
Freshman guard Daylen Kountz fits that category. With key reserves Namon Wright (foot injury) and Deleon Brown (academics) out for the season, Kountz has seen his playing time more than double since the Buffs entered Pac-12 play. After averaging just 10.8 minutes per game in non-conference play, Kountz is averaging 22.6 minutes in Pac-12 games.
"We need him to play and play well," head coach Tad Boyle said after Tuesday's practice. "He's going to have to play heavier minutes certainly than maybe he was used to earlier in the year, and I think he's fully capable of it. He's shown some good signs."
Indeed, Kountz has been steady in Pac-12 games, averaging 6.3 rebounds and more than two assists per game. In last week's Bay Area trip, he finished with eight assists — four against Cal and four against Stanford — with just three turnovers.
The Buffs are hoping he'll continue that trend this week when they host Oregon State in a 7 p.m. game Thursday at the CU Events Center and Oregon on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
"I think I'm a pretty good playmaker," Kountz said. "For me, it's slashing and getting in the lane and getting somebody a drop off to or a kickout three. I like creating those kinds of plays."
With 29 assists this season (15 in conference play) and just 24 turnovers, Kountz has a solid assist-to-turnover ratio. Unlike many freshmen, he has not often experienced many out-of-control moments.
"We've tried to make it simple for him," Boyle said. "Make the easy play, and he's done a good job of doing that. He hasn't made crazy, wild plays that he's not capable of making. That's half the battle, understanding what you do well and what you don't do well and staying away from the things you don't do well. His assist to turnover ratio for a freshman is pretty darn good."
Kountz believes he is earning the trust of his teammates as he becomes more comfortable making the transition from high school to Division I ball.
"I think I'm becoming more dependable for my teammates and being able to handle what's coming my way," he said. "We have a couple people out and I have to fill their shoes and step up."
Kountz's development will no doubt be critical for the Buffs down the Pac-12 stretch. With 11 conference games remaining, the Buffs will need him to continue to improve.
"We're going to need him," Boyle said. "These last 11 games, we're going to need Daylen Kountz to really step up. This is a critical point of his career in terms of being able to make that step and gain that confidence. He can be a very, very good player for us."
It's a learning curve that might not have been expected for Kountz early in the season. But with the loss of two guards, as well as 7-footer Dallas Walton before the season started, Koutz and fellow freshmen Evan Battey and Eli Parquet have become key pieces.
"We've got some guys that are learning on the fly," Boyle said. "They are growing up on the job — literally. They are growing up before our eyes. We want it to be a straight upward trend, but the reality is most kids are going to plateau or maybe take a step back for a game. The consistency factor that our team is struggling with is the result of guys being thrust into roles that maybe they weren't expected to have. They're learning on the fly."
Meanwhile, CU's"veterans" — sophomores McKinley Wright IV, Tyler Bey and D'Shawn Schwartz, and juniors Shane Gatling and Lucas Siewert — are seeing their playing time increase as well. Last week, Siewert, Wright, Gatling and Bey all played at least 30 minutes in back-to-back games, a rarity in the Boyle era. The last time CU had four players play 30 minutes in the same game more than once in a season came two years ago — and both of those games were overtime affairs.
WRIGHT WILL HAVE SURGERY: Boyle confirmed after Tuesday's practice that McKinley Wright will undergo surgery on his shoulder in the offseason.
Wright initially injured his shoulder in practice in late Decemer, then suffered a dislocation against Washington on Jan. 12. That caused him to miss a game for the first time in his career, but he has returned for two games since and played well.
"He's a warrior," Boyle said. "He's a tough kid who loves to win and wants to compete. The game he sat out against Utah, where we struggled, you could just see it kind of eating him up inside. He's just a competitor. ... He's going to need surgery when the season's over with, he knows that, we know that. It's just a matter of battling through this thing and managing the best we can from here on out."
Wright had eight points, four rebounds and four assists in CU's win at Cal, including a key 3-pointer in the final minute; then had 14 points, four rebounds and four assists in a loss at Stanford.
"He's still a very effective player, even though he's not 100 percent," Boyle said. "There's only a couple plays I've seen where it's maybe affected him a little bit. Like with any injury … trusting that shoulder and having confidence in the ability to make plays on the floor in real-time speed is half the battle. He's going to get a feel for that as he goes. He's gotten better, certainly, over the last couple of weeks and it's something he'll figure out as the season unfolds."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
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