Boyle's Buffs Continue Focus On Improving 3-point Shooting

BOULDER — One of Colorado coach Tad Boyle's top offseason priorities was for his Buffaloes to improve their 3-point shooting.

It's understandable. The Buffaloes were 11th in the Pac-12 last season from behind the arc, hitting just .312 percent of their long-range attempts. That tied CU's lowest 3-point percentage in league play in Boyle's nine years at the helm.

"We have better shooters than that," Boyle said over the summer. "We have to improve there."

A key figure in that area will be senior guard Shane Gatling, who came to Boulder last year as a junior college transfer with a reputation as a long-distance sharpshooter. While Gatling did have some standout games from beyond the arc, including a red-hot 7-for-9 effort in a win at UCLA, consistency was not his forte'. He led CU in 3-point shots (185) and makes (59), but finished the year shooting just .319 from the distance, third-best on the team behind guard McKinley Wright IV (.365) and forward Lucas Siewert (.352).

"It's a function of reps and a function of shot selection," Boyle said. "If you're taking good shots, if you're in rhythm, if you're in a stance, you're ready when the ball is being delivered to you, your chances are much better … If you're not shooting the ball well, one of those two things is the culprit and possibly both."

Gatling took Boyle's challenge to heart in the offseason and spent as much time as possible working on his shot. But along with simply hoisting up 3-pointers, Gatling tried to pay more attention to detail, including a slightly longer distance this season. The college 3-point line will be moved to the international distance of 22 feet, 1¾ inches (back from 20 feet, 9 inches).

"It's concentrating on all the little things," Gatling said. "Things like when we're working out, going hard, and then shooting when you're tired. Coming back after class and shooting, coming in between classes and lifting and shooting some more. Doing it after practice instead of doing it with fresh legs."

That, Boyle said, is important.

"He's exactly right," Boyle said. "You have to play the game and push yourself to the point where you are shooting when you're tired. If you do a workout and you don't go hard and you're not getting your heart rate up and you're not playing at game pace, you're getting reps but they're not game reps … How many guys come out and run five or six sprints and then shoot?"

For Gatling, his senior year is also offering something he hasn't experienced before in his college career — familiar scenery. After playing at Niagara as a freshman, then Indian Hills JC as a sophomore and Colorado as a junior, this is the first time he is returning to the same school for a second year.

"I feel like I'm at home now," he said with a grin. "It's a little bit of a comfort level, and that's important. My teammates know what I can do and my coaches know what I can do. I think they trust me and I have trust in them. Now I just have to go out there and do my job."

Gatling isn't the Buffs' only 3-point threat. Point guard McKinley Wright led CU from long distance last year, hitting .365 percent of his attempts (38-for-104) while forward Lucas Siewert was right behind at .352 (44-for-125). The Buffs will also be expecting some production from forward D'Shawn Schwartz in that area, and they added another junior college long-distance specialist in Maddox Daniels.

"I think we have unlimited weapons," Gatling said. "We have almost the same exact team from last year, plus we have Dallas (Walton) back and we're adding Maddox. So really, we added two more weapons."

SCRIMMAGE SATURDAY: The Buffs will host an open scrimmage Saturday before the Colorado-Arizona football game, which is scheduled to kick off at 2:30 p.m. at Folsom Field.

The basketball practice will begin at 11 a.m., with the scrimmage set to begin at approximately 12:15 p.m. The Buffs will play three 10-minute scrimmages, with Boyle changing up the team and rotations for each session.

"What I want to find out is what kind of shape are we in?" he said. "Better shape than we were a couple weeks ago when we started? And then, number two, where do we need to go execution wise?"

The Buffs will play an exhibition game Oct. 26 against Pomona-Pitzer at 1 p.m. at the CU Events Center. They open the regular season Nov. 8 vs. Arizona State in Shanghai, China (8:30 p.m., ESPN2).

NEWCOMER IMPRESSIVE: The Buffs' most recent addition, Keeshawn Barthelemy, has been impressive thus far in practice. While it is expected the point guard from Montreal will redshirt, he is nevertheless getting good practice time.

"High basketball IQ," was Boyle's assessment. "Great feel for the game. Great listener. One thing I've learned about Keeshawn, he listens. Very coachable guy. You tell him one thing or you ask him a question, he's got a good feel for what's going on out there. And he can make plays. He's going to be a good player."

Boyle said he expects Barthelemy to benefit from the redshirt year.

"He can learn so much," Boyle said. " I think he's learned so much already. He is a good listener and it sinks in and he incorporates that into his game. He's going to be a special."

But Boyle also can't help but look ahead a year, when he could possibly have Wright and Barthelemy in the same backcourt.

"They are really good together. Really good together," Boyle said. "That's really really exciting to me in terms of future."

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu