The Tad Boyle Era: Perception vs Reality

[jgisland]

I remember being at the Walrus in '06 after Bzdelik took AFA dancing and my buddy predicted that Bz would be our coach. I said no way. He'll get hired somewhere with a culture.

I remember Ricardo looking mad because his squad was training on the rec court next to where I was shooting jumpers.

All this "we can't have nice things" talk is some loser message board crap. I feel super lucky to have all the talent that's come through for the Buffs over the last 7 years.
No one expected any of our guys to reach the team & individual achievements that they've had.

Before the season, some of you were talking about what career path Boyle would take while comparing him to Boeheim, Coach K etc. I said I'd be pumped if he ended up like Lorenzo Romar. The reality is there's too much extremism on message boards.

The weakest hot take ever is talking about players' heart & how much they want it. Making that assertion exposes you as having no clue & nothing of substance to add. Scott, XJ, & Ski have all played through injuries, whether its been successfully or unsuccessfully, it doesn't matter. DT was crying when he was fouled out at USC on some BS. Gordon & J-Hop have turned their game up because of the injuries. Tired of seeing people criticize our players' character. Totally unwarranted & ignorant.

This season has been a combination of exposed flaws & bad luck. That's gravity. Let's critique some of the schemes as I'm sure the staff will just as they did last offseason. The reality is most college coaches are bad offensive coaches. Culture & talent trump scheme every time & there's no questioning that Boyle has brought that to CU.

Pretty much all of this - everybody wants CU to progress without actually admitting how much CU has already progressed in a very short period of time. Down years, bad recruiting cycles, injuries, players not panning out....all those things happen to good/great programs. Kentucky and Arizona have both missed the dance in the last few years. A few years ago, this "down" year would have been a good year. CU doesn't have the tradition where it can just sit back and expect players to come to Boulder. 5*'s aren't lining up at the door, Boulder isn't on most HS kids radar, the coaches have to do a hell of a sales job to get them even to visit.The talk about lack of of depth is also laughable, most of the rotation players 10 years ago wouldn't see a minute of action now. Recruiting is likely going to be a grind for the forseeable future, Tad and co are going to have to take a chance on some flyers, some will flourish others will be nice role players. We all get greedy, (I'm certainly in this camp), but the bitching and moaning of late is getting really old.

 

[Hoops Fan]

Boulder isn't on most HS kids radar, the coaches have to do a hell of a sales job to get them even to visit.

To your point on recruiting, CU has some disadvantages recruiting in the PAC 12 that are greater than what they faced in the Big 12. In the Big 12, CU was for some a destination school ... nice college town in a picturesque rocky mountain setting, where kids from Texas, Louisiana and the Midwest could come and still be seen by their families when they returned to play Big 12 schools in their state. Now, CU does not have the same advantage when they recruit against the LA and other west coast schools because they have locations where the weather is perceived to be better and great attractiveness in their own right. Throw in a storied program at Arizona and even Utah and CU clearly does not have the kind of differentiation that it enjoyed in the Big 12. That said, Boyle has done a great job with what he inherited and, on balance, has recruited on average athletic kids who are at least as good as the better ones that I have seen in my 36 years of watching this team. CU is on the right track and I am loving it. It takes time to build a program and that is what Boyle is all about. We are lucky to have him.

 

[bar9716]

Just to play the other side of the coin:




All of this is accurate - as is the the following: Tad is tied for the most NCAA appearances in school history (including when it was the inferior tourney), Tad has half the NCAA appearances in the past 50 years, Half the 20 win seasons in CU history, the fastest time to 100 wins in CU history, the winningest % in CU history, 1 of our 2 conference titles in the last 50 years, and 1 of our 2 NCAA wins.



Yes if you compare us to historical top-25 programs it is nothing special, but ignoring where we came from and who we are seems rather pointless. It is roughly akin to saying well you know Harbaugh was 29-12 and only won 1 bowl game at Stanford. Or what Erickson did at OSU wasnt impressive, or Barney at northwestern.



That will happen when Boyle's teams can draw 2x more for a half baked open practice than we could for opening night a few years ago. It will happen when you hadn't seen the NCAA tourney in nearing 10 years or won a game in it in 15, it will happen when your last conf title was in 1969.



Simply getting out of your own way, using the cards you are dealt and winning is a skill. Ask Michigan Era RichRod or Dan Hawkins.



You hit on some you miss on some, I have less concern with the last 8 players taken that I do with some of the end of season fliers we have taken on players. Certainly there have been enough head scratchers in this space, but there have also been wins of those 8 I'd say the jury is out still on 6.



We certainly we have seen issues that are very similar in each season, the offensive organization being a common thread, end of half execution at times, and my favorite to harp on - the hockey substitutions. However Boyle's record in close games is not what you would assert, it has been bad only this year. He is 31-15 in games decided by 2 possessions or less and 4-4 in OT games; this year has been bad with Boyle collecting 1/3 of the close losses of his Colorado tenure and winning only 1 close game. prior to this year he was 29-10 in 2 possession games.



This seems like a contradiction to me either the recruiting has been mediocre the last 2 years and we are achieving exactly that or it has been ok and we are underachieving. Dan Hanner has an article on this that i cant find right now but it has Boyle as just a hair above average in player development which if we accept as that case would point to him recruiting pretty well.

Either way when you move up the the coach dating ladder from a 2's & 3's to a 7 it shouldn't be unexpected that people fall all-over themselves about it, especially not when the flagship program at the university is in the midst of potentially its worst run ever.

This is one of the best posts I've seen on Allbuffs. Absinthe just took every one of JRK's "gripes" and beat them over the head with a baseball bat. Well done.

 

[ILoveBuffs]

Boyle has done a fine job. It takes time to sustain success. It isn't easy building a winning culture like a program like Colorado.