Official 2015 Air Force @ Colorado basketball Game thread

[CVilleBuff]

The college game doesn't have numerous 6'10 guys who can go for 20 and 10 just floating around. You're fortunate as **** if you have one if you aren't one of the traditional powers. Sometimes you've got to find a 6'8/6'9 pitbull and hope you've got length and great guard play (or else throw an uncoordinated 7'0 guy out who's a "work in progress" all 4 years while averaging 4ppg and 2.5 rebs). That's the name of the game for most.

Wes being late is unacceptable, but I have faith his numbers will climb when necessary. Miller's "incident" doesn't bother me, his lack of improvement on D (from what I'm seeing) does. Still, he has the set to change that and he's young.

 

[BuffinCali]

Miller's "incident" doesn't bother me, his lack of improvement on D (from what I'm seeing) does. Still, he has the set to change that and he's young.

Miller is not that young, relative to HS kids going to college. He spent time at a prep school before coming to CU, he will be 21 this season (as a sophomore).

 

[CVilleBuff]

Miller is not that young, relative to HS kids going to college. He spent time at a prep school before coming to CU, he will be 21 this season (as a sophomore).

We're early in his sophomore year, that's all I care about. He has much to learn about major college basketball. Prep can only do so much. He had an off-night. It happens. The defense has got to improve, I'm just not going to write off a guy who has likely played about 15 percent of his college minutes.

 

[torero]

First: Wes being late is dumb and not acceptable.
Now that is established: why does he draw so much scorn from so many idiots? He is an elite defender. Apparently if you don't put up Josh Scott numbers, you're a scrub who should be cast aside. I really can't wrap my head around this. This team has no chance at being a Pac contender without Wes. Period.

 

[FightCu1414]

I am unsure of your basketball IQ, so I will break it down for you via game statistics and why the performance in not only this game, but every game, shows a tremendous concern about Gordon and Miller moving forward:

Gordon: 22 minutes, 1 point, 1 turnover, 0 blocks! (also late for team meeting)
Miller: 13 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, an ejection for BITING and perhaps even more worrisome, his playing to the crowd and raising his hands up on the way to the locker room (as if he didn't just disgrace himself and the Buffs)!
Scott: Had to play 33 minutes against Air Force, in a game that was a blow out most of the way (because there is nobody else down low on the Buffs roster that can rebound, block, D or score)!

If the future of the Buffs interior is only Gordon and Miller, well, you can do the math! Hence, why Tad needs a BIG ASAP...

Sorry my basketball IQ isn't too high apparently. You don't need to know my background in basketball but played all through high school. Josh Adams ruined me. If you know basketball there are roles within a team. Wes only needs to rebound and play defense. We don't need him to score. And have you ever thought those numbers are down because Josh Scott takes the majority of shots from the low post? And if you follow college basketball you would know it is very guard oriented. We could use some help up front but five games into the season I'm not freaking out about our front court.

 

[Ruckus]

First: Wes being late is dumb and not acceptable.
Now that is established: why does he draw so much scorn from so many idiots? He is an elite defender. Apparently if you don't put up Josh Scott numbers, you're a scrub who should be cast aside. I really can't wrap my head around this. This team has no chance at being a Pac contender without Wes. Period.

Answered it yourself.

 

[DBT]

He's the biggest surprise to me this year. As hard of a time as I've given you about King, we've heard that he's lit up in practice. It hadn't translated to the court before but even I could imagine it happening. I really had zero expectations for Yaz, he's been phenomenal, not sure if I think he's been better than Dom, but he's been solid. Great to see this combo in the program for the foreseeable future.

King is lit up in practice?

 

[RK]

I am unsure of your basketball IQ, so I will break it down for you via game statistics and why the performance in not only this game, but every game, shows a tremendous concern about Gordon and Miller moving forward:

Gordon: 22 minutes, 1 point, 1 turnover, 0 blocks! (also late for team meeting)
Miller: 13 minutes, 2 points, 3 rebounds, 3 turnovers, 2 fouls, an ejection for BITING and perhaps even more worrisome, his playing to the crowd and raising his hands up on the way to the locker room (as if he didn't just disgrace himself and the Buffs)!
Scott: Had to play 33 minutes against Air Force, in a game that was a blow out most of the way (because there is nobody else down low on the Buffs roster that can rebound, block, D or score)!

If the future of the Buffs interior is only Gordon and Miller, well, you can do the math! Hence, why Tad needs a BIG ASAP...

I've been as hard on Wes as anyone, but I found it hilarious you opted to leave out that he lead the team in rebounds with eight. He didn't need to help the team scoring tonight, he only took one shot. His last two performances, for all intents and purposes, have been very solid.

Being late to team dinner is a bad look, especially after tardiness was such a problem last year but it happens, you take a nap and forget to set an alarm or whatever. I think it's fair to give Wes a pass on this one as long as it doesn't continue.

 

[buffaholic]

Sort of making even more sense now why Thomas and Hopkins left.
They were not going to be THE guys for sure and they had to know it.

 

[absinthe]

So Wes didn't start because he was late and then he looked totally out of it. Shades of last year. I hope Tad kicks some arse.

We've seen Wes take a bit of a step back offensively this year but last night was emblematic of how Wes is just a much better player when involved early, we have seen that time and time again, that is why its important for him to start - that and well we learned the alternative isnt very good. The team picked up its play when Wes came in that first half. Before he checked in AF was out rebounding us and torching the nets - again more of a case of Tory being that bad than Wes doing much but once he checked it/tory sat the team took off. Wes had 6 of his 8 boards in the first half before going to sleep in the second and picking up 2.

 

[absinthe]

Where in this game did you see our post being an issue?

Welcome to JRourk posting - he's got some axe to grind with Tad, his posts always trend towards the worst possible outcome and how going forward we are ****ed. they are usually just plausible enough to respond to but not quite when you look at them in the aggregate or very closely. When we have a shortcoming he latches on to it and picks at that - when said perceived shortcoming works out (Yaz) then he stops posting about it and moves on. He's basically BigJim without the good will building phases, terrible history and with less frequency.

My best guess is t\that some CU Coach didn't recruit some kid from a program he likes/supports/volunteers at.

 

[sockdolager]

Sort of making even more sense now why Thomas and Hopkins left.
They were not going to be THE guys for sure and they had to know it.

Agreed. Thomas and Hopkins had to go against Fortune and King daily in practice. They knew.

 

[absinthe]

Agreed. Thomas and Hopkins had to go against Fortune and King daily in practice. They knew.

I still think there were some minutes for DT at the 4 when you look at what we are getting from Miller right now, but he wanted more and wanted them at the 3, given what we are getting from fortune and king in those types of roles those minutes were gone.

 

[Buffenuf]

Kind of lackluster 2nd half.

I fart in your general direction, Mr. Grumpy Pants!

 

[Buffenuf]

Lol no

lol Yes. Were you there? Yaz ran the "O" much more smoothly than anybody else at point. Had to have 4-6 passes that led directly to FTs Those should count as assists, too. And the whole team calmed down when he got the ball in his hands after transition. He simply was more effective. And the fact he gets better with each game, is coachable, has great fundamentals, takes control in huddles and is clearly more of a physical presence than Dom, (even after Dom hit the weights) indicates he's got real momentum toward starting at point and playing 25 minutes a game there. On TV you can't see those things.

This kid ain't your Nate Tomlinson type at all.

 

[Buffenuf]

First: Wes being late is dumb and not acceptable.
Now that is established: why does he draw so much scorn from so many idiots? He is an elite defender. Apparently if you don't put up Josh Scott numbers, you're a scrub who should be cast aside. I really can't wrap my head around this. This team has no chance at being a Pac contender without Wes. Period.

Oh, you mean, like those clowns screaming for Tad's head after UNO? Those idiots?

 

[Buffnik]

We're early in his sophomore year, that's all I care about. He has much to learn about major college basketball. Prep can only do so much. He had an off-night. It happens. The defense has got to improve, I'm just not going to write off a guy who has likely played about 15 percent of his college minutes.

I was hard on him from the stands last night. Also very supportive, over-cheering everything positive that happened for him because he needed it.

Something that I didn't think about and I haven't seen mentioned here... defending against a disciplined Princeton offense and playing offense against a disciplined zone trap is really damn difficult for a big guy with less experience. All of CU's normal rules change. Tory was getting killed on back cuts, for example. He'll learn.

 

[Buffnik]

lol Yes. Were you there? Yaz ran the "O" much more smoothly than anybody else at point. Had to have 4-6 passes that led directly to FTs Those should count as assists, too. And the whole team calmed down when he got the ball in his hands after transition. He simply was more effective. And the fact he gets better with each game, is coachable, has great fundamentals, takes control in huddles and is clearly more of a physical presence than Dom, (even after Dom hit the weights) indicates he's got real momentum toward starting at point and playing 25 minutes a game there. On TV you can't see those things.

This kid ain't your Nate Tomlinson type at all.

First step is for Yaz to take all of Talton's PG minutes.

But what we want for that second step is for Yaz to be able to play with Dom and be a combo guard who can spell our 2s and be a shooter when he comes in for that lineup.

We don't want Yaz overtaking Dom. We need Dom to also keep progressing, because he's got upside Yaz doesn't which can make this team great. Dom's better now and there's so much farther he can go. Last night against Air Force Yaz had the better game. But that was also one of the least athletic team the Buffs will face all year. Very different than playing the position against the guards at Cal, Oregon and Arizona.

 

[Ruckus]

lol Yes. Were you there? Yaz ran the "O" much more smoothly than anybody else at point. Had to have 4-6 passes that led directly to FTs Those should count as assists, too. And the whole team calmed down when he got the ball in his hands after transition. He simply was more effective. And the fact he gets better with each game, is coachable, has great fundamentals, takes control in huddles and is clearly more of a physical presence than Dom, (even after Dom hit the weights) indicates he's got real momentum toward starting at point and playing 25 minutes a game there. On TV you can't see those things.

This kid ain't your Nate Tomlinson type at all.

I'm extremely happy with what I've seen from Yaz so far. He played a great game last night. It is extremely foolish to think that performance earns him a look at starting over Dom. Yaz is exactly what we want as a backup point guard. He plays with intensity on offense (with or without the ball) and defense, knocks down open shots, puts teammates in position to score, and doesn't turn over the ball. Hopefully he can do this against better competition. Right now we need to hope he continues to play this way so he can takes XT's minutes.

I just can't believe this is being suggested. Absurd. You don't look at an individual game and select a new starter. Especially when it's a true freshmen PG in non-conference against an awful opponent. I'm not going to argue any more than this. Waste of time.

 

[89BUFF89]

Dom needs to stop getting 2 early silly fouls and he'll be fine.

 

[sackman]

Reading this thread without knowing the outcome of the game, you'd think we lost. I saw a dominating performance. We could have won by 40 had we kept up the pace of the first half. They sleep walked through the second half. No big deal.

I watched the game on TV, and I have to say Montgomery's analysis annoyed me. He kept minimizing Jelly's abilities. Even to the point of saying something like "he's ok, but not elite". Whatever, dude.

Fortune is a stud, by the way. Great pick up. Can't believe he was unable to find a good spot at Providence. He's a difference maker.
I think this team will make some noise in an incredibly average PAC 12.

 

[buffaholic]

Montgomery had a few good comments on the telecast:

1. CU is a top flight point guard from being elite. That's not a slam but we are very strong elsewhere and average at best right now at point. We need those guys to continue to develop and I like that there is competition.
2. He seemed to say that he'd like to see King, Fortune and Fletch on the court at same time. I thought he was suggesting instead of a point guard but I think he was talking going small (with Scott and a point). He specifically mentioned Talton in there for his outside shooting.
3 Dom needs more arc on his jumper. Seems like something he'd have fixed by now...

 

[buffaholic]

Disagree with Sacky. Montgomery loves Scott.

And if we don't shoot once in a lifetime percentages from behind the arc we may have lost. AFA is a weak team.

 

[Buffnik]

I think our standard look against the best teams we face is:

Dom at point
2 wings (Fortune, Fletch, King)
2 bigs (Wes & J40)

Then, Yaz subs for Dom and Tory works in for Wes & Josh.

That is the 8-man rotation the Buffs take to the post-season this year.

Guz plays a bit if there's foul trouble up front. XT gets minutes in foul situations at guard and to put a good foul shooting senior on the court in end-game situations. But those 8 guys are the core lineup.

 

[DBT]

I think our standard look against the best teams we face is:

Dom at point
2 wings (Fortune, Fletch, King)
2 bigs (Wes & J40)

Then, Yaz subs for Dom and Tory works in for Wes & Josh.

That is the 8-man rotation the Buffs take to the post-season this year.

Guz plays a bit if there's foul trouble up front. XT gets minutes in foul situations at guard and to put a good foul shooting senior on the court in end-game situations. But those 8 guys are the core lineup.

You left out Stalzer.

 

[BuffsNYC]

You left out Stalzer.

So has Tad.

 

[Buffenuf]

Welcome to JRourk posting - he's got some axe to grind with Tad, his posts always trend towards the worst possible outcome and how going forward we are ****ed. they are usually just plausible enough to respond to but not quite when you look at them in the aggregate or very closely. When we have a shortcoming he latches on to it and picks at that - when said perceived shortcoming works out (Yaz) then he stops posting about it and moves on. He's basically BigJim without the good will building phases, terrible history and with less frequency.

My best guess is t\that some CU Coach didn't recruit some kid from a program he likes/supports/volunteers at.

That's a stretch at best. But I like your very plausible reason for his comments: disgruntled, likely a Longmont type---they're always disgruntled. (Who was that very decent, but very scrawny recruit from there that Tad asked to attend prep school, so the kid opted for Boise? I smell a connection.)

 

[Buffenuf]

You left out Stalzer.

So did Tad!

 

[Buffenuf]

I think our starting look against the best teams we face is:

Dom at point
2 wings (Fortune, Fletch, King)
2 bigs (Wes & J40)

Then, Yaz subs for Dom and Tory works in for Wes & Josh.

That is the 8-man rotation the Buffs take to the post-season this year.

Guz plays a bit if there's foul trouble up front. XT gets minutes in foul situations at guard and to put a good foul shooting senior on the court in end-game situations. But those 8 guys are the core lineup.

FIFY. Dom's only good for 2 minutes before drawing 2 fouls.

 

[Buffenuf]

I'm extremely happy with what I've seen from Yaz so far. He played a great game last night. It is extremely foolish to think that performance earns him a look at starting over Dom. Yaz is exactly what we want as a backup point guard. He plays with intensity on offense (with or without the ball) and defense, knocks down open shots, puts teammates in position to score, and doesn't turn over the ball. Hopefully he can do this against better competition. Right now we need to hope he continues to play this way so he can takes XT's minutes.

I just can't believe this is being suggested. Absurd. You don't look at an individual game and select a new starter. Especially when it's a true freshmen PG in non-conference against an awful opponent. I'm not going to argue any more than this. Waste of time.

You never answered my question: Were you there?

My opinion is not based on this game alone. Yaz's grown with each game he's played. Dom seems static and cannot shake that two early foul jinx. And I've watched the dynamic Yaz brings to timeouts, that doesn't show up on TV: he talks with the players and gives and gets information. Dom stands there and doesn't interact with his teammates nearly as much, if at all. Tad alluded to this saying Dom needs to be more vocal.

Dom's not changing his in-game pattern. Yaz is. You saw Yaz bring a new aspect to his game into play last night when he began attacking and slashing toward the hoop. Meanwhile Dom picks up his first foul 15 seconds into the game! Who's learning and growing and who's not? Who's responding to coaching and who's not?