Tad Boyle didn’t start Askia Booker for the first time since his freshman year. I’m not one to speculate – who am I kidding, I absolutely am – but this isn’t a speculative write up. Boyle kept a handful of talent on the bench as this critical season tipped and it confused me. My inclination was to think that perhaps his team was losing itself, lost in some combination of hype, boredom, or both. The lead to the season is long. Too much talky. My reaction was to consider, if not judge, the program’s health.
And that’s still my stance an initially I saw this as bad. These guys were perhaps losing it and Tad had to crack the whip. And he did.
What I’ve come to believe, however, is that this move asserted Tad as the program. I am the one who knocks Colorado Basketball. The off-season has centered around Spencer Dinwiddie and how important he was to even this team. Having to hear that for eleven months is exhausting. So maybe things were beginning to slip. The drone of that noise becoming so much that the team lost itself. Whip cracked.
/end speculation.
This is Tad’s program. He exacted his rules and a handful of guys didn’t play. The reason be damned. From injuries to tardiness to whatever you want to speculate, it’s all irrelevant. This is Tad’s program.
And this is Josh Scott’s team.
Through two games he’s scored 38 points, grabbed 20 boards and blocked 6 shots. He’s done it with a top-100 offensive efficiency and just about every other stat of his contextualized in yellow highlights on KenPom.com (which basically means he ranks well amongst all players in the country). And yes, I’m one to jump to small-sample-size conclusions. He’s been great for two years – you and I know this – but through these two games Josh Scott hasn’t gotten points or boards or blocks. He’s made them. Scott is asserting himself in ways we perhaps haven’t seen before. Or rather, he’s now doing it at a time when we can perhaps better appreciate it. Because Scott was terrific in the absence of Dinwiddie. What he’s doing and what he’s about to do isn’t news. But we can have a different appreciation for it.
This is Josh Scott’s team.
And you know what a big fan of Askia Booker I am. With a point guard situation in development – if not flux – the most experienced hand that doubles as the hot hand can easily become the defacto man. He’s vital to this team’s success. After all, this is a team and everyone is pretty damn important.
Titus went so far as to say Xavier Johnson is the conference’s most underrated player. He maybe isn’t wrong (for my money it’s Anthony Brown but I don’t have much money so I suppose there’s an argument to be made for XJ). Johnson is as athletic as anyone in the conference and has displayed First Team skills. He’s good and made leaps in the absence of Dinwiddie (Titus goes into depth on it but, most notably, he scored an additional 3ppg. To go a touch further, he even upped his efficiency: 101 vs. 103). He is a terrific compliment to the aforementioned Scott and Booker.
Through two games we’ve seen depth and things that can encourage us about Colorado Basketball. The immediate start was perhaps shaky - an unfamiliar starting five amidst suspensions - raising questions in a season chalk full of them. It’s early, but the answers are coming back clear.
This is Tad’s program.
This is Josh Scott’s team.
And that’s still my stance an initially I saw this as bad. These guys were perhaps losing it and Tad had to crack the whip. And he did.
What I’ve come to believe, however, is that this move asserted Tad as the program. I am the one who knocks Colorado Basketball. The off-season has centered around Spencer Dinwiddie and how important he was to even this team. Having to hear that for eleven months is exhausting. So maybe things were beginning to slip. The drone of that noise becoming so much that the team lost itself. Whip cracked.
/end speculation.
This is Tad’s program. He exacted his rules and a handful of guys didn’t play. The reason be damned. From injuries to tardiness to whatever you want to speculate, it’s all irrelevant. This is Tad’s program.
And this is Josh Scott’s team.
Through two games he’s scored 38 points, grabbed 20 boards and blocked 6 shots. He’s done it with a top-100 offensive efficiency and just about every other stat of his contextualized in yellow highlights on KenPom.com (which basically means he ranks well amongst all players in the country). And yes, I’m one to jump to small-sample-size conclusions. He’s been great for two years – you and I know this – but through these two games Josh Scott hasn’t gotten points or boards or blocks. He’s made them. Scott is asserting himself in ways we perhaps haven’t seen before. Or rather, he’s now doing it at a time when we can perhaps better appreciate it. Because Scott was terrific in the absence of Dinwiddie. What he’s doing and what he’s about to do isn’t news. But we can have a different appreciation for it.
This is Josh Scott’s team.
And you know what a big fan of Askia Booker I am. With a point guard situation in development – if not flux – the most experienced hand that doubles as the hot hand can easily become the defacto man. He’s vital to this team’s success. After all, this is a team and everyone is pretty damn important.
Titus went so far as to say Xavier Johnson is the conference’s most underrated player. He maybe isn’t wrong (for my money it’s Anthony Brown but I don’t have much money so I suppose there’s an argument to be made for XJ). Johnson is as athletic as anyone in the conference and has displayed First Team skills. He’s good and made leaps in the absence of Dinwiddie (Titus goes into depth on it but, most notably, he scored an additional 3ppg. To go a touch further, he even upped his efficiency: 101 vs. 103). He is a terrific compliment to the aforementioned Scott and Booker.
Through two games we’ve seen depth and things that can encourage us about Colorado Basketball. The immediate start was perhaps shaky - an unfamiliar starting five amidst suspensions - raising questions in a season chalk full of them. It’s early, but the answers are coming back clear.
This is Tad’s program.
This is Josh Scott’s team.
