I'll admit, I'm grasping a little here, but I just don't think it's coincidence that Tad's teams this year and in 2010-11 got it done offensively, but with suspect D, while the two teams between made tourney runs on the strength of the D. Tad will adapt to the personnel and I'd be willing to bet the focus in practice going forward will be defensive intensity and pounding the ball down low. Looking at the metrics before and after yesterday's game, i believe we'll see two completely different styles of play.
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Spencer Dinwiddie Injury
- Thread starter Buffnik
- Start date
I'll admit, I'm grasping a little here, but I just don't think it's coincidence that Tad's teams this year and in 2010-11 got it done offensively, but with suspect D, while the two teams between made tourney runs on the strength of the D. Tad will adapt to the personnel and I'd be willing to bet the focus in practice going forward will be defensive intensity and pounding the ball down low. Looking at the metrics before and after yesterday's game, i believe we'll see two completely different styles of play.
buffs 85, I'm not sure what your expectations were pre- and post-injury, and I appreciate your optimism, but I don't think we should downplay the significance of the loss either. Spencer was the floor general, the team's top player, and a likely 1st round draft choice. He was the team leader in points scored, assists, steals, FTM, FTA, FT%, and 3pt%. You just don't plug someone else in and replace that, unless you're one of the blue-bloods who grows 5* talent on trees. Even then, it's tough to overcome.
To put the loss in perspective, before the injury, I believe we held a 6 point lead and, had Spencer finished that drive, would have expanded it to 8. Had we won the game, we would have had a good chance of remaining undefeated in conference play (and likely ranked in the top 10) going into the matchup at Arizona in two weeks. That also set up the following possibilities:
- Remaining ranked in the top-25 through the remainder of the season
- Hosting a Gameday broadcast against Arizona next month
- A first round bye in the conference tournament
- A possible top-4 seeding in the tournament, setting up a potential deep post-season run
- Potential back-to-back 1st round draft choices coming out of Colorado, further establishing the program in the minds of recruits
Now, most, if not all of those accomplishments appear unlikely. We may still make the tourney, but let's not pretend that this injury is insignificant in the big picture. This season was setting up to be a breakout party for the program, and now that's probably going to be tabled for at least another year.
Buffenuf
massive tool
This team is not without any remaining talent, so its now up to Tad to earn his ever-growing paychecks, adapting and adjusting, moving to Plan B or C or Z! Thsi team was supposed to lose abunchof boards when Dre opted for the Association, so people stepped up and the loss was minimized, board-wise.
Now everyone has to step up for both points and on "D", as well as start playing 40 minutes of BB, which we have not yet seen, even when SD was in. I challenged Josh in an earlier post, because although his overall impact is very solid, it comes in stretchs and does not seem to appear over the course of the whole game, he picks his spots or has allowed others to pick his spots. He has to insist in seeing the ball consistently throughout a game.
Now everyone has to step up for both points and on "D", as well as start playing 40 minutes of BB, which we have not yet seen, even when SD was in. I challenged Josh in an earlier post, because although his overall impact is very solid, it comes in stretchs and does not seem to appear over the course of the whole game, he picks his spots or has allowed others to pick his spots. He has to insist in seeing the ball consistently throughout a game.
SECOBuffsFan
Active Member
Fortunately for CU...the talent on the team is good enough to overcome this injury....that wouldn't have been the case even 2 years ago.
I think it is very fortunate we don't play UCLA until Thursday...that gives Boyle three full practices to get their minds right...make the necessary adjustments and get them ready to move forward. It will be a different team no doubt, but I have faith that this team will weather the storm and come out fighting...because a lot of people (especially the media) will jump ship with Dinwiddie being gone and give these guys no chance.
I think it is very fortunate we don't play UCLA until Thursday...that gives Boyle three full practices to get their minds right...make the necessary adjustments and get them ready to move forward. It will be a different team no doubt, but I have faith that this team will weather the storm and come out fighting...because a lot of people (especially the media) will jump ship with Dinwiddie being gone and give these guys no chance.
I feel really bad for the Mayor. Hopefully he pulls a PRich and comes back stronger next season, whether in Boulder or the NBA.
This season, however, just got interesting. How far can the Buffs go without Spencer? Bye in the Vegas? NIT? NCAA? Tad has a challenge we haven't seen before, can he get everyone to step up? Who takes Spencer's minutes (or JHop's assuming he starts at PG)? Can JHop and/or XT replace Spencer's defense? Does Scott become the leader?
This won't be the season we expected, but it might be fun.
opcorn:
This season, however, just got interesting. How far can the Buffs go without Spencer? Bye in the Vegas? NIT? NCAA? Tad has a challenge we haven't seen before, can he get everyone to step up? Who takes Spencer's minutes (or JHop's assuming he starts at PG)? Can JHop and/or XT replace Spencer's defense? Does Scott become the leader?
This won't be the season we expected, but it might be fun.
opcorn:It's not a lack of talent I'm concerned with as much as who runs the offense. Who gets the team into their sets? Who is the primary ball handler late in games? Who hits the big FT's to ice games? Who breaks the press? I'm just not that confident in the replacements right now. Hopefully they prove me wrong. Also, for as much as we want Josh to step up, someone has to get him the ball. He can't create on his own. Those are my biggest concerns right now.
It is time for either XT to prove he has what it takes to start at this level, or J-Hop needs to grow up quick and take over. Any of them that can play the point and give us more assists than to's will be sufficient. Ski has the ability to be a game changer and scott and gordon are a power duo down low. The offense will likely change, but it can still work. we will see how they look after 4 days of practice with the new PG.
SECOBuffsFan
Active Member
I think J-Hop will rise to the occasion. He has to hit FTs though
Who would of thunk it. The sun came up this morning.
Agreed. He'll probably take on a big role, but he's a liability at the line.
wyobuff
Well-Known Member
One other thing about this is some of the guys that typically came in fairly late in the rotation (king, stalzer) are going to get a lot more minutes than they would have. Spencer typically played like 33-35 min per game, and whoever fills his slot is most likely not going to be prepared to play that many minutes per game (at least initially) - they may net somewhere between 23-27. That will at least leave more minutes avail for fletch, stalzer and king to get some quality minutes during conference games.
I just feel for the mayor - poor kid.
I just feel for the mayor - poor kid.
ShockerHoops
Well-Known Member
I just got word of Spencer's injury and immediately came over to see what was the matter. Tough break for the Buffs, and really tough break for Spencer. Prayers to him and his family, and hope that his recovery is speedy and painless.
I know that sometimes it's hard to look at a situation positively when things seem dire, and I hope that it doesn't offend anyone to put it so bluntly, but being a negative Nancy and complaining about how the season is over helps no one. Now is the time when you stay positive, gather around your team, and cheer twice as loud at home.
Character is unearthed and created when adversity is met. Now is the time for the rest of the team to go out there, show them what they're made of.
I know that sometimes it's hard to look at a situation positively when things seem dire, and I hope that it doesn't offend anyone to put it so bluntly, but being a negative Nancy and complaining about how the season is over helps no one. Now is the time when you stay positive, gather around your team, and cheer twice as loud at home.
Character is unearthed and created when adversity is met. Now is the time for the rest of the team to go out there, show them what they're made of.
iSmellChip
Well-Known Member
Today is the day. I assume we will know the final diagnosis on spencer before noon today. #PrayForDinwiddie
I think we can make up for him on D a little. As JG pointed out, Fletch has the wingspan and I've been impressed with his D in limited minutes. J-Hop gets abused at times, but he's trying at least and you're seeing improvement there. The guy who I think we need to step up the most on D is XT. Little X played some damn good D last year and was impressive in the scrimmage and early in non-con before completely going off of the edge and becoming a dumpster fire on D. This may cause him to refocus and get back to where he was. If so, those three combined will minimize the blow on that end of the court.
As for offense, well, the best offense is going to be a good defense for us for the next few months.
As for offense, well, the best offense is going to be a good defense for us for the next few months.
iSmellChip
Well-Known Member
Thanks Shocker. I think most feel we'll still compete, but the preseason expectations are a long-shot now.
I'm still crushed this morning. Tough choices for the Mayor coming up, along with the team. Best wishes to him.
Feel for Spencer, personally; it will be some tough choices ahead.
But for the Buffs team, I tend to believe in DeGaulle's statement: "The graveyards are full of indispensible men."
Time for others to step up. Gordon looks like he's taken that step. But from now on, no more two point/two rebound halves from Scott and no more disappearing acts from XJ!
But for the Buffs team, I tend to believe in DeGaulle's statement: "The graveyards are full of indispensible men."
Time for others to step up. Gordon looks like he's taken that step. But from now on, no more two point/two rebound halves from Scott and no more disappearing acts from XJ!
I really think Jaron is going to take off now that he's in the starting lineup. It'll hopefully refocus him and he played very well when he started for a few games early in the year.
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Ugh, this would be a good year to make a run too. I think I saw we got outscored by 20 in the 2nd half. I didn't read the whole thread, is it an acl or what?
SECOBuffsFan
Active Member
From all indications it appears so but nothing official as of yet
[tweet]422771513625153536[/tweet]
You clearly don't live in Oregon.
Agree and I bet Tad spent the flight home planning for how he would address the team and move it forward today. While the pit in my stomach is still there for the Mayor, I look to see some real leadership from Tad and several of the players over the next several days. I am sure the wagons are circling and they will figure out how to use the talent that they have, which is still better than many in the Pac.
This will present a good opportunity for the Freshman to grow up. Should help the team for next year. Plan for this year needs to be step up on defense. Won't be able to replace him on offense. Play hard, keep games close, win enough to make the tourney.
cubuffs85
Active Member
I agree with that, everyone needs to step up. It will be tougher, I'm not trying to sugarcoat that. I just don't think the season is "over." I'm not willing to concede that. I'm just saying injuries happen in sports even to the top players, you can't use that as excuses.
I agree with you if we had won the game (and a big if IMO even if Spencer plays the 2nd half, not like they were ahead 20 at halftime), we likely go undefeated into the UofA game in Tucson. I still think were going to host GameDay although that's less of a given now.
Even if we had Spencer and a 4th seed, it's not like we'd be a shoe-in to the Sweet 16. I get the optimism but we were just starting to scratch the surface of conference play, we barely beat Wazzu. We went 2-1 in our big OOC games. I actually think the most amazing thing was that we didn't lose any of the other OOC games. I was thinking 3-4 losses OOC play.
cubuffs85
Active Member
Gives the team a challenge, overcoming adversity. I really don't want to see the "If only Spencer was here" posts which I know are natural to happen. Life doesn't always go as planned. And there is nothing worse than people who make excuses IMO. Make the best of a bad situation. Sometimes life throws you a curveball or two and we're talking about sports here, even if we're talking about a serious injury.I feel really bad for the Mayor. Hopefully he pulls a PRich and comes back stronger next season, whether in Boulder or the NBA.
This season, however, just got interesting. How far can the Buffs go without Spencer? Bye in the Vegas? NIT? NCAA? Tad has a challenge we haven't seen before, can he get everyone to step up? Who takes Spencer's minutes (or JHop's assuming he starts at PG)? Can JHop and/or XT replace Spencer's defense? Does Scott become the leader?
This won't be the season we expected, but it might be fun.
That is right on and it will be fun to see which kids step up. There will be several I believe as I have said in other posts, this team has talent. It may be rushed for some, but this will create new leadership that we will need down the line.
If Spencer is in fact done for the year this is still one of, if not the most, talented roster the Buffs have ever had. We're only 4 games into conference season, plenty of time to adjust and figure it out.
Time to make The KEG more hostile than its ever ****ing been!!!!!!!
Time to make The KEG more hostile than its ever ****ing been!!!!!!!