Brooks: Boyle Looking For Simple Opening Statement - CUBuffs.com

Brooks: Boyle Looking For Simple Opening Statement - CUBuffs.com - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado
Sophomore Spencer Dinwiddie is eager to be the Buffs' point man.
Photo Courtesy: CUBuffs.com
Brooks: Boyle Looking For Simple Opening Statement
Release: 11/08/2012 Courtesy: B.G. Brooks, Contributing Editor
BOULDER - College basketball openers can be dicey to begin
with, but if you're a head coach overseeing a roster teeming
with freshmen, the dicey-ness climbs to about rim-high.
Not that Colorado shouldn't handle Wofford College Friday
night in the 2012-13 season opener for both teams, but CU
coach Tad Boyle isn't so much agonizing over what the
Terriers will bring to the Coors Events Center as he is about
the acceleration of his young Buffaloes.
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Game Notes #1: Colorado vs.
Wofford
"As a coach you've got a lot more nervousness in your stomach," Boyle said earlier this week. "You don't know
what you're going to get."
To try and uncomplicate that unknown, this was Boyle's plan as the opener approached: Go simple and let his
babies take those kinds of steps before expecting/demanding that they man up.
If all goes accordingly with this gifted, six-member freshman class, that kind of bold stepping out will come in
January, maybe before, when the Buffs stroll into their Pac-12 Conference schedule. "By January," noted Boyle,
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Brooks: Boyle Looking For Simple Opening Statement - CUBuffs.com - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado
"some of these freshmen shouldn't be freshmen anymore in terms of the minutes they're going to play."
But for now, in preparation for the opener anyway, Boyle and his staff had scheduled "two or three things on
offense and two or three things on defense that we want them dialed into," he said. A couple of those things are
half-court offense/defense and transition offense/defense, and Boyle noted, "If we can be that simple and still
be good in those areas, I'll be happy."
Something else that would make him happy: A full house on Friday. Since taking the CU job, Boyle has held fast
to the philosophy of not being satisfied until the Buffs sell out the CEC on their own merit. That appears on the
verge of happening - for the opener at least. And if it happens in the first game, history would be made. CU has
sold out a pair of NIT games (both in 1991), but never a non-conference game and never an opener.
"I've said this before: until we've sold every ticket in this building before the first tip off, we've got work to do,"
Boyle said. "We're making strides in that direction; our fans have been terrific. We're playing Wofford from a
totally different part of the country. (Fans) are coming to see the Buffaloes and some of these new freshmen."
Situated in Spartanburg, S.C., Wofford finished 19-14 overall last season and 12-6 in the Southern Conference.
In a poll of the league's coaches and media, the Terriers were picked to finish fourth this season in the six-team
South Division, above Furman and The Citadel and below (in order) Davidson, College of Charleston and
Georgia Southern.
That polling matters about as much to Boyle and his players as what's for dinner tonight at Buckingham Palace.
Their first order of business is taking care of their own biz Friday night, then build on that next week when they
trip to the East Coast for the Charleston (S.C.) Classic.
Without the benefit of extensive (maybe any) tape prep, Boyle knows this about the Terriers: They're a much
different team this year than last - as is his. "They lost players, we lost players," he said. "But in that first game
you're dialed into what your guys are doing. Hopefully, we'll have some sort of feel (for Wofford). The thing you
have to be prepared for is them coming in and playing zone, they might 'junk defense' you . . . you have to be
prepared for everything, not knowing exactly what you're going to get. But the focus is on us, not on them."
Much of that internal focus will be on the Buffs' on-court operation under Spencer Dinwiddie, who saw some
point guard duty last winter but not nearly as much as he will in his sophomore season. The point is
Dinwiddie's natural position and he's eager to make an all-out jump back into it.
"It's fun," he said. "I love being back at the point . . . I missed it."
Dinwiddie knows as much about directing the show as he does about being thrown into the fire as a freshman.
Last season, with senior Nate Tomlinson at point guard, Dinwiddie was needed more as a wing scorer than a
floor director. In 27.4 minutes a game, he averaged 10.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists.
"It's something I knew was coming; coach had told me we needed firepower," he said of his first-year role. "This
year, it was 'we need you to do this, but be ready to come back to point.' Even with Xavier (Talton) and Eli
(Stalzer) I pretty much knew I would be back at the point." (Talton and Stalzer are freshmen.)
Dinwiddie's "new" role will make him "a little more selfless in the sense I have to watch out for everything and
everyone at all times," he said. "You'll definitely see a lot more passing. It's just a different type of progression;
instead of attack to score, I've got to look for opportunities to pass instead of score.
"I want to do whatever helps the team win, obviously. If the team's flowing you'll probably see more passing, if
it's not flowing you'll probably see more scoring. That's just how I'll play and I'll play it by ear . . . it's going to be
a game-by-game type deal."
The CU team Dinwiddie joined last year was well-stocked with senior leadership (four). The team he will direct
this year features one senior - Sabatino Chen. The differences in overall makeup, Dinwiddie said, will become
obvious: "We're a little more immature, (but) a little more talented. We play with a higher intensity and a higher
speed. I think sometimes we might get a little out of control - even though it's my job to stop that. We play at a
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Brooks: Boyle Looking For Simple Opening Statement - CUBuffs.com - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado
much faster pace.
"I think some of that comes with the territory of being a little bit young. But I also think we're executing coach's
philosophy fairly well, especially rebounding and getting up the floor."
Boyle is big on not allowing outside expectations to seep into his locker room, believing he has the bar set high
enough and if his players measure up to that, what's going on in the outside world is irrelevant. His players
have bought into that.
"We have high expectations for ourselves," Dinwiddie said. "We put a lot of pressure on ourselves because of
that. I think in a lot of cases, high expectations outside are even lower than what we want to do. We think we're
a lot more talented than a lot of people give us credit for. We're going out to prove that.
"It's not like they gave us a No. 1 ranking we have to live up to. We're still ranked sixth (in the Pac-12
preseason media poll), we're still not Top 25, we're like a fringe NCAA Tournament team. We want to prove
we're better than sixth, we're maybe a Top 25 team and we're a solid tournament team.
"Our best basketball is ahead of us and I think you'll see that on Friday - glimpses of great basketball, but also
stretches of where we're probably not playing our best. But as long as we get better and don't have bad losses
early in the season, we'll be fine. And we'll be ready for the tournament."
First, there's Wofford . . . then the trip to Charleston . . . then the remainder of a difficult non-conference
schedule that precedes Pac-12 play. The Buffs will have plenty of chances to prove they're NCAA-ready - but
you can bet that isn't showing up on Boyle's November to-do list.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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Men's basketball: Boyle expects CU Buffs to put on show for big crowd - Boulder Daily ...
Men's basketball: Boyle expects CU Buffs to put on show for big
crowd
By Ryan Thorburn Buffzone.com Boulder Daily Camera
Posted: DailyCamera.com
Wofford College has no idea what it's about to step into.
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Sure, the Terriers have scouted the Buffs and no doubt understand Andre Roberson is one of the best
rebounders in the country and that sophomores Askia Booker and Spencer Dinwiddie have the
potential to emerge as one of the best backcourt tandems in the Pac-12.
The visitors from Spartanburg, S.C., know Josh Scott (6-10) and Shane Harris-Tunks (6-11) will have
a size advantage in the paint and are probably aware that Tad Boyle has established a formidable
home-court advantage in Boulder.
But it's impossible to prepare for the atmosphere Colorado fans are going to create Friday evening at
the Coors Events Center.
CU officials are expecting a sold-out crowd thirsty to support a talented young basketball team and
also champing at the bit to release some pent up frustration from a miserable football season.
"At the football game when they announced us for the rings, I just heard an explosion of cheers and
happiness," freshman forward Xavier Johnson said of last month's ceremony at Folsom Field when
Boyle and the returning players were presented with their Pac-12 Tournament championship jewelry.
"They really want us to just go back and win again this year and be a great team."
Boyle isn't expecting a team with one senior, two returning starters and six true freshmen to be great
during non-conference play.
However, the third-year CU head coach is demanding a memorable effort from the Buffs in the 2012-
13 opener against Wofford College Friday night at the Coors Events Center (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
"I told our players, when everybody leaves this building on Friday night after watching us play, they
need to be going home to say to their neighbors and friends and co-workers, 'This team is fun to
watch, we're coming back,'" Boyle said. "That's our job to make sure that happens."
Roberson is the leading returning scorer (11.9 ppg) from last season's 24-win NCAA Tournament
team and the reigning Pac-12 rebounding leader (11.1 rpg). On Thursday, the 6-7 junior was one of
only four Pac-12 representatives among the 50 players named to the preseason Wooden Award watch
list.
"If he continues to get better, it's going to be great," former CU All-American Cliff Meely said of
Roberson this week. "He's just a great hustler, a great rebounder, and every year I've seen him get
better. That's one of the things I like about the coaching with these kids is the young players get
better."
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11/20/2012

Men's basketball: Boyle expects CU Buffs to put on show for big crowd - Boulder Daily ...
Booker, a dynamic sixth man as a freshman, will join Dinwiddie in the starting lineup. The classmates
combined to average 19.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season.
The staff believes Sabatino Chen will enjoy a productive and memorable senior season, similar to the
experiences Levi Knutson, Nate Tomlinson and Austin Dufault had in recent years.
Scott, the heralded 6-10 forward from Colorado Springs, headlines a 2012 class ranked among the
nation's top 25.
CU has sold more than 5,800 season tickets to date. The previous record was 3,941.
Approximately 2,500 students, including the now legendary C-Unit diehards, are also expected at
every home game this season.
"I'm really proud of our fans for stepping up, not only for season tickets, but for this game," Boyle
said. "People are coming out to see the Buffaloes. I think part of it is the excitement about our
program, part of it is our recruiting class and people wanting to come out and see these young guys.
"I think it says a lot about where Colorado basketball is today relative to where it has been."
When Harris-Tunks, the last of the Jeff Bzdelik recruits, made his CU debut three years ago there
were more than 6,000 empty seats at the Coors Events Center on opening night.
"You look at my freshman year and we were getting 3,000 or 4,000 people every game, other than the
Kansas game when there were Kansas fans here," Harris-Tunks said. "For our midnight madness (last
month) we probably had as many fans as we were getting my freshman year at games. It's really
awesome to see what we've come from in such a short period of time."
Follow Ryan on Twitter: @RyanThorburn
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