Brooks: Boyle Looking For Simple Opening Statement - CUBuffs.com
Brooks: Boyle Looking For Simple Opening Statement - CUBuffs.com
Brooks: Boyle Looking For Simple Opening Statement - CUBuffs.com
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<strong>Brooks</strong>: <strong>Boyle</strong> <strong>Looking</strong> <strong>For</strong> <strong>Simple</strong> <strong>Opening</strong> <strong>Statement</strong> - <strong>CUBuffs</strong>.<strong>com</strong> - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado<br />
Sophomore Spencer Dinwiddie is eager to be the Buffs' point man.<br />
Photo Courtesy: <strong>CUBuffs</strong>.<strong>com</strong><br />
<strong>Brooks</strong>: <strong>Boyle</strong> <strong>Looking</strong> <strong>For</strong> <strong>Simple</strong> <strong>Opening</strong> <strong>Statement</strong><br />
Release: 11/08/2012 Courtesy: B.G. <strong>Brooks</strong>, Contributing Editor<br />
BOULDER - College basketball openers can be dicey to begin<br />
with, but if you're a head coach overseeing a roster teeming<br />
with freshmen, the dicey-ness climbs to about rim-high.<br />
Not that Colorado shouldn't handle Wofford College Friday<br />
night in the 2012-13 season opener for both teams, but CU<br />
coach Tad <strong>Boyle</strong> isn't so much agonizing over what the<br />
Terriers will bring to the Coors Events Center as he is about<br />
the acceleration of his young Buffaloes.<br />
Buy Tickets<br />
Game Notes #1: Colorado vs.<br />
Wofford<br />
"As a coach you've got a lot more nervousness in your stomach," <strong>Boyle</strong> said earlier this week. "You don't know<br />
what you're going to get."<br />
To try and un<strong>com</strong>plicate that unknown, this was <strong>Boyle</strong>'s plan as the opener approached: Go simple and let his<br />
babies take those kinds of steps before expecting/demanding that they man up.<br />
If all goes accordingly with this gifted, six-member freshman class, that kind of bold stepping out will <strong>com</strong>e in<br />
January, maybe before, when the Buffs stroll into their Pac-12 Conference schedule. "By January," noted <strong>Boyle</strong>,<br />
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<strong>Brooks</strong>: <strong>Boyle</strong> <strong>Looking</strong> <strong>For</strong> <strong>Simple</strong> <strong>Opening</strong> <strong>Statement</strong> - <strong>CUBuffs</strong>.<strong>com</strong> - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado<br />
"some of these freshmen shouldn't be freshmen anymore in terms of the minutes they're going to play."<br />
But for now, in preparation for the opener anyway, <strong>Boyle</strong> and his staff had scheduled "two or three things on<br />
offense and two or three things on defense that we want them dialed into," he said. A couple of those things are<br />
half-court offense/defense and transition offense/defense, and <strong>Boyle</strong> noted, "If we can be that simple and still<br />
be good in those areas, I'll be happy."<br />
Something else that would make him happy: A full house on Friday. Since taking the CU job, <strong>Boyle</strong> has held fast<br />
to the philosophy of not being satisfied until the Buffs sell out the CEC on their own merit. That appears on the<br />
verge of happening - for the opener at least. And if it happens in the first game, history would be made. CU has<br />
sold out a pair of NIT games (both in 1991), but never a non-conference game and never an opener.<br />
"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,"<br />
<strong>Boyle</strong> said. "We're making strides in that direction; our fans have been terrific. We're playing Wofford from a<br />
totally different part of the country. (Fans) are <strong>com</strong>ing to see the Buffaloes and some of these new freshmen."<br />
Situated in Spartanburg, S.C., Wofford finished 19-14 overall last season and 12-6 in the Southern Conference.<br />
In a poll of the league's coaches and media, the Terriers were picked to finish fourth this season in the six-team<br />
South Division, above Furman and The Citadel and below (in order) Davidson, College of Charleston and<br />
Georgia Southern.<br />
That polling matters about as much to <strong>Boyle</strong> and his players as what's for dinner tonight at Buckingham Palace.<br />
Their first order of business is taking care of their own biz Friday night, then build on that next week when they<br />
trip to the East Coast for the Charleston (S.C.) Classic.<br />
Without the benefit of extensive (maybe any) tape prep, <strong>Boyle</strong> knows this about the Terriers: They're a much<br />
different team this year than last - as is his. "They lost players, we lost players," he said. "But in that first game<br />
you're dialed into what your guys are doing. Hopefully, we'll have some sort of feel (for Wofford). The thing you<br />
have to be prepared for is them <strong>com</strong>ing in and playing zone, they might 'junk defense' you . . . you have to be<br />
prepared for everything, not knowing exactly what you're going to get. But the focus is on us, not on them."<br />
Much of that internal focus will be on the Buffs' on-court operation under Spencer Dinwiddie, who saw some<br />
point guard duty last winter but not nearly as much as he will in his sophomore season. The point is<br />
Dinwiddie's natural position and he's eager to make an all-out jump back into it.<br />
"It's fun," he said. "I love being back at the point . . . I missed it."<br />
Dinwiddie knows as much about directing the show as he does about being thrown into the fire as a freshman.<br />
Last season, with senior Nate Tomlinson at point guard, Dinwiddie was needed more as a wing scorer than a<br />
floor director. In 27.4 minutes a game, he averaged 10.0 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists.<br />
"It's something I knew was <strong>com</strong>ing; coach had told me we needed firepower," he said of his first-year role. "This<br />
year, it was 'we need you to do this, but be ready to <strong>com</strong>e back to point.' Even with Xavier (Talton) and Eli<br />
(Stalzer) I pretty much knew I would be back at the point." (Talton and Stalzer are freshmen.)<br />
Dinwiddie's "new" role will make him "a little more selfless in the sense I have to watch out for everything and<br />
everyone at all times," he said. "You'll definitely see a lot more passing. It's just a different type of progression;<br />
instead of attack to score, I've got to look for opportunities to pass instead of score.<br />
"I want to do whatever helps the team win, obviously. If the team's flowing you'll probably see more passing, if<br />
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<br />
a game-by-game type deal."<br />
The CU team Dinwiddie joined last year was well-stocked with senior leadership (four). The team he will direct<br />
this year features one senior - Sabatino Chen. The differences in overall makeup, Dinwiddie said, will be<strong>com</strong>e<br />
obvious: "We're a little more immature, (but) a little more talented. We play with a higher intensity and a higher<br />
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<br />
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<strong>Brooks</strong>: <strong>Boyle</strong> <strong>Looking</strong> <strong>For</strong> <strong>Simple</strong> <strong>Opening</strong> <strong>Statement</strong> - <strong>CUBuffs</strong>.<strong>com</strong> - Official Athletics Web site of the University of Colorado<br />
much faster pace.<br />
"I think some of that <strong>com</strong>es with the territory of being a little bit young. But I also think we're executing coach's<br />
philosophy fairly well, especially rebounding and getting up the floor."<br />
<strong>Boyle</strong> is big on not allowing outside expectations to seep into his locker room, believing he has the bar set high<br />
enough and if his players measure up to that, what's going on in the outside world is irrelevant. His players<br />
have bought into that.<br />
"We have high expectations for ourselves," Dinwiddie said. "We put a lot of pressure on ourselves because of<br />
that. I think in a lot of cases, high expectations outside are even lower than what we want to do. We think we're<br />
a lot more talented than a lot of people give us credit for. We're going out to prove that.<br />
"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<br />
preseason media poll), we're still not Top 25, we're like a fringe NCAA Tournament team. We want to prove<br />
we're better than sixth, we're maybe a Top 25 team and we're a solid tournament team.<br />
"Our best basketball is ahead of us and I think you'll see that on Friday - glimpses of great basketball, but also<br />
stretches of where we're probably not playing our best. But as long as we get better and don't have bad losses<br />
early in the season, we'll be fine. And we'll be ready for the tournament."<br />
First, there's Wofford . . . then the trip to Charleston . . . then the remainder of a difficult non-conference<br />
schedule that precedes Pac-12 play. The Buffs will have plenty of chances to prove they're NCAA-ready - but<br />
you can bet that isn't showing up on <strong>Boyle</strong>'s November to-do list.<br />
Contact: BG.<strong>Brooks</strong>@Colorado.EDU<br />
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Men's basketball: <strong>Boyle</strong> expects CU Buffs to put on show for big crowd - Boulder Daily ...<br />
Men's basketball: <strong>Boyle</strong> expects CU Buffs to put on show for big<br />
crowd<br />
By Ryan Thorburn Buffzone.<strong>com</strong> Boulder Daily Camera<br />
Posted: DailyCamera.<strong>com</strong><br />
Wofford College has no idea what it's about to step into.<br />
Page 1 of 2<br />
Sure, the Terriers have scouted the Buffs and no doubt understand Andre Roberson is one of the best<br />
rebounders in the country and that sophomores Askia Booker and Spencer Dinwiddie have the<br />
potential to emerge as one of the best backcourt tandems in the Pac-12.<br />
The visitors from Spartanburg, S.C., know Josh Scott (6-10) and Shane Harris-Tunks (6-11) will have<br />
a size advantage in the paint and are probably aware that Tad <strong>Boyle</strong> has established a formidable<br />
home-court advantage in Boulder.<br />
But it's impossible to prepare for the atmosphere Colorado fans are going to create Friday evening at<br />
the Coors Events Center.<br />
CU officials are expecting a sold-out crowd thirsty to support a talented young basketball team and<br />
also champing at the bit to release some pent up frustration from a miserable football season.<br />
"At the football game when they announced us for the rings, I just heard an explosion of cheers and<br />
happiness," freshman forward Xavier Johnson said of last month's ceremony at Folsom Field when<br />
<strong>Boyle</strong> and the returning players were presented with their Pac-12 Tournament championship jewelry.<br />
"They really want us to just go back and win again this year and be a great team."<br />
<strong>Boyle</strong> isn't expecting a team with one senior, two returning starters and six true freshmen to be great<br />
during non-conference play.<br />
However, the third-year CU head coach is demanding a memorable effort from the Buffs in the 2012-<br />
13 opener against Wofford College Friday night at the Coors Events Center (5 p.m., Pac-12 Network).<br />
"I told our players, when everybody leaves this building on Friday night after watching us play, they<br />
need to be going home to say to their neighbors and friends and co-workers, 'This team is fun to<br />
watch, we're <strong>com</strong>ing back,'" <strong>Boyle</strong> said. "That's our job to make sure that happens."<br />
Roberson is the leading returning scorer (11.9 ppg) from last season's 24-win NCAA Tournament<br />
team and the reigning Pac-12 rebounding leader (11.1 rpg). On Thursday, the 6-7 junior was one of<br />
only four Pac-12 representatives among the 50 players named to the preseason Wooden Award watch<br />
list.<br />
"If he continues to get better, it's going to be great," former CU All-American Cliff Meely said of<br />
Roberson this week. "He's just a great hustler, a great rebounder, and every year I've seen him get<br />
better. That's one of the things I like about the coaching with these kids is the young players get<br />
better."<br />
http://www.dailycamera.<strong>com</strong>/cu-college-sports/ci_21959264/mens-basketball-boyle-expe...<br />
11/20/2012
Men's basketball: <strong>Boyle</strong> expects CU Buffs to put on show for big crowd - Boulder Daily ...<br />
Booker, a dynamic sixth man as a freshman, will join Dinwiddie in the starting lineup. The classmates<br />
<strong>com</strong>bined to average 19.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game last season.<br />
The staff believes Sabatino Chen will enjoy a productive and memorable senior season, similar to the<br />
experiences Levi Knutson, Nate Tomlinson and Austin Dufault had in recent years.<br />
Scott, the heralded 6-10 forward from Colorado Springs, headlines a 2012 class ranked among the<br />
nation's top 25.<br />
CU has sold more than 5,800 season tickets to date. The previous record was 3,941.<br />
Approximately 2,500 students, including the now legendary C-Unit diehards, are also expected at<br />
every home game this season.<br />
"I'm really proud of our fans for stepping up, not only for season tickets, but for this game," <strong>Boyle</strong><br />
said. "People are <strong>com</strong>ing out to see the Buffaloes. I think part of it is the excitement about our<br />
program, part of it is our recruiting class and people wanting to <strong>com</strong>e out and see these young guys.<br />
"I think it says a lot about where Colorado basketball is today relative to where it has been."<br />
When Harris-Tunks, the last of the Jeff Bzdelik recruits, made his CU debut three years ago there<br />
were more than 6,000 empty seats at the Coors Events Center on opening night.<br />
"You look at my freshman year and we were getting 3,000 or 4,000 people every game, other than the<br />
Kansas game when there were Kansas fans here," Harris-Tunks said. "<strong>For</strong> our midnight madness (last<br />
month) we probably had as many fans as we were getting my freshman year at games. It's really<br />
awesome to see what we've <strong>com</strong>e from in such a short period of time."<br />
Follow Ryan on Twitter: @RyanThorburn<br />
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11/20/2012