The Town Crier

[PointGuard 70]

Game #4: #7 seed Colorado Buffaloes (3-0) vs #2 seed LSU Tigers (2-0) in round 1 of the Palmetto Shootout

LSU presents a challenge similar to what we will incur when we start Pac-12 Conference play. The Tigers are heavily favored to beat us. They’re led by C Kelvin Dixon (20.5 ppg and 10.0 rpg) and PG Seth Waltman (14.5 ppg and 5.5 apg) with PF Jeremy Deeter averaging 13.0 ppg and 10.5 rpg.

We score the first 7 points in the game. 5-1/2 minutes into the game, though, LSU came back and grabbed a small lead. The lead then shifted back-and-forth until the last 4 minutes of the half when our shooting went ice-cold and LSU spurted out to a 37-27 halftime lead. We were outshot 41% to 29%. C Ryan Erickson scored 7 points for us, while LSU was led by PG Seth Waltman’s 11 points.

Within the first 5 minutes of the 2nd half, we’d fought back to trail by only a 39-38 score. After both teams hit a basket, LSU went on a 12-0 run that put them ahead by 13 with 9:18 remaining. While we never fell further behind, we were unable to recover and lost 68-58.

C Ryan Erickson and SF Rick Coffey both scored 10 points and Erickson also had 12 rebounds. LSU’s PG Seth Waltman finished with 23 points.

Looks like we have some more work to do to be ready for prime time. Tonight we played well for portions of the game, but had extended periods in both halves during which we were impotent. Those torpedoed our effort to win this game.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #5: George Mason Patriots (1-3) at Colorado Buffaloes (3-1)

At the end of the first half which included 16 lead changes and 11 ties with neither team leading by more than 4 points, we took a narrow 36-34 lead to the locker room. SF Rick Coffey scored 11 while C Ryan Erickson had 10 points. The Patriots’ PG Shaun Schwab scored 10 in 7 minutes on the court. 

The 2nd half was pretty much a repeat of the first with neither team able to pull away and no lead greater than 5 points. With 48 seconds to go we led 65-62, but George Mason controlled the ball. I was upset when we fouled them with 39 seconds remaining, but they missed the first of a one-and-one and we controlled the rebound. We missed a shot and the Patriots then threw the ball away with 19 seconds on the clock. I called a time out and told the team to stall. George Mason intentionally fouled and Chris Smith sank both free throws to give us a 5 point lead with 15 seconds left. The Patriots hit a 3 from the corner but we ran out the final few seconds to escape with a 67-65 win. The team stats were as close as the game was. 

SF Rick Coffey scored 15 and had 8 rebounds. C Ryan Erickson also scored 15 while grabbing 6 boards and recording 4 steals. For George Mason SG Pavle Kostelic dropped in 20 points.

We had another poor shooting game, hitting just 37% of our FG attempts and 24% of our 3PA’s. I think my guys are better shooters than what they’ve shown thus far. We need to improve our shot selection. We’re moving the ball around pretty well but the guys often aren’t taking shots when they get free and then are taking shots when they don’t have a good look at the basket. We do have 2 guys who are shooting well though. Both SF Rick Coffey and SG Kenton Dunn are knocking down over 50% of their FGA’s and 40% of their 3PA’s. but we can only free those guys up so much.

[PointGuard 70]

Ddevore65 wrote in the WolverineStudios forums: 

 

“A win is a win, but.....a nail bitter against George Mason at home doesn’t bode well for conference play. 500 is going to still be tough in conference, but it is early and for a young and growing team like the Buffs, these type of games are a good learning experience. Hopefully the team continues to grow

My prediction is a 500 conference record, 18 wins overall including getting at least 1 conference tourney win on the first day and maybe stealing a second. NIT #4 seed, but I hope for better for Coach KD.”

 

My response:

 

Your comments and evaluation of my team are pretty much on target, I think. Had we been able to beat LSU, I'd be feeling pretty good about our chances in the Pac-12 (particularly since playing them they LSU is now 7-0 and ranked #19 in the polls) but by losing to them on a neutral court and barely beating George Mason (who two days later hosted Arizona State and lost 87-71), shows we are going to have a real challenge in conference play.

I'd be very happy if we come away with 18 wins this season and think we will be hard-pressed to win half our games in the conference. But you're right...we'll see how the team coalesces during its final 4 pre-conference games. Most all of my players had never played together before this season began, so I'm not expecting miracles.

Positives are that we're rebounding well, not turning the ball over too much (most games), and playing pretty good defense. Of course, the quality of our opposition hasn't been too great. Presently six Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top 25 (Arizona, Cal, Utah, Oregon, UCLA and USC).

I'm concerned that Vefa Kurtbek isn't playing at all well at PF. Thus far he's regressed from how he played last season (lower scoring, rebounding, assists, shooting (FG and FT) stats than he had as a sophomore) and he sometimes just simply disappears when on court, but no one has been able to step in and play consistently well at PF so he remains my starter. I'm cautiously optimistic about how we're doing at the other 4 positions.

 

 

devore65 wrote in the WolverineStudios forums:

 

“With the conference schedule of 18 and 11 opponents, which teams do you not play twice. Maybe the scheduling gods have given you WSU and OSU twice and left off most of those 6 top 25 teams. Depending on how you schedule breaks will be key between 9-10 conference wins or 6-7. Hoping for the solid 9-9 record as that should get you a winnable pac-12 tourney game.”

 

My response:

 

LOL...not really favorable that way. Play everyone twice except Washington, Washington State, Stanford, and UCLA. Play UW and Stanford away and WSU and UCLA at home. Play 5 of the 6 teams that are in Top 25 (thus far) twice.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #6: Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles (2-2) at Colorado Buffaloes (4-1)

The Golden Eagles are shooting much better than us (52% to 41% for FG% and 44% to 29% for 3P%), so we need to try to narrow that deficit. But they have a lot of turnovers (16.5 per game) so we need to capitalize on that. On paper we’re also a better rebounding team so we need to attack the boards to make that apparent advantage a reality. SG Jason Duckrey is averaging 17.8 ppg and hitting a very high percentage of his shots and will be difficult to keep in check. Since both of Southern Mississippi’s losses have been on the road, hopefully we can keep them winless in that category, but we’ll need to up our level of play from how we played against George Mason.

There’s so little difference in the stats our two PG’s (Matt Conley and Chris Smith) are posting that choosing between the two is pretty much a coin toss. But I’m going with Smitty to start tonight since he is hitting his 3’s better than Matt. It probably doesn’t really matter all that much since (unless one of them gets really hot) both will probably get about the same number of minutes on the court.

We again came out with cold shooting and with the Golden Eagles hitting their shots fell behind early. Midway through the first stanza we were trailing 22-13. We then scored the next 9 points in less than a 2 minute span to draw into a tie. A minute later SF Charles Maors drove into the key and buried a short jumper on which he was fouled. He converted the 3 point play to give us our first lead of the night at 25-24. We continued to control the game and came away with a 37-31 lead at the end of the half. Our primary advantage in the first half was that we controlled the boards 24-13. PF Vee Kurtbek and SF Rick Coffey both scored 7 to lead us offensively. I was pleased that my imploring Vee during practices the previous two days to attack the basket more seemed to have made an impact on him.

With 16:41 to go in the game, we spurted ahead by double figures at 44-34. From there we gradually extended our lead to come away with a solid 75-59 victory. We executed our game plan pretty well, forcing the Golden Eagles to turn the ball over 17 times, out-rebounding them 38-28 and out-shooting them 44% to 40%. But we continued to be ineffective from beyond the arc, hitting just 21% of our 3’s.

Leading our scoring was SF Rick Coffey with 17 points, followed by SG Kenton Dunn’s 15 points. Coffey also had 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block. PG’s Chris Smith and Matt Conley split the available on court time and had similar stats but combined to score 11, dish out 8 assists, pull down 4 rebounds, and have 3 steals and 2 blocks while only having 4 turnovers. Defensively they were outstanding holding Southern Mississippi’s PG’s shooting to 3 of 14 from the field and limiting them to only 2 assists. PF Vee Kurtbek finished with 9 points which was a step forward. 

Southern Mississippi was led by SG Jason Duckrey’s 20 points and C Charles Prescott’s 18 and combined to hit 15 of 25 of their field goal attempts. The remaining players on the Golden Eagles only hit 6 of 27 shots from the field though so overall our defense was rock solid. And C Charles Prescott pulled down no rebounds during his 30 minutes of play (while not a great rebounder, he'd been averaging 5 rpg)...so have to give a big pat-on-the-back to our C Ryan Erickson for blocking him out.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #7: St. Mary’s Gaels (3-2) at Colorado Buffaloes (5-1)

St. Mary’s is a dangerous foe. They have four starters averaging between 11.6 and 15.4 ppg, led by C Marco Arthurs who not only is averaging 15.4 ppg but also 11.4 rpg and 1.6 bpg. Their SG and SF, Brent and Brad Smith, are brothers and both are playing very well with Brent doing damage from outside while Brad is strong inside. Their coach likes to keep the two on the court at the same time as they feed off each other. The Gaels have a very controlled offense and a disciplined 2-3 zone defense. We’ve had troubles with a 2-3 zone thus far. The Gaels enter the game against us as slight favorites.

As has become all too typical, we come out flat, hitting just 1 our first 13 shots and fall behind 5-0 and then 15-4 and 22-6. We brought on our subs and SF Charles Maors and PG Matt Conley ignited a comeback that narrowed St. Mary’s lead to 30-23 with 4 minutes to play in the half. We got within 2 points before finishing the half trailing 34-31. After an atrocious start shooting, we got our FG% up to 33%. C Ryan Erickson and SF Charles Maors led our scoring with 8 points apiece. Reserve PG Chris Fellers hit for 9 points for St. Mary’s.

In the locker room during the halftime intermission, PG Matt Conley spoke up to say he was pissed off that we were looked upon as underdogs against a team like St. Mary’s on our own floor and said it was time to kick butt. He backed that up when he hit a 3 on our 2nd possession of the 2nd half to tie the game at 34-34. SF Charles Maors knocked down a 3 that put us on top for the first time in the game at 37-36 with 17 minutes to play. St. Mary’s retook the lead but we hit a couple more 3’s and the game was tied at 49-49 with 12 minutes remaining. Conley sank a 3 to put us ahead 56-51 with 9-1/2 minutes to go. Our crowd really got into the game forcing the Gaels to call a couple time outs as our lead grew to 62-53. But St. Mary’s came back to cut the lead to 66-62 with 4:38 on the clock. Rick Coffey and Ryan Erickson put in 7 straight points to balloon our lead to 11 with 2 minutes left. That was enough to ice the game as we won by a score of 73-65. 

Our shooting improved dramatically in the 2nd half and by the end of the game our FG% had improved to 44% while our 3P% was also 44%. St. Mary’s controlled the boards 36-27 but that was more than offset by our 19-8 lead in turnovers. The Gaels’ five starters all played from 29 to 33 minutes each but only scored a combined total of 47 points, so we were able to keep them in control.

Uncharacteristically we had 4 players in double figures: SF Rick Coffey-17, PG Matt Conley-15, C Ryan Erickson-14, and SF Charles Maors-11. The stars of this game were Matt Conley and Charles Maors. They brought us back when we were in a deep hole in the first half and hit big buckets in the 2nd half when we needed them.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #8: Texas A&M Aggies (3-3) at Colorado Buffaloes (6-1)

Sidenote: Our only loss this season has been to LSU which now has a 9-0 record and is ranked 5th in the polls. To notch their 9th win, the Tigers hosted Arizona State and ripped the Sun Devils 76-42 earlier today. Even though Arizona State had to meet them on the Tigers home court whereas we played LSU on a neutral court, our 10 point loss doesn’t look so bad now.

Thus far this season our bench has been much more productive than Texas A&M’s bench, so we need to wear down their starters.

After leading throughout most of the first half, we let the Aggies back into the game when our shooting went stone cold. Texas A&M took a 19-17 lead with 5 minutes remaining in the half. The lead flip-flopped the rest of the half. When the buzzer sounded we were on top 29-27 even though we only hit 27% of our shots. SG Kenton Dunn led our scoring with 7 points, but C Ryan Erickson scored 6 and hauled in 9 rebounds.

SF Rick Coffey tipped in a rebound and then PG Matt Conley intercepted a pass and hit C Ryan Erickson for an alley-oop throw down to put us ahead by 6 after just a minute of play in the 2nd half. We pressed and forced a 10-second violation. Erickson then pushed he way toward the basket and hit a 5 footer to put us ahead 35-27. With our fans turning up the volume and us ahead 39-32, Texas A&M called their 2nd time out of the 2nd half with 14:51 to go. This left them with just 1 remaining time out. During the time out, I instructed our players to turn up the defensive pressure to attempt to put the Aggies away. That strategy totally failed as Texas A&M tied the game at 46-46 six minutes later. Back-to-back-to back 3’s put us on top 55-48 with 5 minutes left. With 2-1/2 minutes to play, Matt Conley sunk a 3 to give us a 62-54 lead. Texas A&M was forced to foul which allowed us to expand our lead and win by a final score of 70-57. Again our shooting was a woefully poor 35% but we did hit 40% of our 3’s. But the main difference in the game was our 14-5 turnover advantage. 

C Ryan Erickson had a huge game with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Vee Kurtbek came on strong in the 2nd half and finished with 11 points.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #9: UC-Riverside Highlanders (1-9) at Colorado Buffaloes (7-1)

We scored the first 10 points in the game even though we shot horribly. With 7-1/2 minutes left in the half we led 25-2 and still were only hitting 30% of our shots. We substituted freely but still held a commanding 37-19 lead at the break as we controlled the boards 26-11 and held a 12-5 turnover advantage. SG Kenton Dunn scored 11 points and C Ryan Erickson scored 6 plus had 10 rebounds.

We played everyone on our bench in the 2nd half and coasted to a 73-51 thrashing of the Highlanders. Our final rebounding advantage was 42-23. 
SG Kenton Dunn hit for 15, PG Chris Smith had 10, and C Ryan Erickson scored 10 while gathering in 13 rebounds.

I would have liked to have had a tougher opponent, but we were able to give all of our reserves extended play time so hopefully that pays dividends later this season. 

We finished pre-conference play with an 8-1 record, but now will take on much tougher competition as conference play begins next week. Our RPI is 21st best in the country, but that just means the computer isn’t adequately taking into account the quality of our opponents. Next season we need to upgrade the competitive level in our pre-conference schedule.

[PointGuard 70]

Player Stats:

PPG: SF Rick Coffey-12.3, SG Kenton Dunn-11.8, C Ryan Erickson-10.7, PG Matt Conley-8.4, PG Chris Smith-6.3, PF Vefa Kurtbek-6.2, SF Charles Maors-6.1, SG Camah Griffin-3.9, PF Mat Hunter-2.9, PF Jacob Anderson-2.4, SG Steve Jackson-1.7, PF Primoz Pohek-0.9, C Nathan Hampton-0.7, PF Shawn Owes-0.7, C R.J. Reis-0.0
RPG: C Ryan Erickson-9.1, PF Vefa Kurtbek-4.1, SF Rick Coffey-4.1, SF Charles Maors-3.6, PF Jacob Anderson-2.9, PG Matt Conley-2.8, SG Kenton Dunn-2.3, C Nathan Hampton-2.0, PG Chris Smith-1.9, SG Camah Griffin-1.8, PF Mat Hunter-1.8, PF Primoz Pohek-1.6, PF Shawn Owes-0.3, SG Steve Jackson-0.0, C R.J. Reis-0.0 (Erickson is tied for 5th best in the Pac 12)
APG: PG Matt Conley-4.7, PG Chris Smith-3.3, SG Kenton Dunn-2.3, C Ryan Erickson-1.8, SF Rick Coffey-1.7, PF Vefa Kurtbek-1.4, SF Charles Maors-1.0, SG Camah Griffin-1.0, PF Primoz Pohek-0.4, PF Mat Hunter-0.3, SG Steve Jackson-0.3, C Nathan Hampton-0.2, PF Jacob Anderson-0.1, PF Shawn Owes-0.0, C R.J. Reis-0.0 (Conley is 5th best in the Pac 12)
BPG: PG Matt Conley-1.2, SG Kenton Dunn-0.9, SF Rick Coffey-0.8, PG Chris Smith-0.7, C Ryan Erickson-0.6, PF Mat Hunter-0.6, PF Vefa Kurtbek-0.4, SF Rick Coffey-0.4, PF Jacob Anderson-0.3, SF Charles Maors-0.2, SG Steve Jackson-0.0, PF Primoz Pohek-0.0, PF Shawn Owes-0.0, C R.J. Reis-0.0
SPG: C Ryan Erickson-1.2, SG Kenton Dunn-1.0, SF Charles Maors-0.7, PF Vefa Kurtbek-0.7, PG Matt Conley-0.6, SF Rick Coffey-0.4, PF Jacob Anderson-0.4, SG Camah Griffin-0.3, PG Chris Smith-0.3, PF Primoz Pohek-0.3, C Nathan Hampton-0.2, SG Steve Jackson-0.1, PF Shawn Owes-0.0, PF Mat Hunter-0.0, C R.J. Reis-0.0

Team Stats: 

PPG: 73.2 (115th in nation)
APG: 18.3 (32nd in nation)
RPG: 36.3 (22nd in nation)
BPG: 6.0 (57th in nation)
SPG: 6.0 (243rd in nation)
TOPG: 9.1 (1st in nation)
Opponents PPG: 61.9 (22nd in nation)

Pac-12




Pac-12 teams in Top 25: Arizona (1), California (6), UCLA (10), Oregon (11), USC (21). Utah was in the Top 25 until this last week when they lost in the 2nd round of the Hoops for Troops Tourney to unranked Georgia.

Comparison based upon pre-conference opponents that we also had:

Washington beat Southern Miss 65-52, Stanford beat Southern Miss 66-56, and we beat the Golden Eagles 75-59.
Arizona State beat George Mason 87-71 and we beat the Patriots 67-65.
Arizona State lost to LSU 76-42, Stanford lost to LSU 88-81, UCLA beat LSU 79-69, and we lost to the Tigers 68-58.
Arizona beat Tulane 97-54 and we beat the Green Wave 79-74.

The media has picked us to finish 8th in the Pac-12 this season.

Youngstown State Update:

Oh yeah… my old team, Youngstown State, finished pre-conference play with a 5-4 record with SG Doylan Anderson averaging 18 ppg. They’re expected to finish somewhere in the middle of the Summit League standings this season.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #10: Colorado Buffaloes (8-1, 0-0) at Oregon State Beavers (6-3, 0-0)

The Beavers won 6 of their first 7 games (all at home) before losing to Marshall in a tournament game and #2 ranked North Carolina on the road. C Rudy Barker has been hot and cold, but when he’s hot, he can be devastating meaning we need to keep him in check.

Twice during the first half it seemed as though we might pull away but each time Oregon State reeled us back in and by the end of the half the Beavers were ahead 36-32. We turned the ball over too much (11 turnovers). SG Kenton Dunn led our scoring with 7 points. SF Ike Archie had 9 points for Oregon State.

After shooting well in the first half, we were undone in the 2nd half by poor shooting and more turnovers. With 8 minutes to play we trailed by 10. We cut into the lead and were down by just 4 when Mat Hunter was charged with a technical with 3:19 to go. The Beavers made one of the two free throws and then sunk a 3 on the possession they were awarded to put us down by 8. Oregon State then went on a 3 point binge but we cut their lead to 5 with 47seconds remaining and intentionally fouled their worst foul shooter. He made us pay by sinking both free throw shots. We called a time out to set up a 3 but the shot didn’t go down and we were forced to foul again. Two more successful foul shots put us down by 9. Another 3 point attempt wouldn’t fall for us. We tipped in a put-back but it was all too late and we lost 77-70. 

PG Matt Conley and SG Kenton Dunn both scored 11 points and C Ryan Erickson had 9 points and 8 rebounds for us. Oregon State’s SF Ike Archie topped all scorers with 16 points.

All Pac-12 home teams won their conference openers. The highlight was a 95-94 overtime victory by #6 ranked California over #11 ranked Oregon.

Following the game SG Steve Jackson mouthed off about his not playing enough and my favoring Kenton Dunn. He’d done something similar earlier this season, so I chewed him out and that I know he has a of talent, but he’s not been displaying it thus far this season so when he does he will play more. He apologized and said he’s try harder. We’ll see how it goes.

[PointGuard 70]

Pictures in the Mail

I received an envelope in the mail that only contained pictures. The pictures were of Jacky and her boss, Tom Braswell, at restaurants and other public places with mutually adoring faces and hands all over each other. There was no letter or note and no return address, but the envelope was postmarked from Youngstown.

I guess I should say I was shocked and devastated and probably pissed as well, but for some reason I merely looked through them and pushed them into a drawer in my desk. And then I experienced a feeling of freedom and relief. It’s not something I’d ever express to anyone since when I ran that through my head it seemed wrong to feel that way. But I slept better that night that I had for a long time.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #11: Colorado Buffaloes (8-2, 0-1) at #6 ranked California Golden Bears (12-1, 1-0)

Are the Golden Bears good? Hell yes they are! Cal has beaten #19 ranked Georgia Tech, #11 ranked Oregon and has twice beaten #3 ranked Maryland, and their only loss was to #2 ranked North Carolina. They have 4 players averaging in double figures led by SG Matt Landram’s 20.8 ppg. PG Mario Burleston scored 30 points against Oregon earlier this week. We’re huge underdogs against Cal.

We took a 7-0 lead and held a lead over the Golden Bears throughout the first half until just 35 seconds were left when they took a 35-34 lead. But we hit the final bucket of the half and went back on top 36-35 when the buzzer sounded. It was surprising since we had 10 turnovers in the first half and because of that Cal scored 16 fast break points, but our guys played gutsy ball. Our leading scorer was SG Kenton Dunn with 10 points. For the Golden Bears, PG Mario Burleston also had 10 points.

California scored the first 4 points in the second half. But we came back and tied the game at 42-42 and neither team could gain an advantage through the first 10 minutes, but then Cal hit back-to-back 3’s that put them ahead 53-47. The Golden Bears caught fire offensively late in the half and we fell behind by 8 but then cut the lead to 4 when PF Vee Kurtbek grabbed and offensive rebound and put the ball back up and in with 2:22 remaining. Then with 1:50 on the clock Kurtbek put in a baseline jumper to get us within 2 points. Cal hit a 3 but we came down and worked the ball around before SF Rick Coffey dropped in a long 3 with 1:23 to go to make it 71-69 in favor of the Golden Bears. Cal shot from the key missed and we rebounded. We called a time out and set up a screen but Kenton Dunn’s shot was off the rim and Cal pulled down the rebound. But the Golden Bears missed a 12 footer and we got control of the ball with 35 seconds left. Another time out for us only led to an errant pass that Cal picked off. We intentionally fouled with 21 seconds on the clock. Cal’s worst foul shooter, made the first of a one-and one but missed the 2nd. We rebounded and called a time out to set up a 3 point attempt. Rick Coffey’s shot hit the back rim and Cal controlled the ball and ran out the clock. A valiant effort on our part, but we lost 72-69. The only team stat that was significantly in Cal’s favor was turnovers where we had 15 turnovers to the Golden Bears’ 8. 

PF Vee Kurtbek scored 15 points and had 7 rebounds. SF Rick Coffey and SG Kenton Dunn both hit for 12 and C Ryan Erickson hit for 11 plus had 7 boards. SG Mario Burleston poured in 20 points for Cal.

I gave our team a big pat-on-the-back, but the loss made us 0-2 in conference play, but both losses were on the road.

In other Pac-12 games, Washington State upset #10 ranked UCLA 71-64, Washington topped #11 ranked Oregon 89-85, and surprisingly Oregon State went to 2-0 in conference play after knocking off Stanford 75-64.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #12: #20 USC Trojans (12-1, 2-0) at Colorado Buffaloes (8-3, 0-2)

Great to be back home but we have to host USC, the #20 team in the country. The Trojans are led by Ryan Kincade who is averaging 18.2 ppg. After losing our first two conference games, our task is simple. Win this home game even though we’re playing a ranked team. We have two straight away games following this game against USC, so a win is even more necessary.

Our internal PG battle continues. There’s basically a dead heat between Chris Smith and Matt Conley in almost every statistical category. Today Chris Smith will start at PG and Mat Hunter will be our primary backup at PF and Jacob Anderson will be our principal sub at C. The latter two players have played well recently coming off the bench.

We shot poorly (35% FGA and 17% 3PA) in the first half but USC did worse (30% FGA and 14% 3PA). We ended the half ahead 33-28. SF Rick Coffey and PF Mat Hunter both scored 8 points for us. Hunter also pulled down 7 rebounds. 

We fell behind by 15 points midway through the second half as the result of combining horrible shooting together together with frequent turnovers. Nothing improved from there on and we took a depressing 75-60 loss. There’s no way to win when you only hit 31% of the FGA, 20% of your 3PA, and turn the ball over 17 times. To do that at home makes me sick, but USC is the best defensive team in the Pac-12. When the Trojans really clamped down defensively, we folded like a deck of cards during the first part of the 2nd half. 

SG Kenton Dunn scored 14 points and SF Rick Coffey added 13. USC’s C Courtney Sanders scored 16 while grabbing 10 rebounds.

So now we’re in a tie for last place with Stanford and Utah. Arizona, USC and Washington are tied for the lead with 3-0 records. Even though I've never had a migraine, I feel one coming on after this loss.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #13: Colorado Buffaloes (8-4, 0-3) @ Arizona State Sun Devils (7-5, 1-2)

The Sun Devils are led by C Craig Jones who is averaging 19.3 ppg and 7.0 rpg. SG Travis Hawkins has scored 13.4 ppg. They’re the first team we’ve played this season who primarily employs a 3-2 zone, so we’ll see how we do against it.

We dropped behind by 13 early in the 2nd half and spent the rest of the half narrowing the deficit. Finally with 2-1/2 minutes left in the half PG Chris Smith cut around a screen and knocked down an 18 foot jumper that put us ahead 33-32. We then scored the final 7 points of the half so we had a 40-32 halftime advantage. Making 3 turnovers to Arizona State’s 10 factored into our moving into the lead. PG Matt Conley scored 11 points to lead all scorers.

We maintained a small lead throughout the 2nd half, but with 3 minutes remaining, Arizona State went ahead 61-60. Then after the Sun Devils picked off one of our passes and scored on a driving layup we trailed 65-62 with 2 minutes to play. After we called a timeout, SG Kenton Dunn sunk the 3 pointer that we set up and the game was tied. Arizona State countered with a 3 of their own with 1 minute left and then blocked our succeeding shot. Vee Kurtbek intercepted a pass and we called time out with 46 seconds on the clock. Our 3 point attempt was short but we rebounded and Mat Hunter hit a jumper from the free throw line to make it 68-67 in favor of the Sun Devils with just 35 seconds to go. We fouled but they converted both free throws to put us down by 3 with 26 seconds to play. We missed a 3 and Arizona State rebounded. We again fouled. They missed the first of a one-and-one but tipped in a rebound to put the game away and stick us with a 72-67 loss. We had our chances but couldn’t seal the deal. We, along with Stanford, remain winless in the Pac-12.

SG Kenton Dunn finished with 18 points, PF Mat Hunter had 13, and PG Matt Conley added 11. Arizona State’s SG Travis Hawkins scored 18 and C Craig Jones had 15 points and 11 rebounds.

Playing on the road, Utah edged #6 ranked California 73-69. #1 ranked Arizona travelled to Los Angeles and beat #19 ranked USC 80-68 and Washington knocked off #10 ranked UCLA so now just the Wildcats Huskies have won all their games in conference play.

[PointGuard 70]

Surprise Visit Scheduled

 

Jacky has a conference to attend in Los Angeles so said she’d route her return through Denver so she could see me after the conference concludes.  To say I was overjoyed would be a lie.  I ran through a few different scenarios in my mind, but none stuck out as “THE” way to go, so I just decided I would play it by ear when the time comes.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #14: Colorado Buffaloes (8-5, 0-4) @ Utah Utes (9-5, 1-3)

We held a very small lead throughout almost the entire first half but the Utes hit a couple late 3’s that gave them a 32-29 halftime edge. Leading our scoring was SF Charles Maors with 9 points. 

Utah expanded their lead to 10 points after just 3-3/4 minutes of play in the 2nd half. Dismal shooting on our part as well as a series of turnovers resulted in our dropping behind by 20 with 7-1/2 minutes to play. We never made a serious run and ended up with a lopsided 80-60 loss. 
SF Rick Coffey scored 12 points for us. 

Following the game, Camah Griffin complained that he should be playing more than Kenton Dunn. I spoke with Camah about it and he was defensive and then argumentative. I ended up suspending him for a week. Later I reflected on my actions and wondered if I would have been so quick to suspend a player for what Camah did or if I would have cut the player a little slack. Hopefully the pressure isn’t getting to me.

#13 Oregon travelled to Los Angeles and upset #9 UCLA 76-66. While Arizona continues to be on top of the conference standings, surprisingly Washington and Oregon State are tied for 2nd place with 4-1 conference records.

When we got back to Boulder, Jake Meacolm, our AD called me into his office and led off by saying, “Coach, not only are we winless but we’re dead last in the conference now and have a worse conference record that we had at this point last season. I’m not happy and the alumni are not happy. What’s the problem?” I responded that I still thought we had a better team than last season, but that I also was disappointed in our play thus far. But turning a team into a winner is a process, not a snap your fingers and things are better type of thing. His reply was, “That may be the case, but you need to speed up the process. We brought you in to fix a problem and we need to see progress.”

With #1 ranked Arizona visiting later this week and then back-to-back games against #13 Oregon, I have my doubts that he’s going to see immediate “progress”.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #15: #1 Arizona Wildcats (17-0, 5-0) at Colorado Buffaloes (8-6, 0-5)

Arizona is averaging 85.2 ppg while their 17 losing opponents have only averaged 61.2 ppg and they’ve won all of their games by double digit point differentials. The Wildcats have out-rebounded their opponents 41.8 rpg to 31.6 rpg and have a 16.1 topg to 11.0 topg turnover advantage. Arizona is getting solid scoring from all 5 starters as well as several of their reserves. Their roster is loaded with 5-star players.

We led 2-0 and 7-6 but then Arizona took charge and while we gamely tried to compete, they took advantage of our errors (including 12 turnovers) and ground out a 43-30 halftime lead. SG Kenton Dunn scored 8 points to lead us offensively. The Wildcats’ SG Darrell Walker had 10 points and C Cliff Rivera scored 9 plus had 6 rebounds.

In the 2nd half our guys never gave up, but the Wildcats were just too big, physical, and quick with too much talent, and they continued their overall domination. The game concluded with us on the short end of a 72-51 score. The big differences were that we had 21 turnovers to Arizona’s 10 and they got to the free throw line 14 more times where they scored 12 more points that did we. I felt like telling the refs that the Wildcats don’t need more help.

SG Kenton Dunn scored 13 points and had 7 rebounds, a steal and 2 blocks. While Arizona’s SG Darrell Walker led their scoring with 15 points and their C Cliff Rivera had 14 points and 11 rebounds.

[PointGuard 70]

Is a Picture Really Worth a Thousand Words?

I met Jacky at the airport and we went out to dinner. The conversation was pleasant but innocuous. She seemed tired, so after dinner we went to my place, had some wine and got some sleep. The next morning I fixed breakfast. After 19141B I inquired about how her work was going. Finally I asked if there was anything she wanted to discuss. She gave me a puzzled look but didn’t bring up anything. I retrieved the envelope and handed it to her. She slowly opened it and extracted the pictures. Her eyes grew wide and her face reddened as she looked at each one. Neither of us spoke for what seemed like a long time, but finally she asked, “How did you get these?” I shrugged my shoulders and replied, “Is that really what’s important? They just showed up in that envelope in the mail…unsolicited and from some unknown source.” Her eyes welled up with tears and she stammered, “I, I, I am soooo sorry. But, but you and I have just been so apart from each other for so long.” I asked, “Is it serious?” to which she responded, “No. Uhh, well. Yeah, I guess it is.” After a long silence, our conversation continued as the entire story gradually unfolded about how she and Tom just grew closer as her work became more involved in the company. He’s about 15 years older but divorced his wife a year ago. I got the impression that his position, power, and monetary status helped cement the relationship with Jacky. Before she left to return to Youngstown, we agreed to both think things through and talk things over later. To be honest, while it seemed I should feel hurt, I didn’t.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #16: Colorado Buffaloes (8-7, 0-6) at #11 Oregon Ducks (12-3, 4-2)

Oregon lost their first two conference games but has won 4 straight since then. This season they’ve outscored their opponents 85.7 ppg to 70.0 ppg. They have a nice outside-inside combination with SG John Barnes averaging 20.7 ppg and C Larry Graves averaging 16.2 ppg.

This is Camah Griffin’s final day on suspension so we come in to the game without our primary SG sub. That means everyone else has to step up and play their best if we are to have any chance playing against Oregon on their court.

We kept the Ducks from hitting a field goal for over 5 minutes to start the game but only led 7-3 at that point. We maintained a small advantage for the first 10 minutes but then Oregon stepped it up and opened a 12 point lead. We trimmed that margin in the latter stages of the half so that we went to the locker room trailing 37-32. Oregon got to the line 9 more times and scored 6 more points on free throws that did we. PG Matt Conley scored 9 to lead us offensively. PF Matt Reeves dropped in 12 points for Oregon and their C Larry Graves had 9 points and 11 boards.

We scored the first 5 points of the 2nd half to tie the game but then let Oregon go on a 13-0 run. We then began hitting our shots to cut the Ducks’ lead to 4 with 10 minutes to go. From there on we made a valiant effort, but Oregon held us off and ended up beating us 76-64. 

PG Matt Conley popped in 18 points, SF Rick Coffey had 15 points and 9 rebounds, and SG Kenton Dunn chipped in 11. For Oregon, C Larry Graves finished with 21 points and 18 rebounds and PF Matt Reeves also had a double-double (16 points and 10 boards).

Late in the game, PF Vee Kurtbek went down hard, hitting his head and sustaining a minor concussion.

I’ve been feeling like we fell into a hole and haven’t been able to climb out, and now I’m beginning to feel like dirt is being thrown to bury us. After losing 7 straight games, it’s tough for me to get up for the next game, so I know it’s got to be even tougher for my players. Lamont Martin, my 2nd Assistant Coach, has a birthday this week, so we’re going to have a big party to try to break up the routine and have some fun.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #17: #11 Oregon Ducks (13-3, 5-2) at Colorado Buffaloes (8-8, 0-7)

After we lost in Eugene, Oregon is journeying to Boulder three days later for our “back-to-back” series. We lost by 12 when playing at Oregon. Will playing on our home court swing things our way for at least a 13 point difference? Can we contain C Larry Graves this time? Oregon is at full strength. We are also except for for Vefa Kurtbek who will be held out due to the concussion he sustained in our prior game.

We scored the first 6 points of the game and held onto a small lead until near the end of the first half. Oregon caught up and took a slim 38-37 lead at the break.

We regained the lead on the first possession of the 2nd half when Kenton Dunn scored on a beautiful give-and-go on our first possession. While we were unable to pull away, we held onto a small lead. Then late in the game, our offense clicked and we jumped ahead by 13. When the buzzer sounded we had finally come through with a 77-67 victory. Hallelujah!

We had 5 players in double figures: SG Kenton Dunn and PG Chris Smith both scored 16, SG Steve Jackson came off the bench to drop in 12 points, and C Ryan Erickson and PF/SF Charles Maors both added 10. C Larry Graves again had a double-double with 18 points and 12 rebounds...the guy is a beast.

After playing so well coming off the bench, SG Steve Jackson sprained his finger late in the game and is expected to miss our next 2 or 3 games.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #18: Oregon State Beavers (10-7, 4-4) @ Colorado Buffaloes (9-8, 1-7)

While 1-7 sucks, it's sure nice to have gotten rid of the big ZERO that had been wrapped around our neck like a yoke. 

The Beavers are doing surprisingly well this year in Pac-12 play.

We jumped out on top and never looked back. We opened a double digit lead in the first half and settled for a 45-37 halftime lead. While happy we were ahead, I was unhappy that we let them get some easy baskets late in the half that let them back into the game. So in the locker room at halftime I got on the team about our defense and questioned if they really wanted to win this game.

That triggered them to apply a lock-down defense in the 2nd half that kept the Beavers off-balance and allowed us to increase our lead to as much as 28 points. We shellacked Oregon State by a final score of 84-62. 

PG Chris Smith hit 6 of 9 of his field goal attempts including 4 of 5 from beyond the arc to finish with 16 points. SG/PG Matt Conley and SF/SG Kenton Dunn both scored 15. PF Mat Hunter scored 14 points in 11 minutes of floor time.

The win moved us from being alone in the Pac-12 cellar and into a 3-way tie for 10th with Washington State and Arizona State. On the other end of the standings Arizona still stands alone at the top with a 9-0 record with Cal 2 games behind and Washington in 3rd 3 games back. The most exciting game played tonight was in Eugene where #5 ranked Cal trailed #11 ranked Oregon by 12 points at the half and then came back in the 2nd half to pull off a thrilling 84-81 road win.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #19: Colorado Buffaloes (10-8, 2-7) @ Stanford Cardinal (9-10, 3-6)

I’d sure like to extend our modest win streak. Plus if we win this one, we move into a tie for 9th with Stanford and get closer to the middle of the pack in the Pac-12. Stanford hasn’t been a good-shooting team, so if we can apply a stout defense, I think we’ve got a chance even though we’re playing them on the road.

We hung with the Cardinal throughout the 1st half but couldn’t take the lead and trailed 38-32 at the break. SF Rick Coffey scored 9 points for us. We needed to get tougher in the paint and begin attacking the boards more aggressively.

Stanford caught fire in the 2nd half while our guys seemed to be sleep walking through it. We fell behind by as much as 24 points and took an 81-63 beating. Stanford controlled the boards 44-29 and had a 12-9 turnover advantage. We hit just 35% of our shots compared to the Cardinal knocking down 46% of theirs. 

SF Rick Coffey scored 17, PF/SF Charles Maors hit for 11, and SG Camah Griffin had 10 points. PF Gordon Dupree scored 15 and pulled down 12 boards for Stanford.

The biggest loss for us, though, was that SG Kenton Dunn broke his hand early in the game and will miss the remainder of the season. Dunn has averaged 11.9 ppg and been our best shooter from mid and long range. For a team that otherwise hasn’t shot well, that doesn’t bode well. Losing Dunn means restructuring the starting lineup so that Chris Smith will start at PG, Matt Conley at SG (and backfill at PG) , Rick Coffey at PF, Charles Maors at PF (and get minutes at SF as well), and Ryan Erickson at C. Fortunately Steve Jackson and Vee Kurtbek just came back off the injured list and Camah Griffin is back from his short suspension. Vee Kurtbek and Jacob Anderson will come off the bench and each play either PF or C. Mat Hunter will sub at PF and SF. Camah Griffin will sub at SG and PG and Steve Jackson will fill in at SG.

[PointGuard 70]

Game #20: Colorado Buffaloes (10-9, 2-8) @ Washington Huskies (14-6, 6-4)

Just a little over a week ago the Huskies were 14-3 overall and 6-1 in the conference. Then they lost 3 straight games on the road (to #1 Arizona, #23 Utah, and #25 USC). It would be nice to continue their losing streak. But they’re heavily favored at home against us. They employ a 1-3-1 zone defense primarily. Their players are ball hawks, averaging over 10 steals per game. Four of their five starters are averaging between 9.6 and 11.1 ppg. Washington probably feels like they’ve gotten respect this season. They’ve had a good record all season which includes wins over Wisconsin, Utah, Oregon, and UCLA plus they
ve been either 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the Pac-12 the entire season, but the Huskies have never been voted into the top 25 in the polls.

We got to Seattle the day before our game. That night while in our hotel, a 6.0 earthquake occurred making the hotel shake and roll. There were some buildings damaged in a city about 50 miles away from Seattle. 

C Ryan Erickson was tagged with 2 fouls in the first 2-1/2 minutes of the game. PG Chris Smith followed him to the bench a minute later with 2 fouls. But we were ahead 8-0 at that point. Washington then scored the next 9 points. With 5-1/2 minutes remaining in the half, the Huskies used hot shooting to expand their lead to 30-14. The half ended with Washington holding a 36-24 lead. We were outshot in the half 50% to 39% and made 13 turnovers compared to 8 by the Huskies. PG/SG Matt Conely led our scoring with 8 points.

After cutting the Huskies lead to 8 points early in the 2nd half, an earthquake aftershock occurred. This time it was a series of quick jolts. Some of the players who were moving about on the court didn’t even notice, but those of us who were sitting sure did. The game was stopped for several minutes during which the Huskies’ band soothed some rattled nerves and got the crowd laughing by striking up “Rock Around the Clock” and then a Bill Haley and the Comets version of “Shake, Rattle, and Roll”.

When play resumed, we had trouble re-focusing and quickly fell behind by 13 points. As the half continued we regained our composure enough to get to within 9 points several times, but Washington continually had a response that allowed them to pull away each time. When the buzzer sounded, we had come up short by a score of 74-59. We didn’t play badly, but Washington simply was the better team.

SG Matt Conley, with 15 points, was our only player scoring in double figures.

Since in other games tonight Arizona State beat Oregon State and Washington State humbled USC, our loss dropped us back into uncontested last place in the conference. Arghh!

[PointGuard 70]

Game #21: Washington State Cougars (8-12, 3-8) @ Colorado Buffaloes (10-10, 2-9)

We returned home to a big snowstorm, but the weather warmed quickly the past two days, melting much of the snow before tonight’s game. 

We need to win this game. The Cougars offense normally is centered around their two guards, Ryan Diggs (11.8 ppg) and Darrell Booker (10.5 ppg). Both have good shooting percentages.

Even though our offense wasn’t efficient, our defense was so that we took a 16-4 lead after 7 minutes of play. Even though the Cougars began hitting some of their shots, we still held a solid 38-25 halftime advantage. SF Rick Coffey and SG/PG Matt Conley both scored 7 points.

We scored the first 9 points of the 2nd half to open a 22 point lead. The tide quickly turned when we let Washington State score 10 unanswered points. We came back to lead by 19 but then let the Cougars narrow the deficit late in the game so that our winning margin was only 64-53. 

SG/PG Matt Conley scored 12, PG Chris Smith popped in 11, and SF Rick Coffey had 10. While C Ryan Erickson only scored 2 points, he pulled down 11 rebounds, dished out 4 assists, and had 3 steals. For Washington State PG Darrell Booker scored 17 and SG Ryan Diggs had 12 points, 5 assists, 10 rebounds, 2 steals and a block.

The win moved us back into a tie with the Cougars and Arizona State in conference play. On the other end of the standings, Arizona is 1st with a 12-0 record, Cal is 2nd and Washington is in 3rd place. Tonight Washington hosted California and in that game there were 27 lead changes and 16 ties with Washington winning 81-78 in overtime to draw within one game of the 2nd place Golden Bears

[PointGuard 70]

Game #22: #6 California Golden Bears (20-4, 9-3) @ Colorado Buffaloes (11-10, 3-9)

While it’s good to be playing at home, having to take on the Golden Bears is no picnic. SG Matt Landrum is averaging 20.6 ppg, SF Jesse Herbert is averaging 13.3 ppg and C Cliff Mitchell is scoring 11.0 ppg. All three connect on a high percentage of their shots. Talented PG Mario Burleston broke his ankle and is out for the next month.

In our first 3 possessions, 3’s were sunk by PG Chris Smith, PF Charles Maor, and SF Rick Coffey. Then on our 5th possession, SG Matt Conley drained a 3. But Cal was hitting shots as well and went ahead 13-12 after 5 minutes of play. We hit our fifth 3 pointer with 13:25 to go in the half to give us a 19-13 and force Cal to call a time out. We continued to fight hard against the talented Golden Bears, and when the half ended, we were on top 35-32. SG/PF Matt Conley and C Ryan Erickson both scored 7 points with Erickson also grabbing 8 boards.

With 11:20 to go in the game, we went ahead 52-41 after PG Matt Conley got the ball inside to C Vee Kurtbek who then muscled up a shot that went down. PG Chris Smith drilled a 12 footer to put us ahead by 13 with 10 minutes to play and Cal called another time out as our fans were going wild. A minute later, SF Rick Coffey hit a baseline jumper to put us on top 58-41. We never let Cal get close and came away with a huge 72-61 upset win. We controlled the boards 40-34 and held a 17-13 turnover advantage. 

SG/PG Matt Conley knocked down 16 points, PG Chris Smith had 14 points and 7 assists, SF Rick Coffey scored 10 and had 9 rebounds, SG Camah Griffin scored 10, and C Ryan Erickson scored 9 while hauling in 11 boards.

Our victory moved us into a 3-way tie with Oregon State and Arizona State for 9th place, a game ahead of last place Washington State.

[PointGuard 70]

Player Problems

Bryant Marshack, my first assistant coach who is in charge of practices, came to me to let me know that Camah Griffin and Mat Hunter were pushing and shoving each other during a heated exchange after practice. I called each player into my office to address the problem. Camah Griffin apologized and said he’d try harder in the future. Mat Hunter said he didn’t think there was a problem. Since Hunter’s relationship with the team has gone into the drink recently, I let him know he was within a hair’s breadth of being suspended and that heneeds to turn things around and regain his standing with them and that any further problems would be dealt with severely. 

We’ll see how he does, but I can’t have him being a cancer within the team. So even though he has played well for us in a reserve role and has another season of eligibility after this one, I won’t hesitate to cut him if he continues to create problems. If I do cut him, trying to fill his scholarship with a recruit this spring will be very difficult since we really don’t have any money in our recruiting budget and can’t make any power moves with respect to recruiting. We do have some recruits interested, but they have focused on other schools since we have no scholarships to offer at this point.