BOULDER - Were this Year 1 or 2 for Jeff Bzdelik in coaching his Colorado men's basketball team, he could handle the well-meaning pats on the back after last week's EA Sports Maui Invitational without forcing a smile and a "thank you."
The Buffaloes did, after all, account fairly well for themselves, pushing eventual Maui champion Gonzaga and perennial power Arizona to the max in a pair of close losses (76-72 against the Zags, 91-87 in OT against 'Zona) before closing out their visit with a 73-58 victory on Chaminade's home court.
That win did tell the Buffs a little something about themselves - namely not to sulk after a pair of losses, or in the words of sophomore forward Austin Dufault: "We learned that we have to have short memories."
The shorter the better, in fact.
But this is where Bzdelik is coming from in Year 3 at CU: No matter the opponent, close doesn't count much anymore. Sure, he likes the improvement, the effort, the growth his guys showed in their trip to paradise, but teams and their coaches reach a point when pushing through barriers and winning close games is what matters.
That's about the only context Bzdelik and his staff want "close" used in anymore; so forget coming "close."
You also can add "compete" to the list of words Bzdelik would just as soon strike from the Buffs' vocabularies - if it's used in this manner: "Well, we competed, but we lost."
"'Compete' was a word we used a lot last year," Dufault said, hoping "finish" will be a much better and more accurate choice of words for the Buffs as they run deeper into the 2009-10 schedule.
Against Gonzaga, which defeated Cincinnati 61-59 in overtime for the Maui title and was rewarded Monday with an Associated Press Top 25 berth (No. 17), CU led by as many as 15 points in the first half before the Zags rallied in crunch time while the Buffs, ah, competed and came close.
Bzdelik watched the game from Chicago. Before the Maui tourney began, doctors issued the dreaded call that he'd best come to the bedside of his seriously ill mother.
Of course, he went, again leaving the bench work to Associate Head Coach Steve McClain, who also had filled in for Bzdelik in CU's opening win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
The season's first month has been a bizarre one; of the Buffs' first six games, Bzdelik has been courtside for two.
But if he's not been there physically, his team never has been out of mind. He's watched the games, conferred with McClain, and has a solid handle on where improvement is needed.
"We have to play harder defensively for the entire game," Bzdelik said Monday. "Our defensive transition has to improve - we've worked on that. Our defensive positioning has to improve - we've worked on that.
"As our young players mature, they have to understand that offense can't dictate your defensive energy. We put ourselves in position to win again (in Maui), but the mentality that we have of losing is unacceptable. And we need to now understand what takes to win."
I asked Bzdelik what winning the final game against Chaminade did for his team after the two narrow losses. Yeah, he was happy to watch a 'W' on the road (an 18-game road losing streak was snapped).
But he was more concerned with another couple of 'W's: "As long as our basketball team continues to improve and to learn why; the most important thing is to understand why you win games and why you lose games," he said.
"You just need to keep striving for perfection . . . and that's the key: you have to keep striving for perfection - although you know it'll never come."
As for the national exposure and maybe even some newly found respect his program might have returned to the Mainland with, Bzdelik smiled and noted, "The only thing society cares about is winning."
But he didn't attempt to dismiss what the Buffs exhibited on national TV: "There were a lot of very good things we did. We scored, for the most part we were unselfish, we rebounded better. Certain players matured right before our eyes.
"But, again, we go back to our mentality, and that's losing is unacceptable. We need to continue to grow and get better, and that's all I want. Every day they step onto the court, they need to get better - that's individually and collectively, and that's my job."
The Buffs' first post-Maui game is Tuesday (7 p.m., Coors Events Center) against San Francisco, which lost Sunday in double overtime (91-75) at Colorado State.
Bzdelik knows Dons' second-year head coach Rex Walters, having coached the former University of Kansas star when both were with the Miami Heat.
"People asked me what I did to work out (in Miami)," Bzdelik said. "I pretty much rebounded for (Walters). He loved to shoot the ball, before and after practice . . . he'd get up thousands of shots."
After a pair of opening wins, the Dons have lost four straight. But Bzdelik calls them "extremely well-coached" and has told his team it must be prepared for Walters' frequent defensive changes: "They'll change defenses up, trap and try to scramble the game."
USF senior forward Dior Lowhorn is a San Francisco native and a 2006 transfer from Texas Tech. He entered the season with a 20.3 career scoring average with the Dons and had 21 points in the double-OT loss at CSU.
USF, noted Bzdelik, "is talented and athletic overall . . . We have to defend and rebound for all 40 minutes and not turn the ball over."
In short, the Buffs should take what they accomplished in Maui, then take that a step further. Dufault, who averaged 11 points and 5.2 rebounds in the three Maui games, contends he and his teammates "came away with a better mindset. I think we learned we can compete with anybody."
Ah, there's that word again. It's usable to a point, but Bzdelik wants the Buffs to get past it.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
