Colorado University Athletics
Boyle Says Buffs Need Consistency, Leadership
October 25, 2016 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — Colorado basketball coach Tad Boyle didn't mince any words Tuesday when it came to assessing his team thus far.
With about two weeks and change remaining before his Buffaloes are scheduled to open the season, Boyle issued this rather frank appraisal at Tuesday morning's media day at the Coors Events Center:
"Those of you who follow this team and this program know we have some pretty talented guys in uniform this year," Boyle said. "(But) right now, if I had to describe our team in one word it would be 'overrated.' We're not consistent enough to be considered an upper-tier Pac-12 team right now."
There, of course, some qualifiers here. With the Nov. 11 season opener against Sacramento State (7 p.m., Coors Events Center) still more than two weeks away, there's still time for the Buffs to add that element of consistency to their game. It's also quite possible that Boyle was using the moment as another way of getting his message across to his players. He would by no means be the first coach ever to emphasize a point through the media.
But the bottom line is that while Boyle may have assembled his most talented team yet as he enters his seventh year at CU, his players seem to be well-aware of the same fact — and thus far, they've seemed content to allow their reputation to exceed their effort.
"For us to get better and make that next step, it's not easy," Boyle said. "It's not going to be given to us or handed to us or tweeted to us. We're going to have to go out there and earn that and we have to beat people to make it happen and we have to do it on a consistent basis. That's where we're not where we could have been right now. We're not consistent enough to say, 'OK people need to hunt us.' We still need to be the hunter in my opinion."
What's clear is that expectations for Boyle's program have continued to grow. While it has been possible for the Buffs to play with a chip on their shoulders in years past because of what they perceived as a lack of respect, that card is now back in the deck.
The Buffs are expected to be good. While being picked fifth in the Pac-12 preseason poll may not seem like an overwhelming vote of confidence, three of the teams ahead of them — Oregon, Arizona and UCLA — are all consensus preseason top 25 teams, and the fourth (Cal) is just outside the top 25.
Also fueling those expectations is CU's recent history. Boyle's teams have been to the NCAA Tournament four of the last five seasons, and a tourney berth is now virtually taken for granted.
What's expected this year is for the Buffs to advance.
"With those expectations grown now, people do expect us to go to postseason play, they do expect us to go to the NCAA Tournament and advance," Boyle said. "Your program is either getting better or it's getting worse, it's not staying the same. We all want to get better."
What's not up for dispute is that the Buffs have a wealth of talent returning. It includes five players who have started at least 15 games in a season in their careers, two more key role players from last year and a transfer who is being touted as a potential Pac-12 standout.
"We have talented guys who understand what needs to be done," Boyle said. "They just don't do it consistently."
Scoring shouldn't be a problem for these Buffs. Along with George King, last year's Pac-12 Most Improved Player (13.6 points per game), the Buffs also return Josh Fortune (10.3 ppg) and Xavier Johnson, who averaged 10.3 points per game two seasons ago before missing last year with a torn Achilles tendon. Those players, along with the addition of transfer Derrick White, should be able to more than make up for the points lost to the graduation of big man Josh Scott.
On paper, at least, the same could be said for rebounding. Wesley Gordon returns with his 7.6 rpg average, along with Johnson (5.6), King (4.7) and Fortune (4.0).
But so far in practice, Boyle said, he hasn't seen enough consistency from his players either on the boards or on defense to convince him they will be good enough to compete with the upper-tier teams on their schedule. CU's non-conference lineup includes neutral-floor matchups with Notre Dame and Northwestern or Texas, a road game at BYU and home games vs. Colorado State and perennial NCAA Tournament team Xavier.
"Our players have no idea how good the University of Xavier is right now," Boyle said. "They could beat us by 20 right now. It wouldn't even be close. Our guys don't understand that. They're going to find out and we have some time hopefully to figure that out."
One thing Boyle believes his team needs to produce in order to develop that consistency is some locker room leadership. A year ago, that job was held down quite nicely by seniors Josh Scott and Xavier Talton.
This year, the Buffs have four fifth-year seniors — Gordon, Johnson, Fortune and White — along with a fourth-year junior in King.
"I've always said that when Josh Scott left, we can replace his production, his points, his rebounds," Boyle said. "The question is if we can replace his leadership and I'm not sure of that right now. That's a big question mark with this team. The only way we're going to find out is when adversity hits. It's the only way you figure out what kind of leadership you have, when that adversity happens."
Other areas Boyle will be looking for improvement:
Protecting leads. Last year, CU allowed a half-dozen second-half leads to melt away, including key conference losses to Utah (twice) and USC, as well as their first-round NCAA Tournament game to UConn. "Number one is taking care of the basketball. The second thing is getting stops when we we need to get stops. There are times during the season when we are going to have to get a stop and we have to get those stops when they need to be had."
Point guard play. Last season, the Buffs received solid play at times from starter Dominique Collier and Thomas Akyazili, but their performances were inconsistent. "Our point guard has to be better this year than it was last year for us to continue on our upward trajectory in terms of advancing in postseason play," Boyle said. "Dominique Collier is a capable player going from an underclassmen role as a sophomore year a new role his junior year. Thomas Akyazili is much more comfortable this year. We added (freshmen) Bryce Peters and Deleon Brown. We have depth. Derrick White is someone we can throw in at point guard if we need to. … That position is very well manned. Now it has to be very well played. That's the step we have to make."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
