Boyle's Buffs Host Colorado Mines In Monday Exhibition Game
October 29, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Neill Woelk
BOULDER — It won't count on their record, but you can bet the Colorado Buffaloes will be treating Monday night's exhibition game with Colorado Mines with plenty of importance.
Tipoff at the Coors Events Center is set for 7 p.m.
For starters, it will be the first true chance for a host of newcomers — five scholarship true freshmen, two redshirt freshmen and one transfer — to show their abilities in a game situation.
Meanwhile, it will be a chance for the entire team to see exactly what kind of rotation Tad Boyle and his staff have in store.
Boyle has mixed and matched a variety of lineup possibilities throughout the fall practice session. While Monday night's starting five will by no means be the bunch that sees the floor in the Buffs' Nov. 10 season opener vs. Northern Colorado, the exhibition game should still provide at least a hint of what kind of rotation Boyle wants to use this season.
It will be a surprise if at least one of the true freshmen doesn't see the starting lineup. The most likely candidate is point guard McKinley Wright, who has been impressive since Day 1. In Saturday's intrasquad scrimmage, Boyle teamed Wright with Dominique Collier at the off guard, George King and Namon Wright at the wings and Tory Miller-Stewart in the post.
That doesn't mean, however, that the other freshmen — in particular D'Shawn Schwartz and Tyler Bey — won't see plenty of time on the floor. Both have had good fall practice sessions and will quite likely be integral parts of CU's rotation.
Last week, Boyle said his goals for Monday's game are simple.
"Here's the three areas of concern for me with our basketball team right now," Boyle said. "One is transition defense. I want to see us get back and not give up easy baskets in transition. The second thing is taking care of the basketball, turnovers. They've kind of plagued us off and on through the years, but you have to take care of the basketball to get good shots because we have good shooters. And then the third thing, which is a little bit harder this time of year, is to execute. Execution covers a lot of different areas, both offensively and defensively. But those are the three areas, transition defense, taking care of the ball and execution."
This year's team is not one that is expected to make much of a dent in the Pac-12. The Buffs were picked ninth in the Pac-12 Media Day preseason poll — but it is a team that Boyle and the players believe could surprise some folks if the youngsters develop quickly.
"It's a whole new look but I love this team," Boyle said at CU's recent media day. "I love coaching this team every day, I love their spirit, I love their competitiveness, I love their effort, and our goal this year is no different than in years past: we want to compete for a Pac-12 championship, qualify for the NCAA tournament, and to be playing our best basketball in the month of March."
Last season, Colorado Mines finished 30-5 overall and 19-3 in the RMAC, winning the conference title and advancing to the elite eight round of the NCAA Div. II Tournament. This year, Mines was picked to finish second in the league's preseason coaches poll.
Tickets for Monday's exhibition are $10 for reserved seating and $5 for general admission.
Season tickets are on sale and begin as low as $155 for general admission seating. For more information visit CUBuffs.com/tickets or call 303-49BUFFS.
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu
