The Town Crier

[PointGuard]

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]

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 traveled to Los Angeles and beat #19 ranked USC 80-68 and Washington knocked off #10 ranked UCLA so now just the Wildcats and Huskies have won all their games in conference play.

[PointGuard]

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]

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]

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]

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 breakfast 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]

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]

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]

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.

[Ddevore65]

Nice little turn around. Now if we can flip the table and go 7-2 in the 2nd half we will be right where we were hoping.

Hopefully these last couple of wins will give coach a reprieve from the ire of the Buff Club boosters