Long Colorado Scouting Report | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Long Colorado Scouting Report

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DogMania said:
I know that some aren't happy that we got the 9 seed in the top #1 region, but heck, we were a missed 3/4 court prayer away from playing in the NIT, so I can't complain we got a 9 seed.
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I agree with all but this. Tulsa made it...we would have as well.
 
Here are full game highlights for Colorado (vs Arizona) in their Pac12 Tourney. We'll have to stay disciplined on their shooters as they make a high percentage of threes - that is going to be one of the biggest concerns (not as worried about their big guy). Also need to box out well on defensive rebounds. Not impressed with their transition defense and ability to stop the attacking penetration. Need to run, run, run.

Its actually good that UConn will play Thursday afternoon to keep the momentum going. They have time to rest/recover and return back to action soon. Keep it going.

 
DogMania said:
Just looked at who they beat and who they lost to, and I find it strange that they are an 8 seed. They don't have any big OOC wins. All their big Ws are within the Pack-10.
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Pac gamed the RPI well this season, leading to a bunch of Top X wins for each member (and Oregon had 20 which is why they got the #1).

tzznandrew said:
I agree with all but this. Tulsa made it...we would have as well.
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Tulsa got in because they were 4-5 against RPI Top 50, UConn was 2-5 before the tournament, would have been 2-6 with Cincy loss. I think Tulsa would have gotten in over us. Bracketologists didn't put the same weight on that metric as the committee (thus Syracuse, too), so you can't use our placement above Tulsa in the collective as proof of anything. We could have both gotten in, but we'll never know that.
 
Marat said:
Here are full game highlights for Colorado (vs Arizona) in their Pac12 Tourney. We'll have to stay disciplined on their shooters as they make a high percentage of threes - that is going to be one of the biggest concerns (not as worried about their big guy). Also need to box out well on defensive rebounds. Not impressed with their transition defense and ability to stop the attacking penetration. Need to run, run, run.
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Nailed it. We need to rebound like we did in the AAC tourny. Let Brimah play 1 on 1 but make sure he doesn't foul.
 
CL82 said:
Pressure their guards, generate turnovers, shorten the clock for their offense.
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Agreed. To take it one step further, it is very important that the on-ball pressure denies or challenges entry passes into the paint. Scott can't catch passes in position to score or we will lose our bigs to foul trouble. If Scott has to come out to 7+ft to catch the pass it will also give us time to double off the weak shooter.
 
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caw said:
Just watched a game a friend recorded (Zona fan) and a few highlights. I can see the Tim Duncan comparisons. Though more like current Duncan than college Duncan. Scott has very nice fundamentals but isn't terribly athletic or as smooth as Duncan was in college. Solid 18 footer but not 3 PT range. Brimah et al will need to be able to defend him without gaurd help because the guards get off threes off a lot of pass outs from double teams, a lot of similarities to Temple actually. Would have been fun to watch Temple Colorado, IMO. I dont think the Buffs have a guard as good as Decourcy but are probably slightly better everywhere else. Temple is much better at possession but probably not quite as good on the glass, IMO.
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The double teams on Scott need to be strategic and not sloppy, he will pick apart the defense if we start with the same coverages thrown at Lawson late yesterday.
 
CL82 said:
Pressure their guards, generate turnovers, shorten the clock for their offense.
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Also helps make the entry pass to Scott in the post more difficult.
 
TheRogers said:
This is the way to go. Close the three point line and let them get their points in 2s. Rely on the opportune block, missed shot, or turnover. Use our guards to run the ball like crazy. Tire them out. Make it difficult to get the ball in.
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Anyone else think a big other than Brimah continues to start? I like the idea of letting Nolan and Facey absorb some early fouls. Amida has been effective in limited minutes during the conference tourney.
 
Obviously we all want our guys to win as many games as possible, but even if we can just beat Kansas, that would be so rewarding to me. I love that we have this blue blood claim but lately are the Cinderella magic team. If we can beat Kansas and bust 75% of the brackets, that would keep this reputation going, and I can't tell you all how pleasing it is when you hear the other fans and talking heads question what it is in the water in Storrs

Let's beat Colorado and get that March Voodoo rolling
 
Also, most impressive stat of the Cincy game to me is 3 fouls from Brimah in 47 minutes against an extremely active and athletic front court for the bearcats. Off topic, but maybe i'll just post it in every thread since it was so awesome to see some discipline!
 
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Thanks for the long write up, haven't watched a second of Colorado all year so it was good to get some intel. I imagine it'll be a close game on Thursday.

1) It will be interesting to see we handle their primary big man and how much zone we play. Did a lot of CU's opponents go zone? Foul trouble was a big issue with Memphis but we have enough big bodies that Lawson & Goodwin didn't completely kill us (they refs were also ATROCIOUS in the Memphis game all around, way too many whistles on both teams). I'm sure CU is more well-rounded offensively than than that disaster of a Memphis team.

2) It bodes very well for us if their guards struggle to contain dribble penetration. It's pretty cut and dry for this UConn team - when we can get into the lane and collapse the D, we are a very dangerous team. When we can't do that, we really struggle offensively.

3) @BuffaloHusky, what do you think about their defensive strategy against Hamilton? Do they have a decent defender to put on him? Any thoughts on if we go small with Hamilton at the four? Does CU ever play smallball or do they stay with a traditional front court?
 
Just an FYI.....

I've seen Colorado play more than 10 times this year, we don't have much to worry about with this matchup.

The only advantage they have against us is on the boards.

Thad Boyle is a very good coach, but this team for whatever the reason doesn't play the defense of his past teams.

King is going to be a star and is a player we will need to try to shut down. Scott is good as well and Brimah should be able to do pretty well against him.

Their point guard play is awful.

As long as we don't get out rebounded by 10+ we should be able
to take care of biz and move on.

Will be important Hamilton continues his greatness!
 
My sense: this is a hard-nosed opponent that over-performs its talent. Strong bigs and good shooters. It's a poor man's 2000s Pitt--with the exception of the steady PG (Knight-Krauser-Gibbs). Typically those types of teams hurt us, but the lack of a good PG might get our offense going. Their bigs are tough, and Brimah is going to have to play disciplined on the ball defense.

Our guys are going to be focused, but we can't come out flat like we have. They have streaky shooters, and if they get on a roll we can be in trouble.
 
BuffaloHusky said:
So this is my nightmare scenario... I'm a CU alum yet an enormous fan of UConn since I was teenager. With that said, I've seen every UConn game and most CU games (with exceptional of the 11 pm starts on the Pac 12 Network network). The bottom line... there aren't many similarities.

I will start with what CU does well.

1) they are an excellent interior team and really rebound well. Josh Scott is all Pac-12 and one of the best fundamental post players in the college game. He has gotten mixed reviews as a potential pro because he may not be as tall as listed (6'10") and apparently has short arms but I've always thought of him as a poor man's Tim Duncan and that's a complement. Their power forward Wesley Gordon is a hybrid center/PF who is an excellent rebounder, very good defender and a decent post player himself. What neither Gordon or Scott do though is spread the floor. Instead, they post and kick to their wings who are some of the best shooters in the conference.

2) their wings can score. George King is redshirt sophomore with great range and touch and is their 2nd best player. Josh Fortune also has excellent range and tends to push the ball up court. Treshaun Fletcher is a lefty who appears fairly passive yet consistently makes plays and also shoots well from distance. On top of that all three guys are between 6'5" and 6'7" and will rebound as well.

3) they hit free throws and get to the line. CU will likely be the best free throw shooting team they play and UConn will really need to try and stay out of foul trouble. The typical Brimah, Nolan, Miller silly fouls will really be an issue against the Buffs because once they start going to the line, they won't be missing like most of the teams UConn has seen this year.

Now... the problem areas for the Buffs.

1) they turn the ball over.. a lot. I'm not exaggerating when I say everyone is responsible (Scott being the exception). Their point guards (more later), the wings and their bigs all tend to dribble into traffic and either throw the ball at the rim or make terrible passes. UConn hasn't forced many live ball turnovers this season but should have opportunities against the Buffs.

2) the point guards are incredibly inconsistent and they don't necessarily facilitate the offense. Dominique Collier has been great in some games and has disappeared in others. Xavier Talton is not really a point guard but an undersized shooting guard. Thomas Akyazili is a wild card. He has been playing very well of late and tends to push the ball up the court. Regardless, none of them really make plays for others and their assist to turnover ratio is mediocre at best.

3) their defense should be better. With all of the length at the wings and an excellent interior, they should be a top 10 defense. CU plays mostly man to man and has a very difficult time with penetration. Expect Adams and Purvis to get the cup consistently.

4) they have little success outside of Boulder. Their home court is one of the best in the nation and for years were awful away from it. That wasn't as much the case this year but I'm still suspect of how they will perform on a big stage outside of Colorado.

The coach... Tad Boyle is excellent. Colorado has been one of the worst major conference jobs over the last 25 years and he has consistently gotten them into the dance. He is exceptionally composed and really relies on his players to battle through tough situations. I've never seen a coach focus as much as they do on rebounding (even over defense) but generally if they win the rebounding battle... CU wins.

If I have to make a prediction I think CU wins if the UConn bigs are in foul trouble. I think UConn wins if CU turns the ball over. As for matchups... look for Hamilton on George King and Brimah on Josh Scott.
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Thanks for the information. I would say this is the Cliff Notes version of a @DogMania or @champs99and04 post so the title should have been Medium Colorado scouting report.
And since it's that time of year it brings fond memories of the Dogmania hanging and sentencing.
 
DonaldDraper said:
Agreed. To take it one step further, it is very important that the on-ball pressure denies or challenges entry passes into the paint. Scott can't catch passes in position to score or we will lose our bigs to foul trouble. If Scott has to come out to 7+ft to catch the pass it will also give us time to double off the weak shooter.
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Yes indeed. It is time to break out the LSU defense. Most brilliant single game coaching job Jim Calhoun ever did.
 
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Fortune at PC was erratic and turnover-prone, but he also had games in which he went off, I believe. In other words, he was a jeckyll-and-hude back then.
 
The best line in your scouting report for us is: "CU plays mostly man to man" I'd be a lot more scared if they were primarily a zone team. I think we have the horses to drive into the paint and get them into foul trouble... although I've been disappointed at times with our seeming reluctance to go to the hoop. (10th in the american in free throw attempts)
 
Our FT% as a team is best in the nation as a team and we have a high ranked defense as well. If we stay out of foul trouble (and can get to the line), and hit our shots, we have a chance.

They block shots just as good as we do, which spells trouble to guys like Adams and Purvis that like to drive the lane. Their ability to hit 3's is troublesome for us too.

Our little run in the AAC tourney was predicated on hitting shots and playing decent defense. It's amazing how simple it can be, which frustrates me because this team has talent, but often times forgets how to play.
 
IMind said:
The best line in your scouting report for us is: "CU plays mostly man to man" I'd be a lot more scared if they were primarily a zone team. I think we have the horses to drive into the paint and get them into foul trouble... although I've been disappointed at times with our seeming reluctance to go to the hoop. (10th in the american in free throw attempts)
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Which is mind boggling because we are the best in the nation when we get to the line. You would figure that would be part of our game plan. That's how we beat Kentucky.....fantastic guard play and didn't miss from the line. I'm sure KO realizes this...hopefully they can execute.
 
3RingsCT said:
Which is mind boggling because we are the best in the nation when we get to the line. You would figure that would be part of our game plan. That's how we beat Kentucky.....fantastic guard play and didn't miss from the line. I'm sure KO realizes this...hopefully they can execute.
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Yep, we finished the regular season #1 in FT in the country at 78.5% and need to take advantage of this more. The 2014 UConn team was great too at 77.7%. Below are the leaders, and btw at #38 is Colorado at 73.8% .

FT throw leaders:
http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/statistics/team/_/stat/free-throws/sort/freeThrowPct
 
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KemBuckets21 said:
Anyone else think a big other than Brimah continues to start? I like the idea of letting Nolan and Facey absorb some early fouls. Amida has been effective in limited minutes during the conference tourney.
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I agree that Nolan should be in there early on. Nolan could really be a wild-card for us as potentially a better match up against Josh Scott than Amida. Nolan needs to channel his 2014 play vs MSU in the E8. Everyone thought Payne would kill us down low in that game and Phil played solid 1 on 1 D on him without fouling. I think Phil is a better option against a seasoned center like Scott, at least early on, so that Amida can watch him and get a sense of how he operates offensively. Amida is still raw defensively, and while he's done a better job of learning to not try to block EVERYTHING, I'm afraid he'll be over-ambitious and get in foul trouble due to Scott playing more saavy offensively.

I'm torn on whether or not we should double in the post like we normally do against a team that likes to operate inside-out for their offense. If they're comfortable getting the ball on the low block and kicking out to shooters, I'm not sure doubling is the right approach as that plays right into their wheelhouse. If we do double, it has to be SMART and our rotations have to be on-point. As a few others have stated, I think I'd rather let Scott get his, stay out of foul trouble, and then lock down on shooters on the perimeter.

I agree we need to put some full-court pressure on them to slow down their offense and force them into turnovers or at the very least make them operate on offense later in the shot clock.

For UConn offensively, if Colorado is concerned about our penetration and not able to stay in front of our guys, that's great for us. We are at our best when we get into the lane, draw fouls, and kick-out or pull up.
 
I like the Colorado matchup. I like it because it should be a solid test for us. A team that crashes the baords hard is something I'd like to see up play against. I am under the impression it could be a weakness of ours.
 
EBonz has officially crossed over. His bad mojo is so bad that it has doomed us and is now becoming good mojo. Hoping to have a flow chart for the visual learners later tonight.
 
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