5 Things We Learned From Tad Boyle's Media Day Presser
Colorado head coach Tad Boyle met with the media on Wednesday and discussed a number of CU Buffs' men's basketball related topics. What did we learn from the presser? Read below.
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1. Dallas Walton is out for the year
Boyle announced in his opening statement that redshirt sophomore center Dallas Walton would be missing the 2018-19 season due to an ACL tear. The Arvada, Colo. native had a strong first season as a Buff and was looking to have a breakout season as a sophomore.
"We lost Dallas Walton yesterday to an ACL in practice," Boyle said. "He went down, and we got the unfortunate news confirmed in the afternoon. We will not have his services this year, and my heart goes out to him and his family. Obviously, he's worked so hard to come back from two previous ACLs in high school. He had such a promising freshman year."
Boyle is very optimistic about Walton's injury and feels that the young 7-footer can come back better than ever in 2019.
"I just want to let people know that this is not the end of the road for him by any means," Boyle said. "He's going to come back stronger than before. In the big picture of things, it could be a good thing for him and our program. But in the short run, it's difficult, it's no fun, and I feel sick to my stomach for him and how hard he's worked."
2. Siewert, others have a chance to step up
The loss of Walton greatly hurts Colorado's team and their frontcourt depth takes a huge hit.
"We're thinner up front, but we still have enough bodies to be successful," Boyle said. "It puts us one man down. We're not as deep as we once were. We certainly can't afford another injury to our front line significantly.
"We'll see how Jakub [Dombek] comes along ... We know Tyler [Bey] is capable of playing on the front line. We know Lucas [Siewert] is capable. We know Evan [Battey] is capable, even though he hasn't played. Alex [Strating] is showing signs, and Jakub is getting better and better too."
Bey, who started a handful of games last season, will be needed to step up, as will Battey. But Siewert will probably have to step up the most as the next best center option on the team.
"His role becomes really paramount," Boyle said of Siewert. "It was going to be big before."
Boyle likes how Siewert came into his own in the latter half of the 2017 season. In the offseason, Siewert has improved his low block game and defensive play.
"I still think with Lucas, Evan, and Tyler -- a three-post rotation -- you can play big," Boyle said of his rotations. "The beauty of ... our post guys -- they're very versatile. We'll be able to play big lineups and small lineups, just not maybe as big of a lineup if we had Dallas.
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