Dialing down the fouls a key area of improvement required of Jabari Walker

As the 2020-2021 preseason progressed, it became more and more clear that forward Jabari Walker was looking like the player within CU's Class of 2020 that was the best developed, per what Tad Boyle and teammates were saying about him.

Now five games into the season, that has turned out to be true indeed, with Walker's 14.2 minutes per game comfortably leading the pack among CU's true freshmen.

Fellow forward Tristan da Silva is seeing just over eight minutes per game while guards Nique Clifford and Luke O'Brien have seen 5.9 and 5.4 respective minutes per game.

Walker is currently averaging 8.2 points and 4.8 boards per game for the Buffaloes. He's gotten to the free throw line more than anyone on the team and is shooting 90% (17-of-19) on such attempts.

All in all, he's given Boyle a lot to be hopeful about with such a hot start to his young collegiate career.

“He’s learning what the game is all about and how it’s played," Boyle said. "He’s going to be a great player at Colorado. His teammates love playing with him — that’s what’s really neat to see.”

Walker is currently coming off his best game in a Colorado uniform, as he dropped 15 points and led the team with nine rebounds in a lopsided 91-49 win over Nebraska Omaha on Wednesday, a game in which he played just under 16 minutes.

“(That) just tells you how active Jabari is,” Boyle said. “...He’s a guy that just has a nose for the ball and you can’t teach that. He’s got it. He plays with unbelievable effort — he’s got 15 (points) and nine (rebounds) in 15 minutes, so Jabari kind of imposes his will on the game and plays with a great motor.”

While Boyle and the Buffs have certainly enjoyed the off-the-bench boost that Walker has provided the team, one area in which the 6-foot-8 freshman from Phoenix needs to improve upon is limiting his fouls.

Walker was sound against K-State and Tennessee, being whistled for just one foul in 27 combined minutes played between the two games, but of late, has gotten into foul trouble.

In 13 minutes of action against the UNC Bears, Walker flirted with fouling out, as he was whistled four times. Wednesday vs. Omaha, he had four fouls in just under 16 minutes played.

Walker's statistical output has been solid for Colorado to date, but Boyle knows firsthand that down the stretch, sooner or later, he's going to better manage the quickness in which he's racking up fouls.

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"I’m OK with (his level of fouling), quite frankly, right now," Boyle said. "I just think that there’s going to be times in the future where we need him to play more minutes than 15 and we need him to play extended minutes...Jabari’s got to be smart enough to play without fouling."

Of course, Walker having some issues with fouls is by no stretch of the imagination limited to just him.

Junior forward Evan Battey, who certainly has had his own issues with fouling, in part due to his 6-foot-8, 260-pound frame, knows what Walker is going through.

There have been many instances in Battey's career at Colorado in which he's had to be pulled from games far earlier than expected in order to preserve him after he's accrued a few fouls in quick succession.

Thus, Battey has been able to offer up some advice to the young Walker as someone who's been there, done that and is still fighting that battle of avoiding fouls whenever possible as an upperclassman.

"I just tell Jabari to not let your man catch (the ball) in the post, and if he does catch it, (put your) hands to the ceiling, not hands parallel to your man," Battey said. "Just be straight up (and don’t) reach in. There’s a lot of disciplinary actions that enable you to stay in the game longer...You have to just stay solid. That's the most important part when you’re playing defense — just play solid."

Basketball — in college and the NBA — is not a flawless game from an officiating standpoint. All referees differ to some extent and with that inherently means that some games will be officiated with a more liberal whistle than others.

The way Boyle sees it, navigating the refs' whistle on a nightly basis will be key for Walker as he looks to keep developing himself at Colorado.

Many players have had to do so before him and many will after his college career is long over with. Right now though, Walker's got some feeling out to do on that front.

"One of the things we tell our players in practice is: the definition of a foul is when an official blows his whistle and calls a foul," Boyle said. "So, you have got to figure out from night to night, from half to half, how the game is being called."

"Some games are going to be a little more physical, where (officials) are going to let you get away with more things than not. Some games are going to be a little bit tighter. As a player, you have to figure that out."

At the end of the day, the positives Walker is bringing to Colorado in being such a productive spark of the bench far outweigh ongoing concerns about his foul numbers.

For a young college basketball player, there are far worse problems to have.

Either way, Boyle is confident that Walker is on the right track in getting his discipline and awareness surrounding fouls to match his ability to score the ball and rebound.

"He’s got to figure out what’s a foul and what’s not a foul," Boyle said. "That’s a learning curve and all you can do is tell him ‘hey man, you’ve got to figure that out.’ He’s a smart kid — he’s not a dumb player by any means — so he’ll figure that out. It’s just a learning curve right now that he’s going through and a lot of freshman big guys do."