The Colorado Buffaloes basketball team is off to an excellent, yet surprising 6-0 start, as they head into the annual Rocky Mountain Show at Moby Arena on Saturday. Unlike last season when the game was played at Coors Event Center, CU won’t have the home court advantage this time around.
Colorado is also tasked with getting the sour taste out of their mouth from last year’s 72-58 loss to the Rams, in which the team displayed what coach Tad Boyle acknowledged as poor effort.
Now the Buffs are looking to avenge last year’s performance, while making a statement that they’re ready to be big time contenders. A large part of that falls on coach Tad Boyle, who recognizes his responsibility to prepare the team thoroughly.
“The hardest thing to do in college basketball is win on the road,” Boyle said after Wednesday morning's practice. “I was extremely disappointed in our performance last year. We did not take care of our business. As a coach, I control the things I can control. Last year, I didn’t control our team because we didn’t play very well so that’s on me, and I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure these guys are prepared.”
A large part of the preparation for Saturday’s game will come mentally, as players need to employ an entirely different mindset when playing on the road in the absence of their home fan base.
“When you go on the road, it’s a you versus world mentality, and that’s what we’ll have to have,” Boyle said. “We’ll have some fans up there, but you can’t on the fans. We have to count on ourselves when we go to play on the road.”
On young teams, it’s not uncommon for players to get selfish and count their minutes, points, and rotation played with. Fortunately for Buffs fans, this hasn’t been the case so far. The team has done a great job moving the ball around, finishing several games this year with multiple starters in double figures.
As the team prepares to play their seventh game of the young season, Boyle and his staff decided to place an emphasis on the difference between selfish and unselfish play, as he knows that’s what’ll ultimately separate the wins from losses.
“We had a couple handouts this morning on what selfishness looks like on a basketball floor, on a basketball team, and unselfishness looks like on a basketball floor, on a basketball team,” Boyle said. “Getting our guys to realize that the little things, whether it’s sprinting the floor or coming out after a timeout, staying positive and attentive in the huddle - those are the little things that we have to do to be unselfish and win on the road.”
Heading into the season, it was expected that their would be some growing pains with the young team. Early on though, they’ve played perhaps the most smart, fundamentally sound basketball that this program has seen in years.
Two guys in particular who’ve stood out are point guard McKinley Wright, and D’Shawn Schwartz - who’s split time at guard and forward. Schwartz has opened eyes with his smart play and ability to take care of the basketball. Through six games, the Colorado Springs native has only turned the ball over once, which is unheard of for a freshman.
Thus far, coach Boyle has been impressed with Schwartz’s play, noting that that he has the ability to be even better.
“D’Shawn’s been really good, he let’s the game come to him,” Boyle said. “He doesn’t force things, and I want him to be a little bit more aggressive. One turnover can look like a good stat - and it is a good stat - but the other side of that is how much pressure is he putting on the defense. I want him to be more aggressive offensively, he’s a very good driver, he’s got a big strong body, he can really shoot the ball, so I want him to be more aggressive offensively and still maintain that turnover ratio.”
Wright has made early headlines for his explosive playmaking ability and prolific, clutch, sharp shooting. He’s second on the team in points per game with 15.7, and has already knocked down a game winning buzzer beater.
What’s allowed the Minnesota native to take flight this year is his favorable intangible characteristics - all of which are contagious to winning.
“To me what makes McKinley Wright special is the intangibles, and his competitive nature, his toughness, and all the things you can’t coach” Boyle said. “He’s got that bulldog mentality that makes him a winner. He makes winning places in some many different areas.”
Being that the matchup on Saturday is against the Buffs upstate rival, there are several players on the team who’ve crossed paths. Most notably, CU point guard Dominique Collier played against his CSU counterpart JD Paige throughout high school. Additionally both guys - who were part of the 2014 recruiting class - were heavily recruited by both CU, and CSU coming out of high school.
Several years later, after watching both players respective careers happen, coach Boyle has been impressed with their play, noting that coaches typically can only take a limited number of players at a given position during recruiting.
“I have [had a lot of fun watching their careers unfold],” Boyle said. "I’ve got a lot of respect for JD, he’s gotten better. And we watched him, and it’s one of those situations where we really couldn’t take both of them. You kind of have to prioritize things as a coach, and get who you think you can get.”
Extra: Forward Lucas Siewert is rehabbing well from his leg injury, and should be set to return soon. He’s not back to 100 percent yet, and coach Boyle doesn’t want to push it with the sophomore.
