Shocky1;842582674 said:
team: colorado buffaloes
shockster 2015/2016 pac 12 prediction: 10th place
coach: tad "bad luck" boyle
what you need to know about boyle: he took over the buffs program in 2010 after successfully turning around a dormant northern colorado basketball program...he quickly transformed the colorado program with 3 runs in the ncca tournament during 2011-2013...the 2013 bufs team was positioned for a deep ncca run & national recognition in what appeared to be a breakthru season when tad's bad luck came out of nowhere, team leader & catalyst spencer dinwiddie was lost for the season with an acl injury
what up in boulder?: the bufs were a dysfunctional team last season with the now departed biggest gunner in the pac 12 askia booker (17.2 ppg) shooting the team out of games (that's gonna be allonzo trier's role in tucson this season)...team chemistry was so bad that boyle & booker mutually agreed that askia wouldn't play in the buffs ill fated cbi post season tournament...xavier johnson (10.3 ppg & 5.6 rpg) tearing his acl this summer is a huge loss for the upcoming season
josh scott (14.5 ppg & 8.4 rpg) & wesley johnson (6.6 ppg & 6.9 rpg) comprise arguably the best rebounding retunring duo in the pac 12...point guard production & facilitation will be the key re: whether it's gonna be another long season for tad or not, sometimes that bad luck is hard to shake
what this means for the bears: sitting behind the cal bench with coach martin's childhood friend jerry from back in the day in east st louis during the bears gutty & grinding win on a chilly nite in boulder, the coors event center is clearly one of the toughest road venues in the pac 12...the bears gotta work their azzs off this summer with coach christopher in order to be well conditioned enough to compete at a mile high altitude
colorado (16-5/5-3) is along with usc & washington one of the surprise teams of the pac 12, the loss of inwardly focused asia booker has been an addition by subtraction
the buffaloes are led by senior nba prospect 6'10" 245 josh scott (17.3 ppg with rabb like unreal accurate 58.2% fgs & 9.7 rpg), the best guy in the pac 12 you've never heard of 6'6" 220 lbs george king (14.8 ppg with a fatal 48.5% on 3 pointers, cal defenders must chase & close out on him on the perimeter) & 6'5" 205 lbs josh fortune (10.8 ppg & 4.2 rpg)...6'2" 180 dominique carter (3.3 apg & 8.8 ppg), 6'9" 240 lbs wesley gordon (6.9 rpg) & 6'7" 210 lbs treshaun fletcher (7.2 ppg) play key roles
colorado is a physically tough rebounding team (43 rpg) that can knock down the 3 pointers (40.9%) but that is also careless with the ball (14 turnovers per game)...the bears gotta defend at a high level & win the battle of loose balls while pressuring (including a full court press at times) the buffs into mistakes...jabari & jordan gotta compete & crash the boards...containing josh scott is the key, if the bears can attack him on the offensive end & get him in foul trouble the outcome of this game is impacted
but at the end of the day while colorado is a very physical & well coached team, this really is all about whether or not the bears are gonna play with intensity for 40 minutes without fan/family support on the road...how bad do guys want it?