Five weeks have passed since the Colorado men’s basketball team opened the season.
The Buffaloes are nowhere near where they hope to be once they embark on the program’s return season in the Big 12 Conference. Yet in terms of making progress from week to week with a new-look roster, head coach Tad Boyle has been encouraged by the early returns.
CU got back to work on Tuesday, reconvening for the first practice since improving to 7-2 with a Saturday night rivalry win against Colorado State.
“I think we understand better now what our jobs are defensively,” Boyle said. “I thought against Colorado State, coming into that game they were a pretty efficient offensive team. They ran their stuff well. I thought we exerted our will defensively with our energy early. That was a key.
“I think defensively, we’re understanding what our jobs are. Now, we’re not where we need to be for sure. But we’re making strides in that area. And I think the guys are getting used to playing with each other, understanding each other. And that’s part of it too. Especially in today’s world of college basketball, with so many new players on every team.”
Taking stock of clubs based on conference rankings certainly isn’t an exact science in December, when all 16 Big 12 teams have faced varying schedules, but the Buffs have so far held their own in categories involving overall percentages. For instance, CU’s 76.0 points per game ranks a distant 15th in the Big 12, and Boyle would prefer a better defensive scoring average than 69.7, which ranks 11th.
CU ranks ninth in overall field goal percentage (.469) and 10th in defensive field goal percentage (.412), but they have fared well from long range, ranking third in 3-point percentage (.398) and third in defensive 3-point percentage (.302). As CU fans might guess, the Buffs rank last in assist-to-turnover rate (1.07) and turnovers (15.1 per game). Yet even the turnovers have shown signs of improvement lately, with the Buffs averaging 13.5 in the past six games.
“I think we’ve gotten better at a lot of things,” guard Javon Ruffin said. “I think the last game (against CSU) was the first game we came out with the defensive intensity we needed. But I think that’s something that’s improved since the beginning. We let a lot of those teams early on hang around. I think we’ve gotten a lot better at that. I think offensively, we’re getting a lot more consistent. I think early on we had a lot of long droughts, or maybe times we were scoring but not getting the shots we wanted. I think our offense is flowing a lot smoother now.”
With only two games remaining in nonconference play, which resumes on Friday night against South Dakota State (7 p.m., ESPN+), the Buffs will be challenged to maintain that steady improvement during a time on the calendar heavy on practices but light on games.
“It starts by having good practices,” Boyle said. “This week, we’ve got three days of practice that are critical for us to keep our edge, keep getting better, in everything that we need to do. It’s more about ourselves getting better right now, whether it’s offensively, defensively, rebounding the ball, competing. I want these guys to feel like practices matter. I’m making decisions about who’s playing in games based on practice, just as much as how you play in a game.”
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