The Buffs bench is disappointed at a loss early in the 2014-15 season. The Buffs only made it to the second round of this year’s Pac-12 Tournament and most recently lost the CBI Tournament, the first round of which was hosted in Boulder. (Matt Sisneros/CU Independent)
After a rocky season for the Colorado men’s basketball team, which finished the season 16-18, Buffs fans everywhere are left wondering about the future of a team that’s already had much success under head coach Tad Boyle. Is losing going to be a trend for years to come, or is it simply a minor blip on Boyle’s career? Sportswriters Justin Guerriero and Alissa Noe break it down:
Justin: I hate to break it to all of you Buffa-lunatics out there, but get used to disappointment. I’m graduating in 2017, and I don’t expect to see a competitive basketball team by the time I leave CU. I’ll clarify — by “competitive,” I mean a team with a winning record. Senior guard Askia Booker must be stocking up on Bengay and IcyHot, given how sore his back must be after carrying the team all season. The Buffs won’t have him next year. Who will they have then? Well, junior guard/forward Xavier Johnson will return, along with junior forward Josh Scott. Both of them are good players, there’s no doubt about that, but make no mistake — they will not fill the hole that Booker will leave. No one will, for that matter. He led the team with 17.2 points per game, and also was the team’s main three point threat, connecting on nearly 33 percent of his shots. Finally, he was a solid defender, too, leading the team in steals for the season.
Alissa: I understand where you’re coming from, Justin, and I can see why you think things won’t get any better. Sure, losing Booker after this season is going to be a huge blow for the team. He reigned as the offensive leader all year and the team completely died on offense without him. Heck, they couldn’t even win the CBI.
But, you’re missing the big picture. While one player alone won’t be able to make up for that kind of offensive efficiency, there’s one guy Buffs fans haven’t seen yet that will come damn close. His name is Josh Fortune, and the name is extremely fitting. Last summer, Fortune transferred from Providence College, where he enjoyed a consistent position in the starting lineup of a proficient offensive team with four players averaging double-digit scoring. While Fortune was not among those four, he did contribute 8.4 points per game, three rebounds per game and 2.1 assists per game. Those numbers may not sell you at first, but the then-sophomore guard did manage to make 41 percent of his shots from the field and 35 percent from the three-point range.
I know what you’re thinking — 35 percent isn’t that great. But when you look at the way Booker and the Buffaloes have been shooting from downtown this year, it should actually make a huge impact. This season alone, Booker led the team in three-point shooting, that’s true, but he only hit the 33 percent you mentioned earlier. As a whole, the team only shot 34 percent, so that aspect of the game won’t die with Booker. If anything, it’ll improve with Fortune at the helm of the offense. From what I’ve seen of him in practice — and I’ve watched practice a lot this year — he’s improved in every area of his game under Boyle and his staff. His shot selection is much better than when I first watched him play in October, his ball-handling has improved tremendously and he’s just making all-around smarter basketball plays. I should note he also has two more years of eligibility.
Justin: I respect your optimism, but I simply can’t get myself excited about the state of the program right now. On Jan. 29, the Buffs traveled to Los Angeles to take on USC. The game ended up going into three overtimes before the Buffs won, 98-94. Askia Booker dropped 43 points in that game. There is no one on Colorado’s roster that is capable of producing such a performance. Also, consider that in that game, the player with the second-most points was Xavier Johnson. He scored 12. In a full game plus three overtimes, he scored 12 points. That opened my eyes right after that game in January to the question of, “How is this team going to be successful without Askia Booker?” Now that he’s actually gone, it’s even more frightening.
Alissa: I think you’re putting too much weight on Booker’s shoulders, Justin. Sure, he was a major factor in a good chunk of CU’s victories this year, but he wasn’t always the most consistent player. Two games before the USC game you mentioned, the Buffs lost to the Washington Huskies at home, 52-50. In that matchup, Booker only contributed five points off of 2-of-13 shooting. Which brings me to my second point — Booker may be making nearly 39 percent of his shots, but that’s only because he takes more terrible shots than any other player on the team, arguably. This season alone he took 447 shots, only making 173. He missed over 100 more than he made.
Additionally, sophomore guard George King will be returning to the court next season. By choice, King sat out this year so he could improve his game. From what I’ve seen in practice, he’s done exactly that. Though it’s hard to say for sure how much he’s improved, as practice is a much different stage than an actual game, I’ve watched as his shooting has continuously improved and he began making smarter all-around basketball plays. Look to him to make an impact next year. Also worth noting are the freshmen from this past season.
While forward Tory Miller and guard Dominique Collier didn’t make too much of an impact in their first year with the Buffaloes, I expect them to have monster offseasons. When I talked to Collier earlier in the year, he told me that confidence was the main sticking point of his game. He has the skills, he has the right basketball mentality, he’s just afraid to let his abilities blossom on the court. If he has a strong offseason in the ensuing months, I expect him to really step up his confidence, and consequently his game. Miller, on the other hand, has never seemed had a problem with confidence, as evidenced by his many thunderous dunks this season. His problem is the inexperience that often comes with being a freshman. I expect this to improve during the offseason as well, and he seems to have improved throughout the course of his freshman career already, as he finished with three double-digit scoring games and one double-double.
Justin: All worthy points, Alissa, but who better to listen to here than Askia Booker himself. He knows his teammates better than we could ever hope to know. In an article written by the CUI’s own Tommy Wood earlier this year, Booker described the season and his teammates.
“Sometimes it is frustrating looking to your left and to your right and begging for somebody to step up with you or push you to another level,” he said. “We don’t have another player of that caliber, or [that has] that will to compete.”
I rest my case. Booker knows what the players he’s leaving behind are capable of. Judging from those words, I’d say his confidence in them is at a minimum. So I would urge Buffs fans to keep excitement levels down for the next few seasons. The men’s basketball program will enter a rebuilding phase. The players that the Buffaloes have now are not bad. Guys like Johnson and Scott may very well show new and improved versions of themselves at the start of next season. But even then they won’t be the type of dynamic players that can anchor the team. The team has a decent supporting cast, but no lead act.
Alissa: The Buffs may be entering a rebuilding phase, but I’m not convinced it will be as bad as you say. Askia Booker may be leaving, but one player doesn’t make a team unless we’re talking about the state LeBron left the Cavaliers in after he left them for the Heat. Booker is no LeBron. He may never actually see playing time in the NBA. But the Buffs will adapt. They have to.
They’ll have Fortune next year, they’ll have King back, not to mention they’ll be adding several freshman to their roster should their commitments stay with Colorado. According to ESPN Insider, 6-foot-2 shooting guard and three-star recruit Thomas Akyazali could help tremendously on offense. The Belgian native’s scouting report identifies him as an “excellent shooter mostly off the catch on spots ups or coming off of screening actions, preferably pin downs. He is deceptive athlete, good ball handler and passer. Akyazali has a pretty good all-around perimeter game.”
Additionally, the Buffs will be adding big man Kenan Guzonjic, who currently plays for Midland College, a junior college. The 6-foot-8 Guzonjic averaged 8.4 ppg this year while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 31.1 percent from deep. If these two freshmen can manage to mesh with the Buffalo-style offense quickly enough, they can add a tremendous shooting advantage to the somewhat dying offense from this year.
Contact CU Independent Sports Staff Writer Justin Guerriero at justin.guerriero@colorado.edu and Staff Writer Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu.
