Contact CU Independent Assistant Sports Editor Alissa Noe at alissa.noe@colorado.edu and follow her on Twitter @crazysportgirl1.
It’s that time of year again. For college basketball fans everywhere, nothing feels better than turning on that television and watching your favorite team take the court again for another season.
Welcome back, folks. Your wait is over.
After last season, a lot of Buffs fans may have reservations about the Colorado men’s basketball team this year. They finished with a disappointing 16-18 record, it’s true. But a lot can change in seven months.
Take Josh Fortune, for example. The junior guard redshirted last year after transferring from Providence College the season prior, and he’s more than ready to take the court again this season, no matter where the court may be.
“It’s been a long time not playing,” Fortune said. “I’m looking forward to playing again and competing in hostile environments at away games, home games where the crowd is rooting for us. I’m just looking forward to playing again.”
In his final season with the Providence College Friars, Fortune averaged 8.4 points a game, 2.1 assists and 0.9 steals per game. Coming into the Colorado program, Fortune excelled at shooting, especially off the three. He shot around 35 percent from downtown alone.
During his year off, Fortune has had plenty of time to improve upon some of his weaknesses, and he’s done just that.
“I spent a lot of time over the summer and up to this point working on my defense and ball-handling and just getting better with my teammates,” he said. “I’m looking forward to playing.”
The Buffs will also be incorporating the skills of redshirt sophomore guard George King, who sat out last year to focus on improving his own game. Undoubtedly, he’s succeeded in that respect. In the few practices that I’ve observed leading up to the 2015-16, one thing is clear: King’s basketball IQ and talents have far exceeded what Buffs fans last saw of him two years ago.
He makes smarter all-around plays and shoots the ball without fear or hesitation. Because of this change, Head Coach Tad Boyle said he expects to see a lot of playing time from King this year.
“George is certainly a weapon and a matchup issue for opposing teams because he has a skill set that can really make it difficult for the opponent,” Boyle said. “He’s so big and strong as a perimeter [player]. He can get them to the rim and even post them up and overpower them.”
Of course, the Buffs will also have the help of all its returning players, but all eyes will be especially focused on senior forward Josh Scott and sophomore guard Dominique Collier.
Scott, who sat out eight games last year with back spasms, looks better than ever now that he’s back to full health. In practices, he fearlessly drives to the lane and has even managed to add a three-point shot to his game, which is not something the big man was known for in past years.
It’s something he’s specifically focused on in the offseason, and he plans to utilize that new skill for the benefit of his teammates.
“Honestly, it’s one of those things that if [the threes] don’t go in, I need to shoot them anyways because I need the defense to respect me, because it would make some room for my teammates, especially because, you know, I have faith in the shot and I just need to keep shooting whether they go in or not. It’s just one of those things that I got to do,” Scott said.
Clearly, his talents last season caught the attention of Fox Sports writer Reid Forgrave, who ranked Scott as the 28th best college basketball player in the nation.
Forgrave said of Scott, “At his best, he is an All-American-caliber big man who can vault the Buffaloes back into the NCAA tournament. When he was healthy, Scott quietly ranked 15th in the country in offensive rating last season, per KenPom.com.”
Not only will the Buffs look to its senior star Scott, but they’ll also be relying on sophomore guard Collier for leadership on the court. After point guard Askia Booker’s graduation last year, Boyle will now count on Collier to step into Booker’s shoes.
Collier averaged 4.7 points and 1.7 rebounds last year, but don’t let those numbers deceive you. He is more than capable of playing basketball at the collegiate level. His main issue last year was his confidence.
“Just the main thing is if I make a mistake, just to get over my mistake and not dwell on my mistakes as much,” Collier said. “That usually brings down my confidence, so just moving on from my mistake and I feel that can help my confidence too. And then other guys and coaches give me encouragement.”
Needless to say, that part of Collier’s game is on the mend.
In the seven months they’ve had since the end of their last season, a lot has changed with these Buffalo boys. Scott is healthy again. Senior forward Xavier Johnson will sit out most if not all of the season with a torn Achilles tendon. But, more importantly, something has changed on the court with each player, individually and as a whole.
“We’ve been more attention to detail, more detail-oriented. That starts with our coach, he’s got that instilled in us early so that’s good for us,” Fortune said. “Everyone’s playing tough, competing every day and that’s only getting us better. We’ve been, like I said, been more detail-oriented in setting screens and just being more smart out there.”
But the level of competition isn’t all that’s changed with this team.
“Offensively, we shoot the ball a whole lot better. I think we have a whole lot more weapons, especially on the perimeter that are really going to help guys like me, Wes [Gordon] and Tory [Miller] out,” Scott said. “Defensively, I don’t know. It just feels like everybody really cares about that side of the ball and I’d say the biggest difference is there’s more effort towards it.”
Boyle seems a lot more content with this team than he did a year ago.
“I can’t compare [this team] to last year,” Boyle said. “But you know, I like where we’re at. As a coach, you never have enough practices or feel like you’re quite ready, but I sure do like the mindset of our team. I think our veterans know what we want. It’s just getting some of the younger guys and the newer guys to understand it.”
Now, let’s look ahead at the schedule. To start out, the Buffs are set to face the No.7-ranked Iowa State Cyclones. While that’s undoubtedly a tough matchup, this Buffaloes team seems like it has what it takes to start out strong.
The improvement on the court is there, the team’s previously hidden arsenal of weapons — King and Fortune — will be unleashed this year and the mentality of the players looks to be head-over-heels better than it was last year.
Although it remains to be seen just how much this team has improved, one thing is certain. The Colorado men’s basketball team is on the mend, and they look capable enough to rebound from last season’s pitfalls.
You can catch the Buffs in action this Friday, Nov. 13 at 3 p.m. on ESPN2. Though they’ll be facing the Cyclones, the game is set to take place in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
