(Let's get this party started! From: The BDC)
Win over Mizzou - I wasn't expecting that; and neither was Missouri coach Mike Anderson.
The Buffs 89-76 win over the #8 ranked Missouri Tigers, good for CU's first win in a Big XII opener since 1997, showed the basketball world that the Buffs may just have something to say in their Big XII swan song. There are a lot of good things to talk about from this one, (Al's 36 points, Corey's double-double, CU's +14 rebounding advantage), but I'd really like to point out the Buffs dedication to limiting the Tiger's break opportunities. If you want to run with Mizzou, you can't sacrifice your shooting and commit silly turnovers, and CU didn't. Good shooting (48%) and few turnovers (2 in the first half, 10 total) limited Mizzou's opportunities to break like they would prefer, and limited their comfort all afternoon. Mizzouri was never able to get into the game, and by the time CU slowed down in the second half, Mizzou was too tired to launch a serious counter-attack.
This was the perfect opponent for the Buffs; they would allow CU to run and didn't have the size to limit the Buffs interior game. Additionally, CU proved to have better athletes than a top-10 team; when's the last time you could say that about a Colorado men's basketball team?
(Al was better than anything Mizzou had to offer, bet they wished they'd paid closer attention to him when he was coming out of Grandview, MO. From: The BDC)
Honestly, the only negative was the students not rushing the court. Even though the student section was small, they deserved to celebrate the whupping of a top-ten team for the first time since Texas in that magical year of 2003.
And I, of course, was wrong. In my preview I predicted that the buffs would fall; postulating that the larger crowd wouldn't necessarily help a beleaguered defense, or that the Burks/Higgins combo wouldn't be enough to drag the Buffs to victory. Yep, fucked that one up, my bad. Also, Ricardo Ratliffe didn't have that near-guaranteed double-double either, but he did have 3 buckets on the first 5 possessions; I'm really glad Mizzou stopped going to him after the first 3 minutes. The point is, I completely had this game miss-read; I'll do better next time.
The Running Buffs- Running in transition; it's what the game was all about. The game was end to end from the start, and for the first time in 9 meetings with the Tigers of Missouri, that worked to CU's advantage. The Buffs ran the Tigers ragged all game, and, especially in the first half, it paid massive dividends with easy layups and simple rebound put-backs. CU consistently utilized trailers (Austin Dufault!) and athleticism on the break to swarm whatever Tigers decided to try and run with the Buffs. They even broke the press with so much ease that Mizzou essentially abandoned it for a large portion of the game. This keyed the two 15-2 runs in the first half that propelled CU to a halftime lead that would allow the Buffs to leverage their speed advantage after the break.
(The herd just wouldn't stop running; it was awesome to watch. From: The Post)
It's clear that, at altitude, CU can run with everyone. When a team like Missouri comes to town, one who loves to run and is willing to let the Buffs get into quick transition looks, CU will look like a powerhouse. While I am worried about what will happen on the road, and against teams who are more likely to try and slow the pace and use their size advantage, this win is a sign of good things to come from Tad Boyle's style of play. No knock on the man, but does a Jeff Bzdelik lead team win that game? Nope.
Rebounding? Defense? Who are these guys? - It's obvious that the non-conference season didn't give me a good enough read on this team. I say that because I never would have thought that defensive performance possible. Offensive? Yes, but defensive? Certainly not.
CU held the Tigers to under 40% shooting in the first half, and grabbed 14 more rebounds than Mizzou. What the what? Where has this team been all season. After getting brutalized on the glass by weak competition all non-conference season long, I had no way of knowing that a performance like that was possible. Credit to Burks and Higgins (18 combined rebounds) and Austin Dufault (7) for helping their teammates by attacking the defensive glass. Defensively, this was by far the best performance of the year; they held the score-happy Tigers to 10 points under their season average, and had an impressive 5 blocks to go along with 6 steals.
(Austin and the guys fought for every loose ball, and battled the stingy Tigers the whole way. From: the Post)
I'm still shocked by how total the team performance was Saturday afternoon. Hopefully those defensive and rebounding numbers are only a sign of things to come.
Burks - Al had it all going for him Saturday. I hope plenty of scouts were watching because his total game was on display; his devastating stepback, clutch shooting, impressive quicks, superior athleticism, and surprising defending skill were all there for the spectator to absorb. He had answers when the Buffs needed to silence Tiger runs, and he used his height and length advantage over defenders to knock down soaring jumpers; his turnaround jumper with 1 second left on a 2nd half shot clock is a good example. Could you ask for anything more? No Buffalo in the history of the program has ever scored more points against the Tigers in a game, and he earned every one of his 36. Take a close look, CU fans, cause, even with the impending NBA lockout, Al won't be around to torment Big XII opponents much longer.
(I believe I can fly... From: The BDC)
Whats ahead - Looking forward, it'll be interesting to see if the team's performance is replicable against more versatile opponents. I still believe that Mizzou is a good team, maybe not top-10 good, but they're definitely capable of a Tourney run; the problem for them is that, at altitude, and with Al going berserk, we can beat them at their own game, and they have no comfort in changing styles. CU, however, won't have that advantage when they face other (taller) top-flight Big XII teams.
We won't have to wait too long for the first answers to whether or not this victory is indicative. This week begins a tough stretch were 3 of the next for games are on the road. Wednesday night the team will travel to Manhattan, KS to face off against a pissed-off and bruising K-State team. I'll eat my hat if we win that one.
However, winnable games follow at home vs Okie St, and on the road in Oklahoma and Nebraska. The next four opponents offer an array of styles (and size) that should give us a true look at the caliber of this Buffaloes team.
Should CU enter the Kansas game with a 3-2 or (dare I hope) 4-1 conference record, that home KU game could determine the Tournament hopes of my beloved Buffs. We could be possibly looking at a 10+-win conference team.
NFL Playoffs - After I was done celebrating the CU win, and after meeting Eric Bieniemy at Old C's of all places, I settled down for some pro football action. Outside of the Baltimore/Kansas City game (which I fell asleep during), the weekend was pretty entertaining. The thing I will most take out of it is that the Bears got another lucky bounce. Not only do they improbably host the lowly Seahawks, but the Falcons get a seemingly tough Packers team. If things continue to go the Bears way, again, they could reasonably end up playing the Packers at home for the NFC Title. The Bears may suck, but their luck seems to be holding out... for now.
To close the bag, I'll leave you with this awesome video of the Marshawn Lynch touchdown run:
Happy Monday!
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