Copyright Boulder Daily Camera
Daily Camera sports writer Pat Rooney takes a look at three topics surrounding Colorado basketball following the Buffaloes’ exhibition win against Grace College. Backcourt flexibility The starting five utilized by CU men’s basketball Tad Boyle for Sunday’s exhibition victory more than likely won’t be the one that takes the court first for the Buffaloes’ season opener against Montana State on Nov. 3. Sebastian Rancik, sidelined by an ankle injury, is all but certain to be in the starting five when healthy, and it’s not often Boyle begins the season with a freshman in the starting lineup. Still, Sunday’s initial pairing of point guards Barrington Hargress and Isaiah Johnson might become a more common sight than initially believed. Johnson, from Los Angeles, has been the most consistent of the Buffs’ seven-player freshman class, and he has provided a 3-point spark the Buffs sorely need (Johnson went 4-for-6 from the arc against Grace). Hargress, a transfer from UC Riverside, has never been a consistent 3-point threat, even as he led the Big West Conference in scoring at 20.2 points per game last year. Hargress went 0-for-4 from long range against Grace, but his ability to drive the ball to the paint and collapse defenses, opening space for shooters like Rancik and Johnson, was an asset the Buffs lacked last year while finishing last in the Big 12. “I think they’ll be on the floor some. How much, how many minutes a game, we really haven’t gotten down to that,” Boyle said. “It might be based on who we’re playing, lineups, matchups defensively. “I love playing two point guards together. We did that my first year when we had Cory (Higgins) and Nate (Tomlinson). They were both really good point guards.” With freshmen Josiah Sanders and Jalin Holland, along with Felix Kossaras and Andrew Crawford, all in the mix as well, the Buffs at the very least will have a deeper, more versatile backcourt than last season. “We’ve got multiple weapons there on the perimeter for sure,” Boyle said. “But Isaiah and Barrington, they’ll be on the floor some together this year for sure. I don’t know how much.” Safe haven While talking last week with the Daily Camera regarding the basketball journey of CU center and former Grace standout Elijah Malone, Lancers coach Scott Moore recounted how the initial meetings with the Buffs’ staff during the recruiting process simply had a different vibe. At the NAIA level, teams become fraternities. The Lancers’ entire roster is from Indiana, chasing basketball dreams. Malone wasn’t the first Grace player to draw interest from Division I programs, and he wasn’t the last (Malone’s former backup at Grace, Ian Scott, might start at Indiana State this season). Moore sat in on similar meetings with in-state programs like Indiana and Notre Dame, but Malone was ready to branch out. “What I told E when we got out of Colorado, there was one thing I wanted him to be aware of. This staff and coach Boyle has been here for a long time. In today’s world, that’s not normal,” Moore said. “For coach to have a long tenure with a similar staff for a long time, that means a lot. What I liked about it too was he was bringing in Danny Manning and I had to tell E all about who Danny Manning was. I really loved, with coach (Mike) Rohn and Danny, and he’s really hit it off with (Evan) Battey. Tad is a different coach than a lot of these guys at any level. Tad’s about the kids. You genuinely can see that. I felt that when we were there. I did not tell him to go to Colorado. But I made it very clear, ‘Yeah man, you’ve got my approval here.’” Opening jitters A ragged start for a new-look roster isn’t necessarily cause for concern. But it was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser when Boyle suggested his team might have experienced some nerves. The Buffs already have played a high-profile road game of sorts when they faced the Australian Boomers, the country’s national team, during a summer exhibition tour. “That’s why you do this,” Boyle said. “You put the uniform on. There’s some people in the stands. You get those jitters out. I would like to think those jitters were taken out this summer. But look, they’re still young. They’re at home and they want to play well. There definitely were some jitters.”
