The Dead, the Buffs, and the Art of Getting High

[Editor’s note: This one is by my brother Chris Gaddis, who covers CU basketball for BuffsBlog. Chris is an optimist. I am not. He watched the same first half I did and came away encouraged, which tells you most of what you need to know about the difference between us.]

Colorado scored 17 points in the first half and lost by 11 in San Diego. Chris Gaddis is here to explain why the 1-1 Buffs are going to be fine.

Top photo: Barrington Hargress drives against San Diego State at the inaugural Bill Walton Classic. Photo courtesy of CUBuffs.com

On Saturday, at halftime of the inaugural Bill Walton Classic in San Diego, the Buffs trailed by more points (18) than they had scored (17), before eventually losing to SDSU, 77-66. While that kind of offensive performance might cause some Buff fans to lose hope, I was reminded of my favorite Bill Walton quote: “I’m better at getting high than getting low.” So strip down, grab your favorite smoking implement, and join me in the teepee for what might be the most optimistic take yet on the Buffs’ 1-1 start.

Against SDSU, it was a tale of two halves. Sort of.

The first half was an unmitigated disaster. Facing SDSU’s aggressive, switching man-to-man defense, Colorado managed just 17 points, shooting a miserable 20% from the field and 1-of-12 from three. The Buffs missed 14 of their first 16 shots, went more than six minutes without scoring, and committed seven turnovers. Take away Barrington Hargress’ 11 first-half points, and the rest of the team scored six. Six! An entire Division I basketball team, minus one guy, managed six points in 20 minutes. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen that before.

Meanwhile, SDSU had considerably less trouble putting the ball in the basket. Guard Chance Gladden repeatedly attacked the rim, finishing with 20 points on 5-of-6 shooting and 10-of-11 from the free-throw line. Fifteen of those points came in the first half. Inside, the Buffs had their hands full with Jeremiah Cherry, a 6’10”, 270-pound mountain of a man who finished with eight points and five rebounds. The Aztecs also dominated the glass, outrebounding CU 38-27, and shot 53% from three for the game.

And then there were the fouls. Colorado committed 23 of them, including 13 in the first half. Justin Neely fouled out, while Jalin Holland and Noah Feddersen finished with four apiece. Holland, who looked terrific in the opener against Abilene Christian with 18 points, picked up his fourth foul less than two minutes into the second half. He finished with just six points in 20 minutes and was essentially a non-factor. Through two games, Holland has eight fouls. That’s a problem, particularly for a guy CU desperately needs on the floor.

But enough about that mess. There was actually some pretty good basketball played in the second half.

Colorado finally figured out how to attack SDSU’s switching defense. Rather than getting bogged down on the perimeter, the Buffs started running ball screens, rolling the big man inside, and kicking the ball out when the defense collapsed. And wouldn’t you know it, shots started falling. After making just six field goals in the entire first half, CU made 15 in the second, shooting 56% from the field and 8-of-13 from three. The Buffs scored 49 second-half points, outscoring SDSU by seven.

Hargress was outstanding. He scored 22 of his career-high 33 points after halftime, finishing 11-of-20 from the field, 5-of-8 from three, and a perfect 6-of-6 from the line. He accounted for exactly half of Colorado’s offense. The downside? Nobody else scored more than eight. Josiah Sanders had eight, while Holland, Ian Inman, and freshman Alex Dickeson each chipped in six. Hargress can’t be expected to score half our points every night, but it’s awfully nice to know we have a guy capable of doing it.

Here’s another reason I’m not ready to jump off the Flatirons. Despite everything that went wrong, CU forced 20 turnovers, recorded 12 steals, and scored 28 points off SDSU mistakes. The Buffs committed just 13 turnovers themselves. Against a good, well-coached team on the road, those are pretty encouraging numbers.

CU also came out of halftime on a 12-2 run, cutting the 18-point deficit to eight with more than 16 minutes left. Unfortunately, that was as close as we got. Every time Colorado threatened to make a game of it, SDSU answered. Latrell Davis was particularly annoying, scoring 15 of his 18 points in the second half and hitting four threes on the afternoon.

And, of course, there’s the free-throw shooting. Colorado went 15-of-25 from the line. Ten missed free throws in an 11-point loss. You don’t need a degree from the Leeds School of Business to figure out that math.

So what have we learned through two games?

Hargress can really play. Holland has some serious upside, assuming he can stay on the court long enough to show it. This team has the athleticism to create havoc defensively, and when the ball moves and the shots fall, the offense can actually look pretty good. We saw that against Abilene Christian, when CU scored 94 points and shot 60% from the field, and again in the second half against SDSU.

We also learned that this team is young, prone to fouling, and apparently capable of going an entire half without anyone other than Hargress remembering how to score. The rebounding needs work, the half-court offense needs work, and somebody besides Hargress needs to become a dependable scoring option.

But it’s November. We’re two games into a long season, and I’d much rather have a team with some talent and a bunch of things to fix than one that simply doesn’t have the horses. The Buffs got punched in the mouth by a good SDSU team, made some adjustments, and played a pretty darn good second half. There’s something to build on there.

Maybe I’m being overly optimistic. Maybe the first half in San Diego was a preview of what’s coming in the Big 12. Or maybe this group figures a few things out, Holland stops fouling everybody in sight, and we have ourselves a fun basketball team.

Either way, as the Grateful Dead reminded us, “At least I’m enjoying the ride.”

Go Buffs.

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