HOME STRETCH A HOPEFUL REMEDY
Mired in shooting woes, Buffs play six of next seven games at Events Center
The Colorado men’s basketball team has been one of the top shooting clubs in the Pac12 Conference over the past few seasons. The Buffs were expected to do the same this season.
So far, it hasn’t quite worked out that way. Yet Colorado is hoping a little home cooking starts honing its errant shooting touch.
Nearly three full weeks since they last played at the CU Events Center on opening night on Nov. 7, the Buffs return home to face Yale on Sunday (1 p.m., Pac12 Network). They hope to rediscover their shooting touch during a stretch of six of seven games at home that begins with Yale’s first visit to Boulder since 2010.
“Shooting percentage is a result of two things — shot selection, and execution,” CU head coach Tad Boyle said. “As a coach, you just look at the shots you’re getting. If they’re good shots and they don’t go in, I can live with it. I know our guys are capable of making open shots. All our guys have the green light (from three) except for Lawson (Lovering). They all can make open shots. As long as we’re getting open shots, that’s all I can ask.
“Now, at some point, you get six games into the regular season you have to determine are they practice shooters or game shooters? Maybe we have practice shooters instead of game shooters. I don’t know.”
During CU’S tumultuous 2-3 road trip the previous two weeks, which included wins against a pair of top-25 foes sandwiched around three bad losses, the Buffs’ long-range touch was mostly absent. While CU went a torrid 16-for-32 from the arc in a rout of then-no. 24 Texas A&M on Nov. 18, the Buffs shot just .250 (23-for-92) on 3-pointers during the other four games of the trip. CU goes into the Yale game with a season 3-point percentage of .328.
The Buffs led the Pac-12 in 3-point percentage last season (.370) and ranked second a year earlier with a slightly better percentage (.372). Granted, most of the players that compiled those marks have moved on, but the Buffs still have plenty of talented shooters who have converted at lower rates than expected during the season’s opening two weeks.
Nique Clifford and Luke O’brien both shot at least 40% from the arc last year, albeit in limited opportunities. Both have struggled from long range early this year, with Clifford going 4-for-15 (.267) and O’brien going 1-for-10. Jalen Gabbidon shot 30% from the arc for Yale last year but hasn’t quite reached that relatively low bar yet this year with the Buffs, going 5-for17 (.294). Julian Hammond III, a .415 shooter from long-range last year, is just 4-for-13 (.308).
Certainly playing the bulk of their games away from home has not helped. Including games on Friday, the Buffs are one of only two Pac-12 teams that have played fewer than three home games. The other is Washington State, which played its second home game on Friday and had a neutral floor game an hour up
the road in Spokane.
“We were on the road for a while, but that’s not an excuse to miss shots,” said Ethan Wright, who made five 3-pointers in the win against Texas A&M. “I think we have a lot of good shooters, guys who have the ability to shoot but haven’t made shots yet. We have a lot of confidence in each other. These are the hoops we shoot on every single day. I know a lot of the guys have been in the gym shooting extra since we got back, and we’re going to continue to have confidence in each other and our shooting ability.”