Buffs’ grit continues to be tested
CU facing uphill climb at Arizona schools
Toughness, or lack thereof, has been a glaring shortcoming for the Colorado men’s basketball team.
That was on display yet again in an 11-point loss at Utah, which clearly was the more physical team on Saturday night.
It has been an unusual defect, particularly since the Buffaloes generally have put up a good fight, even in performances that were poor otherwise. The ability to fight back late in games often is the trait of a team that’s focused mentally.
Not with this bunch.
As head coach Tad Boyle explained, a 2022-23 season on pace to be just the third without an NIT or NCAA Tournament bid in Boyle’s 13 seasons at CU can be summed up somewhat simply. The Buffs are competitive, but they just aren’t tough enough.
“Our guys have fight, they have spirit. They just don’t have the toughness that they need when they need to have it, at times,” Boyle said after Saturday’s loss at Utah. “They just don’t have it consistently. And the whole thing with this team has been consistency. It’s been that way since the very beginning.
“I’m not worried about their grit. I question their overall toughness. Toughness cannot be confused with competitiveness. You can be competitive and not tough. You can play hard and not be tough. We’re not just tough.”
It’s been a wildly inconsistent season that has balanced wins against Tennessee (No. 3 in Monday’s NET ranking) and Texas A&M (No. 33 NET) with losses at Oregon State (No. 207) and California (No. 297), among other disappointments.
Yet the lack of toughness had been thwarting the Buffs since the season’s opening tip. Boyle repeated many of the same laments following Saturday’s loss at Utah (“Utah was the tougher team tonight. We weren’t tough enough defensively. We weren’t tough enough on the boards.”) as he did in November, offering these thoughts following a Nov. 20 loss against Boise State: “We have to get tougher. We wilt like flowers when people get into us. We just aren’t tough enough mentally. We’re not tough enough physically.”
If the season ended Monday, the Buffs (14-12, 6-9 Pac-12) would have the No. 7 seed in the Pac12 Conference tournament. But they remain tied with Stanford and Washington State in the loss column (CU owns the tiebreaker against both teams), and the five remaining games in the regular
have had a bye just once (fourth in 2013) and never under Payne.
“We’ve never experienced that (bye), so it’d be great,” said Payne.
CU hasn’t finished as high as third in the conference standings since 2004, when it was third in the Big 12.
Going into the last two weeks of the regular season, the Buffs have a two-game lead over a trio of teams tied for fourth: Arizona, UCLA and USC. They also currently hold tiebreakers over Arizona and UCLA.
The Buffs are also just one game behind co-leaders Stanford and Utah, so a regular season conference title isn’t out of the question.
Latest AP Poll
South Carolina remained at No. 1 in the latest AP Top 25 released on Monday. Indiana is at No. 2, followed by Stanford, Utah and LSU. At No. 4, Utah has its highest ranking in program history.
Other Pac-12 teams in the Top 25 are UCLA (No. 16), Arizona (No. 18) and USC (No. 25). The Trojans are ranked for the first time since 2016.
Turnover-free
Backup point guard Kindyll Wetta scored just seven points over the weekend, but turned in a fantastic set of games, racking up 11 assists and zero turnovers. In the last three games, she’s played 75 minutes, 26 seconds with no turnovers.
“I just see her playing with a lot of confidence,” Payne said. “I think she’s put in a lot of work to build her confidence in all areas of her game. … She’s playing really good basketball and not only do we know it, but she knows it and that’s my favorite part.
“She doesn’t say it, but I think you can see the confidence in the way she’s playing.”
Stepping up
Charlotte Whittaker missed the entire 2021-22 season after undergoing major surgeries on both hips. The 6-foot-3 forward has had a quiet season, but is playing her best basketball of late.
In the past four games — all wins — Whittaker has played a total of 36 minutes, 30 seconds, while contributing 12 points, seven rebounds and giving the Buffs valuable minutes off the bench.
“Charlotte went through some of the most significant surgeries I’ve ever heard of for a collegiate athlete, so it takes time,” Payne said. “I think early (in the season) she was frustrated, but I think she’s gotten to a place now where she’s just gonna take it day by day and she’s locked in on scouting reports, really locked in on, ‘How can I help the team?’
“I think she’s hitting her groove and she’s gonna continue to get more and more confident.”