The Denver Post

Boyle: Practice habits kept Allen out

- By Pat Rooney

Quincy Allen’s omission from the rotation at the outset of the season was perhaps understand­able.

The Colorado men’s basketball team began the season with a glut of wing players expected to make the two- guard/ small forward rotation one of the team’s strengths. The Buffaloes also added three transfers during the offseason — J’vonne Hadley, Jalen Gabbidon and Ethan Wright — who were expected to fill rotation roles.

Coming off a major hip injury that kept him sidelined throughout his true freshman season of 202122, Allen had to sit and bide his time.

Yet when January arrived and CU’S offense continued to f lounder, Allen continued to sit. When injuries hit, Allen continued to sit. When January flipped to February and some of those rotation players still weren’t pulling their weight, Allen continued to sit.

That finally changed on Thursday, as Allen, ranked as the No. 71 recruit in the nation in the 2021 class by 247Sports when he signed with the Buffs, received his first meaningful playing time of the season in a loss against USC. With the Buffs’ rotation still shortened due to injuries, Allen is likely to get another chance to show his skills when the Buffs host No. 4 UCLA on Sunday afternoon.

Following practice on Saturday, CU head coach Tad Boyle defended Allen’s lack of playing time this season, saying the talented 6- foot- 8 forward simply has not been consistent enough at practice to be trusted with regular playing time.

“It all comes down to practice. What happens at practice. That’s the one thing that people don’t see,” Boyle said. “He did some really good things the other night ( against USC), but ( Saturday’s) practice, he struggled. But he’s going to play because we’re down to eight dudes. That’s a good thing for Quincy. Hopefully he makes the most of it and can learn and grow.

“But any time your team’s not having success and playing inconsiste­ntly, you can always second- guess your decisions. Certainly the fans can second- guess it. Players can second- guess it. You just go with the guys who, in practice day in and day out, give you what you’re looking for. It’s not a knock. It’s just the reality of what I see every single day at practice.”

Boyle said the Buffs once again will play without Jalen Gabbidon ( concussion) and Javon Ruffin ( knee), both of whom missed the loss against USC. Both players also missed time in January, but the door perhaps was not as open for Allen then because Gabbidon and Ruffin were sidelined simultaneo­usly for just one of those games, the Jan. 19 home loss against Washington. The Buffs also still had leading rebounder J’vonne Hadley in the rotation last month, but he hasn’t played since suffering a season- ending finger injury on Feb. 2.

The Buffs likely are less concerned about who plays than how they play, as for the first time this season Boyle questioned his team’s fight after the loss against USC.

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