No. 8 Buffs getting much-needed break in schedule
Following a victory against Ut-arlington on Tuesday, Colorado point guard Jaylyn Sherrod flashed a smile. It was partially about the win, but partially because she knew a much-needed break was coming.
“She just tapped me, like, ‘Yeah we need a break,’” head coach JR Payne said as she sat next to Sherrod in a postgame press conference.
The first month of the season was a grind for the 8th-ranked Buffaloes (9-1), but after putting away the Mavericks, 95-74, at the CU
Events Center, they get to rest a while.
CU’S next game isn’t until Dec. 21 when it hosts Northern Colorado. After that, the Buffs won’t play until Dec. 30 when the Pac12 portion of the schedule opens against Utah.
Payne gave the team the day off Wednesday and after a workout Thursday, they’ll be off the entire weekend.
The current break of 16 days between games is one of the longest in program history. Since 1991, the program has had just one break that was longer: 18 days between games from Dec. 20, 2021, to Jan. 7, 2022, but only because COVID-19
issues within the program caused the Buffs to cancel a two-game trip to Oregon in the middle of that break.
It’s a similar break, however, to one the Buffs had just last year. They had 15 days between the Pac-12 Tournament and the start of the NCAA Tournament in March.
One of the keys of this break will be rest. During the first 30 days of the season, the Buffs played 10 games, including trips to Las Vegas, Dallas and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Payne acknowledged there’s a fine line between getting rest and staying sharp during a break, but isn’t concerned.
“I think we have a very mature group who is going to make good decisions and do the right thing,” she said. “I think they probably also appreciate that we’re giving them time off and it’s more than we’ve ever had.
“If I had a really young team that didn’t know what was coming in the Pac-12 season, then I’d probably worry about it more, but I’m not worried about it at all with this group.”
Some of Payne’s confidence stems from seeing how well her veteran team handled the past month, which included games against preseason-no. 1 LSU and No. 10 North Carolina
State (which is now up to No. 3).
The Buffs also played Cincinnati and Oklahoma State from the Big 12, Kentucky from the SEC and future ACC member SMU. Only four of the 10 games have been in Boulder.
The fatigue showed up a bit in the last three games, but the Buffs still beat Boston by 30 points, Air Force by 16 on the road and Utarlington by 21.
“I just told the team in the locker room, I just said congratulations,” Payne said after Tuesday’s game. “We’ve played more Power 5 teams, we’ve been on the road more. It’s been a really tough preseason. We intentionally scheduled a really tough preseason, knowing that these guys can handle it. But congrats to them for being able to learn a new scout every other day, be able to make adjustments, be in lots of different states and airplanes.
“What they have done in the first month of season has not been easy, but they continue to work, they continue to have each other’s back and I think that’s the sign of a great team. … Yes, we need the break. Yes, we will actually take a break and rest and turn the basketball off for a little bit and then come back really energized and ready to get better.”