Bigabd- Colorado vs Baylor

[DFWHoopster]

Bigabd- how do you see this game? I think the Bears are ripe to get beat. Coming off a big emotional high. Starters log heavy minutes- Udoh, Carter, Dunn- altitude may cause the Bears to go deeper in the bench and play freshmen on the road (never good). Altitude will aggravate Lomers asthma. Colorado shoots well from the field and the line.

On the flip side, Colorado seems to excel against man to man defense due to the Princeton offense being able to create easy lay-ups. Against a zone with the length that Baylor has on the baseline, I am not so sure they get those easy looks. Also, Colorado is the worst rebounding team in the big12 and Baylor the best. Colorado has to minimize offensive rebounding opportunities for Baylor.

Give me the bigabd prediction. I say Colorado 74 Baylor 71. Baylor is favored by 4 by the way.

Edit: Wow- just noticed Harris Tunks is getting the start. It will be interesting to see how he does against Udoh and Lomers. I have to give the strength and conditioning coach a lot of credit at Colorado. He has turned Harris-Tunks from a doughboy into a big12 looking stiff. He has changed his body in a short period of time.

 

[Sooner23]

If Baylor is for real, and for some reason I think they are, this is a game they have to win. They've went on the road and had some nice wins at Arkansas and S. Carolina, so as long as they show up and play well I think they win. Harris Tunks vs. Lomers does set up for an epic battle though.

 

[thebigabd]

I like Colorado in a close one here... CU is a difficult team to prepare for, and nobody looks forward to playing them. In fact, Rick Barnes said he hates playing Colorado after their game against them the other day, lol.

Colorado basically has two fantastic guards (Cory Higgins and Alec Burks), some nice players in Nate Tomlinson and Marcus Relphorde (who had 23 at Texas in his Big 12 debut), and the rest are questionable.

He is starting Tunks in the Big 12 to get ready for the future. Tunks is a very good defensive player when he doesnt foul, and the strat worked against Texas. Pittman had 4-6 points and was a non-factor the whole game. He also put Tunks on Jerome Jordan in Tulsa and I think he scored 13 points (Jordan did). He is a non-factor offensively and basically only sets screens on that end of the floor.

Colorado will need to get hot from the perimeter against the zone, and that is something they are certainly capable of. Everyone on the team besides Tunks can shoot the 3, and Higgins/Burks can take over a game.

Again, I like Colorado 85-82. They play a Princeton offense but they push it and play pretty fast when they get a rebound, which isnt often, lol. They average over 80 ppg at home. They shot 61% from the field in the first half against Texas. They can make shots.

With that said, I could see Baylor killing CU on the glass and winning the game. CU has to do better on the glass or it will be hard for them to beat anyone.

 

[thebigabd]

Shane Harris-Tunks vs. Ekpe Udoh... THE BATTLE IN BOULDER

Big game tonight for both squads. Baylor is ranked and trying to not have a let down, and Colorado is thirsty for a big win after being close a few times this year.

Harris-Tunks has been getting the start in certain situations for CU, and has done well on defense. They put him on Jerome Jordan in Tulsa and he only attempted 6 shots (had 14 and 8), then they put him on Dexter Pittman who was a non-factor with 4 points and 1 rebound. Each guy only played 13 minutes so Colorado only had Tunks in to guard Pittman, lol.

I think Ryan Wright might be better on offense than Tunks, but I have yet to see Tunks drop a pass or fumble a rebound out of bounds, but he is a project right now, lol.

Who you guys got in this one tonight?

 

[BigTime]

I think Baylor wins. Epke will really help the bears when some road games this year. I will say Bears by 8 to avoid the classic letdown loss.

 

[DFWHoopster]

78-71 Colorado wins. Burks is a really good player. Baylor didn't play well but I do think that will be a tough place to win this year.