Colorado Now Back To The Back

[12th Street Baller]

In last place in the conference standings, the Colorado Buffaloes (who actually looked competitive) playing under assistant head coach Steve McClain have lost both tournament games in Hawaii at the Maui Invitational. In their first game verses Gonzaga the Buffs entered the final minute down one point. They went on to lose by six.

In their second game the opponent was an Arizona team who had been struggling to find their stride. Colorado managed to get the game into overtime after being down by eight with under a minute to play. After taking a brief lead in the overtime period the Buffs lost another close one and earned the right to play host team Chaminade in their final game of the tournament.

Colorado has been picked by some to finish in the upper half of the Big XII this season. They'll have to learn to win the close ones if they hope to compete in the league and make it to the NCAA tournament this season.

:ed

 

[thebigabd]

There is absolutely no way that Colorado team finishes last place. They are better than Tech, A&M, Nebraska, Baylor, and are good enough to beat some upper teams like Missouri, Okahoma, and K-State at home.

They will win 7 or 8 games in the Big 12 this year.

 

[DSMok1]

Winning close games is pretty much a matter of luck. What they showed is that they are nearly as good as Gonzaga and almost exactly as good as Arizona... which is saying something.

 

[bocabull]

These early games mean zilch IMO. Teams are playing new guys, testing different rotations and nobody has film on them.

In January the real games start. That is when teams with talent will begin to rise and teams without it will begin to fall.

Look for OU to rise. We'll see on Colorado, they don't appear to have much talent.

 

[DenverSooner]

I still think they can win 6 games this year.

 

[OUGenius]

Winning close games in college hoops - or the NBA for that matter - is anything but "luck."

Most bball games are close, and the teams with the top go to guys win the close games. Did Jordan's teams win 9 out of 10 of their close games? Yes! Did OU have a ton of close games last year with Blake Griffin? Yes!

The best teams win the close games, because in games that come down to crucial possessions in the last couple of minutes, the teams that know who to go to, and know how to execute, win those games. Most NCAA games are w/in 6-8 points or closer...and the better teams move on.

 

[sanguinetti]

Colorado has been picked by some to finish in the upper half of the Big XII this season.
:ed

name one person who did so. bigabd and i (with less fanfare) have both posted that CU will be a much better team than that last two cellar dwelling Buffs and better than the coaches picking them 12th. as far as i know, we have been the biggest CU boosters on this board. i think they win 5-7 conference games with the upside a *possible* NIT bid.

i got ripped for suggesting that Cory Higgins was one of the best 10 players in the league. i stand by that.

 

[Tony]

Did Jordan's teams win 9 out of 10 of their close games?

Not to argue with a genius, but I doubt it, although I'm not doing the research. In any event, that's not necessarily informative of a whole lot. I don't know about basketball, but the research in baseball has consistently showed that teams win close games at essentially the same rate they win all other games. My hunch is that the same thing would bear out in basketball. I'm guessing that DSMok1's point is not that the outcome of close games is lucky as in it's just a coin flip, but more in that vein.