Games thread- Women's Bball hosts USC (Friday, 6:00 PM) and #14 UCLA (Sunday, 4:00)

[AztecBuff]

The 11-4/ 2-2 Buffs host the L.A. schools this weekend in Pac 12 play. On Friday, the 11-4/ 1-3 Trojans visit, while the #14 Bruins (also 11-4/ 2-2) play the Buffs in a late Sunday afternoon matinee. Both games look to be on the Pac 12 Networks.

I'm doing this from my phone, so not as easy to provide links for streaming, live stats, etc., but all can be found through the Buff schedule page at http://www.cubuffs.com/schedule.aspx?path=wbball.

(I will be off-line all weekend, so this will likely be my only post on this thread. Anyone else who gets any relevant/ interestingi info (from a preview article, etc.) is, of course, encouraged to add it.)

 

[CUoldtimer]

This USC game is almost as big as the UW and UA games. Those were must wins to not to finish at the bottom of the PAC 12. That's still possible though. A win vs USC can give us hope for this season to reach the middle tier teams of the league. They are not a deep nor tall team but they appear very athletic and talented. CU will have to play a great game to win it.

 

[PAHIBuff]

Hmm. PAC12 Network appears to not be showing the USC at Buffs WBB game. At 6:00 P.M. ??

 

[MarkW]

Buffs down 13-19 at end of 1st. CU colder than ice, except Hollongshed who has 8 points.

 

[MarkW]

Buffs are struggling to hit open looks but are only down 29-36 at the half. Kennedy and Robinson are both off.

 

[MarkW]

Buffs now down 12. They need to get it together or they’ll have no shot.

 

[MarkW]

Wow - now down 35-52. It’s a bit like the ASU game, only USC isn’t that good.

 

[MarkW]

Game over for the Buffs at end of 3rd. They are down by 23 on their home court! They looked to give up with 4 minuets or so to go in the quarter.

 

[CUoldtimer]

This is the most disappointing loss of Coach JR's tenure at CU. This is what us old folks call laying an egg. There is absolutely no reason to not compete with USC in Boulder. USC is an average team at best (down a starter too) and they embarrassed us at home. I understand we have some young players but our experienced players didn't produce at all except for Thomas. I don't want to be harsh but there is no excuse for not even competing.

 

[Buffnik]

Do we think this is just a mid-season slump or do we think this team is fatally flawed?

 

[CUoldtimer]

Game over for the Buffs at end of 3rd. They are down by 23 on their home court! They looked to give up with 4 minuets or so to go in the quarter.

It's going to be a long year I'm afraid. Maybe we can develop some players this year and in the offseason and hopefully our two freshmen next year will contribute. I don't know what else to say. Can you think of a worse night than this one last year and this year?

 

[MarkW]

I don't want to be harsh but there is no excuse for not even competing.

Exactly. About midway through the third quarter it seems they really did quit playing. And that's with being in it at the half.

Do we think this is just a mid-season slump or do we think this team is fatally flawed?

I'd say the rest of this season it looks like two more wins max without a huge shift in attitude and execution. Ironically, I think the talent level is better than last season, but there is something missing as a whole.

 

[BeBe]

This is the most disappointing loss of Coach JR's tenure at CU. This is what us old folks call laying an egg. There is absolutely no reason to not compete with USC in Boulder. USC is an average team at best (down a starter too) and they embarrassed us at home. I understand we have some young players but our experienced players didn't produce at all except for Thomas. I don't want to be harsh but there is no excuse for not even competing.

Have to agree on this. At the half, I thought the Buffs had a decent shot at pulling it out in the second half. But it didn't take long into third quarter to dispel that notion. That was about the worst half of basketball I've seen from the CU WBB team in a LONGGGGGGGGGGGG time. I saw good ball movement with crisp passes and hustle from USC. I saw CU standing around with one player dribbling the ball like they had no idea what they were doing. Very much a disappointing game to watch.

 

[buffgal]

Agree with everything said above. I was surprised there was no intensity from any player for the entire game.

 

[CUoldtimer]

I agree with the intensity factor but let's be honest, we just aren't very talented offensively. We don't have that one player that's going to score every game. I doubt Kennedy and Bunn have a combined 1/16 and 3 total points the rest of their time at CU. It just came at a bad time as this was a very winnable game at home. I just hope they improve over the year and somehow to to 5-6 PAC 12 wins and the NIT while developing the Freshmen. It's officially another rebuilding year.

 

[LuvdaBuffs]

I agree with the intensity factor but let's be honest, we just aren't very talented offensively. We don't have that one player that's going to score every game.

You are right, but we've known that for years that we just don't have the talent to compete in the Pac-12 portion of the schedule. Still its a pretty good team in its own right. These ladies can ball against lower level competition in the non-conference schedule. As fans of the program we can still support our Buffs and have realistic expectations.

I knew going in we had no chance against ASU but would probably dominate Arizona because they aren't even at the level of a bad Pac-12 team. They are just a bad team. Wheras the Buffs are a good team, just not a good Pac-12 team. I thought we would get beat by Washington State and realistically thought Washington in the first season with Jody Wynn would beat us, but that it would be competitive. I think the Buffs did well to beat Washington and get a win versus Wynn. I wouldn't count on wins against Washington from here on out. They will be a tough defensive focused team that will be tough to beat as she gets her system in place and recruits players to match.

Sidebar - Jody Wynn turned down the USC job, as did Stanford Assistant Kate Paye, and FGCU's Karl Smesko. Lynn Swann is the new AD for the ladies of Troy and didn't exactly impress any of the candidates to take over for Cynthia Cooper-****. Interestingly they actually rehired Mark Trakh, who was the USC coach from 04-05 to 08-09. That is a very talented USC team and going in to that game I knew we had no chance to beat them. We just don't match up athletically with USC, and to make matters worse we don't match up in terms of length either. We aren't going to win games versus conference teams that have better athletes with significant height advantages. Trakh has never done worse than .500 in the Pac-12 conference schedule. Even with a returning coach, we weren't going to win vs USC. In fact the Buffs did well to keep the game as close as they did until the collapse.

We don't have the talent to compete with UCLA or in this conference, right now, but we can still support the Buffs and these athletes. JR Payne is doing a great job of recruiting and finding players that can actually compete in the Pac-12. The Rise is Real. Even if we aren't winning games, we get to see a true Pac-12 superstar in UCLA's senior Jordin Canada today. Might be a future WNBA player to watch today, as Canada is very similar to our Leonard in that both are dynamic aggressive scorers, both can find steals, both can create for their teammates, and both turnover the ball consistently more than they really should. Turnovers will be key to the game today, realistically we just might not have the talent to play with UCLA today. The only truly winnable games on our schedule are @Arizona Jan 19th and home against Washington on Feb 16th. Additionally, we should be able to compete against Utah in our Away and Home on Feb 1st and 4th. On the 18th in Boulder we'd like to be able to have a better showing against Washington State. That's two wins we think we'll get. We'd love to be able to split with Utah, as they are the better team. We could hope for a steal against Wazzou. That's finishing 6-12 as we usually finish in conference. Still JR Payne managed to almost beat Stanford previously with Santa Clara, so I'm thinking we pull a huge upset against Stanford this season. Still I'm not counting on it. Goodness knows we're due and they are down this season. We are 2-3 in conference now and 11-5 overall, with a potential loss in the Pac-12 tourney and with a 6-12 conference record we'd finish 15-15. We have to have a winning record to qualify for postseason play. Which is sad, because this team is better than last season and we made it to the third round of the WNIT last season. However, the tough nature of the Pac-12 looms such that we might miss the WNIT completely because we just don't have the talent to compete in our conference. We could compete with any team in the WNIT if we could just get there. The Pac-12 is what it is though, and this is what it looks like. Almost every week and every game its a tough road. We wanted the Pac-12 and here it is.

As fans we need to realize that the margin is razor thin for this Buffs team to get to the WNIT. A single big upset can be the difference between finishing 16-14 and 15-15. We don't have the talent to compete with UCLA, but things happen and this Buffs team can still get better if JR starts to give more minutes to the transfers and young players. We don't know their Pac-12 ceilings yet but for sure we haven't seen the best game Hollingshed, Bunn, Curtis, Castro, Carter, Jank, Diop and Knight can put up in the Pac-12. Brecca is having a very nice senior season. Leonard and Robinson have seen this all before.

Fingers crossed. 'Sko Buffs.

 

[cmgoods]

 

[MarkW]

 

[BuffLuke80]

Holy ****.

 

[MarkW]

 

[CUoldtimer]

You are right, but we've known that for years that we just don't have the talent to compete in the Pac-12 portion of the schedule. Still its a pretty good team in its own right. These ladies can ball against lower level competition in the non-conference schedule. As fans of the program we can still support our Buffs and have realistic expectations.

I knew going in we had no chance against ASU but would probably dominate Arizona because they aren't even at the level of a bad Pac-12 team. They are just a bad team. Wheras the Buffs are a good team, just not a good Pac-12 team. I thought we would get beat by Washington State and realistically thought Washington in the first season with Jody Wynn would beat us, but that it would be competitive. I think the Buffs did well to beat Washington and get a win versus Wynn. I wouldn't count on wins against Washington from here on out. They will be a tough defensive focused team that will be tough to beat as she gets her system in place and recruits players to match.

Sidebar - Jody Wynn turned down the USC job, as did Stanford Assistant Kate Paye, and FGCU's Karl Smesko. Lynn Swann is the new AD for the ladies of Troy and didn't exactly impress any of the candidates to take over for Cynthia Cooper-****. Interestingly they actually rehired Mark Trakh, who was the USC coach from 04-05 to 08-09. That is a very talented USC team and going in to that game I knew we had no chance to beat them. We just don't match up athletically with USC, and to make matters worse we don't match up in terms of length either. We aren't going to win games versus conference teams that have better athletes with significant height advantages. Trakh has never done worse than .500 in the Pac-12 conference schedule. Even with a returning coach, we weren't going to win vs USC. In fact the Buffs did well to keep the game as close as they did until the collapse.

We don't have the talent to compete with UCLA or in this conference, right now, but we can still support the Buffs and these athletes. JR Payne is doing a great job of recruiting and finding players that can actually compete in the Pac-12. The Rise is Real. Even if we aren't winning games, we get to see a true Pac-12 superstar in UCLA's senior Jordin Canada today. Might be a future WNBA player to watch today, as Canada is very similar to our Leonard in that both are dynamic aggressive scorers, both can find steals, both can create for their teammates, and both turnover the ball consistently more than they really should. Turnovers will be key to the game today, realistically we just might not have the talent to play with UCLA today. The only truly winnable games on our schedule are @Arizona Jan 19th and home against Washington on Feb 16th. Additionally, we should be able to compete against Utah in our Away and Home on Feb 1st and 4th. On the 18th in Boulder we'd like to be able to have a better showing against Washington State. That's two wins we think we'll get. We'd love to be able to split with Utah, as they are the better team. We could hope for a steal against Wazzou. That's finishing 6-12 as we usually finish in conference. Still JR Payne managed to almost beat Stanford previously with Santa Clara, so I'm thinking we pull a huge upset against Stanford this season. Still I'm not counting on it. Goodness knows we're due and they are down this season. We are 2-3 in conference now and 11-5 overall, with a potential loss in the Pac-12 tourney and with a 6-12 conference record we'd finish 15-15. We have to have a winning record to qualify for postseason play. Which is sad, because this team is better than last season and we made it to the third round of the WNIT last season. However, the tough nature of the Pac-12 looms such that we might miss the WNIT completely because we just don't have the talent to compete in our conference. We could compete with any team in the WNIT if we could just get there. The Pac-12 is what it is though, and this is what it looks like. Almost every week and every game its a tough road. We wanted the Pac-12 and here it is.

As fans we need to realize that the margin is razor thin for this Buffs team to get to the WNIT. A single big upset can be the difference between finishing 16-14 and 15-15. We don't have the talent to compete with UCLA, but things happen and this Buffs team can still get better if JR starts to give more minutes to the transfers and young players. We don't know their Pac-12 ceilings yet but for sure we haven't seen the best game Hollingshed, Bunn, Curtis, Castro, Carter, Jank, Diop and Knight can put up in the Pac-12. Brecca is having a very nice senior season. Leonard and Robinson have seen this all before.

Fingers crossed. 'Sko Buffs.

You're completely wrong on Wynn and USC. They slow played her. Then UW lost their coach and went after her. Also, we have more length than USC and they are avg. They even had a starter out. There was no excuse for that performance.

 

[buffgal]

UCLA had too many high school All Americans and we were totally out classed. UCLA is a much better team than the USC team we played Friday.

CU doesn't seem to know how to defend the 3. Lousy weekend for the Buffs.

 

[LuvdaBuffs]

You're completely wrong on Wynn and USC. They slow played her. Then UW lost their coach and went after her. Also, we have more length than USC and they are avg. They even had a starter out. There was no excuse for that performance.

I'm sorry, but I'm not understanding where there is any disagreement. The facts that are public knowledge have been corroborated in multiple media pieces and I've never seen anyone dispute any of it:

Dr. Donna Heinel was in charge of the USC search for the next USC Women's basketball coach.

Heinel initially wanted to transition to (then) current USC Associate Head coach Beth Burns. Burns communicated internally that she wanted the position. Athletic Director Lynn Swann stepped in and overruled Dr. Heinel formally offering the job to Beth Burns, and communicated Burns could not be included as part of the search process. Swann felt Burns was "too connected" to the staff of recently resigned Cynthia Cooper-Dke

Heinel then focused her search on Stanford assistant Kate Paye. However, USC did not get around to interviewing Paye until after the Final Four. USC formally offered the position to Paye and she turned it down early Apri.

Immediately after Paye turned down the position and a full 30 days into the coaching search, Heinel then focused on two candidates Florida Gulf Coast Head Coach Karl Smesko, and Long Beach State Head Coach and former USC player and former USC assistant Jody Wynn. Smesko and Wynn were not contacted until April 10th, because reportedly USC AD Lynn Swann wanted to attend the Masters golf tournament instead of focusing on filling the women's head coaching vacancy. USC then formally met with Smesko and Wynn, but publicly acknowledged that Smesko was their "first choice" in their search process even though by this point, he was actually Heinel's actual third choice.
USC then formally offered the job to Karl Smesko. Smesko turned down the job surprising many in coaching circles. USC then offered the women's head coaching job to Heinel's fourth ranked candidate, Jody Wynn. Wynn was announced as having accepted the Washington Head Coaching position on April 14th, only four days after USC initially ever contacted her. I'm not sure how you can characterize that as "slow played."

Both SwishAppeal writers and Jody Wynn, alluded to the fact that AD Lynn Swann was not making the wbb coach search a priority or offering contract terms that were competitive. Illinois hired its new coach in the $500,000 per year range but Swann wanted the new coach to be budgeted for a slot around $350,000. There are multiple pieces out there how Wynn felt she wasn't valued in the USC search process, and as a former USC player and former USC assistant and following the success she had at Long Beach State, Wynn felt Heinel's search should have targeted her initially instead of having her be the fourth option. She also did not like the language that was announced as USC was contacting and then waiting to interview her and Smesko(while Swann was at the Masters) that Smesko was the "first choice."

When Wynn jumped at the chance to take the Washington job on April 14th, just four days after being identified as a candidate and contacted by USC, the search officially had gone off the rails. In comparison JR Payne was officially announced as the CU coach on March 28, 2016. USC was running out of options having eliminated their top candidate, and having been turned down by the next three successive candidates that were were offered the position. USC then pulled Mark Trakh off the refuse pile, offering to rehire Mark Trakh to return to USC. As a previous USC head coach, and the inability to hire a coach had turned into a mini-tragedy in coaching circles. USC has a core of very talented players, and Trakh immediately walked into a situation where the upperclassmen wanted him to focus on the right now potential of what they perceive to have already in terms of a great team, not developing for the future.

Per Swish Appeal: "To say that this search has been a fiasco is probably an understatement."

Just not sure CUoldtimer where you're assertion that Jody Wynn was slow played is coming from. Heinel tried to hire Bunn and then Paye, Wynn and Smesko weren't identified and contacted until April 10th, and Wynn took the Wash job April 14th. It is true that USC AD didn't prioritize the women's basketball coach hiring, but that had nothing to do with Wynn. Wynn wasn't even the named "first choice" candidate at that point. Wynn ultimately didn't feel valued after having been the fourth candidate of Heinel's search: Bunn, Paye, Smesko, and then Wynn. It wasn't that she was slow played, its that USC didn't want her until everyone else was removed from consideration or turned the job down. Wynn was never the initial internal candidate (Burns), nor the second candidate (Paye), nor the preferred "first choice" canidate (Smesko) but was publicly the fourth candidate offered the job. Between when Smesko and Wynn were contacted on April 10th, both had to be interviewed and Smesko had to be offered the position and turned it down, then Wynn offered it and took the Washington job instead. It all happened rather fast, as at that point the search was off the rails.

Trakh is a great coach, but didn't come back to USC any younger. We'll see how his second time around as the leader of the Ladies of Troy goes. By all accounts women's basketball is not a priority for Athletic Director Lynn Swann so perhaps Trakh will be back at USC for awhile.

 

[CUoldtimer]

I'm sorry, but I'm not understanding where there is any disagreement. The facts that are public knowledge have been corroborated in multiple media pieces and I've never seen anyone dispute any of it:

Dr. Donna Heinel was in charge of the USC search for the next USC Women's basketball coach.

Heinel initially wanted to transition to (then) current USC Associate Head coach Beth Burns. Burns communicated internally that she wanted the position. Athletic Director Lynn Swann stepped in and overruled Dr. Heinel formally offering the job to Beth Burns, and communicated Burns could not be included as part of the search process. Swann felt Burns was "too connected" to the staff of recently resigned Cynthia Cooper-Dke

Heinel then focused her search on Stanford assistant Kate Paye. However, USC did not get around to interviewing Paye until after the Final Four. USC formally offered the position to Paye and she turned it down early Apri.

Immediately after Paye turned down the position and a full 30 days into the coaching search, Heinel then focused on two candidates Florida Gulf Coast Head Coach Karl Smesko, and Long Beach State Head Coach and former USC player and former USC assistant Jody Wynn. Smesko and Wynn were not contacted until April 10th, because reportedly USC AD Lynn Swann wanted to attend the Masters golf tournament instead of focusing on filling the women's head coaching vacancy. USC then formally met with Smesko and Wynn, but publicly acknowledged that Smesko was their "first choice" in their search process even though by this point, he was actually Heinel's actual third choice.
USC then formally offered the job to Karl Smesko. Smesko turned down the job surprising many in coaching circles. USC then offered the women's head coaching job to Heinel's fourth ranked candidate, Jody Wynn. Wynn was announced as having accepted the Washington Head Coaching position on April 14th, only four days after USC initially ever contacted her. I'm not sure how you can characterize that as "slow played."

Both SwishAppeal writers and Jody Wynn, alluded to the fact that AD Lynn Swann was not making the wbb coach search a priority or offering contract terms that were competitive. Illinois hired its new coach in the $500,000 per year range but Swann wanted the new coach to be budgeted for a slot around $350,000. There are multiple pieces out there how Wynn felt she wasn't valued in the USC search process, and as a former USC player and former USC assistant and following the success she had at Long Beach State, Wynn felt Heinel's search should have targeted her initially instead of having her be the fourth option. She also did not like the language that was announced as USC was contacting and then waiting to interview her and Smesko(while Swann was at the Masters) that Smesko was the "first choice."

When Wynn jumped at the chance to take the Washington job on April 14th, just four days after being identified as a candidate and contacted by USC, the search officially had gone off the rails. In comparison JR Payne was officially announced as the CU coach on March 28, 2016. USC was running out of options having eliminated their top candidate, and having been turned down by the next three successive candidates that were were offered the position. USC then pulled Mark Trakh off the refuse pile, offering to rehire Mark Trakh to return to USC. As a previous USC head coach, and the inability to hire a coach had turned into a mini-tragedy in coaching circles. USC has a core of very talented players, and Trakh immediately walked into a situation where the upperclassmen wanted him to focus on the right now potential of what they perceive to have already in terms of a great team, not developing for the future.

Per Swish Appeal: "To say that this search has been a fiasco is probably an understatement."

Just not sure CUoldtimer where you're assertion that Jody Wynn was slow played is coming from. Heinel tried to hire Bunn and then Paye, Wynn and Smesko weren't identified and contacted until April 10th, and Wynn took the Wash job April 14th. It is true that USC AD didn't prioritize the women's basketball coach hiring, but that had nothing to do with Wynn. Wynn wasn't even the named "first choice" candidate at that point. Wynn ultimately didn't feel valued after having been the fourth candidate of Heinel's search: Bunn, Paye, Smesko, and then Wynn. It wasn't that she was slow played, its that USC didn't want her until everyone else was removed from consideration or turned the job down. Wynn was never the initial internal candidate (Burns), nor the second candidate (Paye), nor the preferred "first choice" canidate (Smesko) but was publicly the fourth candidate offered the job. Between when Smesko and Wynn were contacted on April 10th, both had to be interviewed and Smesko had to be offered the position and turned it down, then Wynn offered it and took the Washington job instead. It all happened rather fast, as at that point the search was off the rails.

Trakh is a great coach, but didn't come back to USC any younger. We'll see how his second time around as the leader of the Ladies of Troy goes. By all accounts women's basketball is not a priority for Athletic Director Lynn Swann so perhaps Trakh will be back at USC for awhile.

I come here for discussing CU but it seems your whole post proved me right. Slow played means made her wait. She was already about to take the UW job. They waited too long to contact her in the first place. They then waited too long on Smesko. If they go after her earlier, she probably goes there. They blew it on waiting and on who was above her. Also, did you realize USC didn't have more length than CU?

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sw...15311288/usc-disastrous-coaching-search-ncaaw

 

[LuvdaBuffs]

Positives from the weekend's women's game:

I love the positive and aggressive attitude that Castro plays with. No length but she's wired right.

I love the upside and potential that Peyton Carter seems to have. At least once per game, in short minutes, she does something that makes me realize she's earning more minutes. Buffs just play better team basketball with her on the floor.

Love the defensive presence of Curtis. Wish her first two years were at CU instead of wasted with a lower level college staff. Can't wait to see what Toriano can do to unlock her potential.

I love the almost unlimited upside of Mya's game. She shows at times just breathtaking athleticism, and I can't wait to see who she becomes as a player.

Love watching Bunn play. Can't wait for her to learn the Jamie Swann lesson that she is a special athlete, and the Buffs can win with her on the floor, not sitting with three fouls because she needed to aggressively contest three opponent possessions in the paint. When she learns to let some things go by being less aggressive on the defensive end, I think her offensive game is going to be something to behold for 32 minutes. I haven't seen a Pac-12 player yet that she wasn't a tough match-up for in one aspect or another.

Love seeing how good Jank is right now, and can't wait to see if she will put in the work to become an all-time Buff great.

Love the level and competitive fire that Brecca is playing with, backing down to no one. Never conceding or quitting.

I even love the mistakes the young players are making. The culture of this team will change over the next couple of seasons, for sure. There is positive and youthful energy on this team and its fun to watch. Players playing for each other, making the extra pass, hustling and diving to get their hands on a ball defensively.

Love JR's professionalism and perspective after tough blowout losses. She knew the roster was missing multiple recruiting classes and this CU job was going to be a tough challenge, and that the Pac-12 schedule was full of top-50 and top-25 teams, but she's not shying away from it. She's got a tough road to get all her players pulling on the same end of the rope, and that's a tough task when a team is losing like they have been. However, I still think the program is trending upward and in a positive manner, and JR has been the consummate professional. That's tough to do when losing by these point spreads. Every game she reinforces what Ceal communicated when introducing her, "professional."

 

[CUoldtimer]

Positives from the weekend's women's game:

I love the positive and aggressive attitude that Castro plays with. No length but she's wired right.

I love the upside and potential that Peyton Carter seems to have. At least once per game, in short minutes, she does something that makes me realize she's earning more minutes. Buffs just play better team basketball with her on the floor.

Love the defensive presence of Curtis. Wish her first two years were at CU instead of wasted with a lower level college staff. Can't wait to see what Toriano can do to unlock her potential.

I love the almost unlimited upside of Mya's game. She shows at times just breathtaking athleticism, and I can't wait to see who she becomes as a player.

Love watching Bunn play. Can't wait for her to learn the Jamie Swann lesson that she is a special athlete, and the Buffs can win with her on the floor, not sitting with three fouls because she needed to aggressively contest three opponent possessions in the paint. When she learns to let some things go by being less aggressive on the defensive end, I think her offensive game is going to be something to behold for 32 minutes. I haven't seen a Pac-12 player yet that she wasn't a tough match-up for in one aspect or another.

Love seeing how good Jank is right now, and can't wait to see if she will put in the work to become an all-time Buff great.

Love the level and competitive fire that Brecca is playing with, backing down to no one. Never conceding or quitting.

I even love the mistakes the young players are making. The culture of this team will change over the next couple of seasons, for sure. There is positive and youthful energy on this team and its fun to watch. Players playing for each other, making the extra pass, hustling and diving to get their hands on a ball defensively.

Love JR's professionalism and perspective after tough blowout losses. She knew the roster was missing multiple recruiting classes and this CU job was going to be a tough challenge, and that the Pac-12 schedule was full of top-50 and top-25 teams, but she's not shying away from it. She's got a tough road to get all her players pulling on the same end of the rope, and that's a tough task when a team is losing like they have been. However, I still think the program is trending upward and in a positive manner, and JR has been the consummate professional. That's tough to do when losing by these point spreads. Every game she reinforces what Ceal communicated when introducing her, "professional."

I agree that Mya and Jank have great futures. I think Knight can too but it might take another season of developing. I think those three plus our 2018 and 2019 classes are going to be the core after next season.

 

[Buffballer]

Positives from the weekend's women's game:

I love the positive and aggressive attitude that Castro plays with. No length but she's wired right.

I love the upside and potential that Peyton Carter seems to have. At least once per game, in short minutes, she does something that makes me realize she's earning more minutes. Buffs just play better team basketball with her on the floor.

Love the defensive presence of Curtis. Wish her first two years were at CU instead of wasted with a lower level college staff. Can't wait to see what Toriano can do to unlock her potential.

I love the almost unlimited upside of Mya's game. She shows at times just breathtaking athleticism, and I can't wait to see who she becomes as a player.

Love watching Bunn play. Can't wait for her to learn the Jamie Swann lesson that she is a special athlete, and the Buffs can win with her on the floor, not sitting with three fouls because she needed to aggressively contest three opponent possessions in the paint. When she learns to let some things go by being less aggressive on the defensive end, I think her offensive game is going to be something to behold for 32 minutes. I haven't seen a Pac-12 player yet that she wasn't a tough match-up for in one aspect or another.

Love seeing how good Jank is right now, and can't wait to see if she will put in the work to become an all-time Buff great.

Love the level and competitive fire that Brecca is playing with, backing down to no one. Never conceding or quitting.

I even love the mistakes the young players are making. The culture of this team will change over the next couple of seasons, for sure. There is positive and youthful energy on this team and its fun to watch. Players playing for each other, making the extra pass, hustling and diving to get their hands on a ball defensively.

Love JR's professionalism and perspective after tough blowout losses. She knew the roster was missing multiple recruiting classes and this CU job was going to be a tough challenge, and that the Pac-12 schedule was full of top-50 and top-25 teams, but she's not shying away from it. She's got a tough road to get all her players pulling on the same end of the rope, and that's a tough task when a team is losing like they have been. However, I still think the program is trending upward and in a positive manner, and JR has been the consummate professional. That's tough to do when losing by these point spreads. Every game she reinforces what Ceal communicated when introducing her, "professional."

Always interesting to see who you omitted and who you try to throw shade at. Lex continues to recover from her injury and is without a doubt getting closer to where she was a year ago. Q is showing just how tough she is as she plays basically one handed. And KL had a nice bounce back game against UCLA. Imagine where this program would be right now without our First Team PAC-12 PG and the selfless commitment that these three bring

 

[CUoldtimer]

Always interesting to see who you omitted and who you try to throw shade at. Lex continues to recover from her injury and is without a doubt getting closer to where she was a year ago. Q is showing just how tough she is as she plays basically one handed. And KL had a nice bounce back game against UCLA. Imagine where this program would be right now without our First Team PAC-12 PG and the selfless commitment that these three bring

I love the shot he threw at Kennedy in another thread when he said every starting job should be up for grabs. Also, I guess he doesn't like knight. Knight has a ton of potential and should be much better next year. The staff knew she would need developing as she has never played basketball year round due to volleyball. I think her and Hollingshed can be great players along with Jank of course in a year or two. We just have to keep recruiting better and better. I hope 2019 brings a post (lose Bunn) and another great guard (lose Leonard and Robinson).

 

[EdB60]

Here is an interesting exercise you can do...I did this just the other week. Go to Prospects Nation and look up top 100s from 2015. Now scroll down the list and tell me which PGs you would take before Kennedy. I think the only one I 'Might' would be Lashann Higgs from Texas but she hasn't even played the point since HS, but she might be a little bit better than Kennedy...maybe. After that, well Cooper and Patburg might have been but they can't seem to find a team that loves them as much as they love themselves.
You can say anything you want about Kennedy Leonard but, for my money, I'll take her on my team anyday. That kid is everything a coach could want in a player and no one reps Colorado the way she does, despite the losing, poor attendance and coaching changes, not to mention the negativity of certain so-called fans.
I don't believe in bad mouthing players in forums or in real life. These young ladies who play at this level are under enough pressure to perform both on the court and in the classroom, while still being good citizens of the school and community. Some are stars, some are role players but I have seen few who were quitters, troublemakers or mean spirited. Sure, sometimes you will have girls who probably won't be able to contribute at this level and maybe want to leave to get more playing time or even, maybe they just make the wrong choice of schools at 17 years old. Hell, I made a lot dumber decisions at 17 than a choice of colleges. I admire them for trying and for choosing a better path.
I also think it is rather silly to expect this team to play to a high level this year. I think it is only fair to give a new coaching staff a few years to change a broken program around. JR and co. are moving in the right direction and I am rather surprised at the success they had finding 'emergency' recruits from the JC side. Enjoy the good surprises we have, like Janea, Mathilde, Jamie and that little shooter from the Canary Island with two last names, Sara. How can you not enjoy Mya, Annika and Aub and how about this Peyton doing her Kennedy impressions. Lex came back too soon from that ACL but that's just my opinion. She does seem to be moving better but I am not sure she will be 100 percent until next year. Qfloss is a much improved player from last year and will be even better in the future. Even the two seniors have given us meaningful minutes on more than one occasion. They don't get enough love on here but both those girls are top flight students and give us as much as you can ask when they are healthy.
Meanwhile keep cheering for them and I will keep watching on my stream here in PA, poppin' my meds and wishing my health would let me travel to Boulder just once in the short time I have left.

 

[CUoldtimer]

Here is an interesting exercise you can do...I did this just the other week. Go to Prospects Nation and look up top 100s from 2015. Now scroll down the list and tell me which PGs you would take before Kennedy. I think the only one I 'Might' would be Lashann Higgs from Texas but she hasn't even played the point since HS, but she might be a little bit better than Kennedy...maybe. After that, well Cooper and Patburg might have been but they can't seem to find a team that loves them as much as they love themselves.
You can say anything you want about Kennedy Leonard but, for my money, I'll take her on my team anyday. That kid is everything a coach could want in a player and no one reps Colorado the way she does, despite the losing, poor attendance and coaching changes, not to mention the negativity of certain so-called fans.
I don't believe in bad mouthing players in forums or in real life. These young ladies who play at this level are under enough pressure to perform both on the court and in the classroom, while still being good citizens of the school and community. Some are stars, some are role players but I have seen few who were quitters, troublemakers or mean spirited. Sure, sometimes you will have girls who probably won't be able to contribute at this level and maybe want to leave to get more playing time or even, maybe they just make the wrong choice of schools at 17 years old. Hell, I made a lot dumber decisions at 17 than a choice of colleges. I admire them for trying and for choosing a better path.
I also think it is rather silly to expect this team to play to a high level this year. I think it is only fair to give a new coaching staff a few years to change a broken program around. JR and co. are moving in the right direction and I am rather surprised at the success they had finding 'emergency' recruits from the JC side. Enjoy the good surprises we have, like Janea, Mathilde, Jamie and that little shooter from the Canary Island with two last names, Sara. How can you not enjoy Mya, Annika and Aub and how about this Peyton doing her Kennedy impressions. Lex came back too soon from that ACL but that's just my opinion. She does seem to be moving better but I am not sure she will be 100 percent until next year. Qfloss is a much improved player from last year and will be even better in the future. Even the two seniors have given us meaningful minutes on more than one occasion. They don't get enough love on here but both those girls are top flight students and give us as much as you can ask when they are healthy.
Meanwhile keep cheering for them and I will keep watching on my stream here in PA, poppin' my meds and wishing my health would let me travel to Boulder just once in the short time I have left.

A few things...I think you can be critical of players and coaches without bad mouthing them and having an agenda against specific players like one poster has vs Kennedy. I don't think one player has had a good PAC 12 season so far. I think I can say that without it being bad mouthing.

I disagree on Robinson and her knee. I've seen her do enough things on the court that makes me believe she didn't come back too soon. I think she will be better next year because she will be able to practice and weight train more instead of rehabbing.

I think the future of this program mostly lies with Jank/Knight/Hollingshed, the two 18 signees and the 19 class. They will determine if JR and staff will get the job done. I think they will. I think next season could be a .500 league season if everybody stays healthy, Jank/Knight/Hollingshed improve and the two FR are as good as their ratings. We need another Bunn JC find at the post or one from overseas that works out.