jgisland
Club Member
UCSB vs Colorado
6:00 PM CEC
Colorado ramps up competition today with UC Santa Barbara tonight at 6:00 PM. Hopefully the earlier start with snow won’t keep the CEC from being a packed house, because this could be a better game than Vegas (CU -15) and many CU fans are making it out to be.
News came out yesterday that potential Big West POY, Alan Williams is being ruled out for the game with back spasms. He did make the trip and is in Boulder, so when I see him in street clothes I’ll rest easier, but he’s likely a no-go. So no Alan Williams this game should be a cake walk right? Not so fast in my opinion. USCB beat a struggling UNLV team by 21 last week with Williams in the line-up but did a lot of the damage early without Williams contributing a lot. So Williams isn’t their only/primary contributor, they’ve got a pair of guards in Michael Bryson and Kyle Boswell that will let it fly. USCB shoots 46.9% from 3 (9[SUP]th[/SUP] best in the NCAA), CU has struggled closing out on shooters in every game this year, so Bryson and Boswell could likely have a field day if they get some room.
While UCSB will let it fly, they’ll likely need to knock down a lot of the shots, because they only grab 19% of their offensive boards (342[SUP]nd[/SUP] in the NCAA). On paper this sounds great, CU limits UCSB’s good looks from 3 and then grabs the defensive rebounds and this should be a blowout, right? But the problem is that UCSB doesn’t get a lot of offensive rebounds because they don’t go after them, they routinely send 5 guys back immediately when a shot goes up to limit their opponents transition opportunities. Sound familiar? It’s exactly what Wyoming did to stick around with CU and make the game competitive. Wyoming has limited opponent transition field goal attempts to 22.3% of total FGA attempts, and only let CU shoot 16.2% of their FGA in transition. Well UCSB one ups Wyoming in this department, they have only let opponents shoot 15.6% of their FGA come in transition.
CU’s not likely to get a lot of transition opportunities because UCSB sends guys back as soon as a shot goes up, so CU’s going to have to score in the half-court. Well, what kind of half-court defense does UCSB run (wait for it)…………the 2-3 zone. The exact defense CU’s struggled with year after year. While we’ve seen much better ball movement and patience against the zone the last two games the competition hasn’t been exactly top-notch. While UCSB isn’t all-world, they are a step op from Jackson St and Arkansas St.
I’ve just talked about several ways CU can lose this game (or make it closer than we want it to be), how does CU win? Wesley Gordon (I’m trying to get the nickname Pedro Cerrano, from Major League fame to stick for Gordon, because can’t you just imagine Wes doing something like this?) and Josh Scott. USCB is weak in the paint and will be even more so sans Williams. Their tallest guy 6-10 210 lb Sam Beeler only plays 51.7% of the minutes. With XJ being cleared to play CU will have plenty of size to rotate in at the 3-5 position and to me that’s going to be the key to the game. If CU can get their bigs in foul trouble or simply pound away inside CU should be able to handle the Gauchos.
JG’s keys to the game
Close out on UCSB’s 3 point shooters (Bryson and Boswell)
Patience and ball movement in the half-court
Lots of touches in the post for Scott, Gordon, Thomas and XJ
6:00 PM CEC
Colorado ramps up competition today with UC Santa Barbara tonight at 6:00 PM. Hopefully the earlier start with snow won’t keep the CEC from being a packed house, because this could be a better game than Vegas (CU -15) and many CU fans are making it out to be.
News came out yesterday that potential Big West POY, Alan Williams is being ruled out for the game with back spasms. He did make the trip and is in Boulder, so when I see him in street clothes I’ll rest easier, but he’s likely a no-go. So no Alan Williams this game should be a cake walk right? Not so fast in my opinion. USCB beat a struggling UNLV team by 21 last week with Williams in the line-up but did a lot of the damage early without Williams contributing a lot. So Williams isn’t their only/primary contributor, they’ve got a pair of guards in Michael Bryson and Kyle Boswell that will let it fly. USCB shoots 46.9% from 3 (9[SUP]th[/SUP] best in the NCAA), CU has struggled closing out on shooters in every game this year, so Bryson and Boswell could likely have a field day if they get some room.
While UCSB will let it fly, they’ll likely need to knock down a lot of the shots, because they only grab 19% of their offensive boards (342[SUP]nd[/SUP] in the NCAA). On paper this sounds great, CU limits UCSB’s good looks from 3 and then grabs the defensive rebounds and this should be a blowout, right? But the problem is that UCSB doesn’t get a lot of offensive rebounds because they don’t go after them, they routinely send 5 guys back immediately when a shot goes up to limit their opponents transition opportunities. Sound familiar? It’s exactly what Wyoming did to stick around with CU and make the game competitive. Wyoming has limited opponent transition field goal attempts to 22.3% of total FGA attempts, and only let CU shoot 16.2% of their FGA in transition. Well UCSB one ups Wyoming in this department, they have only let opponents shoot 15.6% of their FGA come in transition.
CU’s not likely to get a lot of transition opportunities because UCSB sends guys back as soon as a shot goes up, so CU’s going to have to score in the half-court. Well, what kind of half-court defense does UCSB run (wait for it)…………the 2-3 zone. The exact defense CU’s struggled with year after year. While we’ve seen much better ball movement and patience against the zone the last two games the competition hasn’t been exactly top-notch. While UCSB isn’t all-world, they are a step op from Jackson St and Arkansas St.
I’ve just talked about several ways CU can lose this game (or make it closer than we want it to be), how does CU win? Wesley Gordon (I’m trying to get the nickname Pedro Cerrano, from Major League fame to stick for Gordon, because can’t you just imagine Wes doing something like this?) and Josh Scott. USCB is weak in the paint and will be even more so sans Williams. Their tallest guy 6-10 210 lb Sam Beeler only plays 51.7% of the minutes. With XJ being cleared to play CU will have plenty of size to rotate in at the 3-5 position and to me that’s going to be the key to the game. If CU can get their bigs in foul trouble or simply pound away inside CU should be able to handle the Gauchos.
JG’s keys to the game
Close out on UCSB’s 3 point shooters (Bryson and Boswell)
Patience and ball movement in the half-court
Lots of touches in the post for Scott, Gordon, Thomas and XJ
