PacHoops.com - Target practice

[allbuffs]

The Junta would like to welcome Adam Butler of www.PacHoops.com fame back to AllBuffs:

Try it on. Slip into it and wear it around for a little while. It might be uncomfortable
at first – I don’t think you’ve ever worn it before – but you just might get used to it. I
certainly imagine you’d want to keep wearing the target that’s now on Colorado’s back.
It’s the type of thing that comes with expectations stemming from a damn fine basketball
team. A talented one and the expectations of a talented squad means people circle your
name on their calendar and say, “Let’s get up for this.” That’s a target and it means you
are good. Get comfortable in it because you want to keep talent around, right? Keep it on;
you’re going to like it.

And while you’re at it, be sure to take that shoe off. That glass one. You certainly won’t
need it this year as I imagine Mayors don’t like that role. No, Mayors run things and
your Mayor just may run his way into a Pac-12 POY-like season. That’s frankly what
gifted, six-and-a-half-foot point guards do. And when things are supplemented by an
augmented Josh Scott, a further aged Xavier Johnson, and the exciting athleticism of
Wesley Gordon? Yeah, toss the slipper aside. It doesn’t belong in Boulder. Not this year.
Because if I’m not mistaken, filling The Keg is a group that has played in two
consecutive NCAA tournaments and returns the second highest percentage of
possessions in the conference (thanks for that stat, JG). Sounds a lot like continuity to me
and that sounds good. The kinda stuff you dance to.

But it’s not here yet, right?

Practice has begun and the best we’ve got is extensive predictive stats and a whole lot of
optimism (well, the latter is depending upon which fan base you hail from). We like that
the NCAA opened that practice window but this year there is no Euro Trip; a trip that
Tad called a great “jump start” to the season. And how did last season start? Charleston
Classic champions.

Yet I repeat: it’s not here yet.

Though I implore you to absorb. Read, discuss, tweet, and comment. You know this but
now you’re wearing the target. Get to know those who are aiming at you. Should you
manage to venture to an opposing arena, blow someone’s mind by knowing the minutiae
of your enemy. Per Sun Tzu’s The Art of War:

"If you know your enemies and know yourself, you will not be imperiled in a hundred
battles... if you do not know your enemies nor yourself, you will be imperiled in every
single battle."

Don’t get imperiled, bro. There are eleven conference enemies who are both threatened
and excited by you. The target you don is their opportunity to move ahead, to bolster
their resume or perhaps even rush a court. You want someone to rush the court on you?
I’ve never read The Tipping Point (or The Art of War for that matter) but I imagine
this 2013-14 campaign is precisely that for Tad and crew. As stated, there’s continuity to
this group, to this program. A momentum to be harnessed into further success.

But for now, get cozy in your target.

It’s a pretty big one.

 

[jgisland]

Is.It.November.Yet

 

[Darth Snow]

gnashing of teeth. Thank goodness for saturday morning.

 

[absinthe]

#BasketballSchool

 

[OUBuff]

Wow!!! quoting Sun Tzu. How do I rep Adam?

 

[Bone Buff]

Stop, stop. My penis can only get so erect.

 

[wyobuff]

there are less days left till bball starts than we have appendages on our body......

 

[pachoops]

That was a fun one to write. Pretty excited for this Pac-12 season and particularly the entire conference coming out of this ugly funk of the past 5 years.

 

[BeBe]

Wow!!! quoting Sun Tzu. How do I rep Adam?

I believe he shows up around these parts as 'pachoops'............................................ Edit: And there he is! Had I read to the end before replying, I wouldn't have needed to.

 

[BehindEnemyLines]

I was thinking about the target-on-the-back last year, after the Buffs won the conference tourney. The young guns need to be aware that other teams are lying in wait for their chance to knock off Colorado. What an amazing change.

That was a fun one to write. Pretty excited for this Pac-12 season and particularly the entire conference coming out of this ugly funk of the past 5 years.

Funny how conference upswing coincides with our arrival.

 

[pachoops]

One thing that has somewhat fascinated me and it's a big tribute to Tad and the culture that he's built is that CU's tournament win doesn't feel like a Cinderella tale. The perception seems as if it were expected and that's how it should be. At least to be sustainably successful.

 

[L Buff]

One thing that has somewhat fascinated me and it's a big tribute to Tad and the culture that he's built is that CU's tournament win doesn't feel like a Cinderella tale. The perception seems as if it were expected and that's how it should be. At least to be sustainably successful.

Love your articles ... keep 'em coming. :thumbsup:

But ... how do you feel about ESPN actually having a poll about having "Gameday" in either Boulder for the second CU-AZ game as opposed to having it at ****ing Stanford vs "who the hell whatever"? (Of course I'm assuming this issue has not yet been settled).

I'm thinking that after your visit to Boulder for the "Valentine's Day Massacre" ... which you admitted was AWESOME ... maybe you're a little conflicted?

Thoughts?

 

[Buffnik]

One thing that has somewhat fascinated me and it's a big tribute to Tad and the culture that he's built is that CU's tournament win doesn't feel like a Cinderella tale. The perception seems as if it were expected and that's how it should be. At least to be sustainably successful.

It was weird. At least in a way, because on paper that 2011-12 Buffs team had no business making the NCAA tournament, let alone winning a game once it got there. The 2010-11 squad was better. Maybe getting the shaft from the selection committee the year before was a blessing in disguise since it put a chip on their shoulders and cemented the culture. They not only expected to win every game in 2011-12, but they knew that no one was going to give them anything. They had to take it.

 

[CVilleBuff]

It was weird. At least in a way, because on paper that 2011-12 Buffs team had no business making the NCAA tournament, let alone winning a game once it got there. The 2010-11 squad was better. Maybe getting the shaft from the selection committee the year before was a blessing in disguise since it put a chip on their shoulders and cemented the culture. They not only expected to win every game in 2011-12, but they knew that no one was going to give them anything. They had to take it.

Yeah, We do not win the Pac tournament in 2012 without the shenanigans of the selection committee in 2011, IMO.

 

[pachoops]

I think it's a no brainer to go to Boulder. And here are just a few reasons:
1) Game Day is a TV show. TV shows are about entertainment. The entertainment value of a CU crowd > Stan crowd
2) There's national excitement about Arizona. Growing excitement/appreciation for Colorado. There's a hot seat debate at Palo Alto and the weird drama that is and will be the entire Steve Alford tenure at UCLA. Which do you want to drive your show? I'm taking excitement over impending firings.
3) I want to be a part of Game Day.

Love your articles ... keep 'em coming. :thumbsup:

But ... how do you feel about ESPN actually having a poll about having "Gameday" in either Boulder for the second CU-AZ game as opposed to having it at ****ing Stanford vs "who the hell whatever"? (Of course I'm assuming this issue has not yet been settled).

I'm thinking that after your visit to Boulder for the "Valentine's Day Massacre" ... which you admitted was AWESOME ... maybe you're a little conflicted?

Thoughts?