WBB @ MVSU, 2 pm

[MarkW]

Looks like no live stats, and of course no tv/video.

Good game for the Buffs following finals as it appears it will give them a chance to ease back into competition.

 

[BoCoBBall]

I'm still at a loss trying to understand why that great pick and roll game that Leonard and Correal executed against UK hasn't really shown up at all since. I truly don't believe that JR has been saving it for the Pac-12 season, as effectively running the screen game is an experience thing. It takes years and thousands of reps for athletes to read each other in that nuanced dance (think Stockton/Malone or Bird/McHale). Its a different offensive look that humbled a top-15 team, and the Buffs haven't really gone back to it since. Any thoughts as to why?

Very excited about finishing out the non-conference wins productively, and without injuries. Actually getting through with an undefeated record really doesn't have value as we've seen before that a non-conference sweep doesn't indicate a competitive Pac-12 season. Really just hoping to keep everyone fresh and limited minutes for the starters, with a variety of players getting experience playing in different roles and rotations. CU should run away with this one, but how they play and how the non-starters on the roster finish matters, I think, more than just how quickly the Buffs run away with it. We're still waiting for Huggins to return, and at some point I'm wondering if she might medical redshirt. Is that even a possibility remaining for her, she's been hurt before I think. I'd really like to see Eleanor get extended minutes in this game as she's so athletic, but I suspect the Pac-12 game is going to be way to fast for her right now, hopefully I'm wrong on that one, though.

Go Buffs. Get out of this one injury free. Great non-conference run so far. JR Payne is the real deal, and we are so lucky to have her. I'm already convinced she's the best ball coach in the department. Which isn't saying all that much. Tad Boyle has only once finished better than 5th in the Pac-12, and only 3rd at that ('13-'14). At some point, I'd like to see what Rick George could do with hiring a Men's coach, considering how incredible of a hire he's shown himself to be capable of with the women's game.

I know people had some reservations, and a wait and see attitude with JR Payne, but I can't imagine what else she could have possibly done so far. Buffs are nationally ranked in the top-15 with essentially the same roster as last season minus Swan and Huggins. That's pretty incredible. Not a single loss, an upset over a quality top-15 ranked team. My goodness, with the Pac-12 season looming its hard to not be excited right now. Can't wait to see JR Payne impact this program with recruiting gets that this program hasn't really seen before. Its only going to get better from here, and sitting in top-15, that's just incredible. What a ride. Go Buffs!

 

[MarkW]

 

[BeBe]

WAY closer game than it should be.

 

[buffgal]

From Jamee Swan and she is correct

 

[Buffnik]

Shaking off the cobwebs after finals week. Still undefeated and notched a road win. The Wyoming game will tell us a lot more about how ready the team is for PAC-12 play.

 

[MarkW]

Kennedy went the full 40 and committed 7 turnover, but partially made up for them with 6 steals. Buffs simply had too many turnovers.

It seems playing a road game right after finals is a recipe for trouble, or at least poor play.

I too am willing to bet that we'll see a much better performance v Wyo on Wednesday night.

 

[BoCoBBall]

I'm a huge fan of analytics, in whatever form they are available for NCAAW. Unfortunately, most teams have to produce their own metrics, or purchase them through a statistics service as women's Division I basketball is an afterthought on the sports horizon. While I love the top-25 rankings, in reality those lists are significantly affected by politics and relationships. Consider this, when Notre Dame was ranked #1 earlier this season (#2 now), they played Green Bay and barely escaped that game with a win. Green Bay had a tough 1Q being outscored 8 to 14. However, GB won the rest of the game. Over the next three quarters Green Bay outscored #1 Notre Dame +2, in large part due to a huge 4Q. Green Bay shot 44% and held the #1 ranked team in the country to 35% shooting. Now GB was outrebounded at -7 in the game, and committed 9 more turnovers than ND did, but at the end they still barely lost that game by 4 points 71-67. When you're that close playing on the road, in front of 7,000 plus Irish fans, and you almost upset the #1 team in the country, you're a pretty good basketball team. Especially considering Sagarin considers the home team to have a 3.08 point advantage all other things being equal. Factor that in and Green Bay failed to upset the #1 team in the country, controlling for playing on the road, by just a single point (adjusting for neutral court). Green Bay then followed that tough close loss by knocking off #17 Washington (now ranked #11th) and #16 DePaul (now ranked #17th). In there they also played UCONN after they took over the #1 ranking and lost that game 72-61. For the recored when Baylor was ranked #2 this season they lost 72-61 to UCONN as well. Sagarin has the Green Bay Phoenix ranked as the 16th best team in the country in all of Div-I NCAAW, at 90.40.

Yet are the Green Bay Phoenix, which analytics tells us is the 16th best team in the country even ranked in the AP or USA Today Coaches Poll top-25 lists? They are not ranked in either, with just 49 and 51 votes. What does this have to do with the CU Buffs and the Mississippi Valley State game? Well, actually a lot. You see in the AP top-25 the Buffs are ranked #15th with 286 votes and are not even actually ranked in the USA Today Coaches Poll top-25, with only 54 votes, just three more than the Green Bay Phoenix. The Buffs have a lone signature win over UK when they were ranked #15th. Yet the Phoenix have played the 16th toughest non-conference schedule in the country and the Buffs…well not so much. Linda Lappe liked to schedule very soft in the non-conference, and the schedule the Buffs have played this season is good for being ranked 324th out of only 349 Div-I women's teams.

So I love the fact that the Buffs won, and beat Mississippi Valley State, and improved to 10-0 but let's dig a little deeper. According to Sagarin's metrics there are only three teams in all of Division I women's basketball that are actually worse than Miss Valley State: Wagner, North Carolina Central, and Alabama A&M. Every single other team in all of NCAA Division I is actually a better team than Mississippi Valley State. What is the point? These CU Buffs are not nearly as good as we think they are, in our early season miracle turnaround to start the JR Payne era. JR Payne is a great coach, and these Buffs can get a lot better, including this season, but they just aren't as good as their record indicates and certainly aren't a better team than the unranked Green Bay Phoenix. By Sagarin's rankings the Buffs fell to the 42nd best team in the country after the MVS game data, with CU having a 82.26 rating.

Just to bookmark the Pac-12 conference right now per Sagarin ranking:

8th Washington 96.70
10th UCLA 93.47
11th Stanford 92.40
23rd Oregon State 88.68
25th Arizona State 87.88
28th Oregon 86.62
31st Cal 85.44
33rd Utah 84.75
40th Washington State 82.51
42nd Colorado 82.26
51st USC 51.15
112 Arizona 71.94

So realistically there are two different national rankings conversations in play. Either the AP top-25 poll is correct and the Buffs are the 15th best team in the nation, in all of NCAAW Division I or the USA Today Coaches poll is correct and the Buffs are deserving of votes, but aren't within the top-25. According to Sagarin, the Buffs aren't even within the top-40. So are the Buffs within the bubble of "sweet sixteen" or are they completely overrated. You are only as good as your resume, and it shouldn't be understated that the Buffs are undefeated. They haven't lost a single game. They've played a top-15 team and upset them at home. However, they've since played one of the three worst teams in NCAAW in MVSU and escaped with just a 76-64 win over the 346th worst team in the country, of the 349 teams playing NCAAW Division I. That just isn't good.

Green Bay and CU have about the same votes in the USA coaches poll, yet the GB Phoenix are losing 72-61 to #1 UCONN, and 71-67 to then #1 Notre Dame while our CU Buffs are barely winning 76-64 to the #346th MVSU? This just doesn't add up. I think Sagarin has it right, and the numbers don't lie. I think the Buffs are 10-0, that they've beat every team on the schedule, including a top-15 team on home court. However, I think Sagarin's methodology correctly slots CU around 42nd right now and correctly identifies the Green Bay Phoenix as the 16th best team in the country. For context that puts CU with mid-major power South Dakota State (Sagarin ranking of 48th, 81.40), not in the conversation of competitive Pac-12 teams. Sagarin has our CU Buffs rated 10th in the Pac-12 which is a far cry from being ranked 15th in the nation.

So lets unpack the MVSU game, considering it was against one of the worst Div-I teams in the country (next post) to see why it was such a meaningful game to understanding just who these Buffs really are this year.

 

[Buffnik]

First of all, @BoCoBBall , thanks for all that work. I also like the analytics a lot.

However, no one on AB is trumpeting that this CU WBB team is something it's not.

We're enjoying an unexpected ride, an undefeated record and one of those seasons that just might snowball into something that's really rare and special as a fan. Sometimes you get on a roll, the ball bounces your way and it's not something that you can quantify. And I think that's one of the things that makes sports so much fun.

 

[BoCoBBall]

Our sophomore guards were asked to do a lot last season that was probably unfair. As true freshman, neither really had the experience to handle being put into such significant roles on a Pac-12 team. However, this is their sophomore season, and all of that experience was acquired shall we say the hard way? Plus Leonard played internationally over the summer as well. Both have been playing well this season. Leonard has been streaky shooting the ball, and had some off nights that happened to coincide with Quinessa having a tough night shooting the ball as well, but it hasn't really affected the Buffs yet. Then there is the positive side, where we saw Leonard just rain down threes on fire, and when she's on she's on.

Against MVSU Leonard only went 2-7 from the floor, so she didn't have a particularly good night shooting the ball. However, that's only part of the story. Her role is the primary ball handler and it can be much more important for her to create for her teammates than looking for her own shot. But distributing the ball Leonard had a tough night as well with only 1 Assist and 7 Turnovers. Robinson didn't fare much better and only had 2 Assists and 5 Turnovers. Without being able to see the game that tells me that MVSU was just a tough matchup, and it wasn't as simple as an amateur athlete just having a bad night. They both were seeing something that made it very difficult for them to execute moving the ball to create looks. Yet we can see from their minutes, JR played Leonard every minute of the game and Robinson played just two minutes less, that Payne felt comfortable leaving them out there. Caylao-Do played 22 minutes, while the guards were still on the floor, and had 1 Assist and 1 Turnover. It doesn't look like Thomas played.

Let's talk about what went right. Both sophomore guards managed to get to 20 points. Robinson did it on efficient 8-16 shooting, and Leonard managed to get to the line for 20 Free Throw attempts. When you aren't having a great night shooting the ball, and its tough to distribute the ball to set up offense, getting to the line for that many FTs is pretty impressive isn't it? Plus Leonard had 6 steals and Robinson had 5 rebounds. Looks like both were finding ways to help the team, when they couldn't just move the ball without risk. I love that in a tough game where things don't look quite right, that both found ways to continue to help the team. The Buffs took 14 three pointers but only made 3 of them, but we've seen Robinson and Leonard hit threes, it just wasn't their night. I'd like to have seen them look for other shots than missing 8 three attempts, but if just a couple of those go in isn't it a different narrative?

To me the fact that a Pac-12 team was outrebounded 34-32 is the tale of the tape. With just Wyoming before the looming Pac-12 schedule, I think it could be a long tough season if the Buffs can't find a way to fight for some boards. MVSU isn't exactly a landing spot for ESPN/HoopGurlz top-100 players are they? Well our Pac-12 rivals are, and that doesn't bode well. I think Jamie Swan said it best in her tweet, this team is in for a rude awakening come the Pac-12 schedule, if they continue to play like that. The athletes the Buffs will need to match up against during the Pac-12 portion of the schedule will be lots of ESPN/HoopGurlz top-100 players from their year. I think the season is still young, and I'm still very positive on the possibilities of this being one of the best Pac-12 seasons the team has ever had (let's be honest Linda wasn't able to set the bar very high in her short time as coach), but I think things could get ugly quick as well. I think JR Payne and staff are great ball coaches and I think they'll still be able to coach this team up in ways we haven't even seen yet. They'd better. This team can't be that soft on the boards. One thing that was very frustrating was that Correal had 9 rebounds in just 18 minutes. She had 4 fouls that kept her from playing more minutes. The Buffs need Correal rebounding and playing tough and smart defense. She can't pick up four fouls on a night where she is dominating the boards. Sometimes you just have to let the other athlete finish, without fouling them, to keep yourself on the floor. All to often we used to see Jamie Swan try to contest every shot, and foul trouble limited her effectiveness. Which was always unfortunate, because there were nights where Jamie Swan was a force of nature. With Correal flirting with a double/double every night, I just want to see her focusing on contributing to her team in the ways that she can, even on tough nights where not everything is going her way.

In my mind that's the lesson of this game. First the Buffs are probably a bit overrated with one of the worst strength of schedules for non-conference in the country, undefeated or not. Second, these Buffs need to continue to be mentally tough and concentrate on what they can execute and do well, instead of getting frustrated with what they can't. The Pac-12 portion of the schedule is going to have a lot of games where the Buffs just don't match match up either athletically or to the level of talent of the opponent. This is the conference of Kelsey Plum, Chantel Osahor, Kriston Simon, Jordin Canada and as good as our sophomores are, teams in the Pac-12 reload with great freshman every year: Aarion McDonald, Minyon Moore, Sabrina Ionescu, and Reili Richardson. My goal for the Buffs is to just keep getting better. This is just year one of the JR Payne era. I didn't expect the Buffs to be very good this season, and the top-15 ranking is a completely unexpected, and probably undeserved surprise. Yet its nice to see the program get that recognition for the turnaround. I love where this team is going, and I'm looking forward to the Pac-12 season more than ever, even after the struggles vs MVSU. The Buffs have always had some fight in them even though the Pac-12 season hasn't always gone the way we've wanted it to. I truly do not believe the Buffs will finish 10th in the Pac-12 this season, but if we do I'll still be cheering all the way. I think JR Payne will manage this Pac-12 season as best she can, with the players she currently has, and quite frankly the upside for this program is the sky is the limit. Did the MVSU game play out the way the Buffs wanted? Nope. However, I think its fair to say that finals, the CSU rivalry game being over and letdown, and the holidays all are relevant.

So are the Buffs nationally relevant? I don't know. Glass half full or half empty? Can't we just be excited that asking if they are nationally relevant is a relevant conversation? After last season that's something. Maybe the Buffs are in that 35-45 group, that's okay, even though I don't want to think about it, I still know that there are 64 teams in the NCAAW tournament right? I'll take anything from top-15 to 64th best team in the country. It doesn't really matter that the Buffs didn't handle MVSU all that well. They won. Isn't that all that matters in the end? You can only play who is on your schedule. The Buffs strength of schedule is going to take care of itself, with the Pac-12 portion looming. SOS will never be the Buffs problem this season. They've got top-15 teams remaining to find out all they want to find out about themselves this season. If that goes great with upsets and that elusive Stanford win (finally?) or if things go sideways, at least the program is sailing in the right direction. It could be worse, we could actually be MVSU, instead of just having played them. So I'm going with lots of distractions in December and glass half full. It could be worse, it could still be last season in some kind of Groundhog Day nightmare that never ended!

 

[BoCoBBall]

First of all, @BoCoBBall , thanks for all that work. I also like the analytics a lot.

However, no one on AB is trumpeting that this CU WBB team is something it's not.

We're enjoying an unexpected ride, an undefeated record and one of those seasons that just might snowball into something that's really rare and special as a fan. Sometimes you get on a roll, the ball bounces your way and it's not something that you can quantify. And I think that's one of the things that makes sports so much fun.

You are so right!

 

[MarkW]

No doubt that playing teams like MVSU kills the Buffs' SOS, at the point in the season. I would bet the coaching staff won't be many scheduling bottom feeders next season.

As for what's on the horizon for the Buffs, absolutely they are going to hit some bumps in the road once conference play begins. Rebounding is an issue this season, as is defending. On the flip side, there is a camaraderie this season which is going to help them get through tough times on the court. And they have - in general - cut down on the silly turnovers while forcing the opposition into a lot of turnovers.

Can't comment too much of the MSVS game without seeing it at all. Just glad they won and expect them to do so again on Wednesday.

 

[Buffballer]

Our sophomore guards were asked to do a lot last season that was probably unfair. As true freshman, neither really had the experience to handle being put into such significant roles on a Pac-12 team. However, this is their sophomore season, and all of that experience was acquired shall we say the hard way? Plus Leonard played internationally over the summer as well. Both have been playing well this season. Leonard has been streaky shooting the ball, and had some off nights that happened to coincide with Quinessa having a tough night shooting the ball as well, but it hasn't really affected the Buffs yet. Then there is the positive side, where we saw Leonard just rain down threes on fire, and when she's on she's on.

Against MVSU Leonard only went 2-7 from the floor, so she didn't have a particularly good night shooting the ball. However, that's only part of the story. Her role is the primary ball handler and it can be much more important for her to create for her teammates than looking for her own shot. But distributing the ball Leonard had a tough night as well with only 1 Assist and 7 Turnovers. Robinson didn't fare much better and only had 2 Assists and 5 Turnovers. Without being able to see the game that tells me that MVSU was just a tough matchup, and it wasn't as simple as an amateur athlete just having a bad night. They both were seeing something that made it very difficult for them to execute moving the ball to create looks. Yet we can see from their minutes, JR played Leonard every minute of the game and Robinson played just two minutes less, that Payne felt comfortable leaving them out there. Caylao-Do played 22 minutes, while the guards were still on the floor, and had 1 Assist and 1 Turnover. It doesn't look like Thomas played.

Let's talk about what went right. Both sophomore guards managed to get to 20 points. Robinson did it on efficient 8-16 shooting, and Leonard managed to get to the line for 20 Free Throw attempts. When you aren't having a great night shooting the ball, and its tough to distribute the ball to set up offense, getting to the line for that many FTs is pretty impressive isn't it? Plus Leonard had 6 steals and Robinson had 5 rebounds. Looks like both were finding ways to help the team, when they couldn't just move the ball without risk. I love that in a tough game where things don't look quite right, that both found ways to continue to help the team. The Buffs took 14 three pointers but only made 3 of them, but we've seen Robinson and Leonard hit threes, it just wasn't their night. I'd like to have seen them look for other shots than missing 8 three attempts, but if just a couple of those go in isn't it a different narrative?

To me the fact that a Pac-12 team was outrebounded 34-32 is the tale of the tape. With just Wyoming before the looming Pac-12 schedule, I think it could be a long tough season if the Buffs can't find a way to fight for some boards. MVSU isn't exactly a landing spot for ESPN/HoopGurlz top-100 players are they? Well our Pac-12 rivals are, and that doesn't bode well. I think Jamie Swan said it best in her tweet, this team is in for a rude awakening come the Pac-12 schedule, if they continue to play like that. The athletes the Buffs will need to match up against during the Pac-12 portion of the schedule will be lots of ESPN/HoopGurlz top-100 players from their year. I think the season is still young, and I'm still very positive on the possibilities of this being one of the best Pac-12 seasons the team has ever had (let's be honest Linda wasn't able to set the bar very high in her short time as coach), but I think things could get ugly quick as well. I think JR Payne and staff are great ball coaches and I think they'll still be able to coach this team up in ways we haven't even seen yet. They'd better. This team can't be that soft on the boards. One thing that was very frustrating was that Correal had 9 rebounds in just 18 minutes. She had 4 fouls that kept her from playing more minutes. The Buffs need Correal rebounding and playing tough and smart defense. She can't pick up four fouls on a night where she is dominating the boards. Sometimes you just have to let the other athlete finish, without fouling them, to keep yourself on the floor. All to often we used to see Jamie Swan try to contest every shot, and foul trouble limited her effectiveness. Which was always unfortunate, because there were nights where Jamie Swan was a force of nature. With Correal flirting with a double/double every night, I just want to see her focusing on contributing to her team in the ways that she can, even on tough nights where not everything is going her way.

In my mind that's the lesson of this game. First the Buffs are probably a bit overrated with one of the worst strength of schedules for non-conference in the country, undefeated or not. Second, these Buffs need to continue to be mentally tough and concentrate on what they can execute and do well, instead of getting frustrated with what they can't. The Pac-12 portion of the schedule is going to have a lot of games where the Buffs just don't match match up either athletically or to the level of talent of the opponent. This is the conference of Kelsey Plum, Chantel Osahor, Kriston Simon, Jordin Canada and as good as our sophomores are, teams in the Pac-12 reload with great freshman every year: Aarion McDonald, Minyon Moore, Sabrina Ionescu, and Reili Richardson. My goal for the Buffs is to just keep getting better. This is just year one of the JR Payne era. I didn't expect the Buffs to be very good this season, and the top-15 ranking is a completely unexpected, and probably undeserved surprise. Yet its nice to see the program get that recognition for the turnaround. I love where this team is going, and I'm looking forward to the Pac-12 season more than ever, even after the struggles vs MVSU. The Buffs have always had some fight in them even though the Pac-12 season hasn't always gone the way we've wanted it to. I truly do not believe the Buffs will finish 10th in the Pac-12 this season, but if we do I'll still be cheering all the way. I think JR Payne will manage this Pac-12 season as best she can, with the players she currently has, and quite frankly the upside for this program is the sky is the limit. Did the MVSU game play out the way the Buffs wanted? Nope. However, I think its fair to say that finals, the CSU rivalry game being over and letdown, and the holidays all are relevant.

So are the Buffs nationally relevant? I don't know. Glass half full or half empty? Can't we just be excited that asking if they are nationally relevant is a relevant conversation? After last season that's something. Maybe the Buffs are in that 35-45 group, that's okay, even though I don't want to think about it, I still know that there are 64 teams in the NCAAW tournament right? I'll take anything from top-15 to 64th best team in the country. It doesn't really matter that the Buffs didn't handle MVSU all that well. They won. Isn't that all that matters in the end? You can only play who is on your schedule. The Buffs strength of schedule is going to take care of itself, with the Pac-12 portion looming. SOS will never be the Buffs problem this season. They've got top-15 teams remaining to find out all they want to find out about themselves this season. If that goes great with upsets and that elusive Stanford win (finally?) or if things go sideways, at least the program is sailing in the right direction. It could be worse, we could actually be MVSU, instead of just having played them. So I'm going with lots of distractions in December and glass half full. It could be worse, it could still be last season in some kind of Groundhog Day nightmare that never ended!

I think perspective is critical with regards to the MVSU game; which by the way was a win. Good chance that a game like this would have resulted in a lose last year. No team in the country plays at their ceiling every night and this Buff team is no different. I think the key is their breadth of work at 10-0 with an impressive MOV of 23+ pts a game. With regards to the Sophomore guards any coach in the country will take 20pts on 7 shot attempts and 20pts on 14 shot attempts, we have a pair of guards that play well beyond their age. We have a PG averaging 19pts, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2boards a game with a 3-1 assist ratio. One third of the way through the season these are "fantasy league stats". Lex is playing with confidence and tangibly ahead of where she was a year ago in every stat. Monica has been a great addition as has Freeman. No question conference will be considerably more challenging but I like our chances of improving markedly vs. last years PAC 12 results.

 

[BoCoBBall]

I think perspective is critical with regards to the MVSU game; which by the way was a win. Good chance that a game like this would have resulted in a lose last year. No team in the country plays at their ceiling every night and this Buff team is no different. I think the key is their breadth of work at 10-0 with an impressive MOV of 23+ pts a game. With regards to the Sophomore guards any coach in the country will take 20pts on 7 shot attempts and 20pts on 14 shot attempts, we have a pair of guards that play well beyond their age. We have a PG averaging 19pts, 6 assists, 3 steals and 2boards a game with a 3-1 assist ratio. One third of the way through the season these are "fantasy league stats". Lex is playing with confidence and tangibly ahead of where she was a year ago in every stat. Monica has been a great addition as has Freeman. No question conference will be considerably more challenging but I like our chances of improving markedly vs. last years PAC 12 results.

I posted something to effect of I liked how in the MVSU game the players still found ways to contribute even when the numbers started going sideways. We take the good with the bad, and great players find ways to continue to help their team even when other aspects of their game are struggling. I think that's what we saw. As I posted, we weren't there and didn't see the game, but clearly JR Payne had complete confidence in the guards as you can see from their long minutes.

Hey give MVSU credit, they play basketball too. They were definitely ready for that game, and if the MVSU game to reschedule Boise State dropping the scheduled game wasn't a "trap game" I don't know what is.

I don't know that any margin of victory over MVSU would have been a "win." They just aren't a competitive team, but let's give them credit for raising their game. I'm grateful it was actually a competitive game, and the Buffs had a scare. That's a better outcome than just running them into the ground as everyone expected. You don't get better without meaningfuul competition.

This team will be defined by JR Payne having the Buffs playing tough and smart basketball going forward. However, she's working with what she has right now. What a JR Payne team looks like five years from now is going to be very different than what a Buffs team looks like before she's had a chance to recruit anybody. I have complete confidence in JR Payne. I love the turnaround. However, not everything that happened last season can be blamed on Linda, and it would be completely unfair to not recognize that most of these same players realistically weren't put in situations last season where they could realistically help the team find success.

There is a big difference for a new coach in trying to inculcate a culture change towards winning basketball games, as opposed to letting talented individuals pursue their own agenda during games. I've seen a lot of great players in NCAAW that could do very special things, but I didn't always see them do those things in ways that helped their teams win. Does that make sense?

Atchley wasn't putting up incredible point totals for Washington on their run to the Final-Four last season, and didn't need to with Kelsey Plum in the backcourt, but she was playing long minutes every single game. I think any reasonable Buffs fan would recognize at this point that Atchley was a much more special player than Linda ever recognized. As talented as our Sophomores are, they would have been better served to have been playing behind Alexus Atchley last season here in Boulder. Great basketball players find ways to help their team beyond just their "role numbers," and in a tough game it was encouraging to see the Buffs contribute in ways that were beyond just their primary offensive role. That's a sign of maturity and experience I think. We didn't always see that last year and its great to see that now.

I don't think the Buffs lose to MVSU last year, even as rough as things were. MVSU is literally in the handful (think three or four) of worst basketball teams in all of NCAAW Div-I. I don't think its fair to last year's team to suggest the Buffs couldn't win that game. Last year's team is arguably the better roster (with Swan and Huggins).

I realistically think an alternate reality fantasy CU team with a Buffs starting five of Esther Lee, Alexus Atchley & Arielle Roberson, Zoe Correal, and Bri Watts could probably beat that MVSU team if given a chance to play together last season. Which is to say that some of the most talented athletes for CU weren't even on the roster last season, and that MVSU is really really bad.

What I never understood with Linda why she couldn't look past what a player wasn't to recognize what a player was. Esther Lee and Alexus Atchley should have been on the roster every season until they graduated. Arielle Roberson should have finished her career as a Buff. Zoe Correal and Bri Watts were never really even allowed to develop. We don't know what happened the last couple of years, but obviously something wasn't right. You can tell this season just how much different the same players are playing with just a culture and a coaching change.

Still you are exactly right. It was a win, and a win is a win, always.

 

[OUBuff]

You are so right!

Can you expand on that?

 

[buffgal]

http://www.cubuffs.com/news/2016/12...ence-test-on-wednesday-night.aspx?path=wbball

A quote from this article

The game was a late fill-in contest added during the off-season when Boise State opted out of last Saturday's date with CU.

This game was not supposed to happen and I doubt we will see more like it.