Saturday Buff Bites - Dan Hawkins "A-Okay"

Hawkins A-Okay - CUBuffs.com

Dave Plati of the CU Sports Information Department says coach Hawk is doing fine and should have been released yesterday:

University of Colorado head football coach Dan Hawkins is resting comfortably following a surgical procedure to remove a kidney stone Thursday afternoon.

Tim's mailbag: Can Hawkins really lead CU to 10 wins in 2009? - ESPN

Tim Griffin takes another look at Hawk's now prolific 10 win proclamation.

Brandon Brown of Minneapolis writes: Tim, I'm a Colorado fan who is wondering if it's fair to expect a strong showing from the Buffaloes this season? With Dan Hawkins in place long enough to have "his players" in place, it seems to be reasonable to expect 8-9 wins. Do you think this is realistic?

Tim Griffin: Brandon, it seems that Hawkins has high expectations after last season and expects to win "10 games with no excuses" this season. In Hawkins' defense, he didn't say whether he was including a bowl game and a championship game into the final win total. But it's clear that Hawkins must have some confidence in his team if he expects them to play that well. The Buffaloes do have one of the conference's best running games and a deep offensive line that should be able to move the ball consistently. I don't know about their quarterbacking combination with Cody Hawkins and Tyler Hansen and I think they'll miss the big-play capabilities that Josh Smith gave them. I also think they need some help on the defense front breaking in a new starting rotation, but I really like Shaun Mohler and Jeff Smart at linebacker and Jimmy Smith at cornerback. That being said, I expect the Buffaloes to be competitive in the Big 12 North. The fact that all of their major North Division rivals -- Missouri, Nebraska and Kansas -- all will be home games should help them. When all of that is considered, I think the Buffaloes have a got shot to win eight games and return to a bowl game this season. And with a break or two, it wouldn't shock me to see them barge into North Division title contention -- and maybe even live up to Hawkins' bold prediction.

Fair assessment, like most of the things we talk about here...there are a lot of "ifs" but it is fun to talk about 8 and 9 wins, even if it was all started by Hawkins' "10 win" talk.

Former Buffs take long shot at NBA : Boulder Daily Camera
Chris Tomasson of the BDC writes a pretty honest article about three former Buffs trying to make NBA teams: David Harrison, Richard Roby and Dominique Coleman. It looks like David Harrison is still carrying some of the same issues that stopped him from being a completely dominant player at the college level:

All three former Colorado players have hopes of future NBA play, with Harrison having the best chance based upon his size and previous experience. But Harrison isn't doing himself any favors. Harrison said he played at 250 pounds in China before returning to the U.S. in April. But he's since packed on 20 pounds due to inactivity, and doesn't look close to being NBA ready.

Mike Brown (Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach) said it's too early to say whether Harrison could get an invitation to Cavaliers training camp this fall. The general consensus around the league is Harrison still must prove he's serious about making the necessarily commitment to play in the NBA.

Woelk: Interest in Bzdelik not a bad thing : Boulder Daily Camera
Neill Woelk of the BDC writes a whole article about one thing when it comes to the Jeff Bzdelik talk: being wanted isn't a bad thing.

Minnesota's interest is actually an affirmation that CU has the right guy in the position. A coach who has won barely 33 percent of his games at CU in two years must be doing something right if he's still drawing interest for one of the top 32 jobs in the world in his profession.