Overall, the Buffs had some signs of life; but, they are still inconsistent on offense and defense. Hopefully, the Buffs play better and pull out a win against the Terps tomorrow. The help defense is improving; but, they gamble too much and gave up multiple threes because of this. Ultimately, the team is going to need to be more efficient on offense and rebound better if they want to make some noise this year.
Things the Buffs did well: Carlon Brown played a great game and is definitely the focal point of this offense. Askia Booker contributed offensively and looks like a legitimate player. The defense was much better compared to the Fort Lewis game and helped keep CU close in the first half when they could not get anything going. Dufault shot well from outside and Dinwiddie had flashes of good basketball throughout the game. Moreover, the team did not do anything great that really stood out to me.
More analysis after the jump...
Things the Buffs struggled with: Nate Tomlinson never seems to play a flawless game. He makes unintelligent decisions constantly and loves pushing the ball. There is nothing wrong with continually pushing the ball; yet, sometimes the smart decision is to pull the ball back out and run the offense. It seems like he never does this. Austin Dufault looked outmatched again and just seems like he cannot play efficient defense down low. He tended to drive baseline on offense when he was fed the ball, which is not a great basketball move. The baseline creates another defender that can easily be avoided. Additionally, there was one play where Sharpe drove baseline and jumped in the air and had no idea what to do. Overall, the team needs to be more disciplined. A lot of stupid decisions continually kill the Buffs when they are trying to stay in the game. Lastly, the team needs to rebound better. Boxing out is key to good rebounding and sometimes the Buffs just forget about it.
Up Next: The Buffs will play the Maryland Terrapins at 4:30 tomorrow on ESPN3. They need to improve on defense and have a better offensive game plan. Mark Turgeon is a good coach and his teams are always strong defensively. I think the Buffs will pull out a win; but, you never know with this team. Hopefully, Roberson has a much better game and Brown repeats his performance tonight to get the Buffs a victory.