Posts tagged out of
Balanced Buffs Hold Off Vandals In Opener
Nov 12th
BOULDER – Linda Lappe knew depth would be among her third Colorado women’s basketball team’s strong suits – and it took only one game into the 2012-13 season for verification.
With returning scoring leader Chucky Jeffery benched for a violation of team rules, CU got contributions of some variety from nearly everyone Lappe used in a 70-65 win over Idaho on Sunday afternoon.
“Everybody gave us good minutes . . . the players off the bench came in and did their jobs,” Lappe said. “Everybody stepped up at different times. No one player dominated the game, and that’s what you want to see.”
CU junior guard Brittany Wilson led all scorers with 18 points, including eight-of-eight from the free throw line. Four of Wilson’s foul shots were clutch, coming in the final 17.9 seconds as the Buffaloes were holding off the hard-to-bury Vandals. Her eight made free throws were a career high, her eight attempts tied a career high.
The Buffs also received a strong debut performance from Arielle Roberson, and if a single player did flirt with dominance at the Coors Events Center, it would be the redshirt freshman from San Antonio.
Roberson, an athletic 6-1 forward, sat out her first season while rehabilitating from hip surgery. CU coaches believed her return would boost the Buffs’ inside play as well as their defense – and they were correct.
In addition to her 16 points, Roberson collected six rebounds and blocked two shots. She also contributed five steals – one in the final minutes when the Vandals were continuing to make the Buffs uncomfortable.
“She did some really good things,” Lappe said. “In the second half, there was one stretch where she came off the bench for the very last time and we really needed her to step up. She did that.”
Of Roberson’s overall contribution, Lappe added, “That’s who Arielle is . . . she can score in a lot of different ways. She’s going to play a lot of different positions for us. She’s probably a little more effective on the block than anywhere else, but she’s going to keep getting better than what we saw today.”
After a year’s absence, Roberson simply was elated to get back onto the court. “I just wanted to go out and play like I know I can and show everybody what I can bring to this team,” she said. “My family was here (the Robersons watched Arielle’s older brother, Andre, open with the CU men’s team on Friday night) and of course it was my first game, so that’s extra motivation as well. I also don’t like to lose, so I think my drive to win was definitely a good push.”
And the Buffs definitely needed it to finally put away the Vandals, who lost their opening game at Wyoming 86-53. Idaho scored Sunday’s first basket, but that 2-0 lead was the visiting team’s last advantage. That doesn’t mean CU went unchallenged the rest of the way; in fact, the Buffs’ first afternoon on the court was a wire-to-wire fight.
“It was definitely tighter than we thought it was going to be,” Brittany Wilson said. “I think you see what we’re saying about this team being so special now . . . you never think your first game is going to be so close, but it was. We were about to come together as a team; we fought until the end and ended up coming out on top.”
Lappe credited Idaho: “They came out and fought and kept coming at us, which was great. It was a great game for us to be in.”
Of the ten players Lappe used, nine scored; and nine of those ten players’ minutes were in double figures. Lappe cited off-the-bench contributions by Lexy Kresl, who drained three-pointers on two of CU’s first three second-half possessions, and Jen Reese, who scored six of her eight points during the first 10 minutes of the second half. Roberson also got half of her total during that span.
Lappe said Jeffery could be reinstated for CU’s trip to Missouri-Kansas City on Sunday, Nov. 18. Had Jeffery not been in the lineup last season against Idaho, the Buffs would have been in trouble. With the Vandals up 59-58 with just over 2 minutes remaining in that meeting, Jeffery went on a tear, scoring seven of her career-best 30 points to rescue the Buffs, 68-59.
But CU would have to do without Jeffery this time around – and her teammates coped well. Idaho’s Ali Forde scored the game’s first points, but the Vandals’ 2-0 lead – the last of the afternoon – was quickly erased by a Meagan Malcolm-Peck three-pointer. Roberson took over from there, scoring CU’s next six points. Malcolm-Peck and Brittany Wilson combined for 10 of the next 15 points as the Buffs built an 11-point (25-14) cushion.
The Vandals wouldn’t go away then or later. They used an 11-2 run to pull to 27-25, before baskets by Jasmine Sborov and Rachel Hargis gave the Buffs a 31-26 halftime lead.
CU ended the first half with 11 turnovers, a number that didn’t please Lappe. But in the second half, especially coming out of time outs, she said her team’s overall execution was better: “We did a much better job . . . of scoring or at least getting a shot out of a timeout and being a little bit more careful with the ball, which you could see in our turnovers.” CU cut its second-half turnovers to seven, finishing with 18.
Behind Kresl’s three-point shooting and Roberson’s inside work, the Buffs built a pair of eight-point leads in the first 6 minutes of the second half. Kresl pair of treys during that span marked her 19th career game with two or more three-pointers.
But the Vandals weren’t lacking for long-distance shooters. They got treys from Connie Ballestero, Christina Salvatore and Stacey Barr to creep to within four (43-39) with 14 minutes to play.
“We have seen it; we saw it last year a little bit,” Lappe said of Idaho’s long balls. “They have quick releases and get off shots fast.”
Thanks to Roberson, CU was able to temporarily pull away before Idaho could fashion its next run. She scored consecutive baskets to restore a double-digit Buffs lead (54-44), but the Vandals weren’t folding.
They closed to 56-50 on a conventional three-point play by Alyssa Charlston (team-best 16 points) and a trey by Krissy Karr, then to 56-52 on another basket by Charlston with just over 5:30 remaining. Another three-pointer by Karr less than 2 minutes later pulled Idaho to three back (58-55), but CU answered with one of two free throws by Roberson and an Ashley Wilson layup to go ahead 61-55.
The Vandals answered on three of four free throws by Charlston to cut their deficit to 61-60 with 3:04 remaining. Ashley Wilson responded with another layup for a 63-60 CU lead. After an Idaho miss and a CU rebound, Reese hit a pair of clutch foul shots to put the Buffs up 65-60 with 51.6 seconds to play, and Roberson followed by hitting one of two free throws 11 seconds later for a 66-60 CU advantage.
Idaho called timeout with 37.2 seconds remaining, then another with 22.5 showing after the Vandals couldn’t get off a shot. When they did, they missed, but a double foul was called. Brittany Wilson and Charlston each made their free throws (68-62), then Barr hit a long trey to draw the Vandals to within 68-65.
With 13.8 seconds left, Brittany Wilson’s pair of foul shots gave the Buffs their final five-point advantage.
“Win No. 1 is good to get; it feels good,” Lappe said. “It was great to play somebody else other than ourselves. We have a lot of things to work on but we’re happy where we’re at . . . we had a lot of different players step up in crucial situations, which was good to see.”
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
Brooks: Day’s Need Was ‘D’ But Buffs Didn’t Deliver
Nov 12th
TUCSON, Ariz. – Colorado changed quarterbacks here Saturday in hopes of generating a little more offense – and the Buffaloes got a little more than in five previous Pac-12 Conference blowouts. Just a little ‘D’ was needed – but the Buffs delivered even less than that.
There are plenty of horrific stats being accumulated in CU’s waning 2012 season, but what happened in Arizona Stadium offers an ugly encapsulation: Arizona’s 574 yards in total offense was only the fourth-highest total by a CU opponent this fall. And the Wildcats’ 56 points were only the third-most allowed by the Buffs. But it was the fifth time a 2012 opponent has put up 50 or more points on them.
CU’s carnage by yards: Fresno State, 665; Oregon, 617; Arizona State, 593; Arizona, 574. The beatings by points: Oregon, 70; Fresno State, 69; Arizona, 56; ASU, 51; USC, 50.
CU’s defense has forgotten how to spell S-T-O-P. And as for stopping the run, well, check with Arizona’s Ka’Deem Carey, who spent as much time in CU’s secondary as the Buffs’ DBs.
Carey on, Ka’Deem – and he did, rushing for a Pac-12 record 366 yards and five touchdowns. He turned in a career-long 71 yarder, a 64-yarder, and accounted for 14 of the Wildcats’ 16 rushing first downs. When the Buffs closed their eyes Saturday night, they might have still seen Carey running past them.
And Arizona’s numbers could have been uglier. Backup quarterback B.J. Denker started instead of Pac-12 total offense leader Matt Scott, who sat this one out with a concussion. Scott accounts for 357.4 yards a game, and his expected absence, according to CU defensive coordinator Greg Brown, had the Buffs focused on dealing with Carey.
Brown called Scott a “tremendous player . . . sure, you’re looking at who might replace him. But we knew the whole issue was going to be (Carey). There was no secret. That was a big deal all week for us in our preparations. We had a certain goal to keep (Carey) contained and obviously didn’t happen.”
Brown said his unit had seen hours of tape demonstrating Carey’s ability to “break-kick” out of tackles. “That was no surprise,” he said. “Our defenders knew that going in. Coach (Rich) Rodriguez has implemented a great system and (Carey) fits that to a ‘T.’ With all those cutback runs, if you’re not in your gap then he’s going to hurt you. And he obviously hurt us to a huge extent.”
The Buffs couldn’t have slowed Carey with a restraining order, and the fact that they once again missed tackles and blew gap assignments compounded their long day of being run into the ground.
Junior linebacker Derrick Webb was at a loss to explain why he and his teammates continue to struggle against zone-read option offenses: “I couldn’t tell you that,” he said. “Every game plan we get we try to execute it. Coach Brown does a great job finding ways for us to combat the zone-read offense. It’s just a tough deal . . . you can’t do it nine out of ten times; that last time they’ll hit you and hit you hard for a bunch of yards. We’ve got guys playing as hard as they can; we’ve just got to be sound.”
On offense, it appeared they were getting sounder. The Buffs’ 31 points were their second most this season, behind the 35 they scored in the conference-opening win at Washington State nearly two months ago. CU also totaled 437 yards Saturday, second to the 531 at Wazzu and 361 more than the output the previous weekend (76) against Stanford. And those 31 points were a very nice upgrade over the zero scored against the Cardinal.
But in the interest of full Pac-12 disclosure, Saturday’s stats came against an Arizona defense that was allowing 497.3 yards and 35 points a game – ranking the Wildcats lower (No. 12) than the Buffs among the league’s defensive units.
So when the Buffs touched down here Friday, they meant to hit the ground running and passing under new quarterback Nick Hirschman, who was effective until leaving the game in the third quarter with concussion symptoms. Actually, he should have left earlier than he did; CU allowed two sacks, one coming after a groggy Hirschman forgot the play he’d called and wound up spun to the turf, according to Buffs coach Jon Embree.
“That’s how we start the third quarter,” Embree said, noting that a delay of game penalty on CU also was the product of Hirschman being woozy. “Those issues with the clock . . . we didn’t realize Hirschman had gotten dinged early in third.”
Other than that and an interception that eventually led to an Arizona score, Embree said Hirschman “managed the offense and gave us a chance on that side. He handled checks well; he had his moments.”
When Hirschman was sidelined, Connor Wood relieved him and also had his moments, although Embree said if Hirschman’s health permits he likely will start next Saturday against Washington. Of Wood, Embree said, “He was fine when he got in there. It’s just part of the growing pains with those guys . . . I’m pleased overall with how that position played this week. They did a lot better job of managing it, a lot better job of taking check downs. We had some plays downfield but weren’t comfortable . . . so they didn’t force it.”
But the afternoon eventually came back to the CU defense and its inability to slow Carey. Arizona scored on seven consecutive possessions spanning the first and second halves and was forced to punt only twice. Said Embree of his defense: “It was not a good performance.”
Webb pointed to “the same issues all season” surfacing again Saturday – pinpointing the Buffs allowing runners to hit the edge, successfully cut back and reel off large runs. Webb called Carey “a great back . . . he was able to cut it back. A couple of times guys could have been in gaps better (but) he found the gap and went for a long ways.
“The thing about the zone-read offense – it’s all about being sound. You can have ten guys playing their butts off, but all it takes is one gap – and he was able to find that gap. He was able to hit it hard and it’s off to the races.”
Scoff if you want, but Brown believes his unit has made improvement during the course of this wearing, one-win season. But, he conceded, “It’s hard to see . . . it’s really hard on a day like to sit there and talk about that. There are young kids who are getting better. We started five freshmen on defense; they’ve got to get better. But it isn’t just the freshmen; we’ve got to get better across the board. The accountability has to be there for all of us . . .”
Webb contended the Buffs’ ‘D’ still has something left for the season’s final two games – next Saturday vs. Washington, Nov. 23 vs. Utah, with both at Folsom Field. “We put it all out every game and that’s what we’re going to do these last two,” he said. “We’ve got a lot more to give, especially after a game like this. We always want to come back and be strong for the next week.
“Yeah, we have been (gashed). It’s been a tough season for us. As tough as it is, though, it only makes us stronger, as crazy as that may sound. We’ve been through a lot, but it’s all about how you come back and play the next game.”
After 10 mostly futile weeks, the ‘D’ has two more chances to improve. After that comes as long an off-season as CU has experienced. It isn’t what anyone expected, but it’s what is left of the remains.
[includeme src=”http://c1n.tv/boulder/media/bouldersponsors.html” frameborder=”0″ width=”670″ height=”300″]
Vote Obama – Government Oversight Critical By Scott Hatfield
Oct 31st
By Scott Hatfield
With serious differences on corporate and government accountability and the concentration of wealth and power at the very top, folks should be feeling compelled to vote for Obama. Here in Boulder, most people will vote and vote democratic. However, there are some compelling reasons to vote for Obama if you are a Green, moderate Republican, unmotivated, or middle of the road.
With Ruth Bader Ginsburg planning to retire in 2015, her replacement by a far right corporatist would have serious consequences for decades on a wide variety of issues. Whether it is a woman’s right to choose, global warming, campaign finance, toxic waste, voter intimidation and suppression, public lands extraction, public health, or civil liberties, cementing right wing control would be a blow to the rights of all Americans. With the appointments of Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayer, the President has shown appropriate and reasonable judgment.
Government oversight and regulation of large powerful corporations plays a critical role in protecting the safety of the American people. For a wide variety of issues, the Republicans keep repeating that regulations are the problem. We need to act to prevent a corporate free for all. The top issue on regulations has been health care reform. Privatizing Medicare through a voucher system while removing oversight would raise premiums while unleashing corporate profits at the expense of the sick and wounded. Health care needs to be about healing people rather than absolving accountability for the powerful. The argument against Obamacare is the same as the argument against oversight of toxic material. With cancer overtaking heart disease as the nation’s top killer, the purpose of collusion between these disparate but connected industries reflects a self perpetuating cycle of disease as a top priority, not safety in the homeland. A lack of regard for corporate accountability pervades the Romney agenda across the board on environmental issues so important to Boulder and the quality of life everywhere be it water (#1 in CO), CO2, endangered species, public lands extraction, exploding chemical plants, or wilderness.
Most of the stated opposition to corporate accountability boils down to the economic burden on the rich and powerful corporate elite. This is especially glaring in the financial and economic sectors. For Romney, it is not a matter of the economy; it is a matter of whose economy. Republicans are all too happy to see larger and larger proportions of Americans living in poverty and despair. Again a complete lack of accountability is the mantra for the financial sector abuses that got us into this economic quagmire in the first place. Meaningful reform will not occur without oversight. Too many people have lost their homes, retirement funds, and jobs. The Wall Street giants have made their intentions clear. A regulatory regime on these bloated bankers is critical for an economy that provides a level playing field. We need a financial system capable of promoting the interests of a majority of Americans, not just those at the top. “Drill, baby, drill!’ will not get us out of the mess that Wall Street created, just ask the Frankenstorm Sandy.
Across the board, replacing any meaningful policy analysis with sound bites about burdensome regulations on large corporations will not solve our nation’s problems. If you want to get out of a hole, stop digging. While fighting multiple wars abroad under the guise of keeping the American people safe, the serious erosion of corporate responsibility at home on issues such as health care, toxic exposure and the environment, and the financial sector will do more to damage homeland safety than enemies abroad could ever hope for.
Scott Hatfield has been a member of the Central Committee of the Colorado Democratic Party and the Executive Committee of the Boulder Democratic Party since 1996.