Jays opened up the season last night beating UMKC 89-82. That 7 point spread would have me concerned if it was a tight game throughout. But CU led by 24 with 8 min to go and then...well...apparently they mentally hit the showers. It was mostly what you'd expect for the first 32 minutes.
CU's starting line-up was 40% Omaha native.
Thomas started and had 16 and 6.
Marcus Foster, the transfer from KSU, started and scored 19. It's fairly well assumed he'll be the leading scorer. Shot a few more threes than I was hoping to see....want him to be the "take it to the rack" guy.
Mo Watson had 17 and 9 assists. 7 turnovers though. A little sloppy in the 2nd half. He's hard to handle though...looks to be a good season for him.
Justin Patton got the start and scored 12 with 8 rebounds. 2 lob dunks, one dunk on a fast break, one put back. CU fan will have to be patient. I'd be surprised if CU ever runs the offense through him this year. He's not strong enough yet to post up another center. But he can run the floor and he'll get some offense via pick and roll and put-backs. It will be fun to see him progress over the next few years.
It's quite a transformation CU has gone through over the last couple years. The improvement in talent and athleticism is very noticable. Zierden, Hegner and Hanson are the last of the guys that were recruited before CU knew they were going Big East. Zierden's minutes will be pretty limited IMO. That's a good thing for him in a sense because his knees have been through hell. Mac still trusts him so I imagine he'll be on the floor at important moments if Mac feels the need for experience. Hegner...meh. Hanson will be an important part of this team as he's the only legit center outside of Patton.
Frosh PG Davion Mintz will play and will back up Watson. He's going to be good but he's going to go through the typical growing pains...Watson must stay healthy. AND when CU is pounding a team like UMKC they need to keep it a wide margin so Watson isn't having to play more minutes than necessary. Frosh wing Kobe Paras is going to play as well. He was committed to UCLA and IIRC he was enrolled this summer but there was a problem with his transcipts or something (he's from the phillipines). Chose CU in the summer. This guy is super athletic. Green though.
Jays start the season ranked 22nd. Not much time to "warm up" as #9 Wisconsin comes to town Tuesday. Hopefully CU can exact some revenge on behalf of us "jayskers". Other non-conference notables...Wash. St. in the bahamas in a tourney that also has NC State and maybe another P5 program or two. Arizona State, NU and then the requisite cream puffs. 13 OOC games....I'll say 10-3. Nova and Xavier appear to be the class of the Big East this year. I'll guess 11-7 in the league, 2-1 in the conf. tourney for a total of 23-11 and a 5 seed in the dance.
p.s. CU had a 5* forward in town this weekend for an official visit. The kid is from michigan and the spartans are going to be hard to beat but the fact that a 5* used 1 of 5 officials for CU is a sign of the times. A good sign.
CU's starting line-up was 40% Omaha native.
Thomas started and had 16 and 6. Marcus Foster, the transfer from KSU, started and scored 19. It's fairly well assumed he'll be the leading scorer. Shot a few more threes than I was hoping to see....want him to be the "take it to the rack" guy.
Mo Watson had 17 and 9 assists. 7 turnovers though. A little sloppy in the 2nd half. He's hard to handle though...looks to be a good season for him.
Justin Patton got the start and scored 12 with 8 rebounds. 2 lob dunks, one dunk on a fast break, one put back. CU fan will have to be patient. I'd be surprised if CU ever runs the offense through him this year. He's not strong enough yet to post up another center. But he can run the floor and he'll get some offense via pick and roll and put-backs. It will be fun to see him progress over the next few years.
It's quite a transformation CU has gone through over the last couple years. The improvement in talent and athleticism is very noticable. Zierden, Hegner and Hanson are the last of the guys that were recruited before CU knew they were going Big East. Zierden's minutes will be pretty limited IMO. That's a good thing for him in a sense because his knees have been through hell. Mac still trusts him so I imagine he'll be on the floor at important moments if Mac feels the need for experience. Hegner...meh. Hanson will be an important part of this team as he's the only legit center outside of Patton.
Frosh PG Davion Mintz will play and will back up Watson. He's going to be good but he's going to go through the typical growing pains...Watson must stay healthy. AND when CU is pounding a team like UMKC they need to keep it a wide margin so Watson isn't having to play more minutes than necessary. Frosh wing Kobe Paras is going to play as well. He was committed to UCLA and IIRC he was enrolled this summer but there was a problem with his transcipts or something (he's from the phillipines). Chose CU in the summer. This guy is super athletic. Green though.
Jays start the season ranked 22nd. Not much time to "warm up" as #9 Wisconsin comes to town Tuesday. Hopefully CU can exact some revenge on behalf of us "jayskers". Other non-conference notables...Wash. St. in the bahamas in a tourney that also has NC State and maybe another P5 program or two. Arizona State, NU and then the requisite cream puffs. 13 OOC games....I'll say 10-3. Nova and Xavier appear to be the class of the Big East this year. I'll guess 11-7 in the league, 2-1 in the conf. tourney for a total of 23-11 and a 5 seed in the dance.
p.s. CU had a 5* forward in town this weekend for an official visit. The kid is from michigan and the spartans are going to be hard to beat but the fact that a 5* used 1 of 5 officials for CU is a sign of the times. A good sign.
