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Stillwater blues
Posted February 7, 2008
So what does a good Catholic boy order at Eskimo Joe's in Stillwater, Okla., on Ash Wednesday?
A fried catfish sandwich. It was a feast but I probably should have fasted instead.
In 2010, if the Buffs have a better men's basketball team and you can get tickets, making the trip to Gallagher-Iba Arena might be worth looking into. The facility is the perfect mix of old tradition and new money. And I'm sure the atmosphere is better when the two worst teams in the Big 12 aren't going at it on a school night.
I can tell you that no one is more frustrated with the Buffs' season than Jeff Bzdelik. The new head coach had to take a few minutes to compose himself after the 64-63 loss before talking to me outside of the visitors locker room. It's not that he didn't want to talk. He just wanted to make sure he didn't say anything out of emotion that he might regret.
There are some players on the team the coaching staff seems to be very proud of. There are players on the team with bright futures in the Big 12. And there are also some guys who don't seem to get it.
So sometimes Bzdelik has to bite his lip. Which is the right thing to do when it comes to college kids.
The good news: Help is on the way.
Bzdelik believes he is putting together what could be one of the best shooting teams in the country. There will be some growing pains with seven or eight new faces next season, but look for the Buffs to create a buzz in 2009-10.
As for rswright's question on how much the basketball operations center will cost: It's about a $1 million project. The basketball practice facility CU needs to break ground on to keep Bzdelik around long-term will probably be around $10 million.
Since I'm new on this beat I have a question for any Buffs hoops junkies or historians out there: Where do you think Richard Roby ranks among the all-time CU greats?
Personally, I've been impressed with the way the senior has bought into the new system and conducted himself with the media. He looks like an NBA talent to me if he can find the right team.
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Posted by NJBuff on February 7, 2008 at 11:14 a.m.
Thanks for the blog Ryan! We are so bad this year its not even humerous.
After his sophomore season, I thought if Rich stayed in school one more year he would solidify his status as a top 20 pick. He's not even close.
He hasn't led his team to the NCAA tournament. He led the team to one NIT and we lost in the first round to Old Dominion. I think he's won 2 Big 12 Tourney games.
He's a good guy who has bought into Bz's system. We wasted his talent surrounding him with players that had no business playing in the Big 12.
Posted by bouldabuff on February 7, 2008 at 1:19 p.m.
I think Richard's career here at CU could have been a great one--but sadly his talent was wasted by one of the worst coaches in D-1 bball. Ricardo was a great recruiter and assistant but had no business being a head coach for ELEVEN years. Coach Patton instilled a culture of apathy, laziness, and mediocrity in Boulder. Our program failed Richard Roby.
Posted by NJBuff on February 8, 2008 at 9:04 p.m.
Patton was good for us during the Billups years and was ok during the David Harrison years and that's it. I don't see how Patton was a good recruiter besides bringing in those 2, and maybe Morandais and Roby. I think the 10 years we gave him were more than enough.
I supported the General, but when David Harrison underachieved (he took us to 1 NCAA tourney after choosing us over North Carolina)I knew it was time to move on.
I'm extremely happy with Bzdelik, even though we stink this year and we're probably going to start 3 freshman next year so I can't imagine it getting much better. We need to ramp up the facilites so that we can tell the next batch of recruits that at some point in their Buff career they will see improvement.