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Woelk: Bzdelik's first year stirs memories of 2-10
Guaranteed, there are days when Jeff Bzdelik wonders what in the name of heaven possessed him to take the Colorado basketball job.
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Wednesday night had to have been one of those moments.
CU's 68-57 loss to Baylor stretched the Buffs' losing streak to four and was Colorado's 10th loss in its last 11 games. The Buffs are now 2-11 in the Big 12, 10-17 overall and are virtually assured of finishing dead last in the conference standings.
With numbers like those, Bzdelik couldn't help but occasionally long for the days of cozy Clune Arena and the Air Force Academy.
But the numbers that might best describe Bzdelik's first season at Colorado?
Try 2-10. If those figures don't ring a bell, here's a hint: remember Dan Hawkins' first year at Colorado.
Now look back to Hawkins' second year, when his players had at least a taste of his system under their belt, and CU fans saw a glimpse of what the future will hold. Throw in the recruiting class that Hawkins just assembled, and it's hard to find an objective voice who doesn't see a bright future for Hawkins' program.
The only surprise from CU's basketball program will be if Bzdelik doesn't mirror that progress -- or advance at even a faster pace.
Of course, Bzdelik isn't the type to look down the road and count on brighter days in the future. Bzdelik is the kind of guy who bleeds with every loss, who hurts every time he and his players walk off on the short end of a long night.You can see it in his face, read it in his eyes at the end of every game.
But Wednesday night, Bzdelik stepped away from the pain of another loss long enough to credit his players with playing hard -- even when the rewards are minimal. Those are the moments that keep a coach going in the midst of a rough season.
"Our backs might be broke, but our spirit isn't," Bzdelik said. "They are hustling all the way to the end. They battled and fought and scrapped.
"I'm really proud to be the coach of this team."
If he took the time to objectively look at not just this season, but what's ahead for his program, Bzdelik would see the light on the horizon. He'd see the improvement his young players (Levi Knutson, Cory Higgins) have made in just a few months under his system. He'd see his incoming recruiting class, and remember that they are the type of players that plenty of other schools wanted. He'd look down the bench and see redshirts Casey Crawford and Jeremy Williams, and know that their physical presence next year will give the Buffs a much different look.
He'd know that the future is promising.
But like most coaches, Bzdelik concentrates only on what happened last night and what's coming up next. He's no different than Hawkins, whose first year at Colorado became undoubtedly the longest season of his career -- and one he still draws upon in moments of adversity.
No doubt, this is a season that has tested Bzdelik like no other in his career. Sleepless nights, long days and almost certainly those brief moments of doubt. Lose enough games, and those moments are a given.
But the guess here is that like other coaches worth their mettle, he will survive. He'll look at players like Marcus Hall, a young man who plays every game like its his last, and he'll remember why he chose to become a coach.
Then he'll take a deep breath and know that he's in the right place. He'll have confidence in his system, his style, his way of approaching the game.
And very soon, this 2-10 season will serve only as a reminder of where the CU basketball program came from -- and not where it's going.
Posted by barney56 on February 28, 2008 at 5:11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Would Ricardo Patton have won as many games this season with the same personnel?
Are the players Bzdelik has recruited better than what his predecessor brought in?
Is the AFA offense appropriate for the more athletic Big 12?
Is this program truly on the right track with Jeff Bzdelik at the helm?
Posted by cuav8er on February 28, 2008 at 6:29 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Barney56 you seem to be the Chicken Little of the bball program. Your arguments are the same we heard last year about the football program. If you don't have anything positive to say about the rebuild of the program then shut up for now and give it a chance. If after 3-4 years and we see the same results then you can start running your mouth again because by then most of us will be saying the same things. The sky isn't falling, but Bz seriously has his hands full trying to build a program where there really has never been one.
Posted by barney56 on February 28, 2008 at 6:50 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Answers:
1) Patton would have probably had a similar record to Bzdelik's this season at CU
2) While the players Bzdelik has recruited to CU may be as good as Patton's, nothing shows them to be superior. Many of Patton's players are in the pros now (primarily in Europe, or in the CBA).
3) The "AFA offense" does not seem to be the right choice for the much more athletic Big 12.
4) We'll know in 3 or 4 years.
Posted by cuav8er on February 28, 2008 at 7:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
BTW it really isn't the "AFA offense" it is a version of the Princeton style offense which if I am not mistaken Georgetown runs. Seems to me they are doing fine at 10 or 11 if you look at the rankings. We'll surely know in 3-4 years. If it is not the NBA is it really the pros? Maybe semi pro would be a better fit.
Posted by tallisal on February 28, 2008 at 7:41 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Actually the Football team hasn't done that great, it's all expectations... (unless you call a 6 win season great)...
Much like Callahan in Nebraska was, except Callahan had better recruiting classes...
Posted by barney56 on February 28, 2008 at 7:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Semi pro, call it what you will. The point is that Patton brought in some decent talent, and the jury is still out as to whether Bzdelik can do better.
Posted by JAWS on February 28, 2008 at 9:01 a.m. (Suggest removal)
tallisall - you're the ultimate idiot! Hawkins had a similar record after 2 seasons - yeah we'll give you that... But Hawkins has his players respect, the fans respect, the administrations respect... Callahan's own players once tried to rip his head off ( See Raiders...) a little bit different. And yeah he took good recruits and made them mediocre. Hawkins has made his current players bigger, stronger, faster, etc... Hope I don't see you at the spring game, I'll recognize you as the isolated soul alone with the black cloud hanging over your head sitting somewhere up in the nosebleeds. By the way Gary, how is Scottsdale at this time of year?...
Posted by CABuffalo on February 28, 2008 at 9:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
The players Patton brought to the program - other than Mr. CU BBall (Billups) were all vastly over rated underachievers with suspect work ethics. Case in point David Harrison and Roby. How long was Patton a CU coach again? After all that time at the program he produced 1 - count em - ONE legitamte NBA starter. The talent he acquired was average at best, and to top it all of he didn't know how to coach the players to make them better. Patton never brought in players like Corry Higgins, Crawford, Toby Veal - and I'll virtually gaurantee you the recruits will get even better than that. This whole mess was expected, and if anyone thought otherwise they aren't very in tune with reality. The players Buzz inherited lack confidence, don't know how to close out games, and are under an ENTIRELY different system from what they are used to. I'll take bets that CU is in the NCAA Tourney in a couple years.
Posted by tallisal on February 28, 2008 at 10:02 a.m. (Suggest removal)
JAWS, whether Hawkins has his players respect, fans, admin ect ect is open to debate...
I mean who is going to publicly badmouth him from within..
All we read is what the CU PR machine puts out for the newspapers...
2-10 and 6-7 with a minor bowl loss is what Hawk has accomplished...And like it or not, that is TERRIBLE....
win 9 games this season and I'll sing his praises..
Posted by Micah on February 28, 2008 at 10:19 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Didn't Patton only win 7 games with pretty much the same squad?
He did a lot for CU over the years but it was time for him to move on.
Posted by GoBuffs07 on February 28, 2008 at 12:43 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think both our football team and basketball team have a long way to go.
I think this is a feel good article but doesn
t mean anything.
Posted by tallisal on February 28, 2008 at 2:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hawk got a fairly good recruiting class this year but they will all be freshmen this season..
Darrell Scott will have unrealistic expectations thrown on his freshman shoulders...
The buffs need an upgrade at QB, WR and OL for this offense to maximize Scott's ability.. Let's see if any of that happens...
and please, cut down on the reverses and end arounds, no one is fooled and they mostly lead to big losses..
Posted by mulder1010 on February 29, 2008 at 1:57 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Barney----- way off base!!! Georgetown runs a system clost to what CU is doing and it is going quite well. HMMMMM a final 4 appearance last season and actually played UNC's style in the east region final to beat them. Here is the problem with what you have said. Players in the NBDL or in Europe. I think what we want are NBA type players, not developmental type players.
Patton's players played very selfish and can not play well in a Princeton type offense. Washington St. has done well with that offense, so has ASU this season. Have to get the right type of player to play in this offense.
Patton was in the right place at the right time. His time at CU should have been over a year earlier.
Posted by bouldabuff on February 29, 2008 at 4:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Patton's time at CU should have been over a decade earlier!!!
Posted by rswright on March 11, 2008 at 4:01 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Hey, what did you expect? CU was predicted to be twelth at the beginning of the season.
Terrible is when you are expected to do better and don't so this wasn't terrible. Everyone knows a new coach with a new system needs time to coach and that is all that happened.
At the same time look at Hawk and
the enthusiasm he has created. He has inspired confidence in our loyal fans and Bzdelik is doing the same. How about a little patience?
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