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Buffs believe in Bzdelik

The Colorado Buffaloes have a new basketball coach: Jeff Bzdelik.

I'm not a very big fan of CU basketball. I've lived in or near Boulder for more than five years and I've still never been to a game. Messed up! So here's my expert commentary on the move anyway:

It's good.

Our last coach, Ricardo Patton, resigned last year, effective at the end of this season. (He wasn't fired, but the school never seemed too concerned about keeping him around.) To be fair, Patton got off to a pretty good start with Chauncey Billups and did okay with some David Harrison-centered squads. Both of those highly-touted recruits went on to the NBA. It's commendable that Patton got them to CU to begin with, but he never capitalized or built any major momentum in the recruiting wars. Thus, the program never really got any better during his tenure. And Patton wasn't considered the greatest game coach, either.

Conversely, Bzdelik is recognized as a pretty good coach. Considering his time with the Nuggets, who completely gave him the shaft, I think he's a proven coach on the NBA level. He's not Phil Jackson or anything, but he's good enough that a pro team could hire him and have nothing to be ashamed of. (If that doesn't sound like much, you obviously don't pay any attention to NBA coaching hires.) Bzdelik's done a fine job at Air Force the last two seasons. We can't say for sure what kind of recruiter he'll be-Air Force has its own set of special challenges in that area, of course-but he's good enough strictly as a coach that I'm confident he'll be an improvement overall. I'm excited.

You?

Comments

David said…
bzdelik

more like, bzdisaster.

ok, not that bad, more like, bznonfactor.

he's a name that isn't really known beyond colorado. perhaps he can tout himself as a previous nba turn-around coach. he was the interim who didn't do "too bad" betwixt a bigot and karl.

patton was so mediocre i can only see this as a step in the right direction. i think bzdelik will coach some disciplined, hard working teams. whether or not we keep any talent in the state, is the real challenge. fortunately, there aren't any other schools in colorado that offer a better program, nor competition than colorado so we should be getting the state's top recruits, if they don't want to leave the state that is.
4:01 PM
Bro T said…
Congrats on your come-from-behind victory in the Smoky Hill NCAA tourney challenge.

I don't think there's any question that Bzdlk will try to bring some semblance of discipline to the Buffs. That wouldn't have been a challenge at the Academy. The evironment at the AFA did that for him. He stepped into a great situation at Air Force. This years senior class had been recruited by Joe Scott specifically for the Princeton offense. Bzdlk took the foundation, tweaked it and raised the program it to a new level.

I think Bz's biggest challenge will be recruiting. The talent gap between CU and the front-runners in the Big 12 seems huge.

It's ironic that Joe Scott is back in Colorado. He left that nice foundation at Air Force to return to his alma mater, but wasn't able to recreate the same success.
11:48 AM
John said…
I agree with your cogent analysis, men. Bzdelik ought to be able to assemble some well-conditioned and disciplined teams, and with the rarefied Boulder air we ought to be able to win a lot of home games ala the Doug Moe Nuggets of yore.
9:08 AM
Anonymous said…
Royally
2:12 AM
Mike said…
Thanks for the props, Ukko. They keep me going through the hard times, when even anonymous posters feel secure enough to mock me. (Oh, and that was the first tournament challenge/bracket-thing I've ever won. Pathetic.)

I agree that we're well behind the best teams in the conference. I have no idea how much talent really comes from Colorado high schools, though.
8:05 AM
David said…
mike, shanahan signs a three year contract... address this please
9:27 AM
Mike said…
Sure thing. I did ignore that Masters crack.
10:33 AM
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