BOULDER – You win as a professional, you lose as a professional, and you improve as a professional.
In the following days of their disappointing 88-83 loss to the No. 20 Colorado State Rams on Wednesday night, freshman Cody Williams and the Colorado Buffaloes have done just that – even switching up their usual morning practice agenda in hopes of fixing their ongoing miscues. With the Pepperdine Waves on Sunday, Dec. 3, and the No. 8-ranked Miami Hurricanes a week later on Dec. 10, Colorado is dedicated to growing from the five-point loss.
“(The) biggest thing is to not let it weigh you down,” Williams said, “just learning from it, and moving on.
“...We had a lot of careless turnovers, careless mistakes on offense, we weren’t guarding well. We just kind of broke that down and learned from that for the next game for Pepperdine. We just trying to get better each day and learn from the loss.”
With seven games under their belt, all the issues Williams mentioned have remained prevalent. Averaging 14.1 turnovers per game while giving up 70.1 points to their opponents per contest (17.5 TOVs and 82.5 points to opponents in their two losses), the Buffs have to work quickly to prepare for the challenging Pac-12 play arriving at the end of December.
While the black and gold still boast a record of 5-2, the roster that many have claimed as the best roster head coach Tad Boyle has had in his now 14-year tenure at Colorado has some fans worried. With the hype turning into critiques and criticism, Williams and the Buffs look to block out the noise and find the spark that ignites the talented CU squad.
“We just got to come out with energy and that fire,” Williams said. “Remember that feeling of losing to Florida State, being in the locker room after that Colorado (State) game. So, just taking that fire to the next game and just dominating whoever is in front of us.”
As an individual, however, Williams admittedly is still learning to deal with the noise surrounding the Buffs and the numerous rankings, projections, and expectations attached to the 19-year-old’s name.
“It’s really easy to get down on yourself when you see other people, you know, having such great success,” Williams said. “So the biggest thing for me is to just keep my head down, keep working, and stay humble.”
As a former ESPN No. 7 high school recruit in the nation, Williams has also had to deal with the unfortunate, ugly side of facing adversity early. After losing in Fort Collins, many CSU fans went out of their way to let Williams hear it as they entered his personal space as fans stormed the court after the huge Rams’ win.
“I think the hard part was just after the game when they’re, you know, running up to you, bumping into you with their phones, flashlights on,” Williams said. “I think that just comes with the professional part. You got to win as a professional, you got to lose as a professional.
“...I think I did a good job of handling it. Obviously, it’s rough when they’re yelling slurs in your face and stuff like that. But, I think, for the most part, we did a pretty good job of handling it.”
With the loss and the postgame antics (and disgusting racism) in the past, Williams consulted his older brother Jalen as he does after most games. Jalen, a second-year guard for the Oklahoma City Thunder who finished second in last year’s NBA Rookie of the Year race, shared his professional, brotherly advice on dealing with the unfortunate side effects of being an NBA-caliber talent.
“‘You don’t want to waste or ruin your career,’” Williams said regarding what his brother told him. “...‘They’re not going where you’re going.’ And he was like, ‘It’s a good thing you didn’t retaliate.’ He was just making sure, you know, if they tried to do anything, his little brother all good.”
The help doesn’t just stop there. As Williams does with the team, he and Jalen also went over the stinging loss where younger bro poured in 21 second half points and snagged three rebounds.
“We talked about the game, broke down what I need to work on,” Williams said, “getting to my mid-range, then being active off-ball (on defense).”
With a few days to get their mental space right while working to fix the plaguing mistakes that have led to two early losses, Williams – who is averaging 12.8 points on 60.4% shooting along with 3.5 rebounds, and two assists through six games played – and the Buffaloes look for a confidence-boosting, Sunday afternoon win over Pepperdine before they head to Brooklyn, New York for the 2023 NABC Brooklyn Showcase to face off against No. 8 Miami (FL) on Dec. 10.
Cover photo by Alex Stein/Sko Buffs Sports
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