The Colorado Men’s basketball season is about to tee off. After Saturday’s scrimmage, here are a couple of things to note about how it went.
Several recruits were in attendance, including 4-star Tacko Fawaz, a highly anticipated recruit for CU. On top of that, this was the Buffaloes' first open scrimmage, causing numerous fans to fill the CU Events Center.
The games flowed evenly and teams switched up every game. The format was four eight-minute games, and each team was coached by assistant coaches as head coach Tad Boyle watched.
FIRST GAME TEAMS
Team Black
Sebastian Rancik
Bangot Dak
Trevor Baskin
Julian Hammond
RJ Smith
Team White
Javon Ruffin
Harrison Carrington
Elijah Malone
Andrew Crawford
Andrej Jakimovski
The first game saw the freshmen getting heavy minutes, including Sebastian Rancik, who logged the entire first game and most of the scrimmage. Colorado used the 6-foot-9 Slovakian forward as a stretch big, which paid off with Rancik’s 66% 3-point shooting in the first game.
Another impressive appearance in the first game was graduate transfer Trevor Baskin. He caught an alley-oop from RJ Smith and finished through a foul, then followed that up with another and-1 opportunity on a smooth euro step.
Game one also saw the Buffs testing out their full-court pressing abilities, as after the three-minute mark, Team White found themselves down 16-8 and in a full press. The game ended with around the same score and Team Black got the job done.
Game one takeaways:
CU will use Rancik’s height and perimeter shooting to spread the floor.
Trevor Baskin’s finishing around the rim will allow CU to use him as a deadly backdoor threat.
CU’s high press will work if the cutoff man does his job and makes sure the ball gets inbounded before the free-throw line.
The second game showed a trend on how Colorado’s starting five will look. Bangot Dak was the clear big man above graduate transfer Elijah Malone with Julian Hammond as the main guard. Jakimovski played at the small forward spot with Rancik and Harrison Carrington fighting for power forward. The second guard spot was a toss-up between Javon Ruffin and RJ Smith.
The second game saw freshman Felix Kossaras’s first opportunity to run the floor for Team White while Team Black was running a smaller lineup with Ruffin, Hammond, Smith, Dak, and Carrington. Game two was back-and-forth, ending with a final score of 22-16 for Team Black. Hammond’s elite touch around the glass only improved from last year. Dak also showed improvement in his shooting abilities, sinking a three-pointer from the top of the key.
Game two takeaways:
CU’s offense generates a lot of open three-point opportunities, especially in transition
CU’s motion offense looks great but tends to crumble mid-play if the defense beats them to their spots
Rancik looks mature on the court and isn’t afraid to put the ball on the floor
Drive and kick offense works great
Multiple fliers at the glass for rebounds
THIRD GAME TEAMS
Team Black
Bangot Dak
Javon Ruffin
Harrison Carrington
Andrej Jakimovski
Felix Kossaras
Team White
Julian Hammond
RJ Smith
Trevor Baskin
Elijah Malone Sebastian Rancik
The third game built on earlier trends as Hammond began the game with an elite finish off the glass giving Team White an early 4-1 advantage. Rancik opened the lead after hitting a pair of three-pointers in a row, giving Team White a 12-4 lead. After that, Team White subbed in freshman Andrew Crawford who immediately made an impact with a three that closed the lead to four.
After a scrappy tie-up giving Team Black the possession, Team White stole the ball back almost instantly. Team Black's poor transition defense left Ruffin wide open for a go-ahead 3-pointer which bounced off the back iron and into Team White’s possession again. RJ Smith had the ball running the floor as time clicked down, putting up a buzzer-beating shot that couldn’t sit and ultimately bounced wide, ending the game 15-15.
Game three takeaways:
Offensive rebounding and glass crashing looked good…probably because defensive rebounding and boxing out did not.
The main bigs look like Dak and Malone – Diop did not play.
Poor ball handling and ball security will cost CU points and possessions
Count your pennies: Free Throws were not sinking
Julian Hammond’s touch around the glass is ELITE
FOURTH GAME TEAMS
Team Black
RJ Smith
Elijah Malone
Harrison Carrington
Sebastian Rancik
Felix Kossaras
Team White
Julian Hammond
Bangot Dak
Trevor Baskin
Javon Ruffin
Andrej Jakimovski
Game four started fast and intense. Rancik knocked down an early three off a pick-and-pop with Carrington. Carrington got the ball off the roll and went upstairs for a mean poster on Jakimovski. Team White answered back quickly with another Hammond masterclass around the rim, making the score 7-2 in favor of Team Black. Junior guard Jack Pease made his first appearance subbing in for Kossaras.
The game quickly turned into the “Harry” show as Carrington went up and came back down for another jam. The crowd was ecstatic and everybody was impressed with Carrington’s acrobatics around the rim.
The score was 11-4 in favor of Team White when Kossaras checked back in. Ruffin quickly got to work getting the game back to 11-9 with a series of dazzling plays. However, Carrington had other ideas for the game as he cut back-door and went up for yet another dunk that got the crowd on their feet. Baskin came back down the other way for a physical and-1 opportunity against Elijah Malone. The game ended 17-14 for Team White.
Game four takeaways:
Carrington is going to be fun coming off the bench
Kossaras showed some potential off the bench
The main ball handlers will be Ruffin, Hammond, and RJ Smith
Defensive switching looks rough
Allowing favorable matchups for the offense will not be fun to deal with
What to expect:
⛹️♂️Main Ball Handlers⛹️♂️
Julian Hammond
Javon Ruffin
RJ Smith
Felix Kossaras
Andrew Crawford
3️⃣-Point Specialists🏀
Andrej Jakimovski
Sebastian Rancik
🛫High Fliers🛫
Bangot Dak
Harrison Carrington
“I felt like we took a step forward this week in our conditioning... but I'll get a chance to answer that question better on Monday or Tuesday when we talk," Coach Boyle said when asked about his thoughts on the scrimmage.
On Saturday, the Buffs open up their season against Pomona-Pitzer in the CU Events Center at 3 p.m. (ESPN+).
Cover photo by Zachary Giesenschlag/Sko Buffs Sports
Commentaires