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Posted: Saturday October 26, 2002 9:35 PM Updated: Wednesday October 30, 2002 4:50 PM Colorado Buffaloes
The following preview is provided by Blue Ribbon. For the most thorough preview available of the upcoming season, order the 2002-03 Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, on sale now at 1-800-775-2518. Team Preview | Blue Ribbon Analysis
Colorado coach Ricardo Patton may want to carry a rabbit’s foot with him this season. Patton and his Buffaloes couldn’t seem to catch a break in 2001-02. It started in the fall, when then-freshman forward David Harrison was slowed during preseason conditioning. Harrison didn’t get into playing shape until midseason, but he still emerged as one of the Big 12’s top young post players. Harrison’s slow start was a sign of trouble to come. Michel Morandais, a junior swing player, missed three games early in the season while serving an NCAA-imposed suspension. Morandais played in France during the off-season for a team that paid players, and the NCAA investigated whether Morandais was paid before ruling him eligible. Four games into the season, senior shooting guard Nick Mohr quit the team, complaining about a lack of playing time. Forward Jason Carter, a junior-college transfer who started three games, flunked out of school after the first semester.
Freshman guard Chevis Brimmer quit the team in January -- despite starting four of the 16 games in which he played. The reason? Playing time. He averaged 18.4 minutes in the games he played. The biggest blow to the Buffs came when senior small forward D.J. Harrison -- older brother of David Harrison -- broke a bone in his right (shooting) hand with three games left in the regular season while defending a dunk against Kansas State. Harrison was able to return for the Big 12 Tournament, but was largely ineffective; he shot free throws with his left hand. By the end of the season, Patton was playing with seven scholarship players, and several walk-ons were getting playing time. "You’ve got to have some breaks," Patton says. "To win in this league is tough. You’ve got to have a few breaks. As well as being good, you’ve got to be a little lucky." Colorado has a chance to be pretty good, and it won’t hurt for Patton to get some breaks. The Buffs will have a solid frontcourt with the return of David Harrison and 6-foot-9, 240-pound Stephane Pelle. Harrison, who is 7-foot, 240 pounds, will be the starter at low post. Last season, Harrison (13.9 ppg, 7.0 rpg) was chosen to the All-Big 12 Freshman team and earned honorable-mention all-conference honors. He was third nationally and led the Big 12 in field-goal percentage (.638), a school record. His 34 blocked shots were second-best in a single-season at Colorado and his 188 rebounds were third-most in a single season at the school. He scored 20 or more points five times and hit double figures in 22 games, including 18 straight from Dec. 30 to March 2. Starting alongside Harrison in the paint will be Pelle, a senior from Yaounde, Cameroon, who played prep ball at Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy. Pelle (12.8 ppg, 10.8 rpg) became the first Buffalo in 11 years to average a double-double in a season. He started 26 of 29 games and was chosen to the Big 12’s All-Underrated team. He was second in the Big 12 in overall rebounding, second in defensive rebounds per game (7.14) and led the league in offensive rebounds per game (3.69). Pelle is the only fourth-year player on the Buffs’ roster this year. "Those guys in combination can be a really good tandem inside," Patton said. "David struggled finding his way and going through the learning curve, just like all freshman players, but they’re a good combination of guys. Both of them are good scorers. Pelle has the experience, and David learned a lot last year." The Buffs also have some frontcourt size with 6-foot-9, 220-pound junior Amadou Doumbouya (1.3 ppg, 1.3 rpg). In the offseason, Doumbouya added some strength and bulk, and it should help him be a more effective player off the bench. A native of West Africa, Doumbouya played at Eastern Oklahoma State Junior College two years ago. However, he’s coming back from foot surgery in the offseason. Patton is hoping Lamar Harris, a 6-foot-7 forward from Compton (Calif.) Community College, can bolster the frontcourt as a backup. Harris, who is 205 pounds, is an athletic forward who averaged 12.4 points and 8.4 rebounds last season in junior college. He also played football at Centennial High School in Los Angeles. "I think he’s a guy who can really help us and give us a good rotation with the first team in the interior," Patton said. "He’s very aggressive and very athletic." It may take a little longer for two freshmen -- 6-foot-9 Chris Copeland and 6-foot-7 Glean Eddy -- to become major factors in the frontcourt. Copeland, who has good range on his shot, averaged 15 points, nine rebounds and 3.7 blocks last year as a senior at Hermitage High in Richmond, Va. His team went 24-3. Eddy, a former high school teammate of David Harrison’s in Nashville, played last season at National Christian Academy in Fort Washington, Md. He scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds, leading his team to the title in the Beltway League Championship. "He’s got a chance to be a good player," Patton said. Patton has two swing players who should give the Buffs a solid set of wings -- the 6-foot-6 Morandais (10.9 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 2.8 apg) and 6-foot-7 junior Blair Wilson (12.3 ppg, 3.4 rpg). Wilson started only three games, but averaged 27.5 points in all games and 29.9 in all games. Morandais started 11 games and averaged 25.5 minutes per game. Wilson, who played for the Big 12 team on its Scandinavian tour in the summer, was on the Big 12’s All-Reserve team. He led the Buffs in 3-pointers (76-of-177), shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range. Morandais is also a 3-point threat, making 16-of-41 (39 percent) shots behind the arc last season. "Wilson can really shoot the ball, he has good size, and he’s a smart kid," Patton said. "We’ve got good wings." Jason Obazuaye, a 6-foot-4 freshman from San Jose, Calif., will try to earn minutes in the backcourt. Obazuaye, a small forward, is a good defender and hard-nosed player. Last season, he averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds and five assists at Andrew Hill High School. Two other guards played sparingly last season -- 6-foot-2 junior Trennis Jones and 6-foot-1 senior Matt Greenwald. Jones (0.5 ppg, 1.4 rpg) played in nine games and averaged 4.7 minutes; Greenwald (0.7 ppg, 0.7 rpg) played in seven games and averaged 3.1 minutes. Patton says the key position for the Buffs this season will be at point guard. James "Mookie" Wright, a 6-foot-2 senior, was the starting point guard last season. Wright (8.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg, 4.9 apg, 2.8 tpg) started 23 games last season and averaged 28.4 minutes. He was fifth in the Big 12 in assists. In July, Wright broke his foot in a pickup game, but he should be ready to practice in the fall. He’s one of the team’s best free-throw shooters (.769) and has great quickness. However, Wright shot only 36.6 percent from the field. He shot 31.9 percent from three-point range, making 22 3-pointers. "If you look at it, he averaged eight or nine points a game but his shooting percentage was below 40," Patton said. "If you’re a point guard, eight or nine points is good enough as long as you’re shooting percentage is pretty good. Even more glaring is his turnover-to-assist ratio. In some games, he had more turnovers than assists." Patton brought in 6-foot freshman point guard Antoine McGee to push Wright for the starting job. McGee, of Moreno Valley, Calif., averaged 15 points, eight assists and three rebounds last season at Mercersburg (Pa.) Academy. He scored more than 1,000 points all three seasons and earned first-team all-conference honors as a senior. He was a three-time team captain. "He’s a guy who can score," Patton said. "I’m most impressed with his ability to run the team and distribute the basketball. If he can make the right decisions, which he has shown in high school, I think he’s got a chance to really push Wright." With the 7-foot Harrison in the middle, the Buffs have a blossoming talent and one of the top post players in the Big 12. They have a solid power forward in Pelle and good wings in Wilson and Morandais. The big question is at point guard. Wright brought some good credentials to Boulder, but struggled with his shooting and turnovers. Patton may have found a new starting point guard when he signed the freshman McGee. After two disappointing 5-11 record in the Big 12, Patton needs to put together a good season. The Buffaloes fell short of their expectations last season; they were expected to at least land an NIT bid. "I’ve got a couple of years left on my contract," Patton said. "For me, it’s a matter of us going out and doing the things we can control." Patton had no control over the injuries that plagued the team last year, and he calls the defection of his two players an example of the "epidemic" that has hit college basketball -- players griping and quitting over playing time. Patton talked last spring with Middle Tennessee about its basketball opening -- he’s from nearby Nashville and once was an assistant at MTSU -- but he says it wasn’t an actual interview. If Patton wants to solidify his job at Colorado, he probably needs to take the team up a notch or two. Patton and the Buffs didn’t get many breaks last season; perhaps their luck will change. "We had too many distractions to have the type of season we were looking forward to," Patton said. "A lot is predicated on eliminating the distractions. If we can eliminate the distractions, we have a chance to be pretty good."
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