2 days Ago
More likely than not, Assane Diop will enjoy a few solid scoring outings this season. Right now, though, he’s morphed into the sort of player Colorado men’s basketball coach Tad Boyle dreams about. Diop is playing active defense.
He’s cleaning the glass. And he’s not at all looking to force things offensively. The Buffaloes returned to practice on Tuesday for the first time since capping a four-game, season-opening homestand on Sunday with an 88-66 win against Harvard.
CU improved to 4-0, before turning its sights to next Monday’s opener of the Maui Invitational against Michigan State (3 p.m. MT, ESPN2).
Diop has started the past two games, making the first starts of his collegiate career, but still is waiting to take his first official field goal attempt as a starter. Diop played around 19 minutes in both starts without taking a shot, but he helped the Buffs put together their top two defensive efforts of the young season. “He’s doing a lot,” Boyle said.
“If he can just take care of the ball, Assane will have as many minutes as he wants. Because he defends. He rebounds.
He’s just got to take better care of the basketball. He’ll score when he has the opportunity to score and finish. That’s going to be a work in progress for Assane.
But the reason he’s in the starting lineup is his ability to rebound, his ability to defend. “And his unselfishness. He made a couple skip passes (against Harvard) for threes.
I don’t know if he got the assist because I don’t know if we made the shots. For the most part, he’s trying to make the right plays. And I really appreciate that.
” Diop has committed two turnovers in three of four games with seven total, but he also has been making plays for his teammates, recording eight assists. Diop went 1-for-3 in the season opening win against Eastern Washington and went 1-for-5 against Eastern Washington, hitting his first career 3-pointers while grabbing a career-high 10 rebounds. Diop started for the first time against Cal State Fullerton, recording eight rebounds with only one turnover in 18 minutes, 46 seconds of action.
Diop didn’t have an official field goal attempt against Harvard, although he was fouled on one chance and got to the free throw line for the first time this season. He finished with four rebounds, three assists and one steal with a pair of turnovers in 19 minutes. The most similar player in recent Colorado basketball history might be Wesley Gordon, who is ranked sixth in team history in total rebounds and second in blocked shots.
Gordon never hunted shots, but in his first season in the rotation after a redshirt year he averaged 4.5 shot attempts in 25.1 minutes.
Diop almost certainly will attempt more shots as the weeks unfold, but he has begun his first season as a regular rotation player averaging two shot attempts in 19.8 minutes. Diop and the Buffs will face much more difficult competition in Maui, as they will follow the Michigan State game with a contest against either Memphis or two-time defending champion UConn.
The physicality of the perennial Big Ten contender will give the Buffs a taste of what’s in store when Big 12 play begins. “We’ve got to have ball movement, which has been a lot better the last two games,” Boyle said. “Against Michigan State, they’re going to be a physical team.
They’re going to be bigger. They’re going to be stronger. They’re going to be more athletic.
They’re going to be more physical. We’ve got to be able to handle that and match that.”.
