Photo by: Jivan West
Brooks: At 4-0, Payne’s Buffs Know Their Roles And Play Them Well
November 24, 2016 | Women's Basketball, B.G. Brooks
CU preparing for annual Omni Classic games on Friday, Saturday
BOULDER – Very early into last month's preseason work, JR Payne and her Colorado women's basketball staff assessed their roster, looking at skill sets, experience, strengths, shortcomings, etc. In short, the works.
The goal was to define what they deemed was each player's role(s), communicate those to the player, make sure she understood, and hold each accountable for doing her job(s).
And two more things: Just go out and play basketball, ladies, and have some fun.
It's early, but four games into the Payne Era the fun has begun. The Buffs, accepting their various roles and obviously liking it, are 4-0, with the non-conference centerpiece being Win No. 3 – a 79-69 upset last week against No. 15 Kentucky.
A smiling Payne conceded Wednesday morning that, yes, that score surprised her: "You hope for that outcome and you think you've prepared for it, but you never know how it's going to end up. I think our players went into that game very confident and as the game went on I think their confidence grew."
In fact, it's been growing almost since Payne and her assistants conducted their first practice at the Coors Events Center (maybe now the House of Payne?). Quietly sliding in the wrong direction, CU women's basketball needed the kind of change that Payne appears to have delivered.
DEFINING AND SPECIFYING PLAYERS' roles has been big but that practice is not uncommon in hoops or other sports. Bigger still has been what leading scorer Kennedy Leonard, a sophomore guard from South Lake, Texas, called "a weight being taken off."
Said Payne: "We've given them a lot of freedom to do what their strengths are. I think we saw that (against Kentucky)."
Remember just go out and play basketball and have some fun?
"We're 100 percent freer," claimed Leonard, who is averaging 19.3 points a game and in the upset of Kentucky dished out 12 assists. "Just going out there and knowing no matter what you do, you're going to make mistakes but you play through them . . . it's like a weight being taken off.
"Just get on the court and play. Don't think too much, do what you like to do. Run, play defense, apply pressure, pass . . . it's a game we've played all our lives. It's pretty simple. We got a ton more (confidence). Obviously we're not perfect, we make mistakes. But the confidence the coaching staff has in us is having a great effect."
No surprise here, but the Buffs' known strength entering the 2016-17 season was their backcourt. Leonard and fellow guards Alexis Robinson (15.8 ppg) and Haley Smith (11.0) are the team's three top scorers. And sophomore guard Ariana Freeman, a transfer from Louisville who sat out the 2015-16 season, is averaging 9.0 points a game.
But the front court has had its early moments as well; 6-4 center Zoe Correal registered her first career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in CU's 76-59 win on Tuesday afternoon at North Dakota State – one of the Buffs' two road victories in the first four games.
Count Correal, said Payne, among the players who have bought in, embraced their roles and showed a steady climb in confidence and performance.
"Zoe has become a great screener," Payne said. "That might not be the most glorious role but I think she's discovered if she can be a great screener she's got good guards (who can score) and she can get herself open. Her guards are going to make good decisions and get her the basketball in areas where she can be effective. She's done a great job on the glass. Our frontcourt has done really well."
That Correal has accepted her role, recognized her limits and is playing within them (to borrow a skiing phrase) doesn't surprise Payne, who spent the past two seasons at Santa Clara before accepting the CU job. In a preseason team meeting, "We told them you can't have the same role; on successful teams everyone has to buy into doing their job and doing it to the best of their ability on a daily basis.
"I think that's where a lot of our confidence stems from; we've given people a job to do, that they're fully capable of doing (and) when everyone is doing their job it's usually a good outcome."
NO PLAYER'S ROLE EXCEEDS her capability. "No way," Payne said. "I tell our players all the time I know you're capable of more than you think you are. But I never asked them to do anything I know they aren't capable of doing."
Smith, one of four seniors and a team captain as a junior, was asked to improve on her ball screens, boxing out, ratchet up her defense and become more vocal.
Leonard, a member of the 2016 Pac-12 All-Freshman team (media and coaches), was asked to be more vocal – "Have a bigger voice on the team" – and make sure she and the offense "stay in attack mode." Which suits Leonard's up-tempo attitude perfectly.
"You understand your role and understand what everyone else's role is, which is very important as well," Smith said. "You come into a game and know exactly what you're supposed to be doing . . . it's nice to have that all laid out and know what you need to do to be successful."
Not to look too far into the future, but the Buffs have a chance to build on their confidence and improve in several areas – Payne first mentions defense and rebounding – before Pac-12 play begins on Dec. 30 in Los Angeles against USC.
Aside from this weekend's Omni Classic, four of the Buffs' five remaining non-conference games are at the CEC. Friday's Omni schedule matches CU against St. Francis (New York) at 11 a.m., followed by Boston College vs. SMU (1:30 p.m.). Saturday's opponents are to be determined, but the tipoff times are set: CU will play at 11 a.m., the second game tips off at 1:30 p.m.
The Buffs are averaging 83.3 points a game, allowing 64.5. They are shooting 46 percent overall from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 70 percent from the free throw line. Their rebounding margin is plus-1.2 and they're committing 13 turnovers a game (20.5 for opponents) and stealing the ball 14 times a game.
The numbers aren't unusually loud but the 4-0 record speaks for itself. What it says, noted Smith, is that the Buffs have "jelled as a team, embraced all the things the coaching staff is teaching us.
They have a lot to offer us and the style of play – pushing the ball, being aggressive on defense, controlling the pace of the game with the type of players we have – that's been really positive for us. With this style of play it's been pretty easy for us to jump on board."
SATURDAY PARKING NOTE: Fans attending Saturday's Omni Class basketball games should show football parking attendants their tickets for free basketball parking in the lots around the Coors Events Center. No. 9 CU plays No. 21 Utah at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Folsom Field.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
The goal was to define what they deemed was each player's role(s), communicate those to the player, make sure she understood, and hold each accountable for doing her job(s).
And two more things: Just go out and play basketball, ladies, and have some fun.
It's early, but four games into the Payne Era the fun has begun. The Buffs, accepting their various roles and obviously liking it, are 4-0, with the non-conference centerpiece being Win No. 3 – a 79-69 upset last week against No. 15 Kentucky.
A smiling Payne conceded Wednesday morning that, yes, that score surprised her: "You hope for that outcome and you think you've prepared for it, but you never know how it's going to end up. I think our players went into that game very confident and as the game went on I think their confidence grew."
In fact, it's been growing almost since Payne and her assistants conducted their first practice at the Coors Events Center (maybe now the House of Payne?). Quietly sliding in the wrong direction, CU women's basketball needed the kind of change that Payne appears to have delivered.
DEFINING AND SPECIFYING PLAYERS' roles has been big but that practice is not uncommon in hoops or other sports. Bigger still has been what leading scorer Kennedy Leonard, a sophomore guard from South Lake, Texas, called "a weight being taken off."
Said Payne: "We've given them a lot of freedom to do what their strengths are. I think we saw that (against Kentucky)."
Remember just go out and play basketball and have some fun?
"We're 100 percent freer," claimed Leonard, who is averaging 19.3 points a game and in the upset of Kentucky dished out 12 assists. "Just going out there and knowing no matter what you do, you're going to make mistakes but you play through them . . . it's like a weight being taken off.
"Just get on the court and play. Don't think too much, do what you like to do. Run, play defense, apply pressure, pass . . . it's a game we've played all our lives. It's pretty simple. We got a ton more (confidence). Obviously we're not perfect, we make mistakes. But the confidence the coaching staff has in us is having a great effect."
No surprise here, but the Buffs' known strength entering the 2016-17 season was their backcourt. Leonard and fellow guards Alexis Robinson (15.8 ppg) and Haley Smith (11.0) are the team's three top scorers. And sophomore guard Ariana Freeman, a transfer from Louisville who sat out the 2015-16 season, is averaging 9.0 points a game.
But the front court has had its early moments as well; 6-4 center Zoe Correal registered her first career double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds) in CU's 76-59 win on Tuesday afternoon at North Dakota State – one of the Buffs' two road victories in the first four games.
Count Correal, said Payne, among the players who have bought in, embraced their roles and showed a steady climb in confidence and performance.
"Zoe has become a great screener," Payne said. "That might not be the most glorious role but I think she's discovered if she can be a great screener she's got good guards (who can score) and she can get herself open. Her guards are going to make good decisions and get her the basketball in areas where she can be effective. She's done a great job on the glass. Our frontcourt has done really well."
That Correal has accepted her role, recognized her limits and is playing within them (to borrow a skiing phrase) doesn't surprise Payne, who spent the past two seasons at Santa Clara before accepting the CU job. In a preseason team meeting, "We told them you can't have the same role; on successful teams everyone has to buy into doing their job and doing it to the best of their ability on a daily basis.
"I think that's where a lot of our confidence stems from; we've given people a job to do, that they're fully capable of doing (and) when everyone is doing their job it's usually a good outcome."
NO PLAYER'S ROLE EXCEEDS her capability. "No way," Payne said. "I tell our players all the time I know you're capable of more than you think you are. But I never asked them to do anything I know they aren't capable of doing."
Smith, one of four seniors and a team captain as a junior, was asked to improve on her ball screens, boxing out, ratchet up her defense and become more vocal.
Leonard, a member of the 2016 Pac-12 All-Freshman team (media and coaches), was asked to be more vocal – "Have a bigger voice on the team" – and make sure she and the offense "stay in attack mode." Which suits Leonard's up-tempo attitude perfectly.
"You understand your role and understand what everyone else's role is, which is very important as well," Smith said. "You come into a game and know exactly what you're supposed to be doing . . . it's nice to have that all laid out and know what you need to do to be successful."
Not to look too far into the future, but the Buffs have a chance to build on their confidence and improve in several areas – Payne first mentions defense and rebounding – before Pac-12 play begins on Dec. 30 in Los Angeles against USC.
Aside from this weekend's Omni Classic, four of the Buffs' five remaining non-conference games are at the CEC. Friday's Omni schedule matches CU against St. Francis (New York) at 11 a.m., followed by Boston College vs. SMU (1:30 p.m.). Saturday's opponents are to be determined, but the tipoff times are set: CU will play at 11 a.m., the second game tips off at 1:30 p.m.
The Buffs are averaging 83.3 points a game, allowing 64.5. They are shooting 46 percent overall from the field, 33 percent from beyond the arc, and 70 percent from the free throw line. Their rebounding margin is plus-1.2 and they're committing 13 turnovers a game (20.5 for opponents) and stealing the ball 14 times a game.
The numbers aren't unusually loud but the 4-0 record speaks for itself. What it says, noted Smith, is that the Buffs have "jelled as a team, embraced all the things the coaching staff is teaching us.
They have a lot to offer us and the style of play – pushing the ball, being aggressive on defense, controlling the pace of the game with the type of players we have – that's been really positive for us. With this style of play it's been pretty easy for us to jump on board."
SATURDAY PARKING NOTE: Fans attending Saturday's Omni Class basketball games should show football parking attendants their tickets for free basketball parking in the lots around the Coors Events Center. No. 9 CU plays No. 21 Utah at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at Folsom Field.
Contact: BG.Brooks@Colorado.EDU
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