Wheels come off, Patton desperate

So how does it happen?

A 67-55 defeat to a 1-3 North Carolina Wilmington team that was losing to junior varsity schools and allowing 90 points a game while doing so?

Colorado goes on the road and loses, but to the Seahawks?

That should have been a golden opportunity for the Buffs pounce on and devour, a big win where they got fat, offensively.

Instead, what happens is this:

37 percent shooting from the floor, 21 percent from 3-point range, 62 percent from the line.

9 assists.

Yes, nine!

Turn the ball over 20 times while only swiping it seven.

Getting outrebounded by a team not named Kansas or Texas by six (35-29).

My point?

Well, it's sort of like a joke. If I have to explain it, then it's just pointless.

Besides, you're too intelligent to need it lined out.

Ricardo Patton, and I'm surprised I'm saying this, but the man will not last the season running the CU basketball team.

Some were calling for the school to make a change immediately after he announced his resignation. That, I thought, made no sense to a school reportedly strapped for cash. Make Patton coach the final season, then make the changing of the guard.

So, back to the game.

How do the Buffs play so poorly against a team like North Carolina Wilmington?

Richard Roby scores 16, freshman Jeremy Williams busts out with 14 points but hardly rebounds, Jermyl Jackson Wilson is ineffective, and Dominique Coleman continues his slump.

The wheels, my friends, have come off the bus.

The performances of this team sound an alarm, youth not enough of an excuse, that maybe Patton, upset over not getting that extension, has lost his passion for making this year important.

Yes, you can argue he is coaching for his next opportunity, his next contract at some other school, but this is the worst start to a season in recent memory so how else are the black and gold following supposed to take this. Even the most strident Patton supporters have to be questioning, 'how did it get this bad?'

Win 10 games this season -- think that's a lock? I see blowouts a comin' in the Big 12, transfers if the right coach is not named. The next coach will more than have his hands full but at the same time will be lauded for any improvement in chemistry and confidence the program shows.

If you read the interview with Paul Clark from the CycloneReport regarding Iowa State's hiring of Texas assistant Gene Chizik as it's new football coach, I asked him, what happened to ISU this season. That program was once seemingly on the rise with former coach Dan McCarney before it blew up, especially this year.

His comments were telling.

He said that when you are a middle school or lower school in college football the margin for error is so small that when things go bad they can go real bad, and that's why the Cyclones were horrible this season.

So, let's transfer that theory to basketball and see how the Buffs are definitely an average program in the world of college basketball and how when it gets bad, it can get real bad, and losing, everyone, to NC Wilmington on the road, is real bad.

Will share this with you -- rumblings are happening within the team, according to a source close to it. Allegedly, Patton is tearing his team down with insults, responding to shoddy play by running the Buffs ragged in practice as opposed to teaching, never known to be his strong suit, and the players, once again allegedly, are said to be miserable with it all.

Roby, who's play has been unsteady, is said to be questioning his decision to come back because of constantly being verbally attacked in practice.

Yes, we live in a kindler, gentler time and old school methods are now questioned, making many wonder how soft we've become but how do you build up a group that has little confidence? By screaming and not teaching? Look at the play, look at the results, does teaching appear to be part of the equation?

There is no intent to start a firericardopatton.com web site, as once happened to former Florida football coach Ron Zook, but the man is not teflon, either. Coaches are meant to be questioned when it gets this poor.

Now, if all this is true, think about the message being sent.

A frustrated coach stooping to ugly name calling instead of taking the burden upon himself and realizing he has to teach. Taking responsibility for his shortcomings and not just lashing out at players, making them insecure on the floor.

John Wooden, a teacher, a leader, he's not, I realize, but Patton could be losing this team. It could get much more ugly.

The source also shared that the offensive philosophy is that any shot that goes in qualifies as a good shot, that driving the ball to the basket is discouraged, that any mistake on a youth-laden team is grounds for an immediate benching, and the players are wary of saying anything to Patton, the assistants or anyone else.

Hey, Marcus Aurelius once said it is better to be feared than loved, yet that only works if you're winning. I'm sure athletic director Mike Bohn knows exactly what is transpiring and is trying not to act in emotion. I'm also sure that he won't let the current state of chaos continue the season if the results on the court are so devoid of cohesion, if the program becomes an embarrassment.

Watch for a change, from Patton to anyone, before the season ends, and likely before Big 12 play.