The feelings are raw over the Colorado men's basketball program with the blame shifting back and forth between coach Ricardo Patton and athletic director Mike Bohn. So is this a case of there being two sides to every story or is it a matter of personal perception?
I hit the field to find out, going to those who follow the program on a daily basis to hear their observations and insight. We enlisted the starting five of B.G. Brooks of the Rocky Mountain News, Kyle Ringo of the Daily Camera, Patrick Ridgell of the Daily Times-Call, Adam Munsterteiger of BuffStampede.com and Mark Collins of BuffSportsNews.net to solve this case.
Listed below is what I learned in this week's Black and Gold Intelligence report.
BGB: Is Bohn in the same position regarding his basketball program that his football coach, Dan Hawkins, was in this fall, which is taking the heat for merely walking into an unfavorable situation or has Bohn put himself in this spot with Patton because he didn't make a coaching change after last season?
Brooks: Bohn knew Patton has only one year left on his contract and by not acting last spring, he really put himself in a state of flux with it. I would say Patton more or less beat him to the punch (with his resignation) because I don't think there is any way there was going to be a contract extension given. That was my impression last spring and I wrote that last spring.
My opinion was the decision had already been made. If there was going to be a contract extension given, it would have been given before the season started.
Ringo: I think there are three factors at play here. It was a bad situation when (Bohn) arrived. He hasn't done anything about it yet so it looks like he's only making it worse. But I think what people fail to consider is what might be driving his decision to not act -- Bohn was pretty decisive in firing Gary Barnett. So that tells me there are other factors at play here that might be limiting his options. Some of those are obvious to everyone. Others are not.
The bottom line is he didn't have the money or will to fire Patton after last season. And that doesn't even take into consideration that the program was losing 10 players and needed to make sure to get Patton's recruits enrolled and into the program.
A big mistake Bohn made was in announcing he was going to put together a 10-point plan. The best way to lose credibility is to tell people you're going to do something and then not do it. Make no mistake, there will be a 10-point plan announced probably later this season, but it shouldn't have taken this long.
Ridgell: The biggest factor here is the finances of the situation. (Bohn) may have been able to act earlier, maybe, after last season replacing the coach but where they would get the money to pay an interim coach is something I don't know.
Muntsterteiger: Mike Bohn's hands are tied in this situation. If the athletic department was not in financial ruins when he took over, there is little question the Buffs would have bought out the final year of Patton's contract after last season and begun the search for a new coach a year earlier. As it was, Bohn couldn't afford the $ 750,000 it would have cost to buy Patton out.
Collins: If the athletic department had a couple million dollars laying around last March, the end of last season, (Bohn) would have made a change at that point but because the athletic department was pretty strapped for cash, he had to let Ricardo coach out the end of his contract.
BGB: O.K., let's run a reverse if we can and ask what is good about Colorado basketball right now? What stands out? Is there improvement being made? Mr. 20 Questions will also ask is this -- is this team capable of improvement and will it likely develop this season or is the engine stalled out for good in 2006-07?
Brooks: The thing I think is good, that shows a tremendous upside about Colorado basketball, is the last recruiting class that Patton brought in. There are some guys who can play. Xavier Silas is going to be a great player. I think Jeremy Williams is going to be a great player.
If you're going to have that young a team in Big-12 play, then this is probably the season to do it with half of the coaches changing (first season in charge) and we've seen a lot of times, coaching changes, that the transition year, well, look no further than Colorado football, for how shaky it can be in that transition year.
(The basketball team) remind me, somewhat, of the football team as far as the confidence factor is concerned. They're not playing with much confidence now. They are sort of feeling their way along.
Ringo: There are a lot of positives for CU basketball. There is finally an administration in place that wants to legitimately compete for championships. Ceal Barry and Tom McGrath are involved in finding the next coach. There is a lot of young talent in the program and those players have a desire to learn, improve and win. That should be exciting, but people just have to be patient enough to get through these final few months.
I haven't seen a lot of improvement in the early going this season. I think the players can and will get better as the season goes on if they take the right approach.
Ridgell: The youth and potential are there although I haven't seen a lot of improvement yet and I don't think it can get much worse. There's a lot of development that can still be done this season.
Xavier Silas has become a much more productive scorer and that's something the team will need. It seems like Xavier has been given the longest leash, he's been given the most freedom to do what he wants on the floor, although I don't know why that is.
If the new coach can come in here and keep (the roster) here and develop them, I think they got a shot to be a pretty good team in a couple of years.
Munsterteiger: It's hard to find much improvement. Their defense has struggled of late. The Buffs have a couple of winnable home games coming up on the schedule but it could get real ugly when they get into Big 12 play. Given the enviornment and circumstances, I wouldn't expect much improvement in terms of team play. But at least the freshman will get some good game experience.
Collins: Despite their record, despite their early-season struggles, I really like the freshman class they have. From top to bottom, compared to any other class that Ricardo has brought in, they have guys who understand fundamental basketball -- they are not just athletes, they're basketball players.
I think the future looks good as long as they make the right hire.
As for improvement, I think it's going to get more difficult before it gets better. I think CU fans need to understand the bigger picture. In the long run, Mike Bohn and his search committee really have an opportunity to make a really good hire.
Certainly (the fans) have a right to complain and not be happy with the product on the floor but maybe they can really support the student-athlete. I think it really means something to the players, I really do.
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