Bohn smiling, Roby shackled but moving

Colorado athletic director Mike Bohn is smiling these days, no matter the storm he must feel he's in from football to basketball, men and women's.

The man hardly entered the university at its' zenith. He is building from the ground up in many respects. Yet, he is likely quietly confident that he is going to be able to attract a large list of quality candidates for the soon-to-be vacant head-coaching job.

Last week, the Black and Gold Truth hit you with the Hot List that named names. Here are two more for you -- Karl Hobbs, George Washington (a former Connecticut player and assistant) and Gregg Marshall, Winthrop.

The more the BGT researches the more it realizes how many worthy candidates are available for Bohn to choose from, granted those coaches are interested in what CU does have to offer, which is Big-12 exposure, a conference full of, as Neill Woelk says, great coaches to challenge yourself against and a place where the quality of living is high. Throw in the fact that you make it here, you can make it anywhere and the right person, one who wants to show it can be done because he's the one, will get it done.

It promises to be a difficult and critical choice for Bohn. That is both exciting and anxiety-producing. Bohn is smart to surround himself with other intelligent minds and together they should be able to choose a coach with a high probability of success.

Definition of strong defense, Lawrence edition

Richard Roby (pictured) poured in 30 points on the road against Kansas on Saturday with an impressive shooting performance -- worth mentioning even in defeat. Yes, the bottom line was the Jayhawks flattened CU but let's swing this back the other way after Brandon Rush talked up his defense on the Buffs' guard.

“I thought I did a pretty good job. He had eight turnovers. I thought I forced some of those. We tried to not let him get easy shots,” Rush aid in a Tom Keegan story in the Lawrence Journal-World.

BGT: Now Brandon, allowing someone to use you all day is not a "pretty good job." Ask your coach about your performance. It's easier to brush it off since your team laid the wood but please don't sell us on your "D." Roby did make mistakes but then again, he's trying to do it all, too. Think Bill Self is calling your name for some remedial defensive fundamentals and don't think NBA scouts didn't put on their laptops "got smoked."

Movin' on up

With his 30-spot at Allen Fieldhouse, Roby now has scored 1,287 career points, good for 14th on the all-time list at CU. Against the Jayhawks, he passed Scott Wedman and Blair Wilson.

Next up are Pat Frink (1,288) and Jay Humphries (1,306).

By the end of the season, Roby could possibly move up to seventh on that list, behind only Donnie Boyce, Cliff Meely, Shaun Vandiver, Stevie Wise, Emmett Lewis and Randy Downs.

Names he would pass along the way include David Harrison, Ken Charlton, Scott Wilke, Stephane Pelle and Michel Morandais, all pretty good company.

Pity KU

So what's worse, I ask -- having a lack of size in the frontcourt, like CU, or having trees as the Jayhawks do but them playing a foot shorter.

“I think it can be summed up in one word, and that’s our big guys play soft,” Self groused after guard Brandon Rush and Mario Chalmers combined to outrebound the big-man group of (Julian) Wright, Sasha Kaun and Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur, 13-12. “We’ve got too many finesse guys out there right now,” writes the Lawrence-Journal World.

The numbers

Colorado is shooting but 41 percent from the floor this season, the worst mark since the 1959-60 team connected at a 38-percent clip.

On the other end, opponents are making 48 percent of their shots. The last time it was that poor was back in the 1989-90 season.

An area the Buffs can also use help is in their long-range markmanship. While they allow others to shoot 41 percent, they hit on only 29 percent of their 3-pointers.

Leaders

Best shooters from the field

Jeremy Williams (54 percent)
Dominique Coleman (45)
Richard Roby (43)

Top 3-point shooters

Xavier Silas (39 percent)
Kal Bay (31)
Richard Roby (29)

Best offensive rebounders

Jermyl Jackson-Wilson (17)
Marcus King-Stockton (15)
Xavier Silas (13)

Formula ASBT (assists + steals + blocks - turnovers)

Dominique Coleman (+17)
Jeremy Williams (+9)
Marcus King-Stockton (+9)

BGT: So what can you take from all this? Williams is the player to watch, the one more offense should be run through. Silas is promising and the most aggressive young offensive player, with some skills to refine. Coleman is underrated, but also inconsistent. King-Stockton could be helping more but he too battles to make adjustments. And, oh, Ricardo Patton hasn't shown he's the right handyman to fix all those troubles. Sure he goes home at nights shaking his head, wanting a Bisquick team. Sorry, this group has to be put together by scratch.

Bears and Pokes next up

CU is in Waco to play Baylor on Tuesday, a game the Buffs should be anxious for as the Bears are playing terribly with four-straight losses but those Texans are strong and deep at the guard position (Henry Dugat, Curtis Jerrells, Aaron Bruce) and have a stud up front in Kevin Rogers. Difficult to pick the Buffs in such a game unless Roby carries them and Bears throw up bricks all night, which is unlikely the way CU often says ' 'ole ' on defense.

On Saturday, it's bad news as CU hosts Mario Boggan, JamesOn Curry and Oklahoma State. The Black and Gold simply has no one who can check Boggan, and Curry is a tremendous scorer as well. Roby has to work him hard when he has the ball to take some fight out of Curry on the offensive end. Terrel Harris is a solid third-scorer for the Cowboys. OSU has a whole week to prepare as well as it doesn't play again until traveling to Boulder. So not adding up as a likely win but hey, Missouri didn't look the role of spoiler until it ran over Texas Tech on Saturday.

Called out

Give the site credit, it is honest, and it says here, fair as well.

Here's a look at Dan Hawkins, year 1, and the future. Everyone knows there are challenges. Should Hawkins succeed, he will have accomplished something big, which is certainly not a challenge of which he is afraid.