Colorado vs. Kansas College Basketball- Scouting Trip.

 

TL;DR Andrew Wiggins is as good as advertised, Joel Embiid is better than advertised and Askia Booker will be remembered forever. Shout out to Zoe.

So in my third year of law school I finally went to a CU-basketball game. The unranked Buffaloes were going against the highly touted Kansas Jayhawks. I was really excited about the game because of a couple of reasons. 1) Andrew Wiggins. Basketball messiah. He’s currently projected to be the number one overall pick in a stacked draft. 2) Joel Embiid. Center from Africa. Comparisons to Hakeem Olajuwon. 3) Spencer Dinwiddie. Junior guard, might be drafted in the 1st round. So, I went on a scouting trip.

Last year, the Buffs were beaten by the Jayhawks 90-54 in Kansas. This game represented a bit of revenge for Colorado. At first it looked like it was going to be a long day for our heroes. The game began with Andrew Wiggins (Does this guy have a nickname yet? We need to fix this) hitting a three pointer and then blocking a Colorado 3 pointer. Kansas went up 7-0 and led 21-14 at one point. Andrew Wiggins picked up 2 quick fouls and was out for most of the 1st half. Luckily. Joel Embiid stepped in and showed why he’s getting comparisons to my favorite NBA player of all time. He looked dominant in the post and has 2 steals and a block. He led Kansas in scoring at halftime with 10 points. He also showed a good pretty good eye for passing that a lot of 7 footers don’t have. However, by the end of the half, the Buffaloes were in the lead due to a team effort as far as as scoring went.

Andrew Wiggins wasn’t around much in the first half but he was dominant in the second. He ended up leading the game in scoring with a versatile set of moves.  In a performance reminiscent of the Duke game, he took over and was clearly the best player on the floor. The Buffaloes maintained their lead, which became a ten point lead at one point but Kansas kept coming back. Embiid completely disappeared offensively. Picking up four fouls and fouling out with 1:44 left in the game. Meanwhile Dinwiddie who wasn’t particularly effective in the first half really showed out. He was clearly the leader of the team.

When winning time came. Dinwiddie took care of business. Dinwiddie hit 4 free throws to pull the Buffs ahead. The theme of the game was the the missed free throws by both teams. Askia Booker missed his second free throw to pull the Buffs lead to 3 points with 18 seconds left. Then as Wiggins tried to hit a game tying three he was unconscionably fouled by Dinwiddie (and by fouled I mean damn near felony assault) Note: Don’t foul a three point shooter in that situation. Ever. Luckily, Wiggins missed a free throw. Dinwiddie was fouled on the inbound pass (one of several questionable “thank god the game is in Colorado and not anywhere else” calls throughout the game). Dinwiddie could have iced the game but he too missed a free throw. When the ball was back in  Kansas’ hands Perry Ellis (who I’m sure is a super-senior and you can’t tell me otherwise) hit an impressive layup to tie the game at 72-72 with 3 seconds left.  Overtime, for sure.

Except that it wasn’t.  The resulting inbound pass went to Askia Booker (up to that point shooting 4 for 11 and killing us at the free throw line at 2 for 6) who ran down the court and hit a 3 pointer, from barely across half court. Colorado wins, Colarado’s bench empties, and C-Unit (Colorado’s student section, rushed the court.

 

 

Other notes:

• This was a great first CU game. I think the next one on my calendar is Aaron Gordon’s 2nd ranked Arizona team (February 2nd).
• Embiid is my new favorite second player in the draft, not the best (Wiggins/Parker) or the most immediately NBA ready (Randle) but the center that the NBA deserves. Bring back the post game!
• If Wiggins hit those free throws, Dinwiddie is the goat of the game. Thank goodness that it didn’t end that way. 
• Andrew Wiggins is as good as advertised, but it’d be nice if he would foul a lot less. It’s nice to see a player of his offensive talent level work so hard on defense. The comparisons to Scottie Pippen are interesting.
• I’m always a fan of obscene college chants and Fuck You KU isn’t creative, but it was fun to hear.
• My favorite chant was the USA USA chant directed at Wiggins when he was fouled hard in the first half. (Andrew Wiggins is from Canada)
• Considering all of the shaky calls that CU got, the BULLSHIT chants were a little unwarranted for the one bad call that went against CU. Admittedly, it was a really bad call, but still. (I think it was a block/charge call).
• It felt like Kansas hit about ten threes in the first half. 
• Shout out to Zoe for getting the tickets and making this happen. She’s awesome. Thanks to Quentin and Mitch as well.