Yes, this is most certainly an overreaction to a bad loss for the Colorado Buffaloes' Men's Basketball team. In two weeks when the Buffaloes are rolling again I'll likely act this never happened until a loss like this happens again. One of my first reactions was to text a fellow CU fan, "Now this is the Colorado Buffaloes we know and love". It's frustrating to watch a Colorado team so full of talent and potential to inexcusably drop a road game to a Washington team that they beat by thirty a month prior. had a single win on the season over Seattle University, and losses to UC-Riverside and Montana. Unfortunately, this isn't a new feeling to Colorado fans. Anyone remember the massive letdown against Oregon State at home last season days after beating Oregon? And let's not forget the massive collapse that ended last season as well. Or even when they dropped the first seven games of the 2016-2017 Pac-12 conference season. What I mean to say that bitter disappointment in a team underachieving is nothing new to this program. It certainly did not start with Tad Boyle but as the program has progressed under the coach the disappointments become magnified. To understand why this keeps happening we need to explore what happened last night against Washington.
When looking at the box score there is a single number that really sticks out, and it has been an issue for all of Tad Boyle's tenure, three-point percentage. For the Buffaloes, they were 1-18 on the night. In today's game shooting five percent beyond the arc will nearly guarantee a loss. Washington meanwhile shot 12-25, 48 percent from three. How is this still an issue for Colorado? For years Tad Boyle's basketball teams have been wildly inconsistent beyond the arc. This isn't even a pattern where they live and die by the three, Boyle's teams simply cannot find consistency behind the arc. I understand that this is college basketball where consistency in performance is a luxury, but if Colorado really wants to break through and wants to be a consistent competitor in the NCAA tournament they need to find some sort of consistency on this end. Then these bad shooting nights are "coincidentally" paired up with great shooting nights by the opposing team. Again, if you want to compete for Pac-12 titles and make some sort of run in the NCAA tournament you cant compound problems by letting the opponent excel in something you are struggling with.
The lack of consistent perimeter play is simply a symptom of the root cause, an inability to take the next step. Yes, Tad Boyle has been a tremendous success for the Colorado Buffaloes, and yes the program would not be remotely the same without him. But think about this, the men's basketball team has not made an NCAA tournament appearance since the 2015-2016 season (with only 1 NCAA tournament win during Boyle's tenure) and has only made it past the Pac-12 quarterfinals twice, in 2011-2012 season and 2013-2014 season. Is it really too much to ask for this program to take the next step, or even become the consistent winner it seemed like it might earlier in the 2010s? I love and appreciate what Tad Boule has done for the Colorado basketball program, but at some point, one has to ask, is he really the coach that will take this program to the next step?
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