BOULDER — If you’re going to enter a kitchen and cook, Jeff Bzdelik says, sometimes it helps to turn up the heat.
For weeks, the first-year Colorado men’s basketball coach has cracked many an egg in search of the perfect souffle, only to see them collapse in the crucible of Big 12 play. Saturday, however, after games of contorting and stomping along the sidelines like a man who had lost his gig on the Food Network, Bzdelik and his Buffaloes finally crafted a confection that would make Paula Deen proud — a 72-58 victory over Oklahoma.
To be sure, there were moments that had Bzdelik twirling in disgust. But for the most part, the Buffs were a hoops — if not epicurean — delight. And if a win this Saturday at No. 3 Kansas might be more than even the greediest gourmand could wish for, Bzdelik is hoping his squad is emerging from its rather lean recent history.
“You’re looking at a basketball team that got beat badly last year,” Bzdelik said of last season’s 7-20 record. “To inspire them to believe, and to get them through the tough moments of a ballgame, and to raise the intensity and fire and passion, well, you gotta do what you gotta do.
“Changing the culture is probably more difficult than changing the X’s and the O’s. That takes energy. This first year I had both eyes open coming into this job. I fully expected us to be like we are. But we have made tremendous strides. The goal is to create an environment conducive to winning. So, yeah, there’s been some energy (expended).”
Burning for victories
Some observers have jokingly expressed concern Bzdelik may spontaneously combust on the sidelines. Fans of the Nuggets, or of Air Force, his previous stops on the Front Range, didn’t see a coach who has been as demonstrative, even when his first Nuggets team won but 17 games.
Certainly there wasn’t as much cause for histrionics the past two years when he led Air Force to berths in the NCAA Tournament and NIT.
“I was calm on the Air Force bench, but we won 50 games when I was there,” he said.
Given that success, even Colorado’s players say they aren’t surprised if the coach sometimes looks like he has been swilling castor oil.
“When he went to Air Force, those guys knew that offense even before he got there. They were a little more polished than we are,” senior guard Marcus Hall said. “He knows that we have it in us. He tends to get a little angry because we aren’t doing the things we are capable of doing.
“There are times when we’re going to struggle because we’re not used to this. We’re doing things we haven’t done in the four years that I’ve been here.”
While Bzdelik is quick to say Ricardo Patton, his predecessor at CU, did a “fantastic” job during his tenure, it’s also obvious the new coach wasn’t helped when Patton abruptly announced before the start of last season that he was resigning. There was no escaping or dismissing Patton’s lame-duck status, and as the season plodded along, the Buffs became largely noncompetitive, losing 16 of their final 20 games.
Given that, is it any wonder this season, despite being in position to win many times over, the team was unable to seal the deal?
In Big 12 play alone, the Buffs were up by nine points at halftime over Texas and trailed Kansas State by just four early in the second half. They were up by 14 against Missouri and were tied with then-No. 2 Kansas at intermission. They led by seven at Iowa State at halftime. All eventually ended up as defeats in a six-game losing streak.
Right formula is elusive
How much of those losses could be attributed to fragile psyches, or being disciplined enough to know not to take a bad shot at a crucial time? How much of it is simply being able to exhale?
“I think he’s just really competitive,” senior Richard Roby said. “We really need a little kick in the rear end to get us going sometimes. When you’re a coach, you have to coach different teams in different ways, and I really think he understands that.”
Guard Levi Knutson had missed his previous 13 3-point attempts entering Saturday’s game. Against Oklahoma, with the Buffs clinging to an early lead, the freshman from Arapahoe High School made his first two tries, enabling the team to weather an early storm.
Bzdelik didn’t cajole those shots into the basket from in front of the CU bench, but if that’s what it takes to ensure success — hey, a guy’s gotta do what he’s gotta do.
“My players are learning how to compete, they’re learning how to be passionate. Passion is a good thing,” Bzdelik said. “I like winning — my last three full seasons of coaching, we’ve gone to the NBA playoffs (with the 2003-04 Nuggets), the NCAA Tournament and the Final Four of the NIT. I like that.
“I like competing, and I want my team to compete. And so I’m going to squeeze everything I can out of them, and if it takes jumping up and down on the sidelines to make that happen, I will. I may go out on the court and take a charge myself — that’s just who I am. I can’t help that.”
Anthony Cotton: 303-954-1292 or acotton@denverpost.com
