BOULDER — One night they’re shocking the country, taking the top-ranked Kansas Jayhawks to overtime on national TV before suddenly remembering who they’re playing, as if waking from a dream.
Three days later, they’re getting blown out at home by unranked Missouri.
The CU men’s basketball program in coach Jeff Bzdelik’s third year is a little like the national economy — you can see the green shoots, but there is not yet a noticeable recovery.
“I made it very clear when I took this job that I couldn’t wave a magic wand and have this happen overnight and do so without compromising the moral and academic integrity of the university,” Bzdelik said Saturday.
“So I was very honest with people. I said we are going to have to start from scratch in an unforgiving league and build so that we have, after three, four years, a group of upperclassmen who are experienced, competition-tested and who, collectively, as a team, can win games and put ourselves in position for postseason play.”
The other day, athletic director Mike Bohn compared Bzdelik’s program with Dan Hawkins’ football program, saying both were close to winning, but “that last difference is very difficult to achieve.”
There’s one noticeable distinction between the two that seems to have basketball fans more cheerful than the restive football fans. Both coaches have brought in some highly touted recruits, but their performance has been markedly different.
Hawkins’ top names — Darrell Scott and Lynn Katoa — washed out. Bzdelik’s top recruits — Alec Burks and Cory Higgins — are as good as advertised. Bzdelik’s problem is they’re both guards. His team is not so much a doughnut as a bicycle tire. It has an enormous hole in the middle.
“We feel really good about where our recruiting class can be this year,” Bzdelik said. “We haven’t signed anybody yet, but we’re working on some big kids that will really be solidifying pieces.”
Bzdelik desperately needs them. In Big 12 Conference play so far this season, the Buffs have been outrebounded 360-250. That’s a difference of more than 12 boards per game. The margin in blocked shots is 40-14. No team can win consistently getting destroyed inside that way.
“It’d be nice to have (a shot-blocker) back there that every now and then could erase a defensive mistake,” associate head coach Steve McClain agreed.
CU has three players — Burks, Higgins and junior Marcus Relphorde — worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, they’re all guards. Not only were Burks and Higgins the Buffs’ leading scorers Saturday against Missouri, they were their leading rebounders too. That’s not going to cut it in the bruising Big 12, which is why CU is 2-7 in the conference.
Still, the presence of Burks, a serious NBA prospect, gives Bzdelik credibility out on the recruiting trail, as does a nationally televised near-miss like Wednesday’s overtime loss to Kansas.
“We’re seeing signs that this thing is consistently building,” Bzdelik said. “The players are getting better. They’re doing great in the classroom. They’re good citizens. They’re young. They’re talented. The crowds, I think, are really buying into these young guys. So it’s like a slow, steady, consistent build.”
Of course, it’s not like the old days when you could build around a young player like Burks. The Buffs will be lucky if he stays in school for two years. He’s already projected as a lottery pick in the 2011 NBA draft.
In 2 1/2 seasons at CU, Bzdelik is now 32-54. He knows fan patience will last only so long.
“I’m a big boy,” he said. “I understand that the only thing that matters is winning. We can do all these wonderful nice things, but the only thing that matters is winning. And I’ve been honest with people in saying we’ve got to build to that point.
“I’ve told the administration, ‘I might not be the right fit for you because I want to build this right, so that when it’s right, it’s rock solid and it’s there forever.’
“I know we live in a society today that wants everything right now. Everybody wants everything right now. Well, it doesn’t work that way unless you’re going to take shortcuts.”
For now, with only one senior on the roster, the Buffs are up and down and all over the place. They have shown enough of a spark to give their fans hope. But they aren’t getting appreciably better from here until they find some big men who can play.
Dave Krieger: 303-954-5297, dkrieger@denverpost.com or
