When the Colorado School of Mines men’s basketball team gathered for its first practices this past fall, the giants were gone.
The Orediggers’ top post players — measuring 6-foot-6, 6-9, 6-10 and 6-11 — had graduated from a 25-win team.
The result? “One of the worst rebounding teams I’ve had,” said veteran Mines coach Pryor Orser.
At an engineering school training its students to solve complex problems, Mines viewed the exodus of big men as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.
The Orediggers have gone small. And they have thrived, with an 11-0 record and No. 9 ranking in Division II.
“This team is totally different from any team I’ve been on here before,” said senior Brian Muller, a 6-foot, 145-pound guard who leads the Orediggers in scoring with an average of 17.1 points. “We don’t have a big post presence … that big guy we can just go into and have him get buckets. It’s had to be more of a team thing.”
Regardless of the shrinking dimensions of his roster — Mines has only one player taller than 6-6 — Orser’s general philosophy has remained the same. It’s one that has helped him win two Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference regular-season titles in the past four years.
“We have a foundation of what we do at Mines,” said Orser, a native of Gardiner, Mont., in his 14th season at the Golden school. “We pass the ball, move the ball, take high-percentage shots and play the percentages on defense.”
Mines has excelled in all of those areas. The Ore- diggers rank first in the RMAC in field-goal percentage (.524) and 3-point percentage (.418). They have produced those numbers by spreading the floor and exploiting favorable matchups to make every offensive player a threat.
Take Muller. Even by Division II standards, the guard from Billings, Mont., is small. But he can certainly run. He exhausts bigger defenders by constantly staying in motion. When he finally stations himself to receive a pass, a tired defender usually is lagging behind. Muller’s 50.9 percent shooting on 3-pointers ranks second in the RMAC.
“He can shoot off the catch, shoot off the dribble left, shoot off the dribble right,” Orser said. “He’s just got a pure jump shot.”
Orser seeks similar advantages with a lineup that has eight players averaging at least 12.5 minutes per game. Starters, in addition to Muller, are 6-5 guards Trevor Ritchie and Gokul Natesen and 6-6 Joe Dellenbach and 6-8 Caleb Waitsman at forward.
Mines may rattle the rim less than in past seasons. A year ago, the Orediggers led the RMAC in rebounding; this season, they’re only seventh in that category. But their scoring balance more than makes up for it in a rugged conference that includes No. 3 CU-Colorado Springs (13-0) and 10th-ranked Metro State (10-2).
All five of the Orediggers’ starters shoot 45 percent or better from the floor. Three shoot 46 percent or better from 3-point range.
“We can all shoot from anywhere on the court,” Muller said. “It makes us pretty hard to guard.”
Nick Kosmider: 303-954-1516, nkosmider @denverpost.com or nickkosmider
