The Broncos won two neutral site road games against Iona and Wyoming and a gritty home game versus Sac State. They did it in impressive style having their best shooting performances of the season. Iona, coached by two time NCAA champion Rick Pitino and Wyoming are two teams on the rise. Both teams were not at full strength, but still the Broncos overcame stiff challenges and an overtime scare to prevail.
Naturally, Bronco Season Ticket Holders and fans expectations went from "oh no,who are these guys" to "oh wow, who are these guys!" To this I say "Whoa Nellie!"
It is great to see the team step up together and get strong contributions across the roster. Our bigs played big, our shooters finally found their range, and we showed real moxie not fading away to close out these games. Is this the new normal for this team? We will find out in the next six games.
Fans expectations are soaring for the next six. They feel the Broncos have broken out the Corral and will run roughshod over our opponents. Make no mistake, I like our chances, but we are still learning this team's identity, so hold your horses a bit.
Are we the team that has shot it at nearly 50% the past three games or the team that shot it in the mid 30% the prior six games? Are we the defensive team that that is making key stops late in the game or the team that doesn't close out to shooters fast enough? Our opponents are outshooting us season to date from both the two and three point areas. Are we the dominant rebounding team with an + 8 offensive advantage season to date and 42 boards a game? Are we a deeper roster than past seasons or are we a short roster, playing only seven guys more than five minutes team as in the past three games?
My feeling, is that we are a bit of all those team qualities and stats. That's what makes us a difficult team to play and at times to watch. One thing for sure, we'll need all of the qualities above to finish preseason in contention for a post season nod. If we can get to 11-4 before the WCC league starts, we have a shot at another "N" bid of some type. More on this in a later column.
The next four are very winnable and we need to get it done. The last two are potential season builders against UC Irvine (63) and Boise St. (53). Both are good Quad 2 games which help NET rankings.
It begins tonight against New Mexico State, who are favored to win the Western Athletic Conference this season. They are talented and can score it from all areas; averaging over 80 point per game.
We'll see where we are after tonight. Hopefully a step forward and in the right direction - UP!
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