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Checking the Resume: Some fans don’t deserve Tad Boyle

William Whelan
William Whelan
March 30, 2016
Checking the Resume: Some fans don’t deserve Tad Boyle

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William Whelan

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March 30, 2016

CU basketball NCAA appearances, 1939 (first tournament) to 2010 (Boyle’s first year)- 10 in 71 years, or 1 NCAA appearance every 7.1 years.

CU basketball NCAA Appearances w/ Boyle- 4 NCAA appearances in 6 years, or 1 every 1.5 years.

Most CU fans were only alive for NCAA trips in 1997 and 2003. If you think CU can do better than Boyle is doing now, you need to re-evaluate. CU missed every NCAA tournament from 1969 to 1997. Boulder is not an easy place to win basketball games, certainly not as easy as Tad has made it look.

March 31, 2016

Boyle fan here. Love the guy and want him to stay. That being said, this article makes several ridiculous points. First and foremost, personally insulting fans who have a different (and somewhat valid) opinion than you is not a great look. Also, simply because you don’t see someone active on Twitter doesn’t mean they are fair weather buffs fans (or idiots, or not well “versed” in “the art of balls going through baskets”).

Secondly, comparing finishing 5th in the Pac this year to 5th in the ACC is ridiculous. Out of the 7 Pac teams in the Tourney, only 2 got a win in the first round, with the 3 seed Utah getting smacked by an 11seed in the 2nd round game. By comparison the ACC had 4 of the Elite 8 and 2 of the final 4. Big 12 had 4 in the sweet 16, Big 10 had 3 in sweet 16.

With that being said, I am a Tad fan and think he should stick around as long as we can have him, however, there does need to be improvement. Same story all season long, can’t hold a lead. Same story season after season, we have 10 minute droughts of no baskets. Same story season after season, we can’t seem to perform against a zone d. Same story, we get shell shocked in tourney games.

Love the Buffs, Love Tad, don’t love the insults hurled at Buff fans with opinions other than yours.

Go Buffs
– CU Grad, class of 2014 – lifelong Buff fan

March 31, 2016

All hail King Whelan! Sultan on #BuffsTwitter and the Julius Caesar of web based opinions!

March 31, 2016

Double checking the resume: Some writers don’t deserve a good basketball program!

This article reminded me of the guy that marries the first good looking girl they date because they figure it’s the best they can do.

The majority of CU fans recognize the job Tad Boyle has done and the improvement in the program over the past 6 years. However, there are fans that see room for improvement and are voicing their opinion. A few of them might be far to the right on this issue and want Boyle fired, but there are also a few fans (and writers) far to the left where Boyle can do no wrong. Most people are in the middle. Yes, the article addresses the ‘fringe’ fans, but by writing about, the article is also casting a much wider net, and it’s making a bigger issue of the ‘Tad in the hot seat angle’.

I would have enjoyed this article more if it would have been written from a point of view that summarizes all the circumstances that led to the rise of the basketball program. An article that is fair would address all the circumstances that made the improvement to the program possible (and not just blindly credit Boyle with everything).

For example, the article could explain how the success of the program was also due to the following reasons:

-The recruiting of Alec Burks by Bzdelik. Without Burks, does Boyle have any early success at CU? Does he even accept the job?

-Bzdelik demanding the new basketball facilities is built as part of his contract. How many of the recruits that Boyle has been able to get come here are successfully recruited without those facilities?

-The move to the PAC-12 headed by Mike Bohn. Without the move, say goodbye to Dinwiddie, Booker and XJ.

-The rise of the C-Unit and increased fan support.

-The football program being on decline for 10 years.

The point is that it is early to treat Boyle as if he is Coach K. He is not the single reason the bb program became good.

Fans and some writers have noticed deficiencies in Boyle’s CU teams from the beginning. Like playing against zone, inconsistency and not developing players offensively. What fans want is improvement, and it is frustrating when the same problems plague the team year after year.

Ideally, Boyle will continue to improve and this program will be able to compete for the PAC 12 year-in and year-out and maybe get to 2nd round or sweet 16 once in a while.

But the main question is this, if it’s year ten in Boyle era and CU never gets past the 1st round of the NCAA, would people still write articles defending Boyle because ‘remember how bad the program was’?…..Well, it’s year 6.

Replying to

March 31, 2016

While I’ve been frustrated with Boyle before, and I think there are ways that he both could improve as a coach and has improved as a coach, I don’t think you can give credit to the C-Unit or the lack of success of the football team in turning the basketball team around. The football team struggling has little to nothing to do with the basketball team. Period. Are you implying that last year when both the football and men’s basketball teams were down that CU fans were flocking to cross country meets or women’s lacrosse games? I didn’t go to any, so I don’t know if that’s true, but I have a sneaking suspicion that they’re completely unrelated.

Second, the C-Unit can 100% attribute its success to the success of the basketball team, and not the other way around. As one of the original members of the C-Unit, I can say this. I graduated in 2009 and went to all of the basketball games during my time at CU, unless I had a test. (I specifically remember that because I actually had a test during a CU/Texas game and decided to skip checking my answers to my test to try and sprint across campus in the snow to catch the end of the CU game because it had gone to OT and I knew I might catch a few minutes of action.) So trust me when I tell you that the C-Unit used to suck. There were games in 2006-07 (the 7-win Ricardo team) or 2008-09 (the 9-win Bzdelik team) when there were literally 5 students in attendance. And that’s when the C-Unit started to form. It wasn’t like CU always had 2,000 students at games with perfectly timed cheers and enthusiasm to help give them a good home court advantage. It was definitely the opposite. When KU came to town, the student section was filled with KU fans spilling over from the GA seats.

Just my $0.02 because, as much as I’d like to claim some credit for CU reemergence back to relevancy, there isn’t a connection.

Replying to

March 31, 2016

Yes, I think the fact football has been bad for so long is part of the reason people were willing to support even the mild success of the basketball team. I do credit the C-Unit and the fans for helping with some of the wins during this era. The strong home court advantage CU has built has helped masked some of the flaws in Boyle’s teams that become apparent during the tourney. But putting the C-Unit and the football aside, it is hard to argue that the bb facilities and the move to the Pac were not major factors for the improvement in the program. Even before Tad, the move to fire Ricardo Patton and hire Bzdelik already signaled a renewed focus on the bb program by the administration. But everyone forgets about those years.

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