Welcome
to the University of Denver men’s basketball as-yet-to-be-named blog.
We are hoping the blogs provide DU fans with an inside look as the
Denver basketball team grows into the perennial contender that all of us
are looking for. If you have suggestions on a name for this blog, or if
you ever have any questions about the Pioneers, please direct them my
way at michael.kennedy@du.edu. Now for the second installment:
We
got the schedule out last week, and I am really looking forward to a
great season. Denver’s roster is young. Incredibly young may be a better
way to put it. The Pioneers are the youngest team in the Sun Belt
Conference and among the youngest in the nation. When the ball is tipped
for the first game of the season at Northern Iowa on Nov. 15, the
average age of Denver’s 13 players is going to be 18.9 years old. Not a
single player on this team was alive when Indiana’s Keith Smart hit his
buzzer beater against Syracuse to give Bob Knight his final national
championship in 1987. However, this year’s schedule is ideal for a young
team that has to grow up quickly. Six of DU’s first seven games are on
the road, which should toughen up the players for a stretch of
five-straight games at Magness Arena in December, as well as conference
play. Here are some highlights from the first half of the 2008-09 Denver men’s basketball home schedule.
Without
a doubt, I’m most excited about the home Sun Belt Conference schedule,
and two games in particular. Both Western Kentucky and South Alabama are
making their way to Magness Arena this season, so mark your calendars
for Jan. 24 (WKU) and Jan. 29 (USA). Western Kentucky was 29-7 and won
the SBC title last year, while South Alabama went 26-7 and earned an
at-large bid to the Big Dance. During last year’s NCAA Tournament, the
Jaguars fell in the first round to a very good Butler team. The
Hilltoppers shocked everyone outside of our conference by beating Drake
and San Diego before getting edged by Final Four-bound UCLA in the Sweet
16. I say everyone outside our conference, because we got to see just
how good Western Kentucky was last season. Of course, that did not stop
us from jumping out of our seats when Ty Rogers hit the three-pointer as
time expired in the first round game to sneak past Drake. It was the
best shot I’ve seen in the Tournament in the past several years, even if
it was upstaged by Kansas guard Mario Chalmers in the NCAA title game.
Other
games to note on this year’s home schedule include the always popular
regional games. The Pioneers host Northern Colorado in the season’s
first game at Magness Arena on Nov. 26, a great way to kick off the
Thanksgiving weekend. Colorado State makes the trip down I-25 on Dec. 20
for a Saturday night matchup. Like DU, both of those schools hired
talented head coaches in the past couple of years, and they could be in
great shape to turn their programs into winners. UNC lured Tad Boyle
back to his hometown of Greeley in 2006 after he served as an assistant
at Oregon, Tennessee, Jacksonville State and Wichita State. He helped
turn around the Gamecocks and Shockers, including a Sweet 16 appearance
in 2006. Tim Miles went to CSU after stints at Mayville State, Southwest
Minnesota State and North Dakota State. Underestimate Miles if you’d
like. I suspect Marquette and Wisconsin did when they scheduled the
Bison in 2006-07. Miles and his team, an independent program, traveled
to Wisconsin and beat the No. 8 Golden Eagles and No. 13 Badgers on
their home courts. Those were just two wins during Miles’ 20-8 season.
Don’t let last year’s struggles fool you. Those teams are getting
better, and I think people around this state are going to start noticing
some great college basketball all along the Front Range.
Circle
that South Dakota State game (Dec. 13) on your calendar. When the
Pioneers went to Brookings last season, DU led by two with 90 seconds
remaining. The Jackrabbits hit a three with 1:13 to play, and let’s just
say SDSU hit 5-of-6 free throws in the final minute to win by four. I’m
pretty sure that game left a pretty bitter taste in the mouths of
everyone wearing Crimson and Gold that night.
Three
days later (Dec. 16), the Pioneers get a home rematch with Florida
Atlantic in the SBC opener. The teams met last year in Boca Raton, but
the Republican Presidential debates were on Florida Atlantic’s campus,
so the game was pushed a few miles away to Lynn University. The good
guys fell 70-68 in overtime of one of the most exciting games of the
year. Anyone who heard Mitch Hyder, the radio voice of the Pioneers,
that night might have an idea of how much fun that game was to watch. I
have not heard whether the maintenance crew at Lynn has fixed the hole
in the wall, created when Hyder’s chair flew out from under him at the
sight of Denver nailing a game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer. The
Owls have only been in the Sun Belt for two years, but in their two
games against DU the average winning margin has been 3.5 with the home
team taking each game.
News and Notes:
Fans
are going to notice a slightly new look on the court this season. The
NCAA has extended the men’s three-point line to 20 feet, 9 inches. The
line had been a foot closer at 19 feet, 9 inches for 20 years, since the
NCAA introduced the three-pointer in 1986-87. That line will remain on
the court for the women’s games.
