Men’s basketball notes: Player combos on display in CU Buffs intrasquad scrimmage

With a wealth of new faces to work with, the process of finding which combination of players clicks best has been an ongoing project throughout the preseason.

Its a process that certainly wont end with Saturdays intrasquad scrimmage.

Yet it certainly was interesting to see some of those combinations in play.

The Colorado mens basketball team hosted its annual scrimmage on Saturday afternoon at the CU Events Center, treating a few hundred fans to a sneak preview of a 2024-25 squad that features three true freshmen, three graduate transfers and several holdovers who havent logged much court time.

Im going to reserve judgement until I watch the film, CU head coach Tad Boyle said of Saturdays scrimmage.

But what I was looking for today was progress.

We did this last Saturday without people in the stands, and it felt like we took a step forward this week in our conditioning.

What Im looking for is progress from week to week.

Sometimes its hard to see day to day.

But from last Saturday until today our conditioning got better.

The scrimmage tipped off with a Black team consisting of Julian Hammond III, Felix Kossaras, Andrej Jakimovski, Sebastian Rancik and Bangot Dak, with the White team countering with Javon Ruffin, RJ Smith, Andrew Crawford, Trevor Baskin and Elijah Malone.

The combinations were juggled beginning with the second quarter, with the Black team offering a smaller, three-guard lineup (Hammond, Smith, Ruffin) against a White side boasting the three graduate transfers (Jakimovski, Baskin and Malone) in addition to the three freshmen (Crawford and Kossaras started, with Rancik coming off the bench).

Were not going to be great at everything by November fourth, Boyle said.

Weve got to be great at half-court offense, half-court defense, transition offense, transition defense.

If we can be good at those things, well have a chance to win some games in November, but we have to keep getting better and better.

In terms of personnel, this is going to be an evolving team all year.

Weve already had a couple guys injured.

Were still a long ways away.

Backcourt solutions Saturdays scrimmage marked the unofficial midpoint of the preseason, with three weeks complete and another three weeks still ahead before the season opener at home on Nov.

4 against Eastern Washington.

A slow start to the preseason for Courtney Anderson has streamlined the backcourt competition alongside presumptive point guard Hammond, with fellow veterans Ruffin and Smith looking to make a mark after injury-riddled starts to their Buffs career.

CU also has two of the freshmen, Kossaras and Crawford, as backcourt options.

Anderson, a redshirt freshman, has been limited throughout the preseason by a groin injury and did not play on Saturday.

Sophomore forward Assane Diop also was sidelined for the scrimmage due to an injury.

Thats going to be the big question that we have, is how well is our backcourt going to step up, Boyle said.

We have some voids there, theres no doubt about that.

Julian, he and Ruff have the experience but just havent been put in those roles yet.

Notable On Friday, the Big 12 announced the hiring of Brian Thornton as Vice President of Mens Basketball.

Formerly the commissioner of the WAC, Thornton will, per a release from the league, oversee all operations of Big 12 mens basketball as it maintains and grows its status as the premier league in college basketball.

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Saturdays scrimmage marked the first of three consecutive weekends of increased competition for the Buffs leading into the season.

CU hosts Division III Pomona-Pitzer for an exhibition game next week, then travels to Texas for a closed scrimmage the following week.

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The Associated Press preseason top 25 poll will be released on Monday..

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