Team Colorado will play against a bit of a stacked deck while a basketball jackpot looms larger.
Yet it’s a situation that already has brought out the best in the Colorado basketball alums.
After winning three games in Wichita, Kan., against teams based in Kansas, Team Colorado has moved halfway to the $1 million prize in the winner-take-all The Basketball Tournament. The former Buffs will look to once again dash the hopes of the home team on Tuesday as they face Forever Coogs, a squad comprised of University of Houston alums, in the quarterfinals in Houston (7 p.m. MT, Fox Sports 1).
The winner will face the winner of Tuesday’s quarterfinal between Eberlin Drive and Happy Valley Hoopers, a squad led by Penn State alums, in the semifinals on Friday in Philadelphia.
“This team has kind of taken on the persona that it doesn’t matter where we play, when we play or who we’re playing against; as long as we take care of what we need to do, the rest kind of takes care of itself,” said CU assistant and Team Colorado head coach Zach Ruebesam. “These guys have no quit in them. That was apparent in Wichita. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing against, where we’re playing; these guys keep playing hard and we’ll see what happens (Tuesday) night.”
Team Colorado has advanced through the first three rounds very much like a squad of Tad Boyle disciples, as the former Buffs have leaned on defense and rebounding to offset a few offensive shortcomings.
Team Colorado has shot just .316 on 3-pointers while averaging 13.3 turnovers per game. But, led by the still very spry Andre Roberson, the team has held its opponents to a .407 field goal percentage while posting an average rebound margin of plus-12.3, the fourth-best mark in TBT.
Roberson, looking to prove he still has tread on his tires after a devastating knee injury derailed his NBA career, goes into the quarterfinal round as the TBT co-leader with 33 rebounds.
“We’ve had bad third quarters, so I’m trying to push any button that I can to get that figured out. But our fourth quarters have been amazing,” Ruebesam said. “I think we shot 60% (in the fourth) in two of the games and held them to 30%. The fourth quarter is where these guys are all fight, no quit, and they just keep coming and coming.
“Andre has always set the tone defensively because that’s who he is. He lives and breathes that. But having the seven former CU guys that all played for Tad, that’s what we do. That’s what we know. Defense and rebounding always gives you a chance.”
Team Colorado has displayed a flair for the dramatic, as well as an ability to erase big deficits, through the first three rounds of TBT. Team Colorado trailed by nine late in the first half of a second-round game against Aftershocks (Wichita State alums) before taking a one-point lead at the break, later erasing an 11-point deficit in the second half before rallying for the win.
In Team Colorado’s Sweet 16 win against Mass Street (Kansas alums), the Buffs-led squad trailed by 10 with just under 6 minutes remaining before recording another comeback win. Team Colorado has not yet clicked on all cylinders offensively, but the traits that have carried the team this far should translate to what likely will be another tough environment in Houston.
“With having three games on film now, I’ve watched all three games for Forever Coogs and they are unlike the Mass Street team where it was a lot of one-on-one. They’re playing real basketball,” Ruebesam said. “They’re running some sets and doing some of those things. We have them scouted, and what we want to do offensively and defensively. But at the end of the day, it kind of comes down to us and what we’re trying to do.”
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