Metoyer leads Buffs 115-55

[Buffsfan22]

Frosh Amber Metoyer, out of Boulder's own fairview high school finished the day two assists shy of a triple-double. Amber, who also will wear CU black and Gold for the track and field team is looking like one of the top frosh in the nation. She was everywhere today and led the team w/ 28 minutes, scoring 19 on 8-12 shooting, 12 boards and 8 assists.

Tera Bjorklund also had a double-double with 20 and 11 boards.

The Russians were helpless to do anything defensively but hack hack hack. Sending the Buffs to the line 51 times.

Ceal mostly rested starters Scott, Lappe and Stafford. Every player on the roster logged at least 6 minutes.

As in the first exhibition, I thought Metoyer and forward Randi Wirt had the best game for the Buffs.
Second year frosh, center Cecily Jones also was sharp, adding 12 pts and 5 boards in 14 minutes.

I'm just stoked we start for real on Friday.

Go Buffs!

[swok34]

The Russians were helpless to do anything defensively but hack hack hack

Spartak seemed a little frustrated by the second-half debacle and took its physical play to a different level when Yuli Khodjayan punched Jolee Ayers in the face while the two were fighting for a loose ball. Khodjayan was assessed a technical foul and was ejected, while Ayers left to ice her jaw


Maybe we should tell the Russians to stay home next year http://hoopscoop.net/ubb/smile.gif They don't sound very "sportsmanlike".......the Swede's were fun to watch, horrible ball-handlers, though.

[schooner2]

This is not a surprise whatsoever. This happens every single season that at least one of the foreign teams is known for very physical play and argues every single foul called against them. And then will resort to very unsportsmanlike behavior out of frustration. It's simply ridiculous. I don't know why coaches put up with this.

Now that it is legal to play against teams like Wayland Baptist, Nebraska-Kearney, Oklahoma Christian and others - or really good teams like the Houston Jaguars (AIA had a really good team a few years back), I would stick with playing these teams. 50 point blowouts are less likely - and so is having to ice down a player's jaw after a game.

[swok34]

I would much rather see the opponent have more familiar faces,
it's much more interesting to see some of the other Oklahoma hs players that are playing NAIA ball.

Seems the only competitive foreign team I've seen OU play lately was Australia 2 years ago.

[BeBe]

Another example of the frustrated play of the Russians: #4 (name escapes me right now) had a foul called on her in the second half. She then flung the ball right into the ref! Second ref quickly blew the whistle and signalled a "T".

This was the second technical of the game. The first was called on the Spartak bench in the first half. I don't ever recall seeing a game with 2 technicals like that.

The game was pretty rough. Tera Bjorklund kept getting mugged; elbows were flying, etc. There was one strange call in the first half where Maria Billingsly was called for a foul as she was gasping on the court after she got elbowed hard to the stomach. Not that there was retaliation, but later in the second half a Buff player was grinning after being called for an elbowing foul.

[Buffsfan22]

i did notice Randi Wirt unceromoniously pancaked one of the Spartak players at one point and looked pretty satisfied in having done so, though no doubt it was completely accidental.

Spartak-Moscow was flat out a dirty, classless team that deserved the whoopin' they got.

I'm just glad nobody got hurt.

[unkiemark]

Metoyer certainly played well Saturday, and again better than I would have thought at this point in her career. However, I am not ready to anoint her as one of the top freshmen in the country just yet. Let's see what she does when the game counts and the opponent isn't tired and frustrated. If she continues as she has then perhaps we can state she is one of the top freshmen in the country.

In addition to Metoyer's play it was good to see Maria Billingsley take control of the backcourt. She really seemed to settle the team down and get the offense running efficiently. It would appear she has earned more playing time.

Although Lappe only played nine minutes she made an impression with her aggressive drives to the basket. Let's hope she will be healthy enough to get plenty of minutes when the game is on the line.



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MarkW

[Buffsfan22]

Sorry i forgot to apologize to my fellow Buff followers for my optimistic enthusiasm.

Nevertheless, I maintain it...except when it comes to Billingsly.

Can you say Nikki Weddle?
My feeling here is if Maria takes any significant minutes from Sy and VJR at point, we should expect our two far more talened pg's to be getting outta Dodge at the end of the season. I wouldn't blame them either. Sorry, but Maria isn't even in the same league as Sy and VJR.
I'm very concerned about this. You can drop my optimistic predictions for this team in this scenerio as well.

I'm VERY concerned about this.

[kate dawg]

Ok HOLD UP. Did you just use the name Nikki Weddle and compare her to A)Syreeta and Veronica and B) to Mandy Nightingale? Weddle "more-talented" than Nightingale? Puh-leeze. I'd take Mandy over Weddle 1,000 times out of 1,000. As far as I'm concerned, I hope Weddle didn't let the door hit her in the you-know-what on her way out of town, because her attitude was not welcome. And please don't compare Veronica and Syreeta to Nikki either. So far nothing has indicated that they are as selfish as she was. Nikki left because she was mad that Mandy beat her out and blamed it on everyone but herself.

Colorado Basketball isn't about selfishness BuffsFan. You should know that if you're a fan of the program. They play team basketball, and people that are more concerned about themselves than they are about what's best for the team are usually free to go sit on the bench and free to transfer. Just ask Weddle, Swagger, Johnson and Dilworth.

As far as Syreeta and Veronica go, are they looking better than Maria? Yes. Why do you think that Maria got minutes vs. the lousy team from Russia? Maybe it's because she's not going to see a ton of them when the real games start, and CB can't afford injuries to important players. Hence the low minutes had by Stafford, Lappe and Scott, who are all big pieces to the puzzle. Wow, you are sure jumping the gun on that Maria stuff. It's November 18, and you're talking about Syreeta and Veronica transferring based on what happened in one exhibition on November? Talk to me about that in February my friend. And they don't need Veronica to play point guard. They need her to backup Kate Fagan first and Syreeta second.

Ceal Barry likes POINT GUARDS. Not shooting guards or small forwards that play some point but whose primary role is scoring...point guards that play point guard. Lead the team, run the offense, have a commanding presence on the floor and play hard on defense. That are an extension of her on the floor. Syreeta can give her that, and Maria gave her that on Saturday.

I echo Mark's sentiments regarding Amber. She looked pretty good, but I'll reserve judgement on her until the real games that count are being played.

[Buffsfan22]

Chill kate dawg.

I know Mandy was a far better point than Nikki. I also knew i was gonna get in trouble for voicing this concern.

I originally assumed the reasons for Maria's minutes on Saturday were for the reasons you just spelled out.

I perhaps just gave it too much thought.

But hey, i did provide you another op to act "objective" and superior.

I don't care if VJR gets her minutes at the 1 or 2 so long as she gets her minutes. I do still think most of those minutes will come at the one. We'll see.

anyway, sorry we can't all be perfect fans. Perhaps you could you could post a Buff fan code of conduct so we less perfect can better learn from your wisdom.

luckily, i sit w/ a bunch of fans as imperfect as i am and we feel it's ok to exchange opinions and concerns that differ from each others.

Fact is there was a mass exodous of players several years ago that did hurt the program. If worrying over the possibility of that happening again makes me less of a good fan than you...well hope that helps ya sleep better.

[unkiemark]

My comments concerning the play of Maria Billingsley certainly weren't meant to antagonize anyone. However, I do believe that her play at the point has earned her at least consideration for more time. As Kate might say, she is a pure point and that I believe is one reason why Ceal will play her.

Interesting that Johns-Richardson didn't get any playing time in the exhibition games at shooting guard. It was Lappe and Hobbs. Reading Ceal's comments after the game it seems that Hobbs will be an important sub at the two.

Reading about Rice it seems that the Buffs will have a good test. Rice is picked to finish second in the WAC this season and has a solid post player.



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MarkW

[Roger B. Rowland]

"I hope Weddle didn't let the door hit her in the you-know-what on her way out of town…"

Not to worry. Weddle transferred to the University of Denver. In 2001 Weddle received the Sun Belt Conference Newcomer of the Year Award. A year later Weddle was named to the Sun Belt Conference 2002 All Conference Team. Weddle is currently playing professional ball in Denmark.

Johnson and Swagger transferred to Arizona State. "Johnson earned All-Pac-10 honors in each of her two seasons in Tempe (first team in 2001, honorable mention in 2002), leading ASU in two of its most successful seasons in school history." Arizona State defeated Stanford 70 to 63 in the PAC 10 championship last season. Three weeks later Colorado defeated Stanford by 3 points in the NCAA West Regional semi-final game. Like Nightingale, Johnson was drafted by the Portland Fire. Johnson was cut by the Fire on May 3. Nightingale was cut three weeks later. Swagger left the Arizona State program and had baby boy.

"Chaquita Dilworth (Temple, Texas) transferred to Stephen F. Austin and was named to the 2002 All-Southland Conference team."

If anything, the experience was a hard lesson in the perils of recruiting. As Buffsfan22 alluded to, it remains too be seen if Colorado has learned that lesson. The Colorado recruiting process becomes even more interesting with the departure of top recruiter Jen Warden to Boise State.

Roger

[This message has been edited by Roger B. Rowland (edited 11-21-2002).]