The 2017-2018 season didn’t start exactly as the Denver Pioneers had hoped or planned. A spunky UC Irvine team came into Magness Arena on Sunday evening and walked out with a fairly easy 83-69 victory. Most Denver fans had this game marked as a win before the season, but a combination of poor shooting and costly turnovers from the Pios proved to be too much to overcome.
Denver shot 21-63 (33.3%) from the field and 5-19 (26.3%) from three point land, numbers that will rarely win any game, but certainly not when your opponent shoots 45.2% from the field and 36.4% from three. When I asked after the game if these shooting figures should be cause for concern, Coach Billups said “We’ve had some first game jitters, we took some bad shots. It’s hard to get a good shot, get a good flow, when you have to take the ball out every time. Our defense usually drives our offense, today our offense drove our defense, and that’s why you see the result you saw.”
Despite the poor shooting, the game remained close in the first half and the Pioneers actually had a 14-13 lead with 9:42 to go before halftime. That would be the final lead for Denver though, as the Anteaters would go on a 16-2 run over the next four minutes to take a 29-16 advantage. Denver did end the half on a mini run to get to a 35-25 deficit at the break and give us a little hope that a second half comeback might be in the works.
Instead, the second half was more of the first, with each Denver run being quickly stamped out by a counter UC Irvine run. There were a few moments, mostly led by the pure tenaciousness of Joe Rosga, where Denver cut into the lead enough to start getting the crowd at Magness alive, but it was just never enough.
Denver was led with double digit scoring by Rosga, Daniel Amigo, and Elvin Rodriguez. Amigo pulled in 10 rebounds with his 13 points for a double double and Rodriguez began his college career with 11 points. In doing so, Rodriguez proved he was not afraid to shoot. In fact, he shot and missed threes the first two times he touched the ball. When I asked Coach Billups if this was part of the gameplan for Elvin, Billups gave a wry chuckle and replied “Not so much. I want him to be aggressive offensively, but within the flow of the game. I’m asking him to get the guys involved and make plays, but not so much right away soon as he gets in to shoot two threes. He’s got some learning to do, I’m going to be patient with him, he’s going to be really good for us.”
Jake Krafka also had a notable night with 10 boards to go with his 4 points and Ade Murkey scored 9 points on 3-4 shooting from the field. The stat sheet was not kind to Abiola Akintola – he had only 2 points and 4 fouls, but when I asked Coach Billups if this might be a concern, he wasn’t worried at all, “Abi just plays hard, usually his energy is rewarded. Tonight, not so much. But I don’t worry about that, Abi is our energy guy. I am asking Abi to guard their toughest guy, I’m asking him to dive on the floor and take charges, I’m okay with that, I dont think that’s going to be a problem.”
All in all, it is a somewhat concerning loss as Denver was expected to be a superior team to UC Irvine and the Pios shot incredibly poorly, so they were never really in the game in the second half. On the other hand, you can’t expect them to continue to shoot this poorly, and they have some winnable games coming up on the schedule. Unfortunately though, their next game would not seem to be one of those. The Pioneers go up to Boulder on Tuesday night for a 7 PM tip versus Colorado. The Buffaloes opened the season with a 66-51 victory over Northern Colorado and will be overwhelming favorites against Denver, but when I asked Coach Billups about his goals for the game, he was very clear that he thinks they can win, “[Our goal is] to compete. I don’t go into a game thinking a team is better than us, because I don’t believe that. I think our guys are confident enough and talented enough to win any game when we play together. The strength of our team is our team. So, we’re going to go in with our best foot forward and see what happens.”
UCI was an NIT team last year and an NCAA second round team three years ago. I think they probably should beat a team like DU…
I was fairly confident we would win this one just because UCI is so young, their team is essentially all sophomores so I thought our experienced squad would have the edge. South Dakota State also beat them on Friday by 11 points, so I was hopeful based on that as well. Denver did close in Vegas as a 5 point favorite, but that line ended up being pretty far off from reality.
Dunker makes CU a 19 point favorite. Irvine didn’t schedule us with the idea we could out talent them
UCI was an NIT team last year and an NCAA second round team three years ago. I think they probably should beat a team like DU…
I was fairly confident we would win this one just because UCI is so young, their team is essentially all sophomores so I thought our experienced squad would have the edge. South Dakota State also beat them on Friday by 11 points, so I was hopeful based on that as well. Denver did close in Vegas as a 5 point favorite, but that line ended up being pretty far off from reality.
Dunker makes CU a 19 point favorite. Irvine didn’t schedule us with the idea we could out talent them
Sigh. Not the start anyone was looking for.
Interesting how Coach Billups said in his postgame comments that “we are a mediocre team.” Given the number of returnees from a winning squad a year ago, that was not what I wanted to hear after the home opener from the second-year coach.
Obviously, still early, plenty of hoops to go. Let’s hope for some visible improvement because the Pios were not competitive yesterday.
He did seem a little frustrated when he made those remarks, for reference for those that didn’t see it, the full quote was in response to a question about poor shot selection and the communication from the bench about that issue late in the game.
“For us to get better we’ve got to start being able to take information from the sideline into the game, from the huddle into the game. Until we take those kind of gains, we’re still going to be a mediocre basketball team, like you saw tonight.”
So I think in that respect he’s probably right, if the players continue to take poor shots and not listen to the gameplan in the huddle, they’ll be a mediocre team all year. I’m hoping it was a wakeup call more than anything.
So are DU fans expected to pay for tickets against Johnson and Wales?! They are NAIA, equivalency of DII. In my opinion, that should be an exhibition game. Another stellar scheduling job! They better show up bettered prepared than they did for UCI. Johnson and Wales could take bragging rights for Denver! Go fighting Chefs!
It is an exhibition game, meaning it doesn’t count in the standings, win or lose. Yet DU wants us to pay $12 to watch an exhibition in the equivalent of a high school gymnasium. OHHH, but the seats are Crimson now instead of mustard yellow color! Who cares. Might as well get Texas A&M Chorpus Christi back on the schedule for twice a year. Yawn……
I think you need a snickers bar!!! Save your $12 and go be angry somewhere else. GO PIOS and I hope ya have a Happy Thanksgiving
Sigh. Not the start anyone was looking for.
Interesting how Coach Billups said in his postgame comments that “we are a mediocre team.” Given the number of returnees from a winning squad a year ago, that was not what I wanted to hear after the home opener from the second-year coach.
Obviously, still early, plenty of hoops to go. Let’s hope for some visible improvement because the Pios were not competitive yesterday.
He did seem a little frustrated when he made those remarks, for reference for those that didn’t see it, the full quote was in response to a question about poor shot selection and the communication from the bench about that issue late in the game.
“For us to get better we’ve got to start being able to take information from the sideline into the game, from the huddle into the game. Until we take those kind of gains, we’re still going to be a mediocre basketball team, like you saw tonight.”
So I think in that respect he’s probably right, if the players continue to take poor shots and not listen to the gameplan in the huddle, they’ll be a mediocre team all year. I’m hoping it was a wakeup call more than anything.
Who’s angry? I’ve seen DU’s basketball “crowds”. They need all the $12 tickets they can sell, especially with their inept marketing department running the show.
The two D-II schools (Johnson & Wales and Colorado Mesa) are on the DU schedule this year because that’s all DU could get on short notice when IUPUI pulled out of the Summit League this past summer.
D-I schedules are normally produced years in advance, and you can be sure that DU was not happy about this situation that they had little control over. That’s why they put those games in Hamilton Gym – they know fan interest will be low. I don’t expect to see D-II teams playing DU after this season’s aberration.
So are DU fans expected to pay for tickets against Johnson and Wales?! They are NAIA, equivalency of DII. In my opinion, that should be an exhibition game. Another stellar scheduling job! They better show up bettered prepared than they did for UCI. Johnson and Wales could take bragging rights for Denver! Go fighting Chefs!
It is an exhibition game, meaning it doesn’t count in the standings, win or lose. Yet DU wants us to pay $12 to watch an exhibition in the equivalent of a high school gymnasium. OHHH, but the seats are Crimson now instead of mustard yellow color! Who cares. Might as well get Texas A&M Chorpus Christi back on the schedule for twice a year. Yawn……
I think you need a snickers bar!!! Save your $12 and go be angry somewhere else. GO PIOS and I hope ya have a Happy Thanksgiving
Who’s angry? I’ve seen DU’s basketball “crowds”. They need all the $12 tickets they can sell, especially with their inept marketing department running the show.
The two D-II schools (Johnson & Wales and Colorado Mesa) are on the DU schedule this year because that’s all DU could get on short notice when IUPUI pulled out of the Summit League this past summer.
D-I schedules are normally produced years in advance, and you can be sure that DU was not happy about this situation that they had little control over. That’s why they put those games in Hamilton Gym – they know fan interest will be low. I don’t expect to see D-II teams playing DU after this season’s aberration.
I believe tonight’s game and the other D2 one do count in DU’s record. They’re not exhibitions. They will kill DU’s SOS.
At the same time, you’re telling me DU couldn’t find 1-2 D1 schools in the whole country to play at the late date?
This is the easy way out, play two D2 Colorado programs.
Maybe if they didn’t blow the money on Spain they could have subsidized a D1 team to come to Denver.
What did the other Summit teams do to fill in their holes?
Interestingly, playing these DII teams will actually be good for Denver’s strength of schedule. The RPI (as well as kenpom) doesn’t rank DII teams, so they just completely throw those games out, so it won’t be a ding against us at all. If we were to have scheduled a couple of really crappy SWAC or MEAC teams instead, it would count on our strength of schedule, and end up hurting us.
Not that I like playing two DII teams, it’s unfortunate that the schedule worked out that way, but the strength of schedule thing is one part about it that actually benefits us. (assuming we would have instead scheduled really really bad DI teams from the SWAC or MEAC which is generally what teams have to do)
I believe tonight’s game and the other D2 one do count in DU’s record. They’re not exhibitions. They will kill DU’s SOS.
At the same time, you’re telling me DU couldn’t find 1-2 D1 schools in the whole country to play at the late date?
This is the easy way out, play two D2 Colorado programs.
Maybe if they didn’t blow the money on Spain they could have subsidized a D1 team to come to Denver.
What did the other Summit teams do to fill in their holes?
Interestingly, playing these DII teams will actually be good for Denver’s strength of schedule. The RPI (as well as kenpom) doesn’t rank DII teams, so they just completely throw those games out, so it won’t be a ding against us at all. If we were to have scheduled a couple of really crappy SWAC or MEAC teams instead, it would count on our strength of schedule, and end up hurting us.
Not that I like playing two DII teams, it’s unfortunate that the schedule worked out that way, but the strength of schedule thing is one part about it that actually benefits us. (assuming we would have instead scheduled really really bad DI teams from the SWAC or MEAC which is generally what teams have to do)