City of Basketball Love

Jeff Griffith (@Jeff_Griffith21)
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Team 23, a group of Arizona natives, entered the 2016 edition of The Basketball Tournament as the West region No. 1 seed on a quest for redemption; the word “redemption” was watermarked on their shorts, creating a subtle driving reminder of their two-point loss to Overseas Elite in last year’s tournament final.

However, they weren’t the ones getting redemption Friday afternoon. It was their opponents, fifth-seeded Team Colorado, who took down the top-seed 78-73, and in doing so, avenged a sixteen-point loss to Team 23 in last year’s second round.

For the Colorado alumni, the revenge is sweet, but what’s sweeter is getting one step closer to the $2 million prize with a resilient team victory.

“Whoever we play, we obviously wanted revenge on Team 23, but whoever is on the other side of Colorado, we want to beat,” said Marcus Hall, who scored 15 in the win. “We believe it’s about us, not necessarily what the other teams do."

“It’s a one game championship,” added coach Dwight Thorne after the win.

According to Thorne, the most critical aspect for team Colorado in overcoming 24 turnovers to notch the win was perseverance. Having trailed by at least eight for more than a twenty-minute span between the two halves, the Buffaloes’ alums went down with about seven minutes to go, before fighting back to finish strong and come out on top.

“We got up, had a good lead, and then referees got involved and we lost our heads a little bit, but I think we settled down and persevered through a rough patch for us,” said Thorne. “I think that was the tipping point.”

One of the other critical facets of pulling off the upset was getting out to a strong start and being able to build on the belief that victory was attainable.

Colorado certainly had the belief part covered prior to the game, but it was their quick lead out of the gates that allowed them to start seeing it become a reality.

“One of us said, ‘we can beat these guys, we’re better than these guys,’” said Coleman, who led the way with 16 points for Team Colorado. “Once you start believing, it’s all about sticking together and sticking to what the coach is giving you on the court.”

Players like Hall and Coleman, who played at Colorado in the mid 2000s before starting careers overseas, joined the likes of Levi Knutson and Austin Dufault--who each had important contributions Friday--for the second straight year as part of Team Colorado.

Coming from Colorado and having played in the Big 12 or Pac-12, the players on Team Colorado bring a different style of basketball than has been seen with classic Big East alumni teams like Boeheim’s Army (Syracuse), The Untouchables (Pittsburgh), and SuperNOVA (Villanova).

The run-and-gun style of basketball that these players bring from their days out west is certainly a contrast to the old school, bruising Big East play and the physical nature of the Philadelphia Big 5. Because of that, Colorado gave the fans at Philly U a unique insight into the way the game is played on the other side of the country.

“Even in college, when we were in the Big 12, we talked about how the Big East played, and how the Pac-10 played,” said Hall. “When we watched the Syracuse-Pitt game yesterday, I thought to myself the only team that could’ve been that Syracuse team was Pitt, because they’re so used to that zone. Now, had one of us west coast teams faced Syracuse, it would have been a different style, but they also would have had to adjust to the up-and-down style we want to do. They want to grind, we want to get it off the glass and go."

For all of the guys deploying that western style of play, being an alumni team for their alma mater back in Boulder provides an extra level motivation, as has certainly been the case for the other eight alumni teams who reached the Super 16 in Philadelphia.

According to Team Colorado, the fan base back home has been involved and excited as their alumni have made this run into the TBT quarterfinals, where they will take on 3-seed Team Utah, comprised of alumni from a Utah Utes program that Coleman said he “went 2-0 against” while at CU.

“It’s good to have the support from Boulder,” said Hall. “I know a lot of GM’s are getting phone calls and text messages, we’re getting phone calls and text messages from our classmates that are watching us, it’s a good feeling to represent Buff nation, especially with the program being up right now. For us to have some of that success as well, we’re representing Colorado well.”

With all that said, the prize money undoubtedly still provides an un-matchable spark for every player in the tournament, including the players on Team Colorado, as they move within three wins of the $2 million prize.

When push comes to shove and the ball is tipped, however, it’s about more than just the money for these Colorado Buffaloes alums.

“This is for past alums, future alums, this is for Colorado,” said Coleman. “We’re doing it for them.”