On tap tonight: a big game for Denver

One does not simply walk into Magness Arena. There is a Princeton-style offense there that does not rest. And the great Eye of Joe Scott is ever watchful.

–Boromir, son of Denethor, loosely paraphrased

I don’t have a lot of insightful basketball analysis to offer in advance of today’s home opener for Denver against Colorado State. I’ll just say that it strikes me as a very big game, bordering on huge, despite how early we are in the season, for a number of reasons:

• Most obvious, though perhaps least significant in the grand scheme of things, is the 15-game home winning streak, tied for sixth best in the nation. Frankly, with Utah State, Portland and Northern Colorado, among others, coming to Magness in the next month, plus 4 of the 5 teams picked (along with Denver) to finish in the top half of the Sun Belt Conference, it’s fairly unlikely the streak will last the season no matter what happens tonight. But still, the streak is a nice thing for the Pioneers to hang their hats on, and I’d certainly like to see it extended as long as possible — if for no other reason than to give me some grounds for talking trash to @thrashsoundly heading into the Utah State game. (Also, if DU loses, I will have been at both their last loss before the streak and their first loss after the streak, without having been at any of the wins during the streak, which could create suspicion that I’m a jinx — especially since I’m going to miss the Alcorn State game, then be back for Utah State. #PANIC!)

• More importantly and urgently, a loss would drop DU to 0-4, at which point there’s a real risk of things spiraling out of control with players losing confidence, negative energy feeding on itself, etc. Joe Scott is probably too good of a coach to let that happen, but there still has to be some concern. Granted, as I’ve said before, next Wednesday’s home date with Alcorn State — RPI #344 out of 347 last year; picked to finish last in the country’s worst conference this year — is probably a firewall against an 0-5 start. But even so, you don’t want to dig yourself an 0-4 hole, and come into that Alcorn game utterly desperate for a win. Moreover, with Utah State, St. Mary’s (at Moraga), and several other tough teams still ahead on the 12-game nonconference schedule, it’s very unlikely Denver could start 0-4 and then rally to .500 or better by the time conference play starts. Not that there’s anything magical about a .500 non-conference record, you gotta believe Scott thought this team could achieve at least that when he drew up this ambitious schedule.

• Lastly, there’s the in-state rivalry angle. Scott has made clear that he wants to Denver to be the top college basketball program in the state of Colorado. Obviously, there are advantages for recruiting, visibility, and so forth in establishing that. As Scott said earlier this week, “There are four or five local teams here, and I think everybody is kind of competing a little for the same market.” DU has two chances this season against other Colorado teams, both at home: tonight against CSU, and next month against Northern Colorado. Both of those teams are much improved. In CSU’s case, head coach Tim Miles is in a similar situation to Scott: he’s in his fourth year, and has overseen steady improvement in the program and team that he inherited. So this game could be seen as something of a “progress report” for both squads (and coaches). Denver beat CSU two years ago in Magness, then lost last year in Fort Collins. A win tonight gets things moving in DU’s direction again, and would probably do more to get the attention of folks in Colorado than any number of Sun Belt victories in January and February.

Denver is apparently a 3-point favorite. [UPDATE: I just checked Sportacular on my iPhone — great app, by the way — and it says DU is now down to a 1 1/2-point favorite.] Should be an interesting game. I’ll be there, hopefully courtside with all the other credentialed press folks, and with DU Bally. And I intend to live-tweet. So, stay tuned.