Game day notes: Julian Hammond III providing spark for CU Buffs
Dec. 15—As he does every offseason, Julian Hammond III was diligent about his shooting drills.
This past offseason, however, Hammond added a twist.
Coming off a sophomore season in which his 3-point percentage was down, Hammond nonetheless took a measure of confidence into the offseason after an impressive finish. He also hit his offseason workouts with fresh insight.
Rather than going through the typical shooting circuit around the 3-point arc, Hammond shifted his focus to repetitions in game-type settings, such as curling off screens or pulling up quickly in transition. The results so far have been on display, as Hammond has packed a scoring punch mostly off the bench but most recently as a starter, a role he likely will serve once again when the CU men's basketball team hosts Northern Colorado on Friday night (6 p.m., Pac-12 Network).
"I (changed) a little bit. But I'd also say I knew what I'm doing now this summer," Hammond said. "I definitely went harder. Played more and got up more shots. And more game shots. More places where I know I'm going to get the ball.
"If I can make it out there, it makes my defender come out there that much further. It's easier to get passes off and it's less help for my teammates. It might only be a couple feet, but it makes a big difference."
In a limited role as a freshman, Hammond shot .415 on 3-pointers but saw that total dip to .333 last year, even with a 5-for-10 finish over the final four games (and, Hammond did improve his overall field goal percentage from .351 to .399).
Hammond has played his part in CU's hot start offensively, averaging a career-best 10.0 points going into the UNC game. The Cherry Creek alum is shooting .569 overall with a .452 mark (14-for-31) from long range. He goes into the UNC game with seven assists and three turnovers in the past two games.
Hammond made his first start of the season (11th of his career) in Sunday's win against Miami in place of Cody Williams, who is expected to remain sidelined against the Bears due to a left wrist injury.
Keep on rollin'
The in-state battle against Northern Colorado and next week's home date against Utah Tech will be the final games for the Buffs (7-2) in nonconference play. The team will have several days to go home for the holidays following the Utah Tech game, but head coach Tad Boyle says his club has been focused this week following Sunday's key win against Miami.
"If we sleep on (UNC), they'll beat us," Boyle said. "So that's the message. Let's not take two steps backwards after taking one step forward. We've had three good days of practice. Our guys have been dialed-in. They're a confident group, but that Miami win, we can't let that make us soft. That's my job as a coach to make sure that doesn't happen."
Milestone update
CU forward Tristan da Silva needs 18 points to tie Austin Dufault at No. 33 on CU's all-time scoring list.
KJ Simpson also is climbing CU's career lists for assists and steals. With 237 assists, Simpson ranks 20th and needs five to reach 19th and six to reach 18th. Simpson is tied for 27th on the all-time steals list and will climb another rung on that ladder with each of his next four steals. Simpson enters the Friday night game against UNC with 871 career points, putting him on pace to join the 1,000-point club a few weekends into Pac-12 play.
Notable
CU was at No. 35 in Friday's NET rankings. ... UNC head coach Steve Smiley was a prep standout at Pomona High School in Arvada in the late 1990s. ... Since a brief two-game shooting rut for Simpson against Florida State and Iona (a combined 1-for-9 on 3-pointers), he has gone 7-for-9 from the arc over the past three games. ... Jacob Tobey and Ben Braun will be on the call for the Pac-12 Network.
