Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/638727
MEN'S BASKETBALL BY JORDAN WELLS B onzie Colson knows exactly who he is. The Irish sophomore forward knows some fans aren't going to rave about him or flock to his game — not with his style of play. Still, he embraces his skill set and who he's becoming as a player. "I try to look at some tapes of Dray- mond Green when he was at Michi- gan State," Colson said. "He plays with such fearlessness. He's also un- dersized; he does a little bit of every- thing, passing and scoring. "I try to bring that energy; be that 'dog' who goes out there to help the team win." Green — who was averaging 14.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 7.4 assists per game for the NBA's Golden State Warriors through Feb. 7 — certainly has an affinity for some "ugly" buck- ets at times. And that might be what he and the Notre Dame second-year player have most in common. Throughout the course of a game, Colson takes a handful of shot at- tempts that leaves the viewer think- ing, "No way that's going in." But they do, over and over again. "I try to just look it in, look the ball into the hoop," he said, explaining his offensive game. "A lot of people rip on me for it, but some people have that touch and some don't. Every shot you take, you just have to think it's 100 percent going in. "As long as the ball goes into the hoop and as long as you give every- thing you've got, it doesn't matter what your game looks like." That list of people who give Colson a hard time for his scoring methods includes his own teammates. He said senior forward Zach Auguste, junior guard Demetrius Jackson and sopho- more guard Matt Farrell noticeably lead the charge in ripping on him for his game. "All those guys joke about it," Col- son said. "They're always like, 'How does that go in?' "I'm just like, 'I don't know man.' I've played like that my whole life, just finding a way to put it in." Auguste is particularly notewor- thy because his game as a fellow big man is much different than Colson's. The senior scores on a lot of "pretty" buckets, like rolls to the rim and solid JUNKYARD DOG Bonzie Colson won't earn any style points for his game, but his presence is vital for the Irish