Rams Find Strength in Offensive Flexibility

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FORT COLLINS, Colo. – There is no mold. No typecast. Nothing carved in stone.

A bit of this. Some of that. A little from this column. Offensively, Colorado State's men's basketball team isn't beholden to any one thing, any particular style, which makes the Rams very effective overall.

"If you really want to be a terrific offensive team, you've got to be able to do things in a lot of different ways, and hopefully you have multiple guys who can score," head coach Niko Medved said. "We've been a good shooting team, both from 3 and from two, we've been a good free throw shooting team when we get there, and hopefully we help each other get good shots.

"So much of that is dependent upon how you're being guarded by the opponent and finding the open man, or if you're being double teamed, kick it out. I think our guys just continue to get better that way. We've got guys who can put the ball in the basket. We're not relying one any one individual or any one way we have to score."

Heading into Wednesday's Mountain West home matchup with New Mexico (8 p.m. tip; CBS Sports Network), Colorado State ranks fourth in the country in free throw percentage, which is great to have in the back pocket at the end of a game, but the Rams don't shoot a lot of them – 277 teams have shot more. They rank 11^th in the country behind the 3-point arc, dropping them at a 39.1 percent clip, but again, the Rams are not exactly gunners – 262 teams have attempted more.

As a team – starters to bench – they are solid in so many ways. They do rank 10^th in field goal percentage, accomplishing their accuracy in a myriad of ways. Guys who can drive, but also shoot the 3. Guys who can muscle up down low, and again, also shoot the 3.

Eight Rams have attempted at least 20 3-point attempts, and as good as they are, two of the team's traditional best – Kendle Moore and Adam Thistlewood – haven't found a true groove. The Rams do rely on Isaiah Stevens and David Roddy for points, but every team in the country leans on their best players.

But they also have a bench averaging nearly 30 points a contest. It makes the Rams a tough defensive assignment.

"We have a confidence in a lot of our offensive game. That's driving, kicking … We can spread the floor out in many ways and score in different ways," John Tonje said. "It's really helpful to not rely on one form of offense. It's a lot tougher for a team to defend a team that is not one-dimensional. I think it makes it harder for a team to defend you.

"That's almost half of it, to have so many talented guys who can do so many things on the floor. Especially offensively, it's' big time for that."

If there is one thing the Rams insist upon every game, it's taking care of the basketball. They do that, too, sitting 19th in the country with the fewest turnovers per game, just 10.1. Stevens is the maestro on the court who keeps that in check, ranking third in the country in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.95).

What he appreciates more the diverse way in which the Rams can score, allowing him to play without blinders and see all of his options. A team may try to take something away on a given night, which naturally leads him in another direction.

"It's very nice, just to be quite frank. We get to go out there and be free and just make reads," he said. "It's not like we feel we're locked in to one particular place. If we have the post game going, we're going to stay with that and play off that, or if we have the 3-ball going – obviously, you don't want to settle – but we're going to continue to take good looks. It's definitely nice being able to just go out there and read what's in front of you and take what the defense is giving you."

Medved knows it took time to get there, just as it required patience to build a nationally-ranked program, the Rams sitting No. 23 in the Coaches Poll. Versatility is wonderful, but only if used correctly.

Which the Rams have proven they can do, over time. It's not just playing together, but working together behind the scenes for everyone to full appreciate the hand they can play night in and night out. They prefer to play with pace, but there is time and place. There's no reason for force things when another option is equally effective.

"I think that's trust, that's confidence in what we do," Medved said. "It's confidence in each other. A lot of that is years of hard work and experience of playing in these games, learning from wins, learning from tough losses. I think that's been the strength of our team."

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