The Colorado Buffaloes men’s basketball team cannot catch a break. Just a day removed from
losing to the Oregon Ducks for the first time in Boulder
, head coach
announced senior guard Elijah Parquet will be out for the remainder of the season due to a foot injury.
Per Tad Boyle a moment ago, senior guard Elijah Parquet is out for the remainder of the season.
— Justin Guerriero (@GuerrieroTrib) February 4, 2022
Parquet had been battling a lower leg injury recently but Boyle says that he’s done for the rest of 2021-22. #CUBuffs
A wild stat to consider. In the 18 games Parquet appeared in, the Buffs were 13-5. With that said, Colorado is 0-4 without the shooting guard from Beaumont, Texas.
Parquet averaged 6.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.4 assists this season on 44% shooting and shot 75% from the free throw line.
Losing Eli is a huge blow for Colorado’s defense. He’s the type of player that will line up on the oppositions best guard and give them his best. Parquet has accumulated a 3.1 DWS (Defensive Win Shares) throughout his four-year career.
In 2020-21, Parquet was named to the Pac-12 All-Defense First Team. He managed a 1.4 DWS while posting a 99.1 Defensive Rating.
Eli is one of the four seniors on this Buffaloes roster. His veteran presence and impact on the defensive end will be sorely missed. The remaining 14 players on the roster are all underclassmen (9 freshmen, 5 sophomores).
Losing Eli is truly going to hurt Colorado on the defensive side of the ball, but this will give the young Buffs a chance to give more minutes/experience to players such as Dominique Clifford, KJ Simpson, and Julian Hammond III.
The rest of this season should be dedicated to getting those younger players the experience of a Pac-12 regular season. Colorado’s main problem this season has been turning the ball over — 14.2 times per game to be exact. Giving those players the minutes to correct it should be a good thing in the long run.