Junkyard Dog

Bonzie 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 Draymond Green when he was at Michigan State,” Colson said. “He plays with such fearlessness. He’s also undersized; he does a little bit of everything, 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 14.2 points, 9.5 rebounds and 7.2 assists per game for the NBA’s Golden State Warriors through Feb. 11 — certainly has an affinity for some “ugly” buckets 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 attempts that leaves the viewer thinking, “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 everything 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 sophomore guard Matt Farrell noticeably lead the charge in ripping on him for his game.

“All those guys joke about it,” Colson 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 noteworthy 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 execution of moves in the post.

He almost sounds puzzled when asked about Colson’s style of play, as if he can’t quite put his finger on it. Just like the rest of college basketball.

“He’ll take one dribble and he’ll just throw it up there sometimes,” Auguste said. “And he takes those little floaters in traffic where it hits the glass and drops straight in.

“That’s definitely a Bonzie bucket. You just have to shake your head man, all the time.

“We always get on him for that. We call it the 40-year-old man game. But it works, so really, we can’t get on him for it. He gets buckets and he’s efficient — but man, he gets those garbage buckets. The way he gets his points is ugly, but hey, he gets it done.”

Look no further than Colson’s productivity in Notre Dame’s 95-91 win at Duke Jan. 16. He scored 31 points after knocking down 10 of his 16 two-point field goal attempts (62.5 percent), made all five of his free throw attempts and even added in a couple of 3-pointers.

Oh, and he snagged 11 rebounds to boot, leading the Irish to their first win in school history at Cameron Indoor Stadium. A few weeks later, Colson delivered 19 points and 11 rebounds in Notre Dame’s 80-76 upset of then-No. 2 North Carolina.

“He’s been so key for us,” Auguste said. “Being another frontline guy, he’s been great in the post. He’s been great defensively and been on the glass. I think we’re a great tandem on the backboards.”

Head coach Mike Brey has watched Colson mature quickly during his first two years in South Bend. He started him in each of the first 15 games of the season, then elected instead to go with freshman forward Matt Ryan Jan. 13 at Georgia Tech, a decision that was maintained for the next four ACC games as the head coach sought a different offensive look on the court.

Brey knew he could trust Colson to not take offense to the “demotion” and still deliver his best in just as many minutes, even though that meant coming off the bench instead of starting.

“Bonzie’s been great, he’s a warrior,” Brey said. “I love him. I think he’s made great strides and great improvement.

“He really had no idea how to play help defense coming in. He’s been really good with that. He believes — you’ve seen him, we’re coming back and he’s the main guy in there making us believe we can win the game. There’s a fearlessness there that’s really contagious.

“The guys like to tease him about stuff in his game, but we don’t want anything to change with him. I think if you play with Bonzie Colson you’re more confident, because he has kind of a swagger.”

Colson is fine with Brey’s decision making, fitting for a guy who’s beloved for his relentless attitude on the court.

“I love the role I have,” said Colson, who was averaging 12.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game through Feb. 11. “I’ve worked hard for what I have. I try to live in the moment — you never take anything for granted because you never know what can happen in this game.

“We have a great team here. We stay together no matter what.”

Going forward, the sophomore admitted he needs to apply his confidence and mentality more on defense, where Notre Dame has struggled some this season.

If he can find that energy, and the Irish can start playing with his “junkyard dog” mentality on the defensive end of the floor — the ceiling for this team becomes a lot higher.