If This Is the New D'Shawn Schwartz, All Colorado's Dreams Can Come True

His shooting woes may be over

D'Shawn Schwartz is the most tantalizing player on Colorado's roster. He's 6-foot-7, 225 pounds and he shot 38 percent from the 3-point line as a freshman. 

That's pretty much all you need. 

So it was confusing last year when he suddenly couldn't shoot. From Dec. 11-Jan. 12, Schwartz went 4-for-20 from the arc, had a big game against Washington, then went right back into a slump, and finished the year with a 1-for-6 effort against Texas in the NIT. 

But Friday night in China, the old Schwartz seemed to be back. He went 3-for-5 from the 3-point line and scored 15 points in an 81-71 win over Arizona State. 

And if that's more or less how Schwartz is going to play, Colorado can do a little better than just making the NCAA Tournament. 

We're talking about a veteran team with size and an excellent point guard. The only thing missing last year was outside shooting and a generally more reliable offense. Colorado was one of the best defensive teams in the Pac-12 last year, and led the conference in rebounding. But shot 32.3 percent as a team from the 3-point line and was in the middle of the pack in field goal percentage at 45 percent. 

For his part, Schwartz averaged 9.2 points last year, but he did it on 44 percent field-goal shooting, which just isn't good enough for a guy playing the 3. 

Through two exhibition games and one real one, Schwartz is 5-for-13 (38 percent) from long range. That's not great. But it's good enough to make him a threat, and that's good enough to make Colorado really, really tough.