I purposely avoided immediately recapping Saturday's loss to Wisconsin, mostly because I wanted to gain a little perspective and let my emotions subside rather than inadvertently writing a rash or unfair assessment. I won't lie — that loss was a tough one for me, just as it was for many Cougar fans. I think many of us felt like we had a real shot at a statement win over a highly ranked team, a feeling that was only amplified by the close score at halftime.
Of course, we all know what happened in the second half. It wasn't pretty stuff, and it understandably altered some people's perceptions of what this team is capable of. Immediately following the loss, many fans aired their disappointment on Twitter, some even going so far as saying that Wisconsin wasn't all that good, and that BYU doesn't have what it takes to compete at the top of the West Coast Conference this year. It was one big online pity party.
I guess I can understand those reactions. It's never fun to watch your team lose by nearly 20 points, especially when they go down in flames so quickly. Add to that the helpless feeling of watching Wisconsin nail 13 3-pointers on the night, and it's enough to drive anyone temporarily insane. It's easy to get a little overemotional.
But now that the initial reaction is over, it's time for everyone to calm down and assess what really happened in Chicago on Saturday night and what it says about this team going forward.
First of all, this isn't last year's team. There's no way around that. We don't have Jimmer Fredette to put everybody on his shoulders at a moment's notice. We don't have Jackson Emery to make up for stupid mistakes and wasted possessions by repeatedly stealing the ball back. That's all in the past — and as amazing as last season was, it's time for everyone to let it go and adjust our expectations.
Last year was special, a once-in-a-generation experience perhaps. BYU will never have 30-win seasons like that on a regular basis. That's just an unrealistic expectation. Unfortunately, I also think it's an expectation many casual fans — most recently converted by Jimmer-mania — are now accustomed to. After all, domination and excellence is all they've really ever known.
But let's be clear: Jimmer and Jackson are gone, and that's okay. It's normal (but no less disappointing, I understand) to lose an occasional game, particularly against stiff competition. It's normal to have to rebuild and rely on different, less experience guys to play big roles. It's normal for those same guys to make mistakes and experience a learning curve. In Lion King-speak, it's all part of the circle of life — and it's time we all accept that and modify our outsized expectations accordingly.
Secondly, Wisconsin is a very good basketball team. I know many will say early season rankings don't mean anything, and I don't disagree with that. But if you look at the numbers, Saturday's loss didn't occur solely because BYU somehow gave them the game. Could the Cougars have played better? Absolutely. There were a number of areas for improvement exposed by the Badgers — perimeter defense and offensive potency, among others. No one disputes any of that.
But at the end of the day, Wisconsin won the game because they played better, not because BYU played unbelievably poorly. They are just a really good basketball team — particularly when it comes to 3-point shooting, which was obviously a decisive factor in their victory. Some will say that the Cougars defended terribly, but it's not as simple as that.
There's certainly some truth in that argument (again, improvements can definitely be made), but it also ignores the fact that Wisconsin is shooting 47 percent from deep as a team through six games. That number makes them the second-best 3-point shooting team in the nation. And while it's disappointing that BYU allowed them to shoot 54 percent, it's also not unprecedented. They are literally doing the same thing to everyone else. Give credit where it is due.
So let's all take our hands off the panic button for a second, shall we? The Cougars were beaten by a flat-out better team. Period. They didn't lose it, they didn't give it away — they got beat. That doesn't make them terrible, it just makes them not as good as Wisconsin right now, and that's okay.
Which brings me to my last thought: this is a good BYU team. It's not a great or even a very good team (yet). It's no 2010-2011 30-win behemoth. But it is a good team with a lot of depth and potential to improve as the season moves along. To be honest, I was impressed with how the boys hung in there against an excellent team like the Badgers and essentially traded blows for 30 minutes.
After getting behind early, the Cougs quickly scratched their way back into it and played Wisconsin tight well into the second half. They made the proper adjustments and responded to adversity, something that should tell us quite a bit about this young team. Obviously, the 3-point barrage eventually became too much and, coupled with a long BYU offensive drought, it led to the wheels coming off in the last 10 minutes. It wasn't an ideal ending, but that doesn't negate everything that came before.
These kids scrapped, they competed, and they fought a very good basketball team to a draw for 30 minutes — and even though they didn't come away with the win, those things mean something. It builds confidence for the future. If they can stand in and take Wisconsin's best punches for 30 minutes, who's to say they can't do the same against Gonzaga or St. Mary's for the full 40? This is a good basketball team, and even though they are still young and many questions remain unanswered, I wouldn't count them out of anything just yet.
That's really what I want to say about the Wisconsin game, I guess. Let's cut the doom-and-gloom. Yes, they lost. Yes, we would've liked to have won. Yes, there is a lot of room for improvement. But this team has shown they're capable of making those improvements. They have gotten better with each and every game, and we have no reason to believe that trajectory won't continue. I mean, they've already gone from not being able to get the ball up the court against Utah State to slugging it out pretty equally with a highly ranked Badger team in a matter of a few weeks. That's progress, and that's worth being excited about.
So let's all shelve our discontent for a bit. This may not be last year's squad, but it's a good one nonetheless. There will be many more challenges ahead and, with the positive precedent that's already been set, I can't wait to see what the Cougars look like come March.
Or in other words, pass the Kool-Aid.
