 |
| Photo Credit: BYU Photo |
The good Lord giveth, and the good Lord taketh away.
That is the major takeaway from BYU's 80-62 victory over Georgia State on Tuesday night. The Cougars jumped out to an early 31-2 lead on the strength of some of the hottest shooting Provo has seen since the days of Jimmer. Everything was going in from everywhere on the floor, no matter who was shooting. Tyler Haws may have spontaneously combusted at one point. It was the best 10 minutes of basketball we will see BYU play this year, since I'm not quite sure how they could play any better.
And then, just like that, it was over.
Georgia State proceeded to outscore the home team by 11 over the final 10 minutes of the first half, whittling the lead down to 18. The Cougars' once unstoppable mojo had vanished. The shots weren't falling anymore, and the energy on both ends of the floor was lacking. The Panthers' slowly gained confidence by ratcheting up the defensive pressure and forcing the BYU guards into bad passes, resulting in easy transition baskets on the other end.
The slide continued well into the second half, with the lead even shrinking to 11 at one point, prompting coach Dave Rose to dutifully reinsert his starters to put the game away late. The final damage? BYU played the Panthers to a draw over the course of the final frame (36-36), which means that they were essentially beaten by 11 points by a vastly inferior team over the final 30 minutes of play. Thank goodness for that hot start, right? Yikes.
So what does this all mean? A couple of things.
First, this team is not so different from last year's team. They love to shoot the three (they took 20 of them last night), perhaps even a little too much at times. This approach works out great when the shots are falling, as we saw early in this one. If Haws and Zylstra are stroking it from deep, all is right with the world and there is very little most opponents can do to keep pace.
But when things cool down? Watch out. BYU lacks the ability to consistently find other ways to score, especially when Brandon Davies is on the bench. Even when Davies is on the floor, it seems like they forget about him for long stretches of time while the guards fire up more bricks. In sum, they are streaky — which can be fine moving forward, so long as they are able to recognize that and adjust their gameplan accordingly.
Second, if the Cougars' continue to rely primarily on outside shooting, they will be vulnerable to losing winnable games this year. They would have lost this one if they hadn't been fortunate enough to go supernova for the first few minutes. But by the same token, they could win some games against tough opponents if they happen to get hot from beyond the arc. Under the current structure, it all kind of relies on that one metric.
It doesn't have to be like this and, with some luck and good coaching, we should hope that it doesn't remain this way. The hope should be that BYU can identify these problems and improve their response. Perhaps this means throwing the ball into the post on every possession and then playing inside-out from there — if the defense sucks in on Davies, he is more than capable of hitting the open man for a clean perimeter look.
This approach is infinitely better than simply chucking up the first semi-open three-point shot someone gets in the half-court. It establishes Davies as the focal point of the offense, allows him to have the ball in his hands and get high-percentage chances when possible, while also opening up better options for the guards. When BYU's offense is really humming, this is what it looks like. When this stops happening, that's when the problems occur.
If the Cougars can consistently focus on looking for high percentage shots first and not relying so much on their sometimes erratic outside game, they will be in good shape going forward. Until then, we could have a few more games that look like Tuesday's second half.
Stray Thoughts:
· Matt Carlino is consistently looking for Davies over-the-top in transition. This is a great play because Davies has soft hands and the speed to beat most big guys down the floor, leaving him open for a split second even off a made basket. Carlino sometimes forces these passes, leaving Davies little room to catch and finish, but they are largely a nice addition to the transition offense. Bravo.
· At one point in the second half, both teams combined to miss four consecutive layups in transition. These are Division I college basketball players, not second graders. It was hideous.
· Part of the reason why BYU struggled so much in the last 30 minutes of the game is because Georgia State stopped turning the ball over, which kept the Cougars mostly confined to running their offense in the half-court. This meant the Panthers could set up that wicked 1-3-1 trap, which BYU's guards never really figured out. They will have to learn to better handle ball pressure and soon — Florida State, renowned for their defensive toughness, lurks on Friday.
· Brock Zylstra continues to struggle. He dropped in a few shots early on, but went ice cold after that. If Zylstra isn't hitting spot-up jumpers, he doesn't bring much of note to the table. He's a solid defender but not a game-changer, and he's not going to create his own shot offensively. If his shooting doesn't warm up soon, his usefulness in tough games could be limited.
· Carlino had another good night, scoring 11 points and dishing out 7 assists. He did turn the ball over four times, but that is mostly washed out by four steals of his own. He looked fairly in control, even against pressure. (Haws had far more trouble with the trap.) However, I was most impressed with how he stepped up and took control when the lead dwindled in the second. He hit a big three to extend BYU's advantage, then set up his teammates for good looks to put the game away.
· Speaking of Haws, that kid can flat-out score the basketball. He was unconscious for most of the night, finishing 8-for-12 from the floor and 4-of-6 from deep for 22 points. He just makes everything look easy, and he rarely takes bad shots. Given BYU's perimeter struggles, they will continue to rely on him scoring efficiently moving forward.
· Remember when Davies had that monster block on that kid's dunk attempt in the second half that completely changed the momentum of the game? Yeah, that was awesome.
· But that nasty fall he took a few minutes later? Just as scary as the block was awesome. I saw the entire season flash before my eyes in that moment. Then he (mercifully) got up.
· Despite not getting the ball for long stretches, Davies still had a monster night — 28 points, 9 boards, 3 assists, 3 blocks, and 2 steals. He dominated every defensive scheme Georgia State threw at him, scoring with his back to the basket or on face-up moves. They just did't have an answer for him, and I'm not sure anyone will.
· I've given him a lot of grief over the years, but I am officially on the Josh Sharp bandwagon. The kid just plays hard and does the little things a team needs to win. He cleans up the garbage. It's not glamorous work, but every team has to have that guy. I'm all-in on Sharp doing that for BYU.
· BYU scored 80 points, but the offensive production wasn't spread out much. Only seven players scored, with Davies, Haws, and Carlino as the only guys to reach double digits. The bench combined for 7 total points. For a team that is so often lauded for its depth, I was surprised. Here's to hoping the bench mob can chip in more this weekend in Brooklyn. Their help will almost certainly be needed.
UP NEXT: BYU vs. Florida State, Friday, 5:00 p.m. MST
Follow @PostJimmer
No comments:
Post a Comment