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| Photo Credit: BYU Photo |
After a frantic start that featured lots of sloppy play from all involved, BYU eventually settled into a groove and pulled away in the second half to beat Tennessee State, 81-66, in their first game of the 2012-2013 season.
This was a classic case of "first game of the season" jitters. Both teams came out fired up and playing way too fast, chucking the ball all over the court and taking a host of ill-advised threes. However, once everyone got over their initial excitement of being back on the floor, the game settled into a nice groove, with BYU increasingly asserting itself as the superior team as the night progressed.
To be sure, this was far from a perfect game. Lots of mistakes were made, and there will be many teaching moments available for coach Dave Rose in tomorrow's film study session. But there were also a lot of positive indicators present that should bode well with further development as the season moves along. Any fan that focuses on the former at the expense of the latter, especially this early in the game, is simply begging to be disappointed.
With that said, let's talk specifics.
Defensive Prowess. Football people often say that defenses are "way ahead" of offenses in training camp and early season games, as the offense is usually in the process of installing complicated systems and plays that require extra time to perfect. It appears that maxim also applies to BYU basketball.
While the Cougars' offense was uneven at times, the defense was strong throughout the game. As was expected, Rose employed a lot of zone defense to match up with Tennessee State, neutralizing matchup problems and forcing the Tigers to take long threes. BYU also forced several turnovers by doubling the post, baiting the opposing big men into making poor cross-court passes in an attempt to alleviate the pressure.
The schemes worked — the visitors shot just 28 percent from beyond the arc, Tennessee State turned the ball over 17 times, and leading scorer Robert Covington was limited to just 9 points. (In the interest of fairness, BYU did get some help from the referees, who hit Covington with quite a few questionable foul calls, limiting his minutes.) Nevertheless, the BYU defense looked to be in midseason form from the opening tip, which should provide some encouragement for Cougar fans everywhere.
The Return Of Tyler Haws. It didn't take Tyler Haws long to get going offensively in his first real game back in a Cougar uniform. He exploded out of the gate, scoring 12 points on 50 percent shooting in the first half. While he slowed down a bit in the second and even missed a free throw, breaking his school-record streak of 50 consecutive makes, Haws looked every bit like a player who can shoulder a large portion of the offensive load for the Cougars in 2012-2013. Even though his long balls weren't falling, he still scored efficiently, getting good looks at the basket and drawing fouls repeatedly. If he can continue to play his game, things should get downright scary for BYU's opponents once he starts clicking from deep.
Matt Carlino, The Most Polarizing Man In The World. Matt Carlino doesn't always rack up double-digit assists, but when he does, a healthy portion of the BYU fan base prefers to burn him at the stake. Jokes aside, there is no more controversial player on the Cougar roster than Carlino. His defenders praise his good decisions and extoll his growth as a point guard (I tend to fall into this camp), while his critics wait for any opportunity to pounce and declare his play unsatisfactory.
This happened again tonight. Carlino finished the game with 9 points (on 50 percent shooting) and 10 assists, with 4 turnovers. To me, this constituted a very solid effort. After starting the game a little too fast, he was able to rein his team in and create good scoring opportunities for his teammates, particularly Haws. To be fair, he did turn the ball over a few times in the second half when Tennessee State ratcheted up their full-court pressure, but nobody is perfect, let alone in the first game of the season. On the whole, I felt like the good far outweighed the bad, and he generally looked like a smarter, much-improved point guard.
Of course, this didn't stop the critics from bemoaning the turnovers and a few clanged threes. But then again, Brandon Davies turned the ball over five times and Craig Cusick and Josh Sharp coughed it up three times each — all while handling the ball much less frequently than the sophomore point guard. Is anyone calling for their heads on a platter? I didn't think so. Cougar fans should embrace Carlino's continued improvement (which has been substantial) rather than nitpicking him to pieces for kicks and giggles.
The (Semi-)Invisible Man. If you were watching the first half of this game and you had never seen BYU play before, you would think that Brandon Davies was a rather middling player with very little offensive skill. He simply wasn't involved in the offense. He didn't touch the ball in the post more than once or twice, instead standing to the side while perimeter players launched contested jumpers at will.
Now, part of the problem was undoubtedly Tennessee State's decision to double-team Davies on the catch, forcing him to continually give up the ball as soon as he got it or risk a turnover, of which he made four in the early going. But after awhile, the guards just stopped throwing it to him altogether. The result was a rather ineffectual and, dare I say, invisible effort from BYU's best player and offensive focal point. On this team, that can't happen.
Thankfully, all that changed after halftime (and, I'm guessing, a stern reminder from Rose) as the Tiger defense became tired and disorganized. Davies began to exploit the double team, scoring over and though his defenders. The guards initiated better ball movement around the perimeter, requiring the defense to continually shift and leaving Davies with opportunities to slide into the resulting cracks and openings for easy buckets.
The second half looked much more like the Brandon Davies we expected to see this year, catching on the block and making strong, decisive moves to the basket before the defense could recover. If that's the Davies that BYU gets on a more consistent basis for the rest of the year — not the invisible man from the first half —everything should be just fine.
NEXT UP: BYU vs. Georgia State, November 13th, 7:00 p.m. MST
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