Recap of SDSU

At this point I watch BYU and gauge their performance based on if it is good enough to win an NCAA tournament game.  They are a lock for the tournament: they have at least 12 games left and at the absolute worst would be 6-6, pushing them to 26-7, which would still be good enough for an at-large bid (albeit a 10-12 seed).  So at this point, they are playing for seeding in the NCAA tournament (well, if you ask them, they are playing for a MWC championship, but we all know better...).

Anyway, the game against SDSU might have been enough to win a first round game, if their opponent was a 13 seed.  Anything higher than that, however, and I think it might have been another one and done.  They had ZERO inside presence, offensively or defensively.  But they made up for it with a complete lack of transition/fast break opportunity baskets.  I give Coach Rose credit, however, for sticking with the zone for roughly 20 minutes when it was completely ineffective.  Eventually, SDSU started missing the wide open shots they were getting and then failed to crash the boards and get offensive rebounds as they had been doing previously.  I would not have had the patience to stick with it myself.  Before going to the zone, they also doubled in the post every time (and always with the other big man), which left the team in bad rebounding position and left a guard covering a PF or C underneath the basket.  They ended up giving up 30+ points in the paint and 17 offensive rebounds.  That strategy will need to be reconsidered, particularly with road games at New Mexico and UNLV still left.

One thing I have noticed about BYU: when they play aggressive, athletic, penetrate-first teams, they go to the zone for long stretches.  I imagine we'll see it a lot again tomorrow night at New Mexico, as well as against the Big Three the second time through the conference.

Offensively, it was a good thing that Jimmer was back to his usual self and Tyler Haws was on fire.  Jimmer was throwing up (and making) shots from Provo, while the rest of the offense stood around and didn't do much to get open shots for themselves or teammates.  Tyler Haws got the Cougars off to a fast start and also hit the 3-point shot that gave them the lead for good.  That kid is a future Jimmer, for sure.  Everyone else was absent on the offensive side of the ball, and Brandon Davies was the most noticeably absent (mostly due to foul trouble, but he was ineffective nonetheless).  Defensively, other than the rebounding issues (which I put more on the coaches than the players), everybody had a pretty solid night.  Noah Hartsock came through with 4 blocks, 2 in the same sequence.  Chris Miles pulled down crucial rebounds in the stretch run and did so with authority.

It is somewhat tough to compare the SDSU game to an NCAA tournament game.  SDSU is not a tournament team, though they are close, but it was a very hostile environment, where Tourney games are definitely more "neutral."  So, maybe it was a good enough performance to win in the first round, but it definitely wasn't good enough to beat a real quality opponent, i.e. a second round game.

I would also like to commend long-time reader Brian Boring for jumping into the national spotlight this week.  Brian made a name for himself by asking Joe Lunardi a question about BYU and a possible #1 seed during his Bracketology chat on Monday.  The question was then repeated and discussed in more detail on ESPN.  The video is available on espn.com under the BYU team page.  Congrats, Brian: I wish you received a more favorable answer, but he is probably right on with his analysis.