What We've Learned
Posted: Mon Dec 11, 2017 10:46 am
Pretty good analysis at Lawless Republic: https://lawlessrepublic.com/2017/12/11/ ... -first-10/
No. 1: BYU basketball plays… defense? Even though we are in the exact same defensive efficiency at #82 it just feels and looks better.
In general I agree and even though we got a key defensive stop against Weber St. there's no way that should have been a close game. There's also this sentiment that we're defending really well against the opposing guards which will fair us well in the WCC. However, we've been scorched by Harding (Weber St.) with 29 points (10 points above his ave) on 12/20 1/5 4/4 shooting and by Scott (Niagara) with 36 points (11 above his ave) on 13/24 5/12 5/9 shooting. Yes, both those games were wins, but it goes against the mantra that we can handle the guard strong WCC.
No. 2: Dalton Nixon is going to contribute in a big way. The secondary unit had major questions coming into the season, specifically about Hardnett and Dastrup. Nixon's hustle play is firing up his teammates.
My take - Hardnett and Nixon have been pleasant surprises but Dastrup is still a mystery and I wouldn't call our bench deep. Cannon becoming eligible helps but if we get into foul trouble as a team I'm worried.
No. 3: BYU basketball is capable of making a run. Potentially we're looking at a 20-4 record when we host the Zags. However, if we end up with 6 losses we're a bubble team.
My take - 20-4 looks very pleasing to the eyes, but I'm going to say that with 6 losses we're a bubble team at best and probably a lot closer to a 3 seed NIT. We need 2 marquee wins and no bad losses. When I post our RPI breakdown every weekend the only record that really matters come dance time (IMO) is the vs top 100. So even though we're 8-2 right now we're really just 2-2 with 0 top 25 wins and 0 bad losses.
No. 1: BYU basketball plays… defense? Even though we are in the exact same defensive efficiency at #82 it just feels and looks better.
In general I agree and even though we got a key defensive stop against Weber St. there's no way that should have been a close game. There's also this sentiment that we're defending really well against the opposing guards which will fair us well in the WCC. However, we've been scorched by Harding (Weber St.) with 29 points (10 points above his ave) on 12/20 1/5 4/4 shooting and by Scott (Niagara) with 36 points (11 above his ave) on 13/24 5/12 5/9 shooting. Yes, both those games were wins, but it goes against the mantra that we can handle the guard strong WCC.
No. 2: Dalton Nixon is going to contribute in a big way. The secondary unit had major questions coming into the season, specifically about Hardnett and Dastrup. Nixon's hustle play is firing up his teammates.
My take - Hardnett and Nixon have been pleasant surprises but Dastrup is still a mystery and I wouldn't call our bench deep. Cannon becoming eligible helps but if we get into foul trouble as a team I'm worried.
No. 3: BYU basketball is capable of making a run. Potentially we're looking at a 20-4 record when we host the Zags. However, if we end up with 6 losses we're a bubble team.
My take - 20-4 looks very pleasing to the eyes, but I'm going to say that with 6 losses we're a bubble team at best and probably a lot closer to a 3 seed NIT. We need 2 marquee wins and no bad losses. When I post our RPI breakdown every weekend the only record that really matters come dance time (IMO) is the vs top 100. So even though we're 8-2 right now we're really just 2-2 with 0 top 25 wins and 0 bad losses.