Areas for Improvement

After 5 games, there are a few things that stand out to me as areas of improvement for this team.



First, perimeter defense. We still stink at guarding the three point line. Against teams with more than 2 outside shooters we're going to struggle. Haws sucks way inside on the zone leaving his corner wide open.



Second, three point shooting. It's horrible and this is the 3rd year in a row that it's sucked. Take out Jimmer in 2010 and it's the 4th year in a row we've sucked from behind the arc. No excuses on this. BYU should consistently be a top 3 point shooting team year in and year out.



Third, free throw shooting is horrendous. Got a little better tonight, but there is no reason why BYU as a team shouldn't be shooting near 80 percent.

All good points and basically carryover problems from last year. Another one that stands out is MC tendency to not use good judgment on shot selection and making costly turnovers while playing aggressive.

byucougar1 wrote:
All good points and basically carryover problems from last year. Another one that stands out is MC tendency to not use good judgment on shot selection and making costly turnovers while playing aggressive.

Yes and no on this one. Game plan this season is to get shots off quick, so can't really fault MC for sticking to the game plan. We don't have a half court game, so we waste no time trying to pretend we do. We want the game to be fast, so we push the tempo. Trotting down the court and setting up a half court scheme doesn't go well with an up tempo style. It's what killed us last season. We did well in the NIT when we ditched the half court set.



MC could be a bit more selective with his 3 point shot. As I mentioned in another thread, if MC took a bit more care with his 3 point shot his shooting percentage would be right there with the almighty Jimmer.



Also, MC had 7 assists with zero turnovers tonight, while Haws had zero assists and 3 turnovers.

Gunk wrote:

All good points and basically carryover problems from last year. Another one that stands out is MC tendency to not use good judgment on shot selection and making costly turnovers while playing aggressive.

Yes and no on this one. Game plan this season is to get shots off quick, so can't really fault MC for sticking to the game plan. We don't have a half court game, so we waste no time trying to pretend we do. We want the game to be fast, so we push the tempo. Trotting down the court and setting up a half court scheme doesn't go well with an up tempo style. It's what killed us last season. We did well in the NIT when we ditched the half court set.



MC could be a bit more selective with his 3 point shot. As I mentioned in another thread, if MC took a bit more care with his 3 point shot his shooting percentage would be right there with the almighty Jimmer.



Also, MC had 7 assists with zero turnovers tonight, while Haws had zero assists and 3 turnovers.

Then the data sheet you are reading is inaccurate. I called it in the gamechat at 8:30 remaining. He chucked a quick brick 3 and then turned it over the next time down, then disappeared except for one botched drive to the hole after that. That's when BYU went from a 7 point lead to never getting the lead back. It's SCHIZOPHRENIC with MC. That's why Rose didnt call his number late in the game. MC went dark. Then Ty tried to take 3 guys.

That was a time in the game when MC went from Jimmer- like to Riley Nelson-like and just chucked some prayers. An experienced player needs to know when to take a quick shot and when to get a higher probability shot.

But by far the biggest problem and reasonably easiest fix is free throw shooting!

I completely agree with Cougs_Rule. In that game, I kept thinking, this is where Matt Carlino needs to step up and lead this team to the victory. Play like he had in the first half. But he ended up taking a very poor percentage 3 pointer and then turned it over, as CR said, and then disappeared.



I was really hoping he would step up and take the game over, especially since Haws was clearly not at 100%, but he still hasn't taken that step to the next level yet.

Gunk wrote:
After 5 games, there are a few things that stand out to me as areas of improvement for this team.



First, perimeter defense. We still stink at guarding the three point line. Against teams with more than 2 outside shooters we're going to struggle. Haws sucks way inside on the zone leaving his corner wide open.



Second, three point shooting. It's horrible and this is the 3rd year in a row that it's sucked. Take out Jimmer in 2010 and it's the 4th year in a row we've sucked from behind the arc. No excuses on this. BYU should consistently be a top 3 point shooting team year in and year out.



Third, free throw shooting is horrendous. Got a little better tonight, but there is no reason why BYU as a team shouldn't be shooting near 80 percent.

I have no problem with our perimeter defense.



Teams have shot .333 .333 .300 .391 and .292 from the 3-pt line against us. They're shooting .326 on the season.



Teams are shooting .422 overall from the floor against us. Only one team has shot .500 against us.



I 100% agree on points two and three. We have lost the ability to hit three-point shots and make free throws. Those two points more than your first are the source of our problems.

Just hit some damn free throws. That's it. That's all we needed to win the game.

I'm with Spiff. Statistically, teams are shooting below 33% on the three's. So we are not getting killed there. But we are NOT shooting threes any better. For a team with not great post presence, you got to hit some threes. And free throws. Got to make them. If we can't hit them at home, what's it going to be like come close games on the road?

hawkwing wrote:
I completely agree with Cougs_Rule. In that game, I kept thinking, this is where Matt Carlino needs to step up and lead this team to the victory. Play like he had in the first half. But he ended up taking a very poor percentage 3 pointer and then turned it over, as CR said, and then disappeared.



I was really hoping he would step up and take the game over, especially since Haws was clearly not at 100%, but he still hasn't taken that step to the next level yet.

The problem was the ball was not in his hands late. We went to Haws who can't create his own shot and KC who can't shoot. MC has his faults but he has more clutch than those 2 combined imo.

mizzoucoug wrote:

I completely agree with Cougs_Rule. In that game, I kept thinking, this is where Matt Carlino needs to step up and lead this team to the victory. Play like he had in the first half. But he ended up taking a very poor percentage 3 pointer and then turned it over, as CR said, and then disappeared.



I was really hoping he would step up and take the game over, especially since Haws was clearly not at 100%, but he still hasn't taken that step to the next level yet.

The problem was the ball was not in his hands late. We went to Haws who can't create his own shot and KC who can't shoot. MC has his faults but he has more clutch than those 2 combined imo.

Agreed Mizzou. I'd rather have had Carlino or KC trying to create their own shot instead of Haws late in the game. If we had been able to call timeout and set up a play, then I'd want the ball in Haws hands. Get him running off a double screen to free him up.

SpiffCoug wrote:

hawkwing wrote:
I completely agree with Cougs_Rule. In that game, I kept thinking, this is where Matt Carlino needs to step up and lead this team to the victory. Play like he had in the first half. But he ended up taking a very poor percentage 3 pointer and then turned it over, as CR said, and then disappeared.



I was really hoping he would step up and take the game over, especially since Haws was clearly not at 100%, but he still hasn't taken that step to the next level yet.

The problem was the ball was not in his hands late. We went to Haws who can't create his own shot and KC who can't shoot. MC has his faults but he has more clutch than those 2 combined imo.

Agreed Mizzou. I'd rather have had Carlino or KC trying to create their own shot instead of Haws late in the game. If we had been able to call timeout and set up a play, then I'd want the ball in Haws hands. Get him running off a double screen to free him up.

Definitely.



Most frustrating point of the game for me, besides Mika getting clawed in the face, was when KC deflected the ball in the final 30 seconds off the inbound and Winder tried to dribble and make a play off of it instead of securing the ball. Winder was lucky to get fouled. Ball should have been picked up and secured. Winder had KC waiting underneath for the easy 2 if he just picked up the ball and looked to make a pass. Would have been a tie game.

SpiffCoug wrote:

After 5 games, there are a few things that stand out to me as areas of improvement for this team.



First, perimeter defense. We still stink at guarding the three point line. Against teams with more than 2 outside shooters we're going to struggle. Haws sucks way inside on the zone leaving his corner wide open.



Second, three point shooting. It's horrible and this is the 3rd year in a row that it's sucked. Take out Jimmer in 2010 and it's the 4th year in a row we've sucked from behind the arc. No excuses on this. BYU should consistently be a top 3 point shooting team year in and year out.



Third, free throw shooting is horrendous. Got a little better tonight, but there is no reason why BYU as a team shouldn't be shooting near 80 percent.

I have no problem with our perimeter defense.



Teams have shot .333 .333 .300 .391 and .292 from the 3-pt line against us. They're shooting .326 on the season.



Teams are shooting .422 overall from the floor against us. Only one team has shot .500 against us.



I 100% agree on points two and three. We have lost the ability to hit three-point shots and make free throws. Those two points more than your first are the source of our problems.

I stand corrected on the 3 point shooting. Glad to see it's not as bad as it appears. Sure seemed last night ISU was hitting a lot of threes.

The problem last night was WHEN Iowa St made their 3s. They started 2-11 (.182).



But then they made their next 3 and the score went from 36-27 for BYU to 38-43. It got them back in the game.



They also hit their first three of the 2nd half to pull to within 53-49. They went cold again, but their final three make gave them the lead at 77-78.



They finished the game goin 1-8 (.125). I'm not sure what the difference was or what BYU can do about it. Teams don't start 2-11 and finish 1-8 (combined 3-19 .158) without facing good perimeter defense. It was that key 4-5 spell that brought them back into a game that they were in danger of getting blown out.



I think it was just a case of a team got hot just enough at just the right moment - which is what teams do.



Well, good teams not named BYU since we know BYU can't make a three for anything.

ISU got hot, BYU cooled off significantly the last 8-10 minutes. It got downright ugly how many shots were missed.