Perspective and Going Forward w/o Davies

Let's put the NM game in perspective about what happened and the subsequent reaction. I had a pit in my stomach after the Davies news and the short turn of events caused us to panic - why not the team ?????



They beat SDSU in San Diego on Saturday - and are ranked #3 on Monday. The same day they find out Bradon Davies is dismissed for the rest of the season for HC violation. This is emotionally devastating news, and they then have to reshuffle their line-up sans a big man and deal with a team that has beaten them twice over the past two years. Pretty daunting task is you ask me.



Remember, Rose had found a lineup that had started the (previous) 20 games and still was tweaking it with Abuou and KC alternating with Rogers filling in. They were really comfortable playing together. Plan A was to insert the less athletic Anderson at center with with limited role play experience.



NM took advantage of BYU's lack of muscle inside. Their center Gooden had a game-high 16 boards, 13 on the defensive end. With BYU's inside game gone, the team resorted to shooting from the outside. They fell quickly behind and then started tossing up so many perimeter shots which didn't help as they made 8 of 30 shots in the first half and were outrebounded 25-14 as the Lobos took a 42-26 lead.



After realizing that the 6-10 junior James Anderson wasn't working, they went to Plans B-whatever...with similar results. Fredette tried to bring them back but in true Jimmer style (without a supporting cast - except for Emery), he often tried to do too much. He forced shots and made 10 of 26 overall and 1 of 9 from 3-point range. Not a typical Jimmer game but 33 points nonetheless.



In summary, Rose stated that the team was trying to score five, six, seven points in one possession and never got into a rhythm. This was sure to result in a loss.



While we aren't the same team with Davies, I expect Rose, with time before the WY game to adjust the line-up with the pieces he has and get the team settled down. He is forced to put a product on the floor that can optimize the skills that remain - fast-break, pressing - steal oriented, outside shooting team with Jimmer leading the charge. The other guys will have to pick up their shooting and hustle and who knows, maybe we present a different look that teams aren't expecting or know how to defend.



Looking for a new, improved version of Y basketball and put the NM game in the circular file.

byucougar1 wrote:
Looking for a new, improved version of Y basketball and put the NM game in the circular file.

The sad part is that this isn't available. There is no new, improved version. We just went from a very athletic big man inside, who was finally finding his game and the team running as a well oiled machined, to a "Wow, we really suck, have no presence, foot work is horrific, couldn't possibly be more pathetic" inside game. The team knows it and they checked out mentally yesterday. I don't blame them one bit for it, but the sooner we accept as fans that this season is over, the easier it will be to deal with the pain.

Suggest reading Brent Richin's article at Deep Shades of Blue that came out after my post. He stated the following:

Keep in mind that the Cougar team that took the court last night was still reeling from the loss of Brandon Davies.



It was evident that the BYU players were shell-shocked and struggling with what had just happened to them as a team. It was as if they were collectively a deer in the headlights of the speeding truck that was New Mexico.



It’s also important to realize that Dave Rose had no real time to prepare his team for the game sans Davies, seeing that Brandon had just been suspended the day prior.



It’s true that the Cougars are not nearly the team without Davies in the lineup, but moving forward they will perform much better than they showed last night. The coaching staff will figure things out, the players will come to together and they will execute future game plans at a higher level as they have more time to practice and prepare.

The Cougars may no longer be the favorites to win the MWC tourney or to make deep run at the Big Dance, but they will come back, play harder, play better and with more confidence. Any team that has Jimmer Fredette on it will have to be taken seriously.