SMC Stomps BYU... Again: Some Post-Mortem Thoughts

by Geoff Johnston on Jan 28, 2012 11:48 PM PST in BYU Basketball

Since I wrote a post the last time St. Mary's beat the tar out of BYU I figured I would do another one this time. Here are some thoughts on tonight's game and this BYU team in no particular order:

SMC is clearly a better team than BYU this year. But when you think about it that should be no surprise. This same SMC squad took last year's BYU team led by Jimmer and Jax to the wire on a neutral floor. BYU lost Jimmer and Jax while SMC brought its best players back this year.
BYU is very good at the 4 and 5 spots. Davies and Hartsock are the most formidable front court in the conference and perhaps in the West.
BYU is spotty at best at the 1-3 spots. (More bullets to follow on this)
At the 3 spot Abouo is a terrific defender but is still an inconsistent scorer. Rogers was supposed to be the guy to step up and be the scoring threat at 3 but his injured knee knocked him out. BYU has sorely missed Rogers over the last 4 games where no one seems to be able to hit a three anymore.

At the 2 spot BYU has Zylstra who is simply too slow to be a real threat to upper echelon competition. He rebounds well and shoots lights out when left wide open just doesn't get wide open against solid teams. Harrison is still struggling to adjust to D1 hoops and Winder is still unreliable as a shooter. BYU will need much more from the 2 spot to consistently beat good teams.

At the 1 spot Carlino is a very promising freshman. The problem is sometimes he shows you his promise and at other times he reminds you he is a freshman. Cusick is a steady hand at the 1 but doesn't seem to have the upside Carlino brings.

At one point in the game tonight I saw a number saying BYU was something like 11-70 from three over the last 4 games. That is a recipe for disaster. BYU teams must hit threes to be good. For the first 18 or so games BYU averages 37% from three. Going 11-70 is a shockingly bad trend. I called the horrendous three point shooting in the LMU game an outlier. I am now worried it was a harbinger of bad shooting to come.

On the bright side, going 2-13 from three tonight was TWICE as good as BYU going 2-26 from three against LMU!

BYU is not very good at man defense (related to the issues with the 1-3 spots) but they have trouble getting to shooters in the zone as well. Today is was the 3-4 spots who were late covering the shooter in the corner several times in a row. That Steindl kid drilled four straight threes before BYU started covering him.

Yes, the refs were poor tonight. But they were not the reason BYU lost. BYU would have lost this game with absolutely perfect officiating because SMC was better than BYU tonight.

The question now is: How much improvement can BYU make before the WCC tourney? If Dave Rose can get this team into the NCAA tourney it will be a spectacular coaching feat. Getting to the Big Dance again is certainly possible but it will require some wins over Gonzaga and perhaps a victory over this superior SMC team in the WCC tourney in Vegas. Rose is a great coach but getting in to the Big Dance this year is becoming a tall order.

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Color me super surprised!

I really thought/hoped going in that BYU would get some payback at home tonight.

The inability for BYU to hit a three, factored in with Steindl smokin hot from deep, sealed the deal early on.

Final 4 or Bust!!~

by gaz-tastic on Jan 29, 2012 1:41 AM PST reply actions

Question:

I missed the explanation as to what happed to Bennett’s hand. Something about he hurt it on a locker?

Anyone have any other deets?…thanks.

Final 4 or Bust!!~

by gaz-tastic on Jan 29, 2012 1:46 AM PST reply actions

Bennett had a white board fall on his hand at a recent game

Apparently gave him a deep cut. I think it happened at LMU in the guest lockers there.

Author - Vanquish The Foe

by Geoff Johnston on Jan 29, 2012 9:58 AM PST up reply actions

hey thanks.

Final 4 or Bust!!~

by gaz-tastic on Jan 30, 2012 3:00 AM PST up reply actions

The refs didn't lose this game for BYU, not even close...

The refs WERE still terrible though, as is evidenced by the amount of negative chatter about them coming from MEDIA members (both local AND national), and not just the fans.

The fans were awful though. Throwing garbage, really? Never come back to a BYU game if that was you.

And I’m still curious to see how the Gonzaga games go. I hold out hope for a sweep, and fear a sweep.

by eldermars@yahoo.com on Jan 29, 2012 8:59 AM PST reply actions

Oh, and Noah/Brandon

Neither are leaders. Both shrink in crunch-time.

Noah loves to pass up shots, and is a terrible rebounder for a 4/Strong Forward. I think he had 3 rebounds this game. Which is typical for him, and awful for his position.

And Brandon is horribly inconsistent. Many games it almost appears that he’s not trying. This game, he shot 6-of-18, which is even worse than Carlino’s terrible 6-of-15…

by eldermars@yahoo.com on Jan 29, 2012 9:01 AM PST reply actions

This "shrink in crunch time" claim is not true

Davies and Hartsock have largely carried BYU this season. Hartsock has come up huge in the second half of several games and Davies has been on a tear since the WCC play started.

The problem lately is the outside shooting has been so shockingly poor that teams are starting to double team our bigs and daring BYU to shoots as games are winding down. BYU’s guards have not been up to that challenge.

Author - Vanquish The Foe

by Geoff Johnston on Jan 29, 2012 1:34 PM PST reply actions

GU has not been lighting it up from the three of late either. Pangos has been off.

It may come down to our bigs. Sacre & Harris vs Hartsock & Davies.

Can’t wait!!

Final 4 or Bust!!~

by gaz-tastic on Jan 30, 2012 3:07 AM PST up reply actions

Grounds for Dismissal

I see you’ve totally neglected to say anything about the lack of good spotsmanship by your loyal fanbase. I’ve seen unruly crowds in the past, but that was ridiculous. Horrible refs or not, that’s unexcusable. I’ve been watching 20+ years of WCC basketball, but nothing quite competes with that kind of (lack of) respect for the game… You guys might get kicked out of the WCC with that kind of act. Can we expect that kind of reception in Vegas? Just…ummmm, wow.

by Colorado Fan on Jan 29, 2012 2:45 PM PST reply actions

So some fan booing and a knucklehead or two throwing paper on the court

offends your delicate sensibilities? If so maybe sports are too much for you. Perhaps knitting is more your speed.

But if it makes you feel better I actually heard a kid or two got carted off by campus police for the paper throwing. I doubt we will see that particular problem in Provo again.

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by Geoff Johnston on Jan 29, 2012 3:06 PM PST up reply actions

A lot of people disagree with you...

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/first-saint-mary-sent-message-then-byu-fans-052942925.html

http://www.heraldextra.com/sports/college/byu/basketball/beaton-negative-atmosphere-at-mc-ruins-spirit-of-competition/article_521d6fba-4a39-11e1-96f9-001871e3ce6c.html

by Colorado Fan on Jan 29, 2012 4:24 PM PST up reply actions

BYU if you get dismissed

can gonzaga go with, I heard the A-10 lets you play physical.

by Brian Boyer on Jan 29, 2012 10:59 PM PST via Android app up reply actions

Heh

I think it’s pretty clear that Gonzaga and BYU play a similar style of basketball. It’s been constant struggle for BYU’s big-men to find the correct level of physicality. As a Gonzaga fan as well, I know Sacre, Dower, and Harris are in the same boat. WCC officiating crews have never met an CHARGE they haven’t liked before.

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by Zach Bloxham on Jan 30, 2012 12:00 AM PST up reply actions