At 9-4, BYU is looking at an awfully mediocre season. Aside from the Utah game, every game has been decided by 10 points or more this year. They've beaten the soft part of their schedule, and been hammered in all of the meaningful meaningful games thus far. Outside of Brandon Davies and Tyler Haws, this team has nowhere to turn for a consistent scoring option. If the Cougars expect to be competitive in conference play this year, they need to find another go to guy, and they need to find him fast. Some players are starting to develop a little bit and are showing flashes of potential, but we have yet to see any sort of consistency from players other than Davies and Haws. Consequently, Dave Rose has had trouble finding a regular starting lineup. In the latest game against Northern Arizona University he returned to his season opening lineup, and I would expect that to remain the same if player production stays where it is.
In this three part series I will first look at the current starting lineup, then at the remaining players, and then give some general thoughts and impressions on the state of the BYU basketball team this year, including what they need to do in order to see another NCAA tournament and not be relegated to the NIT.
Brandon Davies felt dominant enough against NAU to
pay tribute to Karl Malone with this powerful dunk.
Davies has become a real force in the paint. He is the Cougars' obvious go-to guy, and he has clearly improved nearly every aspect of his game. He is quick and powerful in the paint, which makes him a tough guy to stop, and throughout his career he has slowly increased his range and now has confidence to pull the trigger from beyond the arc, which gives defenders headaches at times. His development as a shooter has allowed for some memorable plays such as a mid-range pump fake leading to a thundering dunk against Utah. Teams have tried to defend him by pushing him off the block so he catches the ball in a bad position on the floor, but he has stayed very effective as a shooter and driver. His post dominance is drawing double and triple teams, which has helped him increase his assist number, however I would still like to see him kick the ball back out more. At times he sets his sights on the basket and misses some open guys as he tries to force the issue against three defenders.
The much anticipated return of Tyler Haws has not disappointed.
Haws started the season absolutely on fire, scoring 20 or more points in the first six games. He has slowed slightly since then, scoring over 20 only once in the ensuing seven games, and watching his field goal percentage go from 50% in the first six to 42.7% in the next seven. Perhaps teams didn't pay much attention while scouting the recently returned missionary until after the first few games, but it seems that opposing teams have ratcheted up the pressure on Haws. He started to force some shots that weren't there and at times try to do a bit to much. But overall his return to the hardwood after two years in the Philippines has been nothing short of impressive. It's not often we see a returned missionary have this much success in his first year back. He has only missed three free throws on the year while shooting at a 95.2% rate, and he has done well in most games to find a way to get to the free throw line. I expect Haws to finish the season with similar averages to what he currently has, and perhaps raise his field goal percentage slightly as he forces less shots and feeds the monster inside. I was on my own mission during his freshman year, so this is my first time seeing him play, and I have been very impressed with how scrappy he is. A lot of scorers and shooters like Haws don't get involved with the dirty work, but it is a frequent sight to see Haws diving on the floor for a loose ball, getting tangled up with his opponents for a rebound, and hustling for the steal on defense. He is a remarkable player with a bright future for the Cougars, and BYU certainly needs him to be a star alongside Davies this year.
Carlino has been perhaps the most criticized players on this roster. After beginning his freshman campaign on an absolute tear, he slowed significantly toward the end of the season and showed a tendency toward making bad decisions and turning the ball over. He was clearly a shoot-first point guard, but with excellent court vision. This season he has been asked to focus on capitalizing on that court vision. I have always been impressed with how Carlino sees the court. As soon as he receives the ball his eyes are up and he is surveying the floor, which often leads to a long pass and a Brandon Davies dunk on the other end. His shooting and decision making struggles lost him his starting spot for a couple of games, until he was BYU's saving grace against Utah with a 19 point performace and five three pointers, including two on back to back possessions that equalized the game and allowed the Cougars to seize momentum and get the win.
In a bit of a sophomore slump, expect to see Carlino turn around
and for him to become a consistent scoring option for BYU.
While all of his offensive numbers have lowered from last season, his assist-to-turnover ratio has gone from 1.53 last year, to 1.86 this year. While not a significant jump, it is a definite and noticeable improvement. He is far more patient this season, and better with his shot selection. In 2011-12 he average 11 shots per game. That number has decreased to 7.8 shots per game as he has focused on being a distributor. He is far from perfect, but Carlino has shown great improvement in his decision making. He has also improved significantly on the defensive end of the floor where his footwork is better and quicker and he is able to stay with his man much better than last year. His shooting numbers may be low, and I believe it is probably a mental problem as he is trying to become a different type of player than he has ever been, but I would expect that over the course of the season those numbers will increase, and he could become a third, consistent scoring option for the Cougars.
Zylstra needs to become more
consistent for BYU to succeed.
I'm not really sure what to make of Brock Zylstra at this point. He started the season well, averaging 9.25 points per game through the first eight games, but he saw his playing time drop off tremendously after a 21 minute, zero point, 0-6 performance against Utah. He really needs to be a consistent threat in order for this team to succeed. I believe that he does not need to average double digits in points, but he does need to become significantly more effective and consistent. He cannot continue to be a roller coaster ride if this team is going to see success. And while he has regained his starting job for the time being, he needs to start hitting his shots if he expects to keep it as players like Raul Delgado are gaining confidence and making a significantly bigger impact than he is in recent games. Along with many other players on the team, Brock's best game was against Cal-State Northridge where he tallied 14 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and two steals. He doesn't need to have games like that every night, but I would like to see between 8-12 points, 4-7 rebounds, 3-5 assists, and 1-2 steals on a consistent basis. If we see that kind of production out of Zylstra the remainder of the season, the Cougars might pull off some big wins in conference play.
Josh Sharp can catch defenders sleeping and make some big plays.
Easily BYU's most improved player from last year, Josh Sharp is a respectable, right place, right time, scrappy role player. He isn't much of a shooter, but he finds himself in good positions to get a pass as he cuts backdoor to the basket for an easy layup. Defensively, despite his size, he is aggressive and fights hard for everything. I was honestly quite surprised to see Sharp in the starting lineup at the beginning of the year, but he has not disappointed me as he avoids costly mistakes and he works hard to fulfill his assignments. His primary purpose on the floor is to be an aggressive defender and secure rebounds and loose balls, and he has done that effectively for the Cougars. If he can add a mid-range jumper to his game that would help BYU, but he has clearly been effective as he has hit 53.2 percent of his shots this year. He is very good at recognizing openings when Davies is being double teamed and getting himself into position for open looks, and overall he has done well at finishing at the basket. He will likely never be a star for this team, but this year he will make a significant impact as a hustle player with the potential to add a more complete offensive game later. I mean, he's built almost exactly like Lee Cummard, so that shows some promise, right?
I read a great Mayan Apocalypse Mailbag the other day by the Sports Guy. He graciously answered "even more e-mails than usual (over 50 in all), just so you'll always remember plowing through your final Sports Guy column during those final seconds as Earth is collapsing on itself." What a thoughtful guy!
As I read that I thought to myself, "Wow! Over 50! This is going to take me forever to read!" (Seeing lots of words on the page of a sports article? Great! Seeing lots of words in my business finance text book? Yeah, it doesn't get read. Ever.)
Then my thoughts turned to my upcoming mailbag. I didn't have 50. Or even 20. Or 10. Heck, I didn't even reach five! But ya know what, I appreciate these four submissions. From three different people. And one didn't even know it was going to get used. Ah, well. I'll catch up to you one day, Bill Simmons!
It's Christmas Eve, so this mailbag will be filled with gifts (and some coal) from Santa. My wife might even read this one if I tell her it's about Christmas. You know what you should be doing is making some huge movement to get Jabari Parker to go to BYU. -Keith S.
Clearly this is all my fault, and I'm sorry.
This was sent to me 20 December at 2:17 p.m. Many of you will recognize this as mere moments before Jabari announced his decision to go to Duke. I'm not sure what I was supposed to do at that point.
I mean, I met Jabari a couple weeks back. Great kid, went out of his way to say hello to me and ask how I was doing (as did his mother, so great family), but I didn't think to say, "Hey, man. Can I get your number so that when your on national television in a couple weeks, about to declare your decision to attend Duke, I can call you and change your mind and get you to come to BYU?"
I'm sorry Cougar Nation; this one falls completely on me. But gift number one from Santa's bag goes to Duke, getting a terrific young man and an excellent ball player. You're welcome.
Have you talked about Jabari Parker to Duke? You should. -Clayton J.
The next gift is for Jabari Parker: He's getting himself the second winningest college basketball coach of all time to help him prepare for the NBA. He's getting an education from a top 10 university, and even if he only stays there for a year that's pretty good. And he's going to get a shot at a national title. That's not a bad deal.
I've always said that if I had the luxury of a scholarship offer from any school in the country, I would go and play for Coach K. I wouldn't do it for Duke. I couldn't care less about Duke. I would want to play for the greatest coach of all time. But since John Wooden isn't around anymore, I would play for Coach K in a heart-beat. Unfortunately I wasn't good enough to have that option, but Jabari is. And as much as it pain my BYU loyalty to say it, I think he made the right decision.
Look, I would have been ecstatic if Jabari had come to Provo. I really and truly would. I was really hoping for it! But I just didn't see it happening. I saw a possibility of it happening, but we were just up against some heavy hitters. I don't know if we ever had a chance, I don't know if we ever were in the lead, and I don't think Jabari will ever reveal that to us. What I do know, is that he made a choice that will be very beneficial to his future, in all aspects of life, not just basketball. That's not something exclusive to BYU, and Coach K is someone I have the utmost respect for, and it seems that he does great things for his kids out there at Duke.
Perhaps the "safe" choice would have been BYU. Surrounded by people of his same faith in a culture he could thrive. There would be nice Mormon girls for him everywhere. He would instantly receive the Jimmer treatment. In fact he already had when he came for his official visit as BYU fans pulled out all the stops. He would have been the best player on the team, and probably the best player in the conference. Between BYU's ESPN deal and BYUtv national attention would not have been a problem. Coach Rose is a very respectable coach, BYU is a respectable program, and he would have been an instant legend.But the kid chose Duke, and I respect that. He did what he feels is best for him, and that's really what the choice is all about. I wish him nothing but the best at Duke and in the league.
Will you then please do an article on the BYU field goal kicker. Seriously - there's no way a collegiate kicker can be that bad all season. I mean, this is BYU. Sure, we're no SEC team, but we're still a football school. Shouldn't we be able to recruit a decent kicker? I vote we recruit from our own BYU women's soccer team. What's your take? -Ben H.
I'll admit, the kicking game has been awful this year. And last year. But it wasn't due to lack of recruiting efforts. BYU recruited Justin Sorensen to be the go to kicker. In high school he kicked field goals of 59, 61, and 62 yards. That's incredible. But in college he's just never materialized as a consistent and accurate kicker.
He spent his freshman year backing up Mitch Payne and went 1-3, with his two misses coming from beyond 50 yards. He was 2-2 on extra point attempts. Following his mission he had an inconsistent sophomore year, making just 60 percent of his field goal tries. He did however set a BYU record for most extra points in a season without a miss as he went 48-48 on PATs. It was later revealed that he struggled throughout the season with back injuries and he underwent off-season back surgery.
The backup kicker was senior punter, Riley Stephenson, who hadn't so much as attempted a PAT since high school. All things considered, he did a respectable job holding Sorensen's spot making 4 of 6 field goals and 16 of 19 extra points. Obviously this was not an answer, and it was certainly a sub par performance for a kicker, but considering he was actually the punter, I say he did alright. (And a great gift to him for receiving numerous second team All-American honors for his punting season!)
However, Sorensen came back from his injury and still struggled. He was clearly not fully recovered and quite rusty as he made just 50 percent of his field goals and missed the first three extra points of his career, going 27-30. Is he the answer? I'm not sure. I'm not sure he's been given enough of a chance yet. It's a shame there isn't a quality backup for him, but most football teams don't give out a ton of scholarships to kickers. It's also a shame that BYU doesn't have a coach dedicated to the kicking game, and that may be adding to Sorensen's struggles. So a lump of coal to the Cougar coaching staff for that deficiency.
Overall though, I think they played their cards appropriately, just just got hit by the injury bug. And they got hit hard. Hopefully Sorensen will recover and maybe next year he'll develop into the kicker we expected. I feel like BYU fans have been saying that a lot the last couple years. "Maybe next year..."
As for recruiting from the women's soccer team, if she can kick a football as deep and accurately as she kicked this soccer ball, I vote the football team gets Lindsi Lisonbee Cutshall to take over kicking duties until we have proof that Sorensen is fully recovered. (She earned a nice gift of being number three on Sportcenter's Top 10 plays that night).
Also, an article on what the heck happened to the BYU quarterback position this year would be interesting. I'd like to know what really happened (in other words, a few decent theories). Obviously Taysom Hill go hurt on a play called by the communist North Korean coaches that infiltrated our coaching staff. But maybe aliens abducted Brandon Doman and replaced him with one of their own. And I thought Riley Nelson was supposed to be the Moses that would lead us to the promised land? And how the heck did James Lark end up as Joshua? -Ben H.
Ignoring the fact that you called for a few decent theories and then blamed communists and aliens for the quarterback troubles at BYU, I do have a few thoughts surrounding the turbulence these last three seasons. Each of the past three seasons has really been defined by quarterback controversy. You'd think that somehow that would have ended by now, that the coaching staff would have learned their lesson, but for whatever reason, it keeps happening over and over again.
If BYU never got Jake Heaps, we never would have seen one
of the greatest individual defensive performances ever in this
year's Poinsettia Bowl.
First, I hope that three years ago Brandon Doman received an excellent gift from Santa. He recruited the highly touted Jake Heaps to come to Provo. It was quite commendable to get the top quarterback recruit in the country, but that would quickly fall apart (and I'll get to that in a minute). The reason Doman gets a gift for that? Heaps brought Ross Apo with him, who admittedly hasn't quite lived up to his potential yet, but more important than that, Heaps brought KYLE VAN NOY! And BYU got one of the best defensive players in school history out of that.
Bronco Mendenhall and Brandon Doman receive a lump of coal for their handling of Jake Heaps and Riley Nelson in Heaps' freshman season. It was awful, and I believe it severely stunted Heaps' growth as a player. I believe he should have been named the starter throughout his freshman year. He finished strong and went into his sophomore year as the unquestioned starter, and I think he earned that.
Forgive me for being repetitive, and perhaps a bit lazy, but I already voiced my thoughts on Heaps' sophomore year, and I don't really want to get all worked up about it again, so I'm going to repeat what I already wrote about it a couple weeks back.
Jake Heaps, after a promising freshman season, was in a sophomore slump. Was it frustrating? Absolutely. He looked too tightly wound and seemed to be buckling under the hype we had placed on him. He beat the teams he was supposed to though, and that's all that BYU does now anyway, so I don't think it was fair to place all the blame on a young quarterback, as highly touted as he was. He struggled mightily in the game against Utah State, and Riley Nelson came in an led a miracle drive down the field for the victory.
Riley Nelson was a gritty dude but
probably not the answer for BYU.
But hold on a second. The two big plays of that drive were as follows: 1) a fluttering 40 yard pass that was not even sort of on target, and McKay Jacobson made the play of his career by running across the field, getting under the ball, and then holding on for dear life. 2) an inaccurate pass intended for JJ DiLuigi that he reached back for, drew a pass interference call, and then somehow the deflection found Marcus Mathews in the back of the end zone. Nothing about that drive said "Riley Nelson is more talented than Jake Heaps and the quarterback of the future for BYU." Nothing! But for some reason we turned on Heaps and ran him out of town. I still believe he had the ability to be that QB of the future for BYU, so I think we wasted that and threw it away. It's a shame really.
Look at what Notre Dame did this year. Starting QB Everett Golson struggled to close out a couple of games early. In comes Tommy Rees to save the day. Notre Dame wins, the media tries to ignite a quarterback controversy, but they stick with their guy, and now they're set to play for the national championship. BYU should have done exactly that. Riley saved the day against USU, but let Heaps get back to work on Monday.
The reality of it is that we were stuck with Riley Nelson, who last season beat the teams he was supposed to and lost to the rest, and this season didn't even quite look fully capable of that. In his defense he struggled with injuries, but with the QBs on the bench right behind him it's a shame we didn't put in a healthy guy in his stead, because down to our third string we had starting talent.
After a couple weeks of playing through a broken back and giving the opposing defenses points that would in turn win games, he was finally benched to heal and Taysom Hill came in and showed Cougar Nation why they should be excited about the next few years. He would have been a great quarterback to stay in for a few more games, too, if it weren't for a miscommunication that led to Hill running a play rather than lining up in victory formation and taking a knee. On that play Hill blew out his knee and finished his year with season ending knee surgery.
Instead of turning to our third string senior quarterback, who during spring and fall camps was actually pushing Nelson for the starting job, only to be demoted because Hill's style was more similar to Nelson's and to give him more experience for the future, Nelson somehow recovered from a broken back to be ready to play again. I don't disagree with the decision to move Hill up the depth charts. I think it was a smart move to get him ready to take full control (hopefully) of the starting job next year. I do, however, disagree that Nelson should have rushed back into the lineup rather than playing Lark for a week or two to allow Nelson a full recovery. I mean, we're talking about a kid who was in a battle for the starting position in the preseason.
Was James Lark the solution all along?
And then in the last week of the regular season we really were down to our third string, Lark, and he showed us he really does have talent. Holy cow did he show us he has talent. He looked brilliant. No other BYU QB has enjoyed that kind of success in his first career start. Six touchdowns. 68 percent completion percentage. No interceptions. I don't care who you're playing, those numbers are dang good. I admit he struggled some in the bowl game when he got a second start, but the fact of the matter is, he ended his career 2-0 as a starting quarterback. An undefeated college career, and he went out on top. So now, gifts and coal for the handling of the situation the past few years. Brandon Doman: Gift for giving us Kyle Van Noy. Bronco Mendenhall: Coal for using a dual quarterback system in Heaps' first year, or at least for allowing it to happen. BYU fans: A fantastic amount of coal. We hated Nelson and wanted only Heaps when there was a dual quarterback system. Then at the first sign of struggle from Heaps and some late game heroics (as much of a fluke as it was, they were still heroics) from Nelson, we wanted Nelson back. That ended up chasing Heaps out of town to Kansas, the poor kid. Then Nelson starts to struggle and suddenly we want someone, anyone to take over for him. We got Hill. Then he got injured and we wanted Lark. It's just ridiculous. I just hope Taysom Hill can get through next year with a 100 percent completion percentage or BYU fans might just run him out of town too. Jake Heaps: Coal for transferring instead of working hard and waiting it out. But I wish him all the best and I really do hope he succeeds.
Brandon Doman: He can keep his first gift, but he also gets some coal for his role in all the quarterback controversies, the injury to Taysom Hill, and a completely inept offense.
Riley Nelson: Gift, simply for being a gritty dude and a class act in spite of everything that happened.
BYU coaching staff in general: Coal for everything that happened. But a small gift for finally recognizing that Riley wasn't healthy enough to play in the bowl game and letting Lark take the reigns. I feel for Riley and the way his career ended, but it was the right choice.
James Lark: The biggest gift of this group. He fought through adversity. He stuck it out in the cellar of the depth chart, and he did so with class and grace. And when he got his chance he rose up and took it. Good for him.
I think Doman is the biggest problem and probably needs to go. Bronco is fine, for now, but he needs to step in and make sure some of these things don't keep happening. We'll see how the future goes, but the Cougar faithful need to stay patient and support Hill next season or we could go through this whole thing all over again.
If you don't read the comments section of BYU football articles, and if you don't spend much time reading San Diego based newspapers, then you probably don't really care about the following post, because you may have forgotten that it was ever an issue. Unless you're like me and you read everything leading up to a game, and you don't forget even the most trivial detail regarding your team (but somehow can't remember even the simplest formula for your statistics exam).
I get holding grudges when it comes to rivalries, and since San Diego State sure seems to think we're rivals, I understand why they still cling to it. After all, it was the last game SDSU played against BYU before BYU abandoned them for football independence, and SDSU lost that game by a mere three points. Aztec faithful are right; it was a blown call that should have been reversed. Video replay clearly shows that JJ Di Luigi was stripped of possession of the ball before coming into contact with the ground. Take a look (start the video at the 1:44 mark):
Word soon got out that one of the replay officials, Chad Bunn, was a BYU alum. This is where the controversy came in. This is what still angers SDSU conspiracy theorists even though that game was over two years ago.
It was a horrendous call, I can absolutely admit that. But there are several things about this incident that simply annoy me. First of all, there are three replay officials. Bunn was the one in charge of video feed, so yes, he probably should have forced the issue and said "Hey, there's other angles you haven't looked at," but the one actually reviewing the video and making the decision said he was fine and didn't need more angles. Clearly he was mistaken about that. But Chad Bunn was cleared of any wrong doing by the Mountain West Conference. Even still, he volunteered to be suspended with the rest of the crew.
So, San Diego State fans, how about you quit ruining Bunn's life (which he has admitted has been difficult since the incident two years ago), and leave him be? Yes, it was a blown call, and if you would like to be angry about that then fine, it's a "rivalry," and one sided as the hatred is, I understand.
But here's one more thought. As a basketball coach I used to tell my players that no game has ever been won or lost due to bad officiating. The sentiment is right, but I think I am going to amend that in the future. From now on I think that I am going to say "No game has ever been won or lost on a bad call from an official." Yes the game was decided by three points, but who's to say that if SDSU got the ball (as they should have) Ryan Lindley doesn't toss a pick six on the very next play? You just don't know what the outcome of the game would have been, even if that call had been made correctly! As a coach I would tell my team, "Who cares about the blown call? We should have gotten a stop." That is, and always has been, a part of my personal coaching philosophy. It is not the officials' fault that we turned the ball over. It's not the officials' fault we didn't put more points on the board. And it's not the officials' fault we didn't stop the other guys from scoring.
Also, as you watch the video, notice that Di Luigi gets his facemask tugged slightly by one guy, then ripped upward by another, neither of which were flagged as they should have been. And if that had been called, it would have negated the fumble anyway. But I suppose that's not really the point here.
So, Aztec fans, please don't cite some erroneous conspiracy theory. Be a little angry, go for it, I don't mind. But please don't blame one BYU alum who happened to have a connection to the decision, because he didn't actually make the call. He also didn't prevent your team from playing defense.
I give up. I can't keep track of it, I can't remember who is going where or when it's happening, and it's just getting ridiculous. The landscape of college sports has shifted drastically the past couple years, and it's going to continue on for a couple more.
I was staying out of it, really. I'd stopped trying to remember which school belongs to which conference, and I wasn't going to start trying again until at least 2015 when things have hopefully died down and stabilized a bit.
But it was not to be, for the lone question (at least that I have much of an answer for) in my mailbag this week, was this:
What's the deal with everyone hating on the Big East? It seems like a ton of teams throughout the NCAA are switching conference left and right-- what about just having a giant restructuring meeting where all the presidents sit down and "redraw the lines?" -Ben H.
The landscape is changing: where does everyone belong?
First of all, let's make that meeting happen. Let's sit everybody down for a week long meeting. Let's get school presidents and ADs, along with the NCAA president and conference commissioners, as well as all TV network leaders to hash out broadcasting rights... Dang. I'm starting to think a week may not be long enough. Well let's make it a month long meeting, but the TV guys don't need to show up until the last week. Okay perfect, let's get this thing going so we can be over and done with conference realignment.
So we'll have the conferences all be pretty close to even numbers, and maybe get rid of some of the talent disparity - I mean, the SEC is right next door to the Sun Belt, the Pac-12 is close to the WAC, the Big Ten is near the MAC, let's even these things out!
There are currently 11 football conferences (plus four independent teams) and 124 teams. Why don't we make 12 conferences of ten teams in eight of those conferences, and 11 teams in the remaining four?
There are 32 basketball conferences and 347 schools. Why don't we make 30 conferences, with 17 conferences having 12 members and 13 conferences having 11 members?
Okay, okay, you're right. I'm getting a bit carried away and admittedly a little ridiculous. But here's my point: if we're going to have to endure all of these major conference shakeups throughout the NCAA, can we just get it over with and get it right? I'm not going to suggest that what I have listed above is right. In fact I don't think it is at all. I'm not sure that the best system is to rid the sports world of talent disparity. For example, if you do that in basketball you severely limit Cinderella stories in March. (Speaking of, shout out to Butler for taking down top-ranked Indiana today!)
I don't know what the best solution is, but I would really love to see this shuffling stop.
As for the Big East's problems in particular, I believe there are two problems: 1) They have really struggled in football in recent years and schools are trying to bolt to more respectable conferences, and 2) It's just getting a little too crowded in basketball.
The only thing certain for Coach Thompson's Hoyas right
now is that the future doesn't involve the Big East.
I get why a team would leave the Big East right now, especially these seven schools, all non-football schools. Football drives everything in college sports. It has driven this conference realignment the past few years and continues to do so. There are currently 15 schools participating in basketball in the Big East Conference, with more coming and more leaving, so who knows exactly where the count will end up. For those seven non-basketball schools, now is the perfect time to get out; conference realignment is running rampant, and DePaul, Georgetown, Marquette, Providence, St. John's, Seton Hall, and Villanova are some quality programs that could make a pretty decent basketball conference of their own.
And sometimes it's just nice to have some stability, and those schools will likely find it while the Big East remains in turmoil and uncertainty.
Actually, now that I've answered this, I still think I stayed vague enough that I can avoid trying to memorize new conference structures until 2015!
What is your opinion on super tall kids trying to longboard? -Heather P.
Yeah... Not really my area of expertise, but if they get a longer board and bend their knees they should be able to counteract that center of gravity issue, right?
It sure does help a team out to have a guy named Johnny Football leading them on the field, huh?
Johnny Football's performance against Alabama may help
him run away with the Heisman Trophy.
Texas A&M made its move this season to the SEC, the nation's premier conference in college football, and was expected by most to be a middle-tier team that would play little brother to the big boys of Alabama, Arkansas, LSU, Georgia and Florida. But Johnny Manziel had a different idea, and the redshirt freshman quarterback led his team to a 10-2 record, a top 10 ranking, and an upset win over previously unbeaten Alabama. It was that signature moment, a win on the road against the then top ranked team in country, that propelled Manziel into being the front-runner of the Heisman Trophy race.
He put up impressive numbers this season, too. He threw for 3,419 yards, completing 68.3 percent of his passes. He tossed 24 touchdowns to 8 interceptions. And on top of all that he can run, finishing with 1,181 yards and 19 touchdowns on the ground. That's 4,600 total yards and 43 total touchdowns!
He successfully led his team in a new conference, the toughest in the sport. He has the signature moment, the video game numbers, and the catchy nickname.
But does he deserve the Heisman?
In almost any other year I could ignore the two losses against Florida and LSU in a Heisman race. Those are tough games, and even the best of teams need each and every player to be firing on all cylinders in order to take them down. They were even close losses, losing by a combined total of eight points.
This year though, I can't look past that. Johnny Football is projected to win the Heisman. But it shouldn't happen. My vote, if they would give me a vote, belongs to someone who has come about as close to football perfection as humanly possible this year.
Manti Te'o has been the best player in college football from start to finish this season.
In a game that proved Notre Dame was for real, Manti Te'o
proved he can be a dominant force on the biggest stage.
You want a signature moment? What do you think of two interceptions against number 18 Michigan? Or the leader of a goal line stand to end the overtime game against now number six and Rose Bowl bound Stanford? How about a diving, fingertip interception that all but sealed the team's signature win against eighth ranked Oklahoma? And then there was the 12 tackle, two pass breakup performance against the then top 10 Michigan State, just days after his grandmother and girlfriend passed away. It's been a truly remarkable season from Te'o, and he seems to thrive on the pressure and big moments.
You want numbers? Try 103 tackles and 9 takeaways, including 7 interceptions. From the linebacker position. 7 interceptions was second in the country, and tops for a linebacker, and it is a Notre Dame linebacker record. Throw in his two fumble recoveries and you have a guy tied for the nation's most takeaways.
He is lacking that catchy nickname, but do you really need one when your name is Manti Te'o?
Te'o has remained a dominant force week in and week out. He has exemplified leadership, character, honor, and skill, all of which are attributes the Heisman Trophy winner is supposed to possess.
I don't care if there hasn't been a strictly defensive player that has won the trophy before, that does not mean this is an offensive player's award. The award goes to the most outstanding player in college football, and that has been Manti Te'o all year long.
Put aside the emotional story lines. Put aside the fact that I want so badly for a defensive player to take home the trophy. Now just look at them side by side. Manziel versus Te'o. Dethroned a top ranked team versus leading the current top ranked team. It's a tough call, certainly. But Te'o hasn't let up for even a second. He has dominated on the field this year, and he deserves to take home the most prestigious award in college football.
Is Johnny Football a deserving candidate? Absolutely. But in my mind, Te'o is more deserving winner. We'll see if those Heisman voters agree with me.
I've decided I need to get back to writing more consistently, so I had the idea of starting a mailbag. I mean, it works for the Sports Guy, why wouldn't it work for me?
Luckily for me I got several questions to answer, and it's only my first week! What's the best way to get a spare when you have a 7-10 split? -Mom
Okay, not really the kind of question I was hoping for... But throw back a couple of cold ones, put on a blindfold, and go for it. It's honestly your best shot. (Actually mom, don't drink beer. It's bad). Well, maybe there's a better question to start on.
Which horse has the best chance of being a Triple Crown winner? -Mom
Hmm... I don't think my mom has ever read my blog before. Actually after this question I'm not even sure she knows I like basketball. And football. And baseball. And soccer. And I can count on one hand the number of times I've even ridden a horse. Which is actually significantly more times than I've watched horse racing. Not really my thing.
That's okay, we'll try for another question. What's your take on the coaching change-ups in collegiate synchronized swimming this year? -Mom Okay, Mom, this is just getting ridiculous. Let's see if we've got any questions from outside my family.
Why is UK always better than North Carolina? -Clayton J. Wait... What?! Sorry, my friend. Kentucky is seriously struggling this year without any semblance of veteran leadership. Not that North Carolina has a whole lot of that either, but at least they're still ranked in both polls. They do both need some quality wins, and fast, or their seasons could spiral out of control.
Interesting that Coach Bielema would accept a new job before the season is even over. Now he can't coach them in the bowl game. A basketball coach would never accept a new position between the conference tournament and NCAA tournament. What's your take on this? -Ben H.
In football it actually happens more than you'd think. Unfortunately, with the nature of the college game, if a big school fires a coach, they start the job hunt immediately, and if you get offered the job, they aren't going to wait around for your bowl game to finish to hear your decision. Do I agree with it? No. But it's the nature of the beast.
UConn made the 2011 Fiesta bowl by somehow winning the Big East championship. It was widely known that their coach was interviewing at other schools and everyone knew he was leaving at the end of the season. He didn't actually do what Bielema did here and accept the offer before the bowl game, but he was gone. It was pretty much a fact. But because he was still there with his team coaching them on the biggest football stage in school history, his players rallied around him and played their hearts out for him. They got slaughtered, because rarely does the Big East belong in a BCS game, but they played for him and they loved him. Why? Because for him to accept an offer from another school was a sign that he was moving up the ranks. He was going from coaching football at a basketball school to coaching football at a... well not necessarily a football school, but an ACC school which is absolutely better than UConn in the Big East. But as hard as it is to see your coach leaving, they were excited for him because it was a (perceived) step up to go to Maryland.
Now, going from Wisconsin to Arkansas? From the Big 10 to the SEC? There are going to be a lot of people upset about that one. Could you consider coaching in the SEC to be a step up? Yeah, probably. But he's going from a football school with three consecutive Rose Bowl appearances to a football school that has declined to the point it wasn't even bowl eligible this year. Maybe he just likes the challenge. So it's going to make a lot of UW and Big 10 peole upset, and it would have been real hard for his players to play for him in the Rose Bowl this year. We can sit here and say he should have waited until twelve hours after the bowl game to announce where he was going like Coach Edsall did at UConn, but the fact of the matter is he probably couldn't wait to accept the position or it would have been gone. And the way the media is now we would have found out anyway, and I don't see his players taking to it like the Huskies did in 2011.
I'm interested to see how the AD does in stepping in and coaching for him. I mean, he was their coach just seven years ago, and he's a college hall of famer, but he hasn't been coaching the team all year, so he's going to have to get a hold of it quick or Wisconsin's sixth loss of the season is going to come in blowout fashion. Which, for the record, I think it will anyway. I mean, five loss Wisconsin that was only playing in the Big 10 title game because of sanctions against the two teams who finished in front of them against sixth ranked Stanford? C'mon son.
Hallelujah we only have one more year of the BCS and it's ridiculous idea of who should play the prestigious games.
Thoughts on the Spurs sitting four of their five leading scorers against the Heat? -Ben H.
Quite frankly he has a really old team, and they need rest. They play several games a week so they have to get tired at some point. It's better to rest them mid-season once in a while than to have them completely worn down in the middle of a playoff run. I think it was a smart decision on the part of Coach Popovich.
The ridiculous thing to me is that they were fined for it. He did it several times last season with ZERO sanctions. I don't agree even a little bit with David Stern. He clearly has a vendetta against the Spurs and Pop and it is stupid. His retirement cannot come soon enough, and it's just a year and a half away, and then maybe I'll enjoy the NBA again.
Who should BYU start in their bowl game, Riley Nelson or James Lark? -Kirt
Ugh... I don't know.
Let's go back to last year for a second. Jake Heaps, after a promising freshman season, was in a sophomore slump. Was it frustrating? Absolutely. He looked too tightly wound and seemed to be buckling under the hype we had placed on him. He beat the teams he was supposed to though, and that's all that BYU does now anyway, so I don't think it was fair to place all the blame on a young quarterback, as highly touted as he was. He struggled mightily in the game against Utah State, and Riley Nelson came in an led a miracle drive down the field for the victory.
But hold on a second. The two big plays of that drive were as follows: 1) a fluttering 40 yard pass that was not even sort of on target, and McKay Jacobson made the play of his career by running across the field, getting under the ball, and then holding on for dear life. 2) an inaccurate pass intended for JJ DiLuigi that he reached back for, drew a pass interference call, and then somehow the deflection found Marcus Mathews in the back of the end zone. Nothing about that drive said "Riley Nelson is more talented than Jake Heaps and the quarterback of the future for BYU." Nothing! But for some reason we turned on Heaps and ran him out of town. I still believe he had the ability to be that QB of the future for BYU, so I think we wasted that and threw it away. It's a shame really.
Look at what Notre Dame did this year. Starting QB Everett Golson struggled to close out a couple of games early. In comes Tommy Rees to save the day. Notre Dame wins, the media tries to ignite a quarterback controversy, but they stick with their guy, and now they're set to play for the national championship. BYU should have done exactly that. Riley saved the day against USU, but let Heaps get back to work on Monday.
The reality of it is that we were stuck with Riley Nelson, who last season beat the teams he was supposed to and lost to the rest, and this season didn't even quite look fully capable of that. In his defense he struggled with injuries, and with the QBs on the bench right behind him it's a shame we didn't put in a healthy guy in his stead, because down to our third string we had starting talent.
And then in the last week of the regular season we really were down to our third string, and he showed us he really does have talent. Holy cow did he show us he has talent. He looked brilliant. No other BYU QB has enjoyed that kind of success in his first career start. Six touchdowns. 68 percent completion percentage. No interceptions. I don't care who you're playing, those numbers are dang good.
So of course, because we can't make it through a season in Provo anymore without some QB drama, everyone thinks Lark should play in the bowl game.
I don't think that I agree.
Benching Riley in the last game of his career would be a slap in the face for him. He's put his heart and soul into this program, and for better or worse, he is this year's starting quarterback. James Lark had his shining moment, a game of near perfection that shattered all expectations anyone had for him. Let him enjoy that and bask in it. It's not like playing one more game is suddenly going to make him an NFL quarterback. Let Riley finish his career on top, let Lark enjoy his magic moment Or we could go thesuggestion of Kurt Kragthorpeof the Salt Lake Tribune: Riley plays the first quarter, Lark plays the second. Whoever plays better gets the second half. Whatever happens, let's make it through 2013 with Taysom Hill starting, and nobody calling for Ammon Olson to replace him the first time Hill throws an incompletion.
I once again have to apologize, but I simply do not know enough about these players to give an entirely accurate guess as to what role they will play for BYU this upcoming season. Overall my guess is that none of these players will see a tremendous amount of playing time because of the amount of depth that the Cougars are looking at this year. However, I do love surprises, so let me share what I've learned about these guys as to their strengths and weaknesses and then maybe I'll speculate a bit as to how they might be used in 2012-2013.
Analysis on Cooper is pretty much what you would expect out of an Ainge: a good stroke, the ability to finish at the rim, creates for himself and others, great defensive instincts, and an overall intelligent player. He averaged 4 assists per game his senior year, and factoring in that high school games are eight minutes shorter than college and teammates' shooting percentages are typically lower, that number is great. He also averaged 1.8 steals per game and 4.8 rebounds per game (as a guard!) so he is a very well rounded player that will likely fill whatever role he is asked to. And this is all without mentioning his 13.8 points per game.
His three point shooting percentage (32) is low, but he has confidence from deep, and is not afraid to take a a big shot, but his game seems better suited as a drive-and-dish type guard, and he seems well equipped to hit the occasional pull-up jumper.
Ainge is a preferred walk-on, so while he is assured a spot on the team, it will still be an uphill battle for him, especially on this team that is loaded with talented guards. In 2012-2013 I would expect Ainge to redshirt and then leave for his mission, providing him an opportunity to learn from this talented guard lineup, particularly Carlino and Cusick.
Despite not being widely recruited and not even being offered a scholarship at BYU, I would expect in the years after his mission that Cooper will make an impact for the Cougars, though I don't believe we have the spittin' image of Danny.
Not to take away from a talented Cooper Ainge, but Cory Calvert is about to upstage him.
The Colorado state player of the year averaged 22.3 points, 5.1 assists, 6.0 rebounds, and 1.9 steals per game his senior year, leading his team in each of those categories.
Interestingly, I haven't been able to find much on Calvert with regards to his playing style. In fact, most sources list him as a point guard but there have been a couple that have listed him as a shooting guard. From what I can tell, he is a combo guard with tremendous court vision. His coach said that Calvert has the ability to execute passing angles before anyone else sees them, a very useful asset, particularly in a transition offense such as the one BYU runs.
It will be interesting to see how Coach Rose uses Calvert this upcoming year. Obviously he will want to play, but again the Cougars are very deep at the guard position, so it may make more sense to redshirt him along with Ainge before they both embark on their missions. Having said that, Rose manages his guards very well, so if he feels that Calvert can step in and fill a role right away at either the point or shooting guard positions, he may see some playing time.
Unfortunately for Harward, it is tough to see a situation in which he contributes much this upcoming season. He will likely start the year buried in the depth charts, and it will take some work to jump ahead of the guys above him. There isn't much out there on Harward, but here is what I know based on ESPN's scouting report and the little else I could find.
Harward is tall, but this as a rail. He really needs to bulk up so that he can develop an ability to post up strong and avoid getting pushed out of position, particularly when rebounding. He was recruited to come to BYU because he has an ability to run the floor, which is a staple of Coach Rose's offense. Again, the biggest thing for him will be to either bulk up, or learn to be strong and dominant in the paint in spite of his size. As ESPN says, he has a solid upside, so as the Cougars lose Brandon Davies, Chris Collinsworth, and Agustin Ambrosino to graduation over the next couple of years, Harward has a shot to become an impact player.
Mark my words: this group of sophomores will lead this team to success in the next three years. These guys are talented, and if you made a couple of small position changes they could make a decent starting five. I don't think the five of them will ever start together (though four may) but this group represents the core of BYU basketball over the coming seasons.
Oh, what to do with Josh Sharp? I really like his scrappy style of play, and he seems to have a real good head for the game. He almost always is in the right place at the right time, but he simply does not look like he is going to see playing time on this squad. His offensive capabilities are severely limited: 39.1 percent shooting, 20 percent three point shooting, 60.9 percent from the free throw line. To go along with low percentages his decision making when the ball is in his hands is often quite worrisome. In all fairness, he was a freshman who had just returned home from his mission, so I do think he is capable of turning things around on the offensive end.
Defensively he does fairly well. I would never accuse him of being a shut-down defender, and I would never expect him to guard an opponents' best player, however he does his part, stays aggressive and plays with heart, which can go a long way in the college game.
But where can Coach Rose use him? The guard line is so stacked that Brock Zylstra, Stephen Rogers, and Tyler Haws will all likely be playing as wing in a three guard type lineup, so he won't see much playing time there. He is not built like a power forward, so it would be very tough for him to compete for playing time with Nate Austin, Agustin Ambrosino, and Chris Collinsworth. In my mind it appears that Sharp may be relegated to a Nick Martineau type role, playing just one or two minutes in the blowout games. If he can develop offensively, he could see some more playing time as a junior.
Anson Winder's presence in this lineup, along with Craig Cusick, Matt Carlino, Tyler Haws, Brock Zylstra, Raul Delgado and an incoming freshman or two, may bring flashbacks to the 2009-2010 season. That roster included Jimmer Fredette, Jackson Emery, Tyler Haws, Charles Abouo, Mike Loyd Jr., Lamont Morgan Jr., and Jonathon Tavernari who all saw significant playing time playing at the guard position, often times in a three guard set. Those players were rotated out frequently, keeping fresh legs in the game without seeing a significant drop off in talent level - unless of course you take out Jimmer or Jackson, but each of these players could hold their own.
But back to Wiinder: he will certainly see playing time this upcoming season. He is a work horse on the defensive end of the ball. He has speed and defends with his feet. He has the potential to become the next lock down defender to replace Jackson Emery's prowess. Those are big shoes to fill, but I feel that he can do it to at least some degree.
Offensively he needs to become more consistent. He is a shooter, but when the team struggled behind the arc, so did he. The more consistent of a scorer he becomes, the more playing time he will see. He won't start this year, but he will almost certainly see playing time every game, especially when an opposing guard needs to be pressured.
My favorite statistic of last season: Nate Austin averaged 8.4 fouls per 40 minutes played. Yeah... that's a problem. Nate has a tremendous upside - shooting touch with range, defense, ability to take a charge (I say take a charge because he doesn't just draw charges, he stands in and takes a beating for them) - but if he is thrust into the starting role I believe he will be, he needs to cut down on his foul trouble so that he can have an impact on the game.
I really love the aggressive style of play and passion that Nate Austin puts on display every time he steps on the court. Like I said, he is not afraid to step in and take a beating if it will benefit the team, and that is something that will pay dividends for the Cougars. He attacks the basket hard and he can step out and hit the occasional three with delicate touch. If he can add some back-to-the-basket post moves he will really be a problem for opposing defenses as they will have to adjust to stop two very versatile bigs in Austin and Brandon Davies.
Even if he doesn't develop into an overwhelming offensive threat, he will still play a large role on this team. BYU has plenty of scorers, so it would not be helpful for Nate to put up ten points a night, but it will be much more crucial for him to develop defensively. He is very good at defending in the post, but how good will he be against more versatile and quick power forwards? With him and Brandon Davies both on the floor I would not be at all surprised to see Coach Rose play even more zone than this past year when they played far above the normal amount since Rose came to town.
Again, look for Nate Austin to be an all around impact on the floor, but most importantly he needs to stay on the floor and out of foul trouble.
I know several people were frustrated with the play of Matt Carlino this past season. But seriously? The kid was a freshman, did we honestly expect him to come in and be just like Jimmer from the get go? He flashes a remarkable amount of potential and clearly gives Cougar Nation a lot to be excited about, but it is really too bad that unrealistic expectations of near perfection were placed on him last year to the point we forgot what he really was: a freshman.
Matt is an incredibly gifted point guard; he has excellent court vision and is a great passer. However, those two assets also result in some poor decisions on occasion as he has a tendency to get sped up a little bit and push the floor a little bit faster than needed, which results in a few turnovers along the way. Matt is also part of the scoring point guard generation, so sometimes he seemed to forget that he was mostly intended to be a pass first point. He will adjust to that and become an effective distributor, and he will cut down on the turnovers as the college game starts to slow down some for him.
In my mind, Matt Carlino is destined for stardom. Will he be the next Jimmer? No, probably not. But he is absolutely a gifted basketball player and he will become the key piece for the Cougars. He may never lead the team in scoring, he may never be a lock down defender, but he will become the point guard that Coach Rose needs to lead this Cougar squad to success.
Tyler Haws, G
You have no idea how excited I am. I was in Colorado as a missionary during Haws' freshman season, so I have yet to see him play. I have heard nothing but good things, and I have watched replays of a couple of the games he played in, and those praises certainly seem to be justified.
Haws just returned home from his mission a week or two ago and I would imagine he has hit the basketball court every day so far. One thing I have learned in my research about him is that he had a fantastic work ethic, and I don't think a mission will have changed that. He should provide a real scoring spark and make an immediate impact on next year's squad. His mid-range game is quite impressive, and that active streak of 48 straight made free throws is outstanding. If he can become a little more consistent from behind the arc (he shot 36.8 percent as a freshman) to go along with his remarkable 49.8 percent shooting overall he could quickly become the focus of opposing defenses, freeing up the depth around him to do some real damage.
I expect Tyler Haws to start and become the star of this team along with Brandon Davies. I also expect that within the next couple of years the Cougar offense will work mostly through him.
There are one, maybe two juniors (I'll get to the Chris Collinsworth situation) on the 2012-2013 team. I actually like that. Four seniors, two juniors is good upper-class leadership, but it leaves a wealth of youth around which BYU can build this program.
These two guys, Raul Delgado and Chris Collinsworth, are pretty difficult to analyze as one is a JuCo transfer and the other has been injured basically since he returned home from his mission, but I'll give it a shot based on my research and impressions from what little I have seen.
Raul Delgado, G:
I have never seen him play, I can't find a single highlight video of him anywhere, and I really don't know much about him, so this will be a challenge. Here's what I do know: he's a 6-2 shooting guard with the ability to run the point when called upon. He averaged 18.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.7 turnovers per game last season at Western Nebraska Community College. He shot 49 percent from the floor and 43 percent from three point range. That kind of consistent shooting as he steps up to Division-I ball will be key for him to get playing time in a guard-laden BYU lineup.
Delgado's assist-to-turnover ratio is also a positive for him, and if that remains a constant he may be asked to shoulder a part of Craig Cusick's role and protect the ball when things get sloppy. I imagine him coming off the bench to add an additional scoring threat, particularly when Tyler Haws needs a breather. Delgado will likely be competing with Anson Winder for minutes in that role, and they may split time depending on the situation. If the Cougars need a scoring boost, I would give the nod to Delgado due to Winder's inconsistencies in that department. But if the Cougars need a lock-down defender, I would guess Winder will fill that role this year (it was Jackson Emery for three years, then Charles Abouo last year, now I think it's Winder's turn.) I cannot find Delgado's minutes per game anywhere, but I would imagine he played at least twice as many minutes as Winder, so his 1.8 steals versus Winder's 1.0 may not indicate better defense.
Raul Delgado will add an intriguing option off the bench for Coach Rose, and it will be interesting to see Delgado play. If he can take his skill to the next level and work D-I opponents like he did NJCAA defenders, he may have the potential to challenge Tyler Haws' mission legs for significant playing time, however, I foresee he will come off the bench to play point guard, shooting guard, or even a little small forward depending on the situation and who needs a breather.
Agustin Ambrosino, F:
Forgive me if I don't sound overly ecstatic at the signing of Agustin Ambrosino. He seems like a really talented player and a good kid, but I simply don't see an incredible future in a Cougar uniform for him. Will he get playing time? Almost definitely. I mean, he's a 6-8 forward, and that is where this team needs more depth, however, he is still going to have a fair bit of competition.
He only started 21 of 31 games this year for Salt Lake Community College, so he does not seem to be the typical JuCo recruit this coaching staff goes after. It may be a little unfair to say this, but he "only" averaged 9.6 points per game. I say that might be unfair to say because he was the second leading scorer on a team that had all twelve guys average between 3.4 and 10.6 points a game. He was sixth on his team in minutes per game. Now in his defense it seems that SLCC's coaching philosophy is focused on team ball, player development, and playing time for all, so let the optimism begin!
From the sounds of it, Ambrosino seems to be an interesting hybrid between Brandon Davies and Noah Hartsock with his own special twist. Coach Rose said, "Agustin's an athletic big man who can really get up and down the floor," which reminds me of Brandon Davies who runs the floor rather well. He is also supposed to be rather crafty around the basket, but more of a face up post player like Noah was, particularly his junior year. He has range like Noah, but Ambrosino may be a bigger threat from the outside that Hartsock. Ambrosino shot 43.8 percent from the outside, 49.8 percent overall, and 77.8 percent from the free throw line. He averaged 9.6 points and 5.3 rebounds in playing less than half of each game. So given the chance it seems he can be very efficient. It still worries me that there really are not any other statistical categories I can excitedly mention regarding him.
Where will he fit in? Well, if Chris Collinsworth gets healthy (see below) it will come down to Ambrosino and Ian Harward to battle it out for some playing time, so there is a chance he will get hardly any. However, Brandon Davies, and especially Nate Austin have a tendency to get into foul trouble, and Collinsworth is no guarantee, and Harward will be coming off a redshirt year and has never played college ball, so Ambrosino needs to come ready to play. If he can work hard and possibly develop some back to the basket moves, he could become a key piece of the rotation down low. He is a necessary addition due to the lack of depth in the Cougar frontcourt, but it will be interesting to see what kind of playing time he gets and what he is able to do with it playing against bigger, better opponents.
Chris Collinsworth, F:
Chris Collinsworth is an interesting case. He used a medical redshirt in 2010-2011 after playing in nine games, averaging 16.3 minutes, 5.9 points, and 5.6 rebounds per game. In 2012-2013 he played just two games, totaling twelve minutes, two shots, and zero points before aggravating his injured knee and being sidelined the remainder of the season. It would seem logical that the NCAA grant him another redshirt year, making him a sophomore entering the 2012-2013 season, so let's hope that happens. But just so Raul Delgado doesn't stand alone as the only Cougar junior, let's look at Chris Collinsworth's game in this post.
Collinsworth's freshman year provides a couple of insights into his talents as a player, but we certainly cannot judge his offensive productivity based on those statistics. As a freshman he played 15.9 minutes per game (2.6 shy of Jimmer Fredette's freshman minutes per game that same season) and averaged 3.2 points per game. His shooting percentages were incredibly low (37.5 FG, 18.2 3FG, 43.1 FT) but perhaps we can attribute that to freshman jitters. I would not expect his three point shooting to be much higher, but in his medical redshirt year he did shoot 41 percent from the floor and 74.1 percent from the free throw line, though he was just 1 of 8 from three (12.5 percent.) So he has displayed the ability to put the ball in the basket, but it would seem that his strength lies in being aggressive, which is a nice reflection of his ability to fight through injury starting in his youth and going through high school and the past two college seasons. Like I said, he averaged 5.6 rebounds in the nine games of his medical redshirt year, and 4.8 rebounds per game his freshman year.
First and foremost, Collinsworth needs to get healthy and I wish him the best in that effort. It has to be incredibly frustrating for him to sit on the sideline game after game, and I hope he can get back on the floor this upcoming season. If he can do that, he will add much needed depth in the post for the Cougars, and will see valuable playing time and make some important contributions on the glass and hopefully put some points on the board.
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UPDATE
According to Dick Harmon of Deseret News, Chris Collinsworth was just cleared for daily weight-bearing workouts. That is a nice step in the rehabilitation process for him and I wish him continued luck.
Also, if anyone has an additional information on Raul Delgado or Agustin Ambrosino (or any players for that matter) or a highlight video of him, please let me know.
As you've already seen, I am a pretty optimistic guy, particularly when it comes to BYU sports. This is going to be an optimistic look ahead at the 2012-2013 Cougar basketball team. I already made it clear that I believe this team has the ability to do great things this upcoming year in my last post, but in this series of posts I will take a slightly more in depth look at each individual player and the team as a whole, hopefully providing a little perspective as to why I believe this team has an incredible wealth of talent, but also still has work to do here in the off-season.
I'll start with the seniors and work my way down.
Brandon Davies, F:
Last season Davies started a little slow and inconsistent. At times he would flash brilliance and potential (e.g. versus BYU-Hawaii and Baylor) and other times he would disappear (e.g. two point performances against Longwood and Buffalo.) Perhaps we can chalk that up to the nerves of coming back to the team after a suspension the previous year. The weight of that and it's potentially devastating results could have easily taken it's toll on him.
To his everlasting credit, Davies worked hard and refused to back down and became one of the premier players in the West Coast Conference. As soon as conference play hit he was a force to be reckoned with and very few defenders could slow down. He scored in double figures in all but one conference game. To illustrate how important he became to this team's success, the game he scored only six points the Cougars needed a Matt Carlino floater with 18 seconds remaining to win the game against San Francisco. Davies is a key piece to this team.
This upcoming season Davies must start the season on fire. The Cougars will be without the post presence of Noah Hartsock, who held this year's team together before Davies found himself again. He has the ability to dominate both sides of the ball and the glass. He had nine double-doubles in 2011-2012, and I would expect that number to increase significantly. He'll be a daily double-double threat and may even record a triple-double or two with his ability to get steals (season high of 8) and kick it out the open man or cutter (season high of 6 assists.)
Davies has clearly worked hard to develop his post moves and his touch on the glass is often unbelievably delicate for a man who likes to throw down like he's the Incredible Hulk. If he can work on his mid-range game, and even develop his ability to step out behind the arc (he did nail a three in a tight game against San Diego in the WCC tourney) he will become a star and a potential draft pick in next year's draft. It will also help if he can improve staying out of foul trouble early in games. The Cougars will need consistency out of him if they want to do some damage in Conference and possibly even in the NCAA tournament next year.
Brock Zylstra, G/F:
Zylstra is a bit of a wildcard on this BYU team. This past year he displayed his natural talent as a pure shooter, particularly in his memorable 8-8 (6-6 from three) game against San Francisco. He was a much improved on ball defender from a season before, although that may be an unfair judgement as he averaged just five minutes per game his freshman and sophomore years. This year he showed an ability at times to get behind a defense and out in transition for easy baskets (who can forget the image of him celebrating after his game clinching lay-up - with the foul - in the historic comeback against Iona?)
His consistency was an issue (along with the rest of the perimeter players) at times, but he was second on the team in three point shooting at 37.6 percent (trailing only Craig Cusick at 37.9 percent.) It is worth noting that this was the worst three point shooting team in the Dave Rose era, but it is still a credit to Zylstra for being among the best shooters on this team. I am not sure what Coach Rose plans to do with him this next year, but he showed incredible versatility in his game. He started the season as a point guard, and on occasion due to injuries and foul trouble was asked to play anything from point to power forward. I project him starting at the small forward spot this next year.
If this is the case he will need to learn to get physical when the Cougars run man-to-man on the defensive end, as some teams have monsters at the small forward position. I believe he is fully capable though, and if he improves his defense even more and get more aggressive, he can even cause some problems for teams because of his versatility.
Look for Zylstra to develop his outside consistency and his ability to drive to the basket and even work without the ball to get some open looks. Like I said, I feel like Zylstra is a bit of a wildcard, mostly because I really don't know Coach Rose's plan with him, but he has the ability to be a difference maker for this team.
Craig Cusick, G:
Here is what I have to say about Cusick this past season: Thank goodness he was there to save the day. On multiple occasions the game seemed to get a little out of control on the court and Craig Cusick was asked to come into the game and calm things down. He was a junior. He walked on to this Cougar squad. He saw his first collegiate action this year. And none of these things seemed to phase him. He never looked rattled. I was a little nervous going into the Utah game. Cusick played the majority of the available point guard minutes (28.) It was his old team, a team that did not give him the same chance BYU did. I will be forever grateful they didn't because he was clutch against his old team. 6 assists and 10 points, including two big threes. He made an incredible difference in that win, and in many more throughout the year.
My favorite story of the year was the game against Iona. Obviously, this was one for the ages: biggest comeback win in NCAA tournament history (25 points) and a third straight year with a tournament win for the BYU program. Matt Carlino looked rattled by the pace of the game, which is understandable as they were one of only a handful of teams who played at a pace comparable to the Cougars. Down by as many as 25, Cusick was asked to use his calming presence once again and lead this team to victory. Iona seemed lost when Cusick was able to slow the game down. It almost seemed as though they had forgotten to include him in the scouting report. "What are we supposed to do when BYU slows the game down, Coach? I didn't know they had a guy who could do that!" Cusick scored zero points, but that wasn't what he needed to do. What he needed to do was dish out 8 assists, collect 5 boards, and only turn the ball over once against a speedy team that was 14th in the country in turnover margin. And that is exactly what he did.
The story to me however, was Cusick's leadership in that game. Check out this tweet from Jason Franchuk:
Why that failed to become a popular story line is something I cannot figure out. I happened to overhear Craig Cusick talking to a friend in line today at the Blue Line Deli on campus, and he said his teammates mentioned him the second most number of times in their season ending interviews with Coach Rose as leader of this team. I would imagine Noah Hartsock was first, but it is incredible that a junior walk-on rose to such a height that he was looked to as a clear leader of this team. It would lead me to believe that Cusick will be a team captain this upcoming season, and rightfully so. He is also well deserving of the scholarship that is opening up with Nick Martineau's scholarship not being renewed, and he will likely be the recipient of it for his senior year.
I am a little concerned about his playing time, however. The 2012-2013 squad looks to be even deeper in the back court than it was this past season. Matt Carlino has star potential written all over him, Anson Winder is a better defender, Tyler Haws is returning and is likely to be a starter and big time offensive threat, and Raul Delgado transferring from Community College will also diminish Cusick's playing time if he lives up to his hype. I am not one to say that Cusick should get playing time over any of these guys, but there is certainly a possibility he will be called on to be a stabilizing presence in similar situations this next season.
Assuming he does see some playing time in pivotal moments this next year, he simply needs to do more of the same. He is a true point guard, straying from the scoring point guard trend in basketball today, looking to pass first and play solid, fundamental defense. He comes up with clutch steals, and when I say Anson Winder is a better defender, it is simply a compliment to Winder, not a knock on Cusick. Cusick does have great defensive ability and does a great job of slowing down some athletic opponents. Perhaps most importantly, he takes care of the ball. His 3-1 assist to turnover ratio is simply astounding. He led the team in three point shooting (37.9 percent) and was a blistering 90 percent in the first five conference games. He didn't need to score last year, but if he can add the ability to drive and improve his mid-range game, he may get more minutes than Winder or Delgado this upcoming season.
Stephen Rogers, G/F:
I have wondered at times if the Cougars' three point shooting woes would have ever occurred if Stephen Rogers had been able to stay healthy. He was coming off the bench and shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 39.5 percent from three point range prior to his being sidelined with a knee injury after ten games. When he returned he played sparingly, never really getting into the flow of the game and with a knee that was still clearly bothering him. He went from averaging 9.9 points through the first ten games, to scoring only 9 total points in the remaining 8 games he saw the floor. His injury coincided with the debut of Matt Carlino, who started red hot, but once he cooled, the entire team saw a major drop in perimeter productivity. If Rogers can get healthy and stay healthy, he can battle Zylstra for the starting spot at small forward.
He presents an intriguing option for Coach Rose, as he is essentially a shooting guard trapped in a 6-8 frame. His length can cause some problems for teams particularly when Rose runs a zone defense. He is not a quick defender, but his length makes up for that and he does reasonably well at keeping ball handlers in front of him and disrupting the passing lanes. This is not to say he is a perfect defender; he could certainly use work in man-to-man sets, lowering his center of gravity to stay in front of the smaller, quicker players he is frequently asked to defend.
His length and ability to stretch a defense usually draws some fouls, and he was nearly automatic from the free throw line his sophomore year. If he can get back to that form he can be a real problem for defenders and pick up some easy points. It would also be interesting to see him develop some post moves and create a mismatch with a smaller defender on occasion.
It appeared to me that between his sophomore and junior years he worked to make sure his shooting hand was in position before he went up to shoot, rather than rotating it into position while he was in the air like he did as a sophomore. Correcting something like that which has been ingrained in his muscle memory for years shows a great work ethic and willingness to change and improve, and if he can use that same work ethic to address some other minor issues in the off-season (as well as rehab his knee) he can do some real damage in whatever role he is asked to take on in the coming year, be it coming off the bench or working his way into the starting lineup.
If he can get healthy he presents a scoring threat off the bench at either the shooting guard or small forward positions, and if he improves and expands his skill set he can even challenge Zylstra for the starting small forward role.
