Yoeli Childs is the Lamar Jackson of BYU basketball
By Adam Gibby
In three games this season, it has become evident that BYU basketball team is very dependent on the play of talented sophomore Yoeli Childs.
Last season Lamar Jackson, the quarterback for Louisville, shocked the college football world. For the first 10 games of the season, Jackson led the Cardinals to scoring an average of 49.6 points per game. In that stretch he had an average quarterback rating of 86.8 and had his team at 9-1. After the first 10 games however, teams figured him out.
The final three games of the season as well as the first seven games of this season, Jackson has led the Cardinals to average of 32.4 points per game, posted a QB rating of 68.6 and his team has gone 4-6 in that span.
Did Lamar Jackson suddenly lose talent? No.
Teams just figured out how to contain him. And Louisville has not found another key player.
Yoeli Childs is BYU basketball’s Lamar Jackson
No, I don’t think that Yoeli Childs is going to win the player of the year award, but I do believe that he is the heart, soul and leadership of the BYU basketball team.
If Childs is able to play well, BYU is going to win a lot of games. If teams figure him out however, this could be a long season.
As of right now, Childs is averaging 22.6 points, 11.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game. Although those stats don’t sound mind blowing, when you consider the following numbers everything becomes more clear.
When Yoeli is in the game, the Cougars are +68 points. When he is out of the game, the Cougars fall to -28 points.
So, BYU basketball has been outscored by Westminster, New Mexico and the BYU backups by 28 points when Childs is not in the game.
Yikes.
Current BYU basketball stats (three games)
Points per game:
Childs 22.6
Bryant 16.6
Haws 14.3
Rebounds per game:
Childs 11.3
Bryant 6.3
Haws 4.6
+/- per game:
Childs +68
Bryant +43
Emery +38
Someone else needs to step up
The reality is, opponents are going to be able to figure out Yoeli Childs and there needs to be another player that steps up. So far nobody has been able to do that.
Elijah Bryant has been the Cougars’ next best player, however he is almost ineffective when Childs is not in the game. When Childs is in the game, Bryant has a +53, however when Childs is not in the game, Bryant’s +/- falls to -10. TJ Haws has similar margins with a +46 and -19.
There is no other player currently that is showing much potential of being that leader that can take over if Childs shuts down. Luckily the Cougars still have another exhibition game to get things figured out and then a few other games against struggling teams
And if they do, the Cougars maybe, just maybe, can win enough games to go to the NCAA Tournament.