BYU Basketball: Cougars are still looking for identity
By Adam Gibby
Through seven regular season games, the BYU basketball team is 5-2. The only consistent thing about the Cougars has been, well, their inconsistent.
BYU basketball is 5-2.
So far, the Cougars have a good road win over Princeton, a loss to a good UT-Arlington team, a decisive victory over Mississippi Valley State, a close win against Niagara and an odd loss to Alabama where the final score didn’t really indicate the nature of the game, a close win over an average UMass team.
And now a huge win over Utah Valley.
Overall, this has all been acceptable. The biggest concern however is that in all of these games there have been very few consistent elements to the team.
In some games, the Cougars have shot the ball as if the rim is five feet wide. Other times, it seems like the rim is like those carnival games where the only way to make a shot is to shoot perfectly. In some games the Cougars have shown great defense, in others not so much.
The oddest part however is that there is absolutely no correlation between games.
The stats
These stats are in order of the games (Mississippi Valley, Princeton, UT-Arlington, Niagara, Alabama, UMass and Utah Valley)
Points: 91, 65, 75, 95, 59, 68,85
Leading Scorer: Elijah Bryant, Elijah Bryant, Dalton Nixon, Elijah Bryant, Yoeli Childs, Yoeli Childs, Yoeli Childs
FG Percentage: 58, 43, 43, 53, 37, 36, 53
3-Point Attempts: 26, 16, 27, 12, 17, 18, 26
3-Point Percentage: 46, 37, 22, 58, 23, 22, 46
Opponent Shooting Percentage: 37, 38, 54, 45, 49, 44, 43
Free-Throw Percentage: 59, 92, 86, 75, 52, 80, 81
Assists: 20, 6, 16, 14, 15, 17, 25
Scoring/Assist Percentage: 60, 35, 64, 46, 68, 70, 83
Consistently needs to be found
Some of these stats are expected to some degree. When playing a better team, the shooting percentage is expected to go down.
However to have a range of 37 percent – 58 percent is drastic. Better opponents are expected to have higher shooting percentage, however again 36 percent to 58 percent is quite a difference. And it’s not like it’s an outlier. The Cougars have two games under 40 percent and two games over 50 percent shooting.
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Some stats should be consistent. The assists to scoring ratios should be similar. To have one game with only 35 percent of made baskets credited to an assist while having another game with 70 percent is not good. To have one game shooting 92 percent on free throws and then later have a game with only 52 percent also is concerning.
The reason why this is such a concern is because it does not give coach Rose and his staff much to focus on in practice.
If the Cougars were consistently shooting 80 percent from the free throw line, then working on drives to basket and aggressive offense would help the Cougars because the free throw line would be near automatic points. However, since the coaches don’t know whether the Cougars will be shooting 52 percent or 92 percent it is risky to build a game plan around getting to the line.
This formula could apply to any of these stats. If the Cougars are clicking on all cylinders, BYU basketball can beat St. Mary’s and Gonzaga. They have showed us they can pass the ball and get assists, make 3-pointers and make free throws, just not consistently… at all.
If this continues, don’t be surprised to see a season similar to last year; losing at home to teams like San Diego and Pepperdine and then beating Gonzaga or Saint Mary’s on the road. If the Cougars can find consistently however, this could still end up being a special season.