BYU basketball keeps finding ways to win games

Coming into the season, there wasn’t a lot of optimism around BYU basketball. With only five returning players from a squad that lost in the first round of the NIT last season, not too many fans believed that right now the Cougars would be 8-2. Yet here they are.

Eight wins, two losses. That is BYU basketball’s record right now. Granted, given the competition that BYU has played, it’s not too surprising that the Cougars have been successful.

Most experts had the Cougars 6-4 to 7-3 to start off the season. So 8-2 is good, but it’s not like it has been my mind-blowing start. But the way they’ve earned those eight wins has been impressive.

In the past, the Cougars for the most part have been dependable in some areas, while not very dependable in others. Jimmer Fredette in 2011 is a perfect example. Everyone knew that Jimmer would score 30+ points in a game and so the Cougars rarely had to rely on defense to win.

In 2010, the Cougars averaged 83.2 points per game, again showing that defense did not matter much because they were going to score a lot of points.  The problem however was when Jimmer or the 2010 team struggled shooting. In those games, the Cougars rarely won because they had no defense.

This season is different.

Through 10 games, there have been very few consistent aspects to the Cougars other than being able to pick up wins. Two weeks ago I actually wrote about how the BYU basketball team has not found its identity.

Now four games further into the season, I believe they have. Their identity is not having an identity and relying on motivation.

Finding ways to win games

The Cougars have had five players lead the team in points through 10 games. I would argue that perhaps there is no other team in the country who can claim that stat currently. And three of those five players (Childs, Bryant and Haws) have led the team in points more than once.

There have been games where the Cougars did not win by just outscoring the other team, they had to win by defensively not allowing the other team to score against them. Seven out of the first 10 games, BYU basketball has held its opponents to under 70 points, something that BYU only was able to do 10 times all last season.

The Niagara game was an example of having to outscore the opponent, a style that Cougar fans are used to from past seasons.

The Cougars have also found a way to win away from Provo. At this point last season,  the Cougars were 2-2 away from the Marriott Center. This season they are 5-1.

There have been games that have come down to having to hit free throws (Weber State, Utah State and Niagara) and a game where the Cougars had to make a last second shot to win (UMass).

BYU basketball has been able to overcome 36 percent shooting nights, 22 percent 3-point shooting nights and 59 percent free throw shooting nights and still found a way to win all three of those games. The Cougars have also allowed their opponents to shoot 45 percent in multiple games and still found a way to be victorious.

Good or Bad?

Some may argue that not having consistency can be bad for a team. Who do you turn to for a last second shot? Who is the most dependable defender in a crucial isolation play? Although these questions are valid, I believe that this combination of inconsistency is a good thing for this team this year.

Yes, in some seasons, shooting lights out consistently was a key to success, however that might not be the case this year.

The Cougars have found ways to win. If the Cougars relied on one or two categories and being average in everything else,  there is a good chance that the Cougars would be sitting at 6-4 or 5-5 right now.

The reality is, if Yoeli Childs was consistently the best scorer, teams would figure him out. Childs is a great player, however he is not a superstar (yet) so he would be stopped and so would BYU.  If the Cougars were always a great defensive team, opponents could focus on ways to spread out the defense. However, the Cougars have had to rely on their motivation, team talent and effort to get them to this point of having an 8-2 record.

And that is something that is very hard to prepare for if you are an opposing team.