Lawless Republic
Fansided

BYU Basketball: What the Diamondhead Classic will teach us

By Adam Gibby

Dec 11, 2021; Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA; The bench reacts to a three point basket by Brigham Young Cougars guard Alex Barcello (13) in the game against the Creighton Bluejays in the second half at Sanford Pentagon. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 11, 2021; Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA; The bench reacts to a three point basket by Brigham Young Cougars guard Alex Barcello (13) in the game against the Creighton Bluejays in the second half at Sanford Pentagon. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /
facebooktwitterreddit
Dec 11, 2021; Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA; The bench reacts to a three point basket by Brigham Young Cougars guard Alex Barcello (13) in the game against the Creighton Bluejays in the second half at Sanford Pentagon. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 11, 2021; Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA; The bench reacts to a three point basket by Brigham Young Cougars guard Alex Barcello (13) in the game against the Creighton Bluejays in the second half at Sanford Pentagon. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports /

BYU Basketball will finish up their nonconference schedule in the Diamondhead Classic in Hawaii.

Depth. If there is one word to describe this years’ BYU Basketball team, depth is the word. On the guard line there is no lack of it with Barcello, Knight, Lucas, Knell, Johnson, and Erikson all showing that they are more than able to play at an efficient and high level.

However, the forward/center positions are quite the opposite. Caleb Lohner and Gideon George are the only players with any significant playing time while Fousse Trayore and Atiki Ally Atiki are still picking up the position. In individual games, this hasn’t been so much of an issue, however in games where the Cougars have not had much rest (two-three days with travel) the team has really struggled to get stops and put up points in the paint.

As the season as wore on, it has become clear that the Cougars just don’t have the depth at the forward position to play at a high level twice in a three day span, especially away from home.

Fortunately, during WCC play this won’t be a huge issue as the Cougars will only have three weekends where they will be travelling between two venues. Most of their Thursday/Saturday turnarounds are either both in Provo or they have a day off.

Unfortunately, in the WCC tournament and the NCAA Tournament that will not be the case. In both cases, the Cougars will be asked to play two games in a three day span while being away from home. If BYU Basketball hopes to get this figured out, this weekend is a great time to so.

Starting on Wednesday night, the Cougars will play three games in a four night span against competition that is good enough to test BYU’s depth. Their most likely opponents will be South Florida, Vanderbilt and then either Stanford or Nothern Iowa.

If the Cougars are able to put together a string of three good games, then maybe BYU’s depth issues are being solved with Traore and Atiki getting more playing time as well as Knight moving to more of a small forward role. If not, realistically we need to accept that BYU’s postseason will be limited to the endurance of the few bigs BYU has left.

Home/BYU Basketball