How BYU is going to beat Portland and Gonzaga?

I wrote an article about the BYU road trip and what I think they should do to win. What do you guys think about it?



http://www.tornbysports.com/finishing-strong-byu-needs-end-roadie-good-note/



What do you think BYU needs to do to win and beat Zaga?

Hopefully the same way they've won the last 5:



Shooting the ball extremely well (.515 from the floor, .455 from 3, .742 from the line).



Playing very good defense (.423 Opp FG%, .319 Opp 3F%)



Rebounding well (+39 last five games - +18, +13, +10, -11, +9).

I read your article this morning and thought you did a good job with it. Last year at Gonzaga, the Zags came out and were extremely physical and in particular with Haws. He was a complete non-factor. The Utah game this year reminded me of last year's game at Gonzaga. BYU needs to come out and not allow themselves to get punched in the mouth right out of the gate and allow the game to be over in the first 8-10 minutes. Weather the intitial storm, throw a few haymakers of your own, and then settle down and battle to the very end. That along with what Spiff mentions above will be critical to getting a win.

Thanks for the heads up. If we win two this week, we will be in great shape. Back in the NCAA bracket. First place in the WCC and a boatload of confidence.

Good read.



Regarding Gonzaga, I think the game will come down to perimeter defense. Have to keep Pangos in check and keep the Zags from shooting. This is my biggest concern. If Haws is neutralized on offense, I'm all in favor of putting Winder in so we can keep tight on the perimeter.



As mentioned in the SCU thread, we went on our biggest run with Haws on the bench because we were able to play lock-down defense.



I don't think we'll out shoot Gonzaga in their own gym. Will come down to defense.

I do disagree with one point.

The Zags love shooting the deep ball, and they’re good at it too. They make over 40% of all the 3-pointers they attempt, which is something that the Cougars are horrible at defending. Bad 3-point defense can be credited to a couple of their losses

BYU on the season is allowing opponents to shoot 32.0% from three (151 of 472). In only three games has BYU allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40.0%. BYU went 1-2 in those games.



Since Pepperdine went 13-24 (54.2%) six games ago, BYU opponents are shooting 31.9% (29 of 91).



BYU actually has more opponents having shot 25% or worse vs BYU (four times - Texas, Wichita, Prarie View & San Diego) than have shot 40% or better.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I do disagree with one point.

The Zags love shooting the deep ball, and they’re good at it too. They make over 40% of all the 3-pointers they attempt, which is something that the Cougars are horrible at defending. Bad 3-point defense can be credited to a couple of their losses

BYU on the season is allowing opponents to shoot 32.0% from three (151 of 472). In only three games has BYU allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40.0%. BYU went 1-2 in those games.



Since Pepperdine went 13-24 (54.2%) six games ago, BYU opponents are shooting 31.9% (29 of 91).



BYU actually has more opponents having shot 25% or worse vs BYU (four times - Texas, Wichita, Prarie View & San Diego) than have shot 40% or better.

Contrary to popular belief, BYU has more often than not held opponents below their season Ave FG and 3 PT %. Rebounding and blocked shots seem to be where we underperformed vs oppinents averages.



Spiff would know.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

I could know, but I've not done this type of analysis on the bball team. Might be worth looking into.



But then again, this is a football board. ;)

Apparently Austin sprained his ankle. Not good. Means we'll likely have to go small.



With Austin out, do we start Sharp at the 4 or do we start Carlino at PG and KC slides to the 4?

Sharp at the 4.

SpiffCoug wrote:
I do disagree with one point.

The Zags love shooting the deep ball, and they’re good at it too. They make over 40% of all the 3-pointers they attempt, which is something that the Cougars are horrible at defending. Bad 3-point defense can be credited to a couple of their losses

BYU on the season is allowing opponents to shoot 32.0% from three (151 of 472). In only three games has BYU allowed an opponent to shoot better than 40.0%. BYU went 1-2 in those games.



Since Pepperdine went 13-24 (54.2%) six games ago, BYU opponents are shooting 31.9% (29 of 91).



BYU actually has more opponents having shot 25% or worse vs BYU (four times - Texas, Wichita, Prarie View & San Diego) than have shot 40% or better.

EXCEPT..... BYU has allowed (in their losses) a bunch of o-boards. And it nearly cost them against Texas. When you are getting all the missed shots, you can afford to miss shots.

Sharp to start. Probably Kc at four to finish with MC also in the floor.

If I'm zags, I drive to the hole all night until Mika is in foul trouble and sitting.

Then, Game over.

Cougs_Rule wrote:
Sharp to start. Probably Kc at four to finish with MC also in the floor.

If I'm zags, I drive to the hole all night until Mika is in foul trouble and sitting.

Then, Game over.

I think that was probably the game plan to begin with.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

SpiffCoug wrote:
Sharp at the 4.

THIS.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Cougs_Rule wrote:
Sharp to start. Probably Kc at four to finish with MC also in the floor.

If I'm zags, I drive to the hole all night until Mika is in foul trouble and sitting.

Then, Game over.

Getting ahead of yourself. Cart B4 Horse.



What would you do if you were Portland?



;)



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Texas wins again that win keeps looking better and better for us

1-1 on this trip. Zags as second game on roadtrip and fourth roady in a row = L..

Only four teams (of 19 - ESPN didn't have stats for Colorado Mesa) have shot better than their season averages against BYU.

Iowa St .514 vs .477

UMass .556 vs .473

Loyola (game 2) .482 vs .447

Santa Clara .443 vs .434.



BYU was 2-2 in those games. On the season BYU is holding those 19 opponents to .417 shooting vs a .459 average FG%.



Only five teams have shot better from 3.

UMass .391 vs .370

Loyola x2 .471 & .375 vs .281

Pepperdine (game 1) .542 vs .371

San Francisco .400 vs .386.



BYU was 2-3 in those games. On the season BYU is holding opponents to .316 shooting from 3 vs a .356 average 3P%. However 13 of those 19 teams made more threes than they normally make vs BYU and another 2 teams met their 3-point makes.

That's a critical stat. While those teams may not have shot well from a percentage standpoint, they took more than they normally do and made more than they normally do.



This could indicate two things:

1) Post defense was so good all that was available were 3 point shots. BYU likes to play the zone, so an increase in the number of 3 point shots makes sense as teams may have found it difficult to attack the middle.

2) Our perimeter left the 3 point shot open. If it's open take it. Teams took an above average number of threes against us because they've never gotten so many good looks from the 3 as with us.



I'm inclined to think it's a combination of the two.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Gunk wrote:
That's a critical stat. While those teams may not have shot well from a percentage standpoint, they took more than they normally do and made more than they normally do.



This could indicate two things:

1) Post defense was so good all that was available were 3 point shots. BYU likes to play the zone, so an increase in the number of 3 point shots makes sense as teams may have found it difficult to attack the middle.

2) Our perimeter left the 3 point shot open. If it's open take it. Teams took an above average number of threes against us because they've never gotten so many good looks from the 3 as with us.



I'm inclined to think it's a combination of the two.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

if they were good looks, they would have made a higher percentage of them.



The real issue is rebounding. Our guys were racing to the other end before opponent shots even hit the rim. So we defended well enough to make them miss more often than normal and then gave up offensive boards and putbacks.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">