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March 2010

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 30
by hb arnett 01 Mar '10

01 Mar '10

HB Arnett's COUGAR SPORTSLINE 801 372 0819 hbarnett(a)fiber.net and hbarnett@xmission <mailto:hbarnett@xmission.com> .com 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 30, Issue 30 - March 1, 2010 Click <http://www.cougarstreet.com/products/index.php?type-450&PCID=450:0:0:0:0> Here To Order Or Renew Your Subscriptions NEW MEXICO BEATS BYU 83-81 There wasn't enough Pepto Bismol to go around in BYU's 83-81 loss to New Mexico last Saturday afternoon in Provo. Jimmer Fredette could have used some. He played just 16 minutes, only one of which came in the second half after suffering some sort of upset stomach. He left the game with only six points scored against the Lobos. BYU coaches and fans could have used some of the pink sauce as they saw the Cougar's chances of a fourth straight MWC title go away. We are not sure how Pepto Bismol works. Does it cure the upset stomach problems or just mask them? Either way, it couldn't hide or cure BYU's inside game problems. BYU has an inside problem with their basketball team that has been exposed by New Mexico and will likely be exposed again in post season play against good teams. BYU has no consistent inside scoring game. Worse, they are not a consistently good rebounding team. You can blame the loss to New Mexico on Fredette's illness or on BYU's 6-21 shooting stats from beyond the arc, but the bottom line, in our opinion, is that the Cougars couldn't keep New Mexico off the boards. Rebounding Advantage The Lobos outrebounded BYU 43-32 overall and had a 13-8 advantage in offensive rebounds. Some of those numbers were because BYU played most of the game with a small lineup. Regardless, lack of rebounding cost BYU this game. It also took away what should have been a focus on the fantastic game turned in by Michael Loyd Jr. He scored 19 points after replacing Fredette. He led he Cougars in scoring and was joined by Tyler Haws, who added 18 points to the Cougar cause. BYU has been able to win a lot of games this year without a solid inside game. But because they are a perimeter oriented team, they can't win against quality teams with shoddy shooting performances from beyond the three-point line. In BYU's four losses, here is how they have shot from outside the arc. Against USU, the Cougars were 6-of-18 from three-land. In the first loss to New Mexico, BYU was respectable, hitting 8-of-18. In the loss to UNLV in Las Vegas, the Cougars made just 7 of 27 three point attempts. In the latest loss to the Lobos, BYU was just 6-of-21. That won't cut it against good teams like New Mexico. It won't cut it either on Wednesday when BYU travels to Salt Lake City for the game against Utah. We can almost guarantee that the Utes will be hot from beyond the arc on their home floor. Marshall Henderson, the freshman who was involved in the altercation with Jackson Emery earlier in the year, will be more than motivated to show his shooting wares against the Cougars. We expect a big scoring game from him. That means BYU will have to be able to match it with some steady scoring from beyond the arc. Utah has taken every top team in the MWC to the wire in Salt Lake City. We expect the same against BYU. This will be a dogfight that will be decided on which pooch can put in free throws. It is our view that the team that gets to the line more will win. NEW MEXICO IS NO 5-0 ON THE SEASON AGAINST BYU Empirically and subjectively, New Mexico is better than BYU Based on the evidence as recorded in the league standings and in the scorebook of both games played by New Mexico and BYU this season, the Lobos are clearly the superior team. New Mexico has beaten BYU both times they played this year. In Albuquerque the score was 76-72. The rematch in Provo was UNM 83 BYU 81. That folks is called history and there is no way you can rewrite it. Where the debate heats up is in the subjective part of the two contests. BYU fans will say they were homered in Albuquerque and hammered in Provo, but never got the calls by the officials. Lobo fans will say that the calls went both ways and New Mexico made more plays than BYU. Dave Rose says that both UNM and BYU are good teams. His post-game comments are not memorable. Steve Alford also had some things to say after the game. His comments will live on YouTube for many more years after he called Jonathan Tavernari an unflattering name in the post-game meet and greet. Unfortunately for Alford, it was caught on tape and just like the scorebook, can't be re-written or re-phrased, but will be re-viewed by league official this week and BYU fans for years to come. You can see the video by clicking here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1GexPBeT4Y. Just like the games themselves from the viewpoint of fans, Alford's poor choice of a word is strictly subjective. From the New Mexico side, Tavernari deserved it and it is just part of the competitive nature of the game. >From BYU's fans side, it is a call to arms against New Mexico and Alford. The fact that BYU athletic officials marched Tavernari over to the Lobo locker room to apologize, however, subjectively says Tavernari deserved what he got. That makes the subjectivity score of the post game activities 2-1 in favor of New Mexico. Chalk it up as another win on the season for the Lobos who are now 3-0 against BYU. The fact that nobody from either side will get more than a public reprimand from conference officials will be another win for New Mexico. That makes it 4-0 for the Lobos against the Cougars. In the officiating department of the game, empirically speaking, the history books will show that the game was the most impartially and fairly called game of the decade. You can't get fairer than both teams being called with 18 fouls apiece. It is in the subjectivity department of officiating where some will differ. Noah Hartsock's layup attempt in the final seconds would have tied the game. Unfortunately, it was blocked by a Lobo player. Watching the replay, it was a play that could have also been called a foul because of the body contact on the play. New Mexico's fans, players and coaches thought it was a clean block. BYU fans, players and coaches didn't. The deciding vote went to the official who let play continue. The final score on that one play was 2-1 in favor of New Mexico. The Lobos are on a winning streak. Call it 5-0 against the Cougars. As we stated last week, officiating is a thankless job. That said, it is also extremely subjective. In our opinion, just the nature of the game means that at least half of the calls in any given game could go either way. That is why fans' opinions on officiating are also very subjective. Depending on who wins and the team you root for, officiating is either horrible or okay, but never great. That is also why when fans arrive early at games and see who is manning the officiating crew, they either moan or nod their head in a gesture of tolerance. We have never seen any fan get excited and cheer for any one official or crew. Empirically speaking and for the record, when we saw the crew assigned to the BYU-UNM game last Saturday, we subjectively moaned. The good news is that our moaning assessment of this particular crew will never be seen on YouTube. On the YouTube scoreboard, the Lobos are leading the Cougars 2-0. The first score was made by Elizabeth Lambert. You may remember her hair pulling tantrum in women's soccer. And now we have the Steve Alford sequel. Subjectively speaking via YouTube videos, would you rather be a BYU or UNM fan this season? For subjective purposes only, it would be nice to see another BYU-New Mexico matchup in the MWC tournament in two weeks. Empirically speaking, we don't see that happening because it appears that UNLV and BYU will be in the same bracket. The record books show that BYU doesn't beat UNLV in Las Vegas. If, by chance, there was another rematch of BYV-UNM, here are some subjective officiating suggestions. Do away with officials and have MWC commissioner Craig Thompson sit in an elevated chair at half court like a tennis official. He would call the game by himself from that vantage point. He would be totally unbiased because he would be referring all calls to the presidents of the league's universities and waiting for them to get back to him. The next best option would be to use a ten-man officiating crew comprised of the Congressional delegations from both states. Except for a little name calling and temper tantrums among the officials themselves, nothing would ever be called, decided or done. How's that for our subjective opinion on college basketball and Congress? THE FUTURES MARKET Listed below are how BYU's most recent signees and future prospects fared during the last week. All except recent signee Anson Winder, are LDS. Kyle Collinsworth, 6-6 guard/wing, senior, Provo HS...He had 26 points in a 61-47 win over Timpanogas HS last week to conclude the regular season. Provo takes on Woods Cross in the opening round of state playoffs on Tuesday. The game will be at Provo. Nick Emery, 6-0 freshman guard, Lone Peak HS...The talented frosh scored 8 and 10 points in wins over Jordan and Cyprus High Schools last week. Now Lone Peak will advance to play No. 1 rated Bingham in the Utah 5A state playoffs. That game will be hosted by Bingham on Tuesday. Anson Winder, 6-3, guard, Senior, Bishop Gorman HS...In the state championship semi-final game against Bishop Monague, Winder led his team with 15 points in a 65-52 win. Bishop Gorman captured the title game, a 69-48 win over Canyon Springs, but no word on how many points Winder scored. Jabari Parker, 6-5, wing, Freshman, Simeon HS, Chicago...No scores to report this week. DeMarcus Harrison, 6-4, guard, Junior, Christ School, Arden, NC...BYU sent a coach last Thursday to watch Harrison play in the North Carolina ISAA 3-A state championships. We know that he opened the game against Greensboro Day School with two consecutive three pointers, but after that the game was a 81-40 rout. The following night he scored 10 points in a much closer game, a 67-64 win over Forsyth Country Day. In the state title game against Charlotte Christian School he had 11 points in the 78-59 win. Harrison was selected to the all-state first team. Jordan Chatman, 6-3, guard, Sophomore, Skyview HS, Ridgefield, WA...Skyview lost at home 65-64 to Mountain View. That means their season is over. Chatman scored 14 points in his final outing of the year. Jordan Smoot, 6-10, center, Junior, Crown Point HS, Crown Point, IN...Smoot had 14 points and 13 rebounds in a 53-41 win over Chesterton last week. Stephen Rogers...6-8, 190, forward, Freshman, Mesa Community College, AZ...In a win over Yavapai, Rogers scored 23 and had 4 rebounds. The will start ACCAC championship tournament play later this week. NFL COMBINE Here are some results of BYU's three participants of this year's NFL Combine. Max Hall...He ran a 4.87 forty. Tim Tebow ran 4.72 forty and Colt McCoy ran a 4.79. Hall registered a 32 inch vertical jump. Tebow led all qb's with a leap of 38.5 inches. In the 3-Cone drill, Hall did it in 7.07 seconds. Again Tebow led all quarterbacks with a time of 6.66 seconds. In the 20-Yard Shuttle, Hall posted a 4.35 time. Tebow was in at 4.17. Hall had the sixth best time. Dennis Pitta...He was second among tight ends with 27 reps in the bench press. He turned in a 4.63 forty time, but it was scrubbed and deemed unofficial. Had it been official, it would have been the third fastest time by a tight end. The fact that Pitta did turn in the fastest times for tight ends the 3-Cone drill, the 20-yard shuttle and the 60-yard shuttle, would indicate that his speed and quickness is good enough. One draft pundit said after watching Pitta perform that he had him going from a projected second-round pick to a top twenty pick. Manase Tonga...As expected, Tonga didn't show well in the drills that showcase speed and quickness. He did turn in the sixth best effort in the bench press with 19 reps. Here are the current MWC Basketball Standings as of Monday, March 1 New Mexico.....13-2.....27-3 BYU.......................10-3.....26-3 UNLV....................10-5.....22-7 SDSU.......................9-5.....20-8 Utah.........................7-7.....14-14 CSU.........................6-8.....15-13 TCU.........................5-9.....13-16 Wyoming........2-12.....9-19 Air Force........1-13.....9-18 TELEVISION TIMETABLE BYU vs. Utah Wednesday, Mar 3 at Salt Lake Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain Time TV: CBS C BYU vs. TCU Saturday, Mar 6 at Fort Worth Tipoff: 4:00 pm Mountain Time TV: The Mtn MWC Post Season Tournament March 11-13 at Las Vegas Tipoff: TBA TV: Mtn/CBS C/Versus

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Cougar Sportsline, Vol. 30, Issue 30
by hb arnett 01 Mar '10

01 Mar '10

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