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West 800 South –
Vol. 30,
Issue 30 – March 1, 2010
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There wasn't enough Pepto
Bismol to go around in BYU's 83-81 loss to
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
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
That won't cut it against
good teams like
It won't cut it either on
Wednesday when BYU travels to
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.
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.
Empirically and
subjectively,
Based on the evidence as recorded
in the league standings and in the scorebook of both games played by
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
Lobo fans will say that
the calls went both ways and
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
From BYU's fans side, it
is a call to arms against
That makes the
subjectivity score of the post game activities 2-1 in favor of
The fact that nobody from
either side will get more than a public reprimand from conference officials
will be another win for
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.
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
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.
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
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,
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,
Stephen Rogers...6-8, 190, forward,
Freshman,
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
Here are
the current MWC Basketball Standings as of Monday, March 1
BYU.......................10-3.....26-3
UNLV....................10-5.....22-7
SDSU.......................9-5.....20-8
CSU.........................6-8.....15-13
TCU.........................5-9.....13-16
Air
Force……….....1-13.....9-18
TELEVISION
TIMETABLE
BYU vs.
Wednesday, Mar 3 at
Tipoff: 7:00 pm Mountain
Time
TV: CBS C
BYU vs.
TCU
Saturday, Mar 6 at
Tipoff: 4:00 pm Mountain
Time
TV: The Mtn
MWC Post
Season Tournament
March 11-13 at
Tipoff: TBA
TV: Mtn/CBS C/Versus