Nov 30 2007
We now join BYU basketball’s season already in progress…
I finally got to finish watching BYU’s dogfight against North Carolina in the Las Vegas Invitational from last Saturday (I had it on my DVR). What a game! And yet, seeing BYU take North Carolina to the final minutes of the game before losing their legs made me realize something: the Cougars made quite a statement in that game - and they didn’t even play their best game! They’re that good!
Those of you who read my pre-merger blog will recall that I called out Trent Plaisted after the NCAA Tournament loss to Xavier. Plaisted turned out an uninspired, passive performance against a team that he could have dominated. I thought his performance cost the Cougars their first tournament win since Shawn Bradley’s pit stop in Provo. This year, he’s finally accepted the mantle of Go-to Guy. We saw it against Louisville (who, in fairness, lost their best post player to injury) and again versus UNC. Plaisted started slowly against the Tar Heels, but put on a second-half clinic that had Dickie V repeatedly shouting his name as if Vitale were a hysterical parent looking for his lost child in a crowded shopping mall.
Plaisted’s improvement is evident. He’s averaging career highs in points (18.5), rebounds (8.7), assists (2.2), and points per shot (1.59). It’s visually evident on the court as well. While he still sports his patented emotionless stare throughout the game, Plaisted is notably more aggressive this year in crashing the boards and getting position on the offensive blocks. He’s added a reasonably effective right-handed hook shot to his offensive repertiore. Last year, Plaisted was constantly in foul trouble, averaging 3.3 fouls per game. This year he’s down to 1.8 fouls per game, meaning he has the opportunity to stay on the floor and enforce his will on opposing teams. Perhaps the best of all is his improved free throw shooting. Once a glaring weakness, Plaisted is knocking down 72.1% of his free throws so far this season. That’s 23 percentage points better than last year!
Another bright spot for the Cougars has been the surprisingly steady play of point guard Ben Murdock. Last year, Murdock was simply a stop-gap when Austin Ainge needed a breather. Murdock has spread his wings this year, effectively distributing the ball and efficiently getting the offense into each offensive set. His assist-to-turnover ratio is great, nearly 4 to 1, and it was even better before playing the #1 team in the land (6.5 to 1!). I found myself wincing every time Murdock had to come out of the UNC game because I knew BYU’s offense was going to stumble a bit without him running the show. He only sat 3 minutes, which is probably an abberation given the quality of opponent.
Jonathan Tavernari has assumed the role of premier shooter on the team, putting on a show in Las Vegas. The only thing about Tavernari’s game that isn’t already solid is his shot selection, which is a challenge for most guys who know they’re great shooters. You could tell from the UNC game that Tavernari enjoyed the taste of 29 points so much that he wanted seconds at the Tar Heels’ expense. It was a little frustrating to see so many late 3’s coming right off the front iron, but he’ll learn from that.
One potential kink in BYU’s armor might be productivity off the bench, though it’s difficult to say for sure since BYU’s opponents have been four cupcakes and two juggernauts. BYU reserves got ample playing time in the first four games of the year and capitalized, scoring 122 of BYU’s total 361 points (33.8%, .39 points per reserve-minute). In limited minutes against Louisville and North Carolina, BYU reserves managed a meager 8 points out of 141 (5.7%, .12 points per minute). BYU’s bench is very talented but very young, with only one bench player returning from last year, Vuk Ivanovic. These early tests should help the young players like Jimmer Fredette and Chris Collinsworth mature very quickly prior to the start of the conference season in January.
Look for more commentary on the basketball team in the weeks to come…
4 Responses to “We now join BYU basketball’s season already in progress…”
“Remember that name: TRENT PLAISTED, TRENT PLAISTED, TRENT PLAISTED!!!” Awesome. I loved it. Dick Vitale is good at giving credit where credit is due–a very fun game to watch.
I figure that we will see an in between mark from the bench in conference play, with a few offensive bursts from Jimmer Fredette sprinkled in. Another note about the bench, did anyone notice that Vuk is sporting a new look this year? He has beefed up and is showing a little more confidence as well. Hopefully those two things will translate to some good production from our most experienced reserve. Chris Miles and maybe Chris Collinsworth look a little lost at times.
You didn’t mention Sam Burgess, but you are only highlighting and not dissecting. He is shooting well from long range (50%) and will be a solid contributor.
The defense of the squad looks good so far. There are a lot of things to be excited about this year. Here’s to the second round of the NCAA tourney!
Last year when I watched Trent Plaistad play against players with size such as Luke Nevill, the guy from UNLV, and others he was no where near a dominant force. However it looks like he has gotten passed that in the early games and if he plays like he did last year when he was up against smaller players and is more consistent the Cougars have a great chance of getting back to the NCAA’s possibly winning a game or two.
All you need to know about Trent is that over the offseason he learned to shoot with his right hand and make free throws. He will be twice the player this year that he was last year because of it. If Vuc or Chris Miles could just step up enough to allow Trent to log more time at the 4, he will put together an even more impressive year.
Josh, awesome comment about Vitale calling out Plaisted’s name like a parent looking for a lost child. That cracked me up. Tavernari does need to learn better shot selection, hopefully that comes with time.
Too bad we went cold down the stretch vs NC. It seemed like the Cougs weren’t patient enough to get a better shot, something we did really well vs. Louisville and at times vs. NC. Also Cummard got into foul trouble early and saw limited action. BYU needs to have him in for our best game. I can also see us getting worn our at the end of the Tar Heel game. BYU was playing it’s second top-10 ranked team in consecutive nights with intensity, North Carolina was looking for things to do to limit themselves to not run up the score on Old Dominion the night before. But give NC credit, I think they did a good job of taking away the Plaisted option late in the game, to force us to shoot the 3. Anyway, look for good things from this Cougar Men’s BB team.