I saw BYU take apart Arizona last week and they are even better than I thought. The Cougars can score and, while it may be too early to tell, could wind up a 3 seed in the NCAA tournament. They have to play UNLV and SDSU twice each, so those games will be a good measuring stick as to how good BYU really is. They are difficult to evaluate defensively because of their strength of schedule to date, but they rebound the ball well and cause turnovers.
Their money player, Jimmer Fredette, is more fun to watch than any other player in the country. He can absolutely light it up and is a sneaky good passer as well given he only averages 4 assists per game. He even sticks his nose in the paint and grabs a few rebounds. BYU doesn't have a solid number 2 option for scoring, but the 3 players behind Fredette average 11.5, 9.9, and 9.8, so there is some scoring balance. This team is worth keeping an eye on.
It's too early to tell. Who have they played?
ReplyDeleteArizona is a very good team, as is St Mary's. BYU lost to UCLA, and the Bruins have 2 losses against top 10 teams. It's not as if BYU is ducking competition outside of their conference.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree, it is early. I could wait until February to make predictions, but there's no risk in that.