This piece is about as good scouting as I have seen. just going to borrow one little part as a point of interest:
“Iowa State’s one weakness on defense is the amount of threes they give up. The Cyclones defense is 356 nationally with a 3PA rate of of 47%, meaning 47% of opponents FGA are from behind the arc. That is the 6th highest percentage nationally. ISU’s defensive assist rate of 58% is sub 300 nationally, meaning 58% of field goal attempts are assisted. Additionally, 40.5% of opponents points come from behind the arc, second most of any team. ISU’s defensive 3P% of 33% is middle of the pack nationally. A lot of those 3PA are undoubtedly rushed as the result of the defensive pressure, but teams can also find open looks if they don’t turn the ball over.”
ISU does not have any athletes rated over a 3 in Ken Pom or Trovik so they are massive overachievers.
ISU ranks 2nd nationally on D but as stated, they are very susceptible to giving up 3s.
ISU ranks #1 in creating turnovers.
Their biggest blowout was @BYU.
Sum up: BYU’s Hall had a perfect game, he did not turn the ball over and went 4-4 in the 1st game. Turnovers and making 3s will determine if BYU can pull off even a bigger upset Wed.
Zero pressure on BYU, play loose because you have Foos
He is the best writer, among the group that covers BYU nearly exclusively, his proofreader occasionally annoys me, but his writing and analysis are great.
Not sure about house money, but ISU is closer to losing some of its goals than BYU is of losing its goals. BYU “needs” to win this to have a reasonable shot at a top 4 seed in the B12 tourney…BYU needs a win to have a possilbly improved seed in the dance…
BYU mostly needs to play defence better than it has most of the B12 season, until it plays good defence as a habit instead of only when it really concentrates, or is motivated.
Vegas is no respecter of BYU for this game and the 15 point win they had over Iowa State at home. 7.5 point underdog currently. I believe it will be closer with the Cougs having a decent chance to pull the upset. As Chris has pointed out, 3s could make this another BYU win. We did it the first time without Fouss. Let’s hope the boys come to play ball tonight!
So how does ISU compensate for the lack of elite athletes? Easy, They are one of the best coached teams in America. They are ranked #2 nationally on D, only Houston is ranked higher. Just like BYU, ISU does a lot of the small things extremely well. Funny, If BYU had not lost to Cinn, OSU and KSU. We would be talked nationally in the same way that ISU is talked about. A 2 seed…Mind Blown, boom
That’s not what I’ve been saying. I’ve said that making a high enough baskets whether 2 or 3 pointers is a way for the defense to not allow fast break points. It gives players time to get back and pick up their man. They still have to play tough defense. They just have a better edge on defense being able to get back and prepared.
Honestly, how many fast break points does BYU give up a game? How do you define “fast break points” anyway? You are stating the obvious and trying to make it sound like it is the difference between good defense and bad defense. This notion applies to every team out there. If you make your shots it is easier to play good defense? Captain Obvious is in the house! Uggghhh…
These are the little things that coaches understand which referees don’t. You should count the number of times we don’t get back well enough after missing shots. Keep your mind busy instead of on the refs
