I have to say it has been an entertaining start with the first half of league play in the Mountain West Conference. BYU has pretty much established themselves as the team to beat, despite their loss at New Mexico tonight. They may not glide through the second half of the schedule but they should only drop one or two more games. That raises the bar for UNM, UNLV and San Diego State to win their home games and steal as many on the road as possible. I truly think BYU is the only team that will go undefeated at home, UNLV and UNM have a chance to finish 7-1 at home and their finish will be determined by their success on the road. UNLV had a good week with wins they were unable to get last year - at TCU and at CSU, both teams probably better than they were last season but UNLV had more determination and drive to win those games as opposed to just thinking they had to show up in the upsets last season.
Watching Derrick Jasper go down last night with a knee injury, my first thought wasn't "There goes the rest of the season," like I did when Kaspars Kambala and Kevin Kruger went down with injuries during conference play. I really feel bad for him because he has fought through so much just to be playing basketball and probably at about a 80-85% level of what he is used to doing. The Rebels are deep enough to get through the injury. I think they will miss his defensive versatility and his playmaking ability on offense. Willis also will miss his favorite alley ooper. All the best, Derrick-Heal quickly and I hope to see you on the court soon!
I'll take BYU vs. UNLV in the finals of the conference tournament (again) this year. Probably the way it should be. (Since we all know that Alford won't win a game in Vegas...hahaha...)
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Wednesday, January 27
Tuesday, January 5
I had really meant to post again before the end of the year, but as they say-the best laid plans...
I will devote my space today to the start of MWC conference play and as I write this the Lobos and Aztecs are battling to get off to a good start. By far, the Lobos are the surprise team of the league so far and are making some noise due to the notoriety of their coach, Steve Alford. They still haven't played many quality foes although they did escape with wins over Texas A&M and Texas Tech. It seems the third year for a coach is the year the kids put it together and achieve and this could be the year for the Lobos to win either the regular season or the tournament and I think they could win a first round game if tehy got a good matchup. However, I don't think this is likely and I'll get into that more later.
BYU is good, but not as good as the last three years. Their schedule is softer than my stomach and while they have swept the Arizona schools, I don't think they are as deep as in their previous regular season winning years. Their streak will come to an end this year. Still, they will win at home and steal more than their share on the road, then lose in the second round of the conference tournament and promptly get bounced out of the dance.
San Diego State is what they normally are. Usually the most talented on paper, if they don't play together, they won't win. I've been impressed with their battling so far against New Mexico but I don't think they have the focus they showed last year when they won big games on the road and almost beat Utah. Because of their soft schedule, they will be forced to win marquee games against conference foes and for the first time in the conference there will be more than two teams to get those wins against.
Utah enters in at .500 but is still a team that nobody will want to play. They walk the walk and scheduled like a beast again this year but did not get the quality wins they earned last season. Of course, they are missing nine foot tall Beeker but they still are a tough out and will not be easy to beat this year.
The rest: While TCU has probably underachieved and CSU has overachieved, Wyoming and Air Force will battle for the first team not to make the NCAAs. TCU still has the best name in the league with Zvonko Buljan and the Rams have some nice players. I think the depth of the top half of the conference is really too overwhelming for the bottom half of the league. If any of the top four take their eye off the ball against these teams, they will pay for it.
I'll try to be objective in evaluating the Rebels. I think they and UNM have performed the best against the competition they've played this year. It is not their fault Arizona and Louisville are having down years. I think the SIU and the Reno win will be really good wins in March. The Rebels just need to take care of business against the lower half of the conference, win their home games and get SDSU, UNM or BYU on the road and they have a shot at winning the regular season, which will actually be worth something this year. They don't really have a bad loss as K-State is the 2nd best team in the Big 12 in my opinion and USC with Gerrity, now can play very loose and have nothing to lose and nothing to gain after they sanctioned themselves as a result of the O.J. Mayo scandal. If they win their home games and take care of the lower half of the conference, two things they did not do last year, they will be dancin' in March.
This is the best the MWC has been since probably the first season. UNM, UNLV and BYU getting in the rankings is great exposure and these teams need to stay at the top of the standings to remain in the rankings and on the radar. If San Diego can make a late run, the conference has a great shot at three teams and maybe four actually deserving teams in the dance this year. Combine that with the down year that the Pac 10 is having and it could be a great season for Mountain West BB.
It looks like UNM is going to fall at San Diego, allowing the Aztecs to get the jump on the big three. UNLV has a great chance to get in the driver's seat if they can find a way to stop BYU's offense and come out swinging against what will be a determined Lobo pack. It should be a fun season to watch.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
I will devote my space today to the start of MWC conference play and as I write this the Lobos and Aztecs are battling to get off to a good start. By far, the Lobos are the surprise team of the league so far and are making some noise due to the notoriety of their coach, Steve Alford. They still haven't played many quality foes although they did escape with wins over Texas A&M and Texas Tech. It seems the third year for a coach is the year the kids put it together and achieve and this could be the year for the Lobos to win either the regular season or the tournament and I think they could win a first round game if tehy got a good matchup. However, I don't think this is likely and I'll get into that more later.
BYU is good, but not as good as the last three years. Their schedule is softer than my stomach and while they have swept the Arizona schools, I don't think they are as deep as in their previous regular season winning years. Their streak will come to an end this year. Still, they will win at home and steal more than their share on the road, then lose in the second round of the conference tournament and promptly get bounced out of the dance.
San Diego State is what they normally are. Usually the most talented on paper, if they don't play together, they won't win. I've been impressed with their battling so far against New Mexico but I don't think they have the focus they showed last year when they won big games on the road and almost beat Utah. Because of their soft schedule, they will be forced to win marquee games against conference foes and for the first time in the conference there will be more than two teams to get those wins against.
Utah enters in at .500 but is still a team that nobody will want to play. They walk the walk and scheduled like a beast again this year but did not get the quality wins they earned last season. Of course, they are missing nine foot tall Beeker but they still are a tough out and will not be easy to beat this year.
The rest: While TCU has probably underachieved and CSU has overachieved, Wyoming and Air Force will battle for the first team not to make the NCAAs. TCU still has the best name in the league with Zvonko Buljan and the Rams have some nice players. I think the depth of the top half of the conference is really too overwhelming for the bottom half of the league. If any of the top four take their eye off the ball against these teams, they will pay for it.
I'll try to be objective in evaluating the Rebels. I think they and UNM have performed the best against the competition they've played this year. It is not their fault Arizona and Louisville are having down years. I think the SIU and the Reno win will be really good wins in March. The Rebels just need to take care of business against the lower half of the conference, win their home games and get SDSU, UNM or BYU on the road and they have a shot at winning the regular season, which will actually be worth something this year. They don't really have a bad loss as K-State is the 2nd best team in the Big 12 in my opinion and USC with Gerrity, now can play very loose and have nothing to lose and nothing to gain after they sanctioned themselves as a result of the O.J. Mayo scandal. If they win their home games and take care of the lower half of the conference, two things they did not do last year, they will be dancin' in March.
This is the best the MWC has been since probably the first season. UNM, UNLV and BYU getting in the rankings is great exposure and these teams need to stay at the top of the standings to remain in the rankings and on the radar. If San Diego can make a late run, the conference has a great shot at three teams and maybe four actually deserving teams in the dance this year. Combine that with the down year that the Pac 10 is having and it could be a great season for Mountain West BB.
It looks like UNM is going to fall at San Diego, allowing the Aztecs to get the jump on the big three. UNLV has a great chance to get in the driver's seat if they can find a way to stop BYU's offense and come out swinging against what will be a determined Lobo pack. It should be a fun season to watch.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
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