Utah State Nov 28

[Chuck]

Utah State is a big challenge for the Bonnies.
— Last season they finished 1st in the Mountain West, which sent 6 teams to the big dance.
— Won their first NCAA tournament game against BYU by 16. Then lost to Purdue.
— This season have won their games by an average of 33.6 points. They played Charlotte (won by 29) and Iowa (won by 8).
— I don’t think I’ve even seen a Bona opponent with so may categories in the top 12 nationally. Leads nation in scoring (98.6 ppg) FG% (2nd) 3% (12th) Assists (3rd) and Steals (2nd).
— Big challenge also describes their front line. Starters for 3 of their last 4 games had both a 7 footer and 6’11” player.
— Very well might be the worse news is Utah State plays a 2-3 zone.

Keys to the game
— Hermit is correct “Utah St does have size, but it’s their guards that are their leading scorers. I think a key will be how well our guards can contain them.” With Melvin and Dasonte, Bonnies have strong defensive playing guards, which matches up well with their high scoring guards.
— Every game Utah St. had 20+ fast break points. Like it was against Bryant (20.2 fast break points a game) Bonnies limited them to 4 fast break points. The big reason was Bonnies controlling the defensive boards. Can’t run if you do NOT get the rebound. Bonnies are a very good defensive rebounding team (65th in nation) and have been really good lately.
— With their 2-3 zone it will be critical for Bonnies to hit open 3 pointers. Against Bryant they made 57.1% of their 3s, so Bonnies are very capable of a repeat performance.

Game will make a significant difference in their SOS. I wonder how many thought a Dayton team without Daron Holmes would stand a chance against 12th ranked North Carolina? A game Dayton should have won. Bonnies can contain their high scoring guards and also have height to battle on the boards with Noel, Mike and Lajae. Would not be surprised to see Xander, who is also a good rebounder. Bonnies are also a solid defensive team allowing just 62.5 ppg (37th in nation). It is a great opportunity for a Quad 1 win.

[Chuck]

Listening to Schmidt’s post game comments to Bryant game (provided by Dunga) I heard a few insights that can be important against Utah St.

— Schmidt stated “a focus of Bryant game was to get the ball inside to Noel as they had an advantage with his size and strength as Bryant who was tall but they didn’t have big guys.” This exactly describes Utah State game with muscle bound 6’11” 250 pound Noel going up against 2 centers weighing 210 and 225. Bonnies even have 6’11” 225 pound Mike and 6’10” 230 Xander as backups. Muscle and size definitely goes to the Bonnies centers.
— Schmidt again with being “engaged.” Bonnies quickly lost a 20 point lead to Bryant, which became a 8 point game with 6 minutes left to play. It appears Bonnies needed to be “engaged” to pull out a 15 point win.
— Schmidt “team got off to a great start up by 20 and then got into a funk.” Getting into a “funk” has been a common occurrence for the Bonnies in the 2nd half. In D-1 games prior to Bryant, Bonnies have outscored teams by 42 in the 1st half and by just 9 in the 2nd half. Fully believe Utah State is a game where Bonnies will be fully “engaged” and hopefully avoid a “funk.”

Looking at Bona’s schedule, is there a better example of a team playing to the level of their competition? Playing a high caliber team like Utah State, might be what this team needs.

[chrismoses]

I really hope people don’t think Utah State is the best team on our schedule. If you do think that, then you don’t watch a lot of CBB.

Could they beat us by 20? Maybe, but that speaks more to our weaknesses than to their strength. Utah State was picked sixth preseason in their conference which means they’re a fringe NCAA club.

The MWC is a nice conference, but they gamed the system last year to get all of those NCAA bids. Utah State played the following clubs OOC last year: South Dakota Mines, Bradley, Southern Utah, Marshall, Akron, Stephen F Austin, Saint Louis, UC Irvine, U San Diego, Northwest Nazarene, Santa Clara, San Fran and ETSU.

Utah State did beat a meh TCU club in their first NCAA game, but then proceeded to lose by 40 to Purdue. Much like the entire MWC, the Aggies were one in done in the NCAA.

I can’t imagine what people around would say if we played a legitimate power team.

[bigcat]

Nov 26, 2024 15:51:46 GMT -5 chrismoses said:

I really hope people don’t think Utah State is the best team on our schedule. If you do think that, then you don’t watch a lot of CBB.

Could they beat us by 20? Maybe, but that speaks more to our weaknesses than to their strength. Utah State was picked sixth preseason in their conference which means they’re a fringe NCAA club.

The MWC is a nice conference, but they gamed the system last year to get all of those NCAA bids. Utah State played the following clubs OOC last year: South Dakota Mines, Bradley, Southern Utah, Marshall, Akron, Stephen F Austin, Saint Louis, UC Irvine, U San Diego, Northwest Nazarene, Santa Clara, San Fran and ETSU.

Utah State did beat a meh TCU club in their first NCAA game, but then proceeded to lose by 40 to Purdue. Much like the entire MWC, the Aggies were one in done in the NCAA.

I can’t imagine what people around would say if we played a legitimate power team.

Well, people like me definitely think Utah State is one of if not THE best team on our schedule. I watch way more college BB than I should … on the tube and in person.

Dayton could be better. Maybe not. Loyola probably not. Providence not. VCU no.

If you’ve watched USU their offensive abilities jump off the screen. We have fans still riding a high from beating a pretty bad UCLA team in the play-in game a few years back. Great win for us, yeah. But when USU beats TCU in the round of 64 that’s tainted? Let’s be realistic. They have a great mid-major program.

Not devaluing the Bonnies. Maybe our pressure D throws them off … or maybe we can beat them in a shootout and shoot threes like last game. That would be awesome.

Why do people continue to take shots at the MWC when they have the formula we should all wish the A10 had? Is it jealousy?

Yeah I want to beat the snot out of the Aggies. But many people DO see that they are a quality team in a quality conference. We all have opinions and I respect your posts. I just don’t agree with this one.

[bub]

Nov 26, 2024 15:51:46 GMT -5 chrismoses said:

I really hope people don’t think Utah State is the best team on our schedule. If you do think that, then you don’t watch a lot of CBB.

Could they beat us by 20? Maybe, but that speaks more to our weaknesses than to their strength. Utah State was picked sixth preseason in their conference which means they’re a fringe NCAA club.

The MWC is a nice conference, but they gamed the system last year to get all of those NCAA bids. Utah State played the following clubs OOC last year: South Dakota Mines, Bradley, Southern Utah, Marshall, Akron, Stephen F Austin, Saint Louis, UC Irvine, U San Diego, Northwest Nazarene, Santa Clara, San Fran and ETSU.

Utah State did beat a meh TCU club in their first NCAA game, but then proceeded to lose by 40 to Purdue. Much like the entire MWC, the Aggies were one in done in the NCAA.

I can’t imagine what people around would say if we played a legitimate power team.

I watch a lot of college basketball. I watched Dayton blow a 21 point lead against North Carolina. I watched VCU beat ACC team Miami but blow large second half leads vs MVC team Nevada and Big East team Seton Hall. I watched St Joes beat Big 12 team Texas Tech, Big East team Villanova and be competitive with SEC team Texas. I would be more concerned about those three teams along with Loyola Chicago and Rhode Island than I would Utah State. A-10 right now is showing itself to be a top heavy conference with some really bad teams but with some really good teams that have been very competitive in the OOC season. Who knows. By seasons end we may turn out to be the best team on Utah State’s schedule.

[chrismoses]

Bigcat,

Yes, USU is a very fine program. I just don’t think they’re anything to be feared. I’m not saying we will beat them, but it’s hard to say they’re elite given what they’ve faced to date.

My issue with the MWC is they do what all the powers do now. Play no road games and play an absolute train wreck schedule OOC. I also have an issue with the conference getting all the praise in the world, and then crapping the bed in the NCAAT. Aside from SDSU, they’ve have very bad showings in the NCAAs.

Regarding the Bonnies. We might be terrible. It’s hard to gauge anything from our results to date aside from the fact we have an athletic team that struggles to shoot the ball.

Utah State has played no one good either. Iowa is a big name but they’re not supposed to be good this year and rarely are a national power.

I’ll end my rant there. I think SBU will hold USU 15-20 points under their season on offense, but will we be able to score enough points to win?

[bigcat]

That would be great, Bub. It’s good to dream big!

[ddsmugs]

I'm beating Utah State to the punch .....regarding our Bonnies

"I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN"
"I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL WIN"

[BONA82.5]

Safe to say - Utah State will be our first real test this season. The beauty of it is that we may be their first real test as well. No disrespect to IOWA - but this BONA squad is more athletic and will pose different challenges for the Aggies. I believe we are very strong 1 thru 6, but we could be in trouble if NOEL gets in foul trouble against USU. I'd like to see us go small occasionally - just to have that rabbit in our hat. Mike plays hard but is still a step slow on D and offers little on the offensive end. We will need to have our A game on the defensive end or it could be a long night. Thinking our full-court pressure could give these guys some trouble too. Thanksgiving night on the DEUCE - A BONA coming out Party - you can't ask for any more than that !!!

[bigcat]

Agreed we should not fear the Aggies. We shouldn’t disrespect them or the MWC, either. I always pull for mid-majors and I really like their program… how they’ve stayed relevant with coaching changes the last two off-seasons.

Schmidt has 3+ days to prep for this one … and someone on his staff probably has been breaking down their film for longer than that.

Regardless of who USU or the Bonnies have played thus far, it will be a game between two quality teams with lots of individual talent. I’m sure Schmidt has been holding back few things for this tourney. Our athleticism/quickness could present a huge challenge to USU.

[bonaboy23]

I’m on the plane heading down GO BONAS!

[kccgold]

I just keep coming back to their 7 footer who can shoot. It scares me

[ddsmugs]

Any info on the struggles of Bolanga to get going offensively?

[Sipowicz]

Nov 27, 2024 7:01:20 GMT -5 ddsmugs said:

Any info on the struggles of Bolanga to get going offensively?

Just my opinion, NOAH has been an enigma. Figured he had "pro" experience but looks confused and tentative on the court. For an "experienced" player, the pace on offense looks too fast for him. As I stated in an earlier post, he was the last one on the team to arrive, maybe he still needs time to better digest SCHMIDT'S offense and speed of the American game. At times when both BOLANGA and HINTON enter the game, you get the feeling as soon as they get the ball they are going to launch a 3. This has worked out pretty well for HINTON so far but BOLANGA has not always been totally open and hurries his shot. BOLANGA would probably be better off having him get set up for a back door play or a play to get him open for short jumpers just to get his confidence. Not really sure if he can just "shoot himself out of his slump" from beyond the arc.

[BONA82.5]

DD - Bolanga needs to bring the intensity on the defensive end first and foremost. That will garner him the playing time to squeeze off a few more shots and find his touch. As of now - Duane has taken that "3 point shooter off the bench" role in Schmidt's rotation.

SIDE NOTE - I hope you didn't give us the KOD (Kiss of Death) with the "I believe that we will win" chant. Sorry dude - I can't help but associate that chant with the US Soccer team and its embarrassing World Cup failures.