Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:22 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

It seems the Achilles' heel on the USU defense is athletic 6'9" guys that can score at all levels, handle the ball, and get whatever shot they want when guarded by smaller or slower or smaller and slower defenders.

Maybe we should have played more zone?

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:39 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:22 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

It seems the Achilles' heel on the USU defense is athletic 6'9" guys that can score at all levels, handle the ball, and get whatever shot they want when guarded by smaller or slower or smaller and slower defenders.

Maybe we should have played more zone?

I may have mentioned this in a previous thread, but Bean held Alston to 7/22 from the field in both games last year. Bean has the physicality and length to at least make life difficult on Alston. Alston played PF last year and Kigab came off the bench last year so it worked out personnel wise. This year they're starting Alston and Kigab, so maybe they were worried about who would guard Kigab? Even Marco's physicality would have made Alston more uncomfortable as well. It's nearly impossible to shut down a guy like that, but you can make it harder on him.

Our zone could be an option, but in the limited times we used it against Boise, we got scored on every time. Maybe if we really worked on it going into the series it could be an option? To your point though, I think just about anything would've been better than what we did, outside of guarding him with Ashworth.

Personally, I would've played Queta, Bean, and Anderson together a lot more. This could be it's own thread, but I don't understand the hesitancy to play Phonz and Bean together with Queta. They had no answer for Queta or Anderson in the post. Bean would've been a nightmare for Alston to try and keep off the glass. Anderson could've guarded Kigab and Bean could've guarded Alston. Bean and Anderson are 2 of our best 3 or 4 players (according to PER & Net rating), and we continue to limit them to 40 minutes combined. Bean scored 7 points quickly in the first few minutes of the second game and then got subbed out. Phonz scored 3 possessions in a row in the second half and then got subbed out for Bean, who subsequently got a couple of huge offensive rebounds that led to points. The Bean vs. Phonz argument isn't the argument we should be having. It should be how can we play them together more.

Instead we chose to guard Alston with Brock and played Steven 37 minutes, almost as many minutes combined as Bean/Anderson.

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:53 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:39 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:22 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

It seems the Achilles' heel on the USU defense is athletic 6'9" guys that can score at all levels, handle the ball, and get whatever shot they want when guarded by smaller or slower or smaller and slower defenders.

Maybe we should have played more zone?

I may have mentioned this in a previous thread, but Bean held Alston to 7/22 from the field in both games last year. Bean has the physicality and length to at least make life difficult on Alston. Alston played PF last year and Kigab came off the bench last year so it worked out personnel wise. This year they're starting Alston and Kigab, so maybe they were worried about who would guard Kigab? Even Marco's physicality would have made Alston more uncomfortable as well. It's nearly impossible to shut down a guy like that, but you can make it harder on him.

Our zone could be an option, but in the limited times we used it against Boise, we got scored on every time. Maybe if we really worked on it going into the series it could be an option? To your point though, I think just about anything would've been better than what we did, outside of guarding him with Ashworth.

Personally, I would've played Queta, Bean, and Anderson together a lot more. This could be it's own thread, but I don't understand the hesitancy to play Phonz and Bean together with Queta. They had no answer for Queta or Anderson in the post. Bean would've been a nightmare for Alston to try and keep off the glass. Anderson could've guarded Kigab and Bean could've guarded Alston. Bean and Anderson are 2 of our best 3 or 4 players (according to PER & Net rating), and we continue to limit them to 40 minutes combined. Bean scored 7 points quickly in the first few minutes of the second game and then got subbed out. Phonz scored 3 possessions in a row in the second half and then got subbed out for Bean, who subsequently got a couple of huge offensive rebounds that led to points. The Bean vs. Phonz argument isn't the argument we should be having. It should be how can we play them together more.

Instead we chose to guard Alston with Brock and played Steven 37 minutes, almost as many minutes combined as Bean/Anderson.

I didn't pay close attention to the Bean-Kigab match-up for a lot of the series. For the most part, Kigab was a role player that got some timely buckets but didn't hurt us with a ton of points. Having said that, the start of the second half in the second game Kigab abused Bean. Here is the gamecast summary of those first 6 minutes of the second half. Bean was guarding Kigab during this stretch:

19:46 Steven Ashworth missed Three Point Jumper. 37 - 30
19:43 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 37 - 30
19:31 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 37 - 32
19:13 Steven Ashworth missed Layup. 37 - 32
19:10 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 37 - 32
19:09 Neemias Queta made Layup. 39 - 32
18:56 Mladen Armus missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:53 Neemias Queta Defensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:41 Marco Anthony missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta made Layup. 41 - 32
18:23 Abu Kigab made Layup. 41 - 34
18:15 Marco Anthony made Layup. 43 - 34
18:03 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 43 - 36
17:47 Steven Ashworth made Layup. Assisted by Neemias Queta. 45 - 36
17:27 Derrick Alston Jr. made Three Point Jumper. 45 - 39
17:06 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 39
16:26 Foul on Neemias Queta. 45 - 41
16:26 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 41
16:15 RayJ Dennis Turnover. 45 - 41
15:53 Brock Miller missed Three Point Jumper. 45 - 41
15:48 Marcus Shaver Jr. Defensive Rebound. 45 - 41
15:37 Abu Kigab made Layup. Assisted by Marcus Shaver Jr.. 45 - 43
15:13 Neemias Queta missed Layup. 45 - 43
15:10 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 45 - 43
15:06 Derrick Alston Jr. made Layup. Assisted by RayJ Dennis. 45 - 45
14:57 Utah State Timeout 45 - 45
14:50 Foul on Mladen Armus. 45 - 45
14:50 Official TV Timeout 45 - 45
14:49 Utah State Turnover. 45 - 45
14:40 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 45 - 47


This is when the game was lost. Boise came out and erased a 7 point USU lead in five minutes and got a lot of confidence and put USU on its heels.

slcagg wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:55 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:53 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:39 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:22 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

It seems the Achilles' heel on the USU defense is athletic 6'9" guys that can score at all levels, handle the ball, and get whatever shot they want when guarded by smaller or slower or smaller and slower defenders.

Maybe we should have played more zone?

I may have mentioned this in a previous thread, but Bean held Alston to 7/22 from the field in both games last year. Bean has the physicality and length to at least make life difficult on Alston. Alston played PF last year and Kigab came off the bench last year so it worked out personnel wise. This year they're starting Alston and Kigab, so maybe they were worried about who would guard Kigab? Even Marco's physicality would have made Alston more uncomfortable as well. It's nearly impossible to shut down a guy like that, but you can make it harder on him.

Our zone could be an option, but in the limited times we used it against Boise, we got scored on every time. Maybe if we really worked on it going into the series it could be an option? To your point though, I think just about anything would've been better than what we did, outside of guarding him with Ashworth.

Personally, I would've played Queta, Bean, and Anderson together a lot more. This could be it's own thread, but I don't understand the hesitancy to play Phonz and Bean together with Queta. They had no answer for Queta or Anderson in the post. Bean would've been a nightmare for Alston to try and keep off the glass. Anderson could've guarded Kigab and Bean could've guarded Alston. Bean and Anderson are 2 of our best 3 or 4 players (according to PER & Net rating), and we continue to limit them to 40 minutes combined. Bean scored 7 points quickly in the first few minutes of the second game and then got subbed out. Phonz scored 3 possessions in a row in the second half and then got subbed out for Bean, who subsequently got a couple of huge offensive rebounds that led to points. The Bean vs. Phonz argument isn't the argument we should be having. It should be how can we play them together more.

Instead we chose to guard Alston with Brock and played Steven 37 minutes, almost as many minutes combined as Bean/Anderson.

I didn't pay close attention to the Bean-Kigab match-up for a lot of the series. For the most part, Kigab was a role player that got some timely buckets but didn't hurt us with a ton of points. Having said that, the start of the second half in the second game Kigab abused Bean. Here is the gamecast summary of those first 6 minutes of the second half. Bean was guarding Kigab during this stretch:

19:46 Steven Ashworth missed Three Point Jumper. 37 - 30
19:43 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 37 - 30
19:31 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 37 - 32
19:13 Steven Ashworth missed Layup. 37 - 32
19:10 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 37 - 32
19:09 Neemias Queta made Layup. 39 - 32
18:56 Mladen Armus missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:53 Neemias Queta Defensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:41 Marco Anthony missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta made Layup. 41 - 32
18:23 Abu Kigab made Layup. 41 - 34
18:15 Marco Anthony made Layup. 43 - 34
18:03 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 43 - 36
17:47 Steven Ashworth made Layup. Assisted by Neemias Queta. 45 - 36
17:27 Derrick Alston Jr. made Three Point Jumper. 45 - 39
17:06 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 39
16:26 Foul on Neemias Queta. 45 - 41
16:26 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 41
16:15 RayJ Dennis Turnover. 45 - 41
15:53 Brock Miller missed Three Point Jumper. 45 - 41
15:48 Marcus Shaver Jr. Defensive Rebound. 45 - 41
15:37 Abu Kigab made Layup. Assisted by Marcus Shaver Jr.. 45 - 43
15:13 Neemias Queta missed Layup. 45 - 43
15:10 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 45 - 43
15:06 Derrick Alston Jr. made Layup. Assisted by RayJ Dennis. 45 - 45
14:57 Utah State Timeout 45 - 45
14:50 Foul on Mladen Armus. 45 - 45
14:50 Official TV Timeout 45 - 45
14:49 Utah State Turnover. 45 - 45
14:40 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 45 - 47


This is when the game was lost. Boise came out and erased a 7 point USU lead in five minutes and got a lot of confidence and put USU on its heels.

It was really pretty good defense on him with a hand in his face but he just hit all of shots. Really was a big difference for them.

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:53 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:39 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:22 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

It seems the Achilles' heel on the USU defense is athletic 6'9" guys that can score at all levels, handle the ball, and get whatever shot they want when guarded by smaller or slower or smaller and slower defenders.

Maybe we should have played more zone?

I may have mentioned this in a previous thread, but Bean held Alston to 7/22 from the field in both games last year. Bean has the physicality and length to at least make life difficult on Alston. Alston played PF last year and Kigab came off the bench last year so it worked out personnel wise. This year they're starting Alston and Kigab, so maybe they were worried about who would guard Kigab? Even Marco's physicality would have made Alston more uncomfortable as well. It's nearly impossible to shut down a guy like that, but you can make it harder on him.

Our zone could be an option, but in the limited times we used it against Boise, we got scored on every time. Maybe if we really worked on it going into the series it could be an option? To your point though, I think just about anything would've been better than what we did, outside of guarding him with Ashworth.

Personally, I would've played Queta, Bean, and Anderson together a lot more. This could be it's own thread, but I don't understand the hesitancy to play Phonz and Bean together with Queta. They had no answer for Queta or Anderson in the post. Bean would've been a nightmare for Alston to try and keep off the glass. Anderson could've guarded Kigab and Bean could've guarded Alston. Bean and Anderson are 2 of our best 3 or 4 players (according to PER & Net rating), and we continue to limit them to 40 minutes combined. Bean scored 7 points quickly in the first few minutes of the second game and then got subbed out. Phonz scored 3 possessions in a row in the second half and then got subbed out for Bean, who subsequently got a couple of huge offensive rebounds that led to points. The Bean vs. Phonz argument isn't the argument we should be having. It should be how can we play them together more.

Instead we chose to guard Alston with Brock and played Steven 37 minutes, almost as many minutes combined as Bean/Anderson.

I didn't pay close attention to the Bean-Kigab match-up for a lot of the series. For the most part, Kigab was a role player that got some timely buckets but didn't hurt us with a ton of points. Having said that, the start of the second half in the second game Kigab abused Bean. Here is the gamecast summary of those first 6 minutes of the second half. Bean was guarding Kigab during this stretch:

19:46 Steven Ashworth missed Three Point Jumper. 37 - 30
19:43 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 37 - 30
19:31 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 37 - 32
19:13 Steven Ashworth missed Layup. 37 - 32
19:10 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 37 - 32
19:09 Neemias Queta made Layup. 39 - 32
18:56 Mladen Armus missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:53 Neemias Queta Defensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:41 Marco Anthony missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta made Layup. 41 - 32
18:23 Abu Kigab made Layup. 41 - 34
18:15 Marco Anthony made Layup. 43 - 34
18:03 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 43 - 36
17:47 Steven Ashworth made Layup. Assisted by Neemias Queta. 45 - 36
17:27 Derrick Alston Jr. made Three Point Jumper. 45 - 39
17:06 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 39
16:26 Foul on Neemias Queta. 45 - 41
16:26 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 41
16:15 RayJ Dennis Turnover. 45 - 41
15:53 Brock Miller missed Three Point Jumper. 45 - 41
15:48 Marcus Shaver Jr. Defensive Rebound. 45 - 41
15:37 Abu Kigab made Layup. Assisted by Marcus Shaver Jr.. 45 - 43
15:13 Neemias Queta missed Layup. 45 - 43
15:10 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 45 - 43
15:06 Derrick Alston Jr. made Layup. Assisted by RayJ Dennis. 45 - 45
14:57 Utah State Timeout 45 - 45
14:50 Foul on Mladen Armus. 45 - 45
14:50 Official TV Timeout 45 - 45
14:49 Utah State Turnover. 45 - 45
14:40 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 45 - 47


This is when the game was lost. Boise came out and erased a 7 point USU lead in five minutes and got a lot of confidence and put USU on its heels.

slcagg wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:55 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:53 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:39 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:22 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

It seems the Achilles' heel on the USU defense is athletic 6'9" guys that can score at all levels, handle the ball, and get whatever shot they want when guarded by smaller or slower or smaller and slower defenders.

Maybe we should have played more zone?

I may have mentioned this in a previous thread, but Bean held Alston to 7/22 from the field in both games last year. Bean has the physicality and length to at least make life difficult on Alston. Alston played PF last year and Kigab came off the bench last year so it worked out personnel wise. This year they're starting Alston and Kigab, so maybe they were worried about who would guard Kigab? Even Marco's physicality would have made Alston more uncomfortable as well. It's nearly impossible to shut down a guy like that, but you can make it harder on him.

Our zone could be an option, but in the limited times we used it against Boise, we got scored on every time. Maybe if we really worked on it going into the series it could be an option? To your point though, I think just about anything would've been better than what we did, outside of guarding him with Ashworth.

Personally, I would've played Queta, Bean, and Anderson together a lot more. This could be it's own thread, but I don't understand the hesitancy to play Phonz and Bean together with Queta. They had no answer for Queta or Anderson in the post. Bean would've been a nightmare for Alston to try and keep off the glass. Anderson could've guarded Kigab and Bean could've guarded Alston. Bean and Anderson are 2 of our best 3 or 4 players (according to PER & Net rating), and we continue to limit them to 40 minutes combined. Bean scored 7 points quickly in the first few minutes of the second game and then got subbed out. Phonz scored 3 possessions in a row in the second half and then got subbed out for Bean, who subsequently got a couple of huge offensive rebounds that led to points. The Bean vs. Phonz argument isn't the argument we should be having. It should be how can we play them together more.

Instead we chose to guard Alston with Brock and played Steven 37 minutes, almost as many minutes combined as Bean/Anderson.

I didn't pay close attention to the Bean-Kigab match-up for a lot of the series. For the most part, Kigab was a role player that got some timely buckets but didn't hurt us with a ton of points. Having said that, the start of the second half in the second game Kigab abused Bean. Here is the gamecast summary of those first 6 minutes of the second half. Bean was guarding Kigab during this stretch:

19:46 Steven Ashworth missed Three Point Jumper. 37 - 30
19:43 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 37 - 30
19:31 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 37 - 32
19:13 Steven Ashworth missed Layup. 37 - 32
19:10 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 37 - 32
19:09 Neemias Queta made Layup. 39 - 32
18:56 Mladen Armus missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:53 Neemias Queta Defensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:41 Marco Anthony missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta made Layup. 41 - 32
18:23 Abu Kigab made Layup. 41 - 34
18:15 Marco Anthony made Layup. 43 - 34
18:03 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 43 - 36
17:47 Steven Ashworth made Layup. Assisted by Neemias Queta. 45 - 36
17:27 Derrick Alston Jr. made Three Point Jumper. 45 - 39
17:06 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 39
16:26 Foul on Neemias Queta. 45 - 41
16:26 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 41
16:15 RayJ Dennis Turnover. 45 - 41
15:53 Brock Miller missed Three Point Jumper. 45 - 41
15:48 Marcus Shaver Jr. Defensive Rebound. 45 - 41
15:37 Abu Kigab made Layup. Assisted by Marcus Shaver Jr.. 45 - 43
15:13 Neemias Queta missed Layup. 45 - 43
15:10 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 45 - 43
15:06 Derrick Alston Jr. made Layup. Assisted by RayJ Dennis. 45 - 45
14:57 Utah State Timeout 45 - 45
14:50 Foul on Mladen Armus. 45 - 45
14:50 Official TV Timeout 45 - 45
14:49 Utah State Turnover. 45 - 45
14:40 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 45 - 47


This is when the game was lost. Boise came out and erased a 7 point USU lead in five minutes and got a lot of confidence and put USU on its heels.

It was really pretty good defense on him with a hand in his face but he just hit all of shots. Really was a big difference for them.

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:58 pm

slcagg wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:55 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:53 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:39 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:22 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

It seems the Achilles' heel on the USU defense is athletic 6'9" guys that can score at all levels, handle the ball, and get whatever shot they want when guarded by smaller or slower or smaller and slower defenders.

Maybe we should have played more zone?

I may have mentioned this in a previous thread, but Bean held Alston to 7/22 from the field in both games last year. Bean has the physicality and length to at least make life difficult on Alston. Alston played PF last year and Kigab came off the bench last year so it worked out personnel wise. This year they're starting Alston and Kigab, so maybe they were worried about who would guard Kigab? Even Marco's physicality would have made Alston more uncomfortable as well. It's nearly impossible to shut down a guy like that, but you can make it harder on him.

Our zone could be an option, but in the limited times we used it against Boise, we got scored on every time. Maybe if we really worked on it going into the series it could be an option? To your point though, I think just about anything would've been better than what we did, outside of guarding him with Ashworth.

Personally, I would've played Queta, Bean, and Anderson together a lot more. This could be it's own thread, but I don't understand the hesitancy to play Phonz and Bean together with Queta. They had no answer for Queta or Anderson in the post. Bean would've been a nightmare for Alston to try and keep off the glass. Anderson could've guarded Kigab and Bean could've guarded Alston. Bean and Anderson are 2 of our best 3 or 4 players (according to PER & Net rating), and we continue to limit them to 40 minutes combined. Bean scored 7 points quickly in the first few minutes of the second game and then got subbed out. Phonz scored 3 possessions in a row in the second half and then got subbed out for Bean, who subsequently got a couple of huge offensive rebounds that led to points. The Bean vs. Phonz argument isn't the argument we should be having. It should be how can we play them together more.

Instead we chose to guard Alston with Brock and played Steven 37 minutes, almost as many minutes combined as Bean/Anderson.

I didn't pay close attention to the Bean-Kigab match-up for a lot of the series. For the most part, Kigab was a role player that got some timely buckets but didn't hurt us with a ton of points. Having said that, the start of the second half in the second game Kigab abused Bean. Here is the gamecast summary of those first 6 minutes of the second half. Bean was guarding Kigab during this stretch:

19:46 Steven Ashworth missed Three Point Jumper. 37 - 30
19:43 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 37 - 30
19:31 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 37 - 32
19:13 Steven Ashworth missed Layup. 37 - 32
19:10 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 37 - 32
19:09 Neemias Queta made Layup. 39 - 32
18:56 Mladen Armus missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:53 Neemias Queta Defensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:41 Marco Anthony missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta made Layup. 41 - 32
18:23 Abu Kigab made Layup. 41 - 34
18:15 Marco Anthony made Layup. 43 - 34
18:03 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 43 - 36
17:47 Steven Ashworth made Layup. Assisted by Neemias Queta. 45 - 36
17:27 Derrick Alston Jr. made Three Point Jumper. 45 - 39
17:06 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 39
16:26 Foul on Neemias Queta. 45 - 41
16:26 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 41
16:15 RayJ Dennis Turnover. 45 - 41
15:53 Brock Miller missed Three Point Jumper. 45 - 41
15:48 Marcus Shaver Jr. Defensive Rebound. 45 - 41
15:37 Abu Kigab made Layup. Assisted by Marcus Shaver Jr.. 45 - 43
15:13 Neemias Queta missed Layup. 45 - 43
15:10 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 45 - 43
15:06 Derrick Alston Jr. made Layup. Assisted by RayJ Dennis. 45 - 45
14:57 Utah State Timeout 45 - 45
14:50 Foul on Mladen Armus. 45 - 45
14:50 Official TV Timeout 45 - 45
14:49 Utah State Turnover. 45 - 45
14:40 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 45 - 47


This is when the game was lost. Boise came out and erased a 7 point USU lead in five minutes and got a lot of confidence and put USU on its heels.

It was really pretty good defense on him with a hand in his face but he just hit all of shots. Really was a big difference for them.

Sometimes you have to knock them out of their comfort zone. When they are shooting 74% from the field - maybe a body check or a little extra physicality is in order to make them think twice about getting layups or easy shots. A hand in the face doesn't always work if they can just jump over it. Sacrificing a foul for a "message" may have been in order. But that's just me - I play a mean Monday morning quarterback.

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 1:01 pm

slcagg wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:55 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:53 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:39 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:22 pm

aggies95 wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 12:18 pm

Yossarian wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 11:42 am

If it hasn't been announced yet, I suspect Alston Jr. will be the MW POW for last week.

In his two games against USU, here are Alston's stats:

26 pts
3 reb
3 assts

and

23 pts
1 reb
2 assts

and two wins

for Queta:

32 pts
10 reb
2 blks

and

30 pts
11 reb
3 assts
3 steals
2 blks

but lost twice.

Alston had his best series of the year against us. His 24.5 ppg was his highest series average this year. In other words, as the best or second best defense in the conference, we defended him worse than other team he's faced in the conference so far. It's the most ppg we've allowed in a series this year and only the second time a player has averaged more than 17 ppg against us this year (the other was David Jenkins, thanks to his nuclear 33 point game where he couldn't miss). Our inability to defend Alston likely cost us a chance at an at-large bid and Queta POY honors.

Alston clearly was motivated after the Nevada series, and I have to think he was motivated by our scheme. His 17 FGA in both games against us were season highs in FGA (with 12 FTA as well). He got the shots he wanted, when he wanted them. He was very aggressive offensively, the way great players are when they realize they have a mismatch.

It seems the Achilles' heel on the USU defense is athletic 6'9" guys that can score at all levels, handle the ball, and get whatever shot they want when guarded by smaller or slower or smaller and slower defenders.

Maybe we should have played more zone?

I may have mentioned this in a previous thread, but Bean held Alston to 7/22 from the field in both games last year. Bean has the physicality and length to at least make life difficult on Alston. Alston played PF last year and Kigab came off the bench last year so it worked out personnel wise. This year they're starting Alston and Kigab, so maybe they were worried about who would guard Kigab? Even Marco's physicality would have made Alston more uncomfortable as well. It's nearly impossible to shut down a guy like that, but you can make it harder on him.

Our zone could be an option, but in the limited times we used it against Boise, we got scored on every time. Maybe if we really worked on it going into the series it could be an option? To your point though, I think just about anything would've been better than what we did, outside of guarding him with Ashworth.

Personally, I would've played Queta, Bean, and Anderson together a lot more. This could be it's own thread, but I don't understand the hesitancy to play Phonz and Bean together with Queta. They had no answer for Queta or Anderson in the post. Bean would've been a nightmare for Alston to try and keep off the glass. Anderson could've guarded Kigab and Bean could've guarded Alston. Bean and Anderson are 2 of our best 3 or 4 players (according to PER & Net rating), and we continue to limit them to 40 minutes combined. Bean scored 7 points quickly in the first few minutes of the second game and then got subbed out. Phonz scored 3 possessions in a row in the second half and then got subbed out for Bean, who subsequently got a couple of huge offensive rebounds that led to points. The Bean vs. Phonz argument isn't the argument we should be having. It should be how can we play them together more.

Instead we chose to guard Alston with Brock and played Steven 37 minutes, almost as many minutes combined as Bean/Anderson.

I didn't pay close attention to the Bean-Kigab match-up for a lot of the series. For the most part, Kigab was a role player that got some timely buckets but didn't hurt us with a ton of points. Having said that, the start of the second half in the second game Kigab abused Bean. Here is the gamecast summary of those first 6 minutes of the second half. Bean was guarding Kigab during this stretch:

19:46 Steven Ashworth missed Three Point Jumper. 37 - 30
19:43 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 37 - 30
19:31 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 37 - 32
19:13 Steven Ashworth missed Layup. 37 - 32
19:10 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 37 - 32
19:09 Neemias Queta made Layup. 39 - 32
18:56 Mladen Armus missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:53 Neemias Queta Defensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:41 Marco Anthony missed Layup. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta Offensive Rebound. 39 - 32
18:32 Neemias Queta made Layup. 41 - 32
18:23 Abu Kigab made Layup. 41 - 34
18:15 Marco Anthony made Layup. 43 - 34
18:03 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 43 - 36
17:47 Steven Ashworth made Layup. Assisted by Neemias Queta. 45 - 36
17:27 Derrick Alston Jr. made Three Point Jumper. 45 - 39
17:06 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 39
16:26 Foul on Neemias Queta. 45 - 41
16:26 Neemias Queta Turnover. 45 - 41
16:15 RayJ Dennis Turnover. 45 - 41
15:53 Brock Miller missed Three Point Jumper. 45 - 41
15:48 Marcus Shaver Jr. Defensive Rebound. 45 - 41
15:37 Abu Kigab made Layup. Assisted by Marcus Shaver Jr.. 45 - 43
15:13 Neemias Queta missed Layup. 45 - 43
15:10 Mladen Armus Defensive Rebound. 45 - 43
15:06 Derrick Alston Jr. made Layup. Assisted by RayJ Dennis. 45 - 45
14:57 Utah State Timeout 45 - 45
14:50 Foul on Mladen Armus. 45 - 45
14:50 Official TV Timeout 45 - 45
14:49 Utah State Turnover. 45 - 45
14:40 Abu Kigab made Jumper. 45 - 47


This is when the game was lost. Boise came out and erased a 7 point USU lead in five minutes and got a lot of confidence and put USU on its heels.

It was really pretty good defense on him with a hand in his face but he just hit all of shots. Really was a big difference for them.

You do have to give their role players credit. Kigab hit some tough shots at the start of the second half. Armus hit some really difficult shots the last couple minutes of the game.

utaggies wrote: ↑

February 22nd, 2021, 3:55 pm

Regardless of the line up, someone besides Queta needed to step up. No one did. BSU’s strategy worked. Don’t double down on Queta and let someone not named Queta try to beat you. We couldn’t. They denied our 3-pointers. The score may have been worse but Queta hit 8 of 9 FTs which was uncharacteristic.