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PROVO — Getting back to the Marriott Center, where BYU is 8-1 this season, should help the Cougars begin the second half of conference play better than they did the first, but their defense may end up determining their postseason destiny.
"We've had some games where teams just kind of got hot from the 3-point line," head coach Dave Rose said after Wednesday practice. "It seems to be teams that have good offensive post players. I think that needs to be where we need to shore up our defense. We try to give help inside and then we get stretched pretty good."
While the team knows it's going to take a concerted effort by each player to prevent open looks, the Cougars are focused on improving in specific areas of the game.
"The big thing is communication," junior Nate Austin said. "Whether it's screens, whether it's back picks — in all aspects of the defense — we've just got to be talking to each other. A lot of times guys are getting stuck on a screen, guys are slower. We've just got to talk to each other."
Freshman Eric Mika added that by being more vocal with guards, he and Austin can play a bigger role in holding the opposition to a modest percentage behind the arc.
"Nate and I, we have to be louder in telling the guards that they have help or we can show on the down screens and ball screens," Mika said. "If we talk more, then they'll have more confidence on the perimeter."
Perimeter defense weak in BYU's back-to-back losses
During their recent five-game winning streak, the Cougars held opponents to a combined 22-for-91 from 3-point range (24.2 percent). Then, over the course of two games, Portland and Gonzaga went 24-for-55 behind the arc (43.6 percent).Mika’s recovery from a hip contusion appeared to slow him the Cougars’ triple-OT loss in Portland, but he said he’s “feeling pretty good” and that any lingering side effects are “gone.”
Perimeter defense continues to be the one of the most emphasized aspects where BYU is continuously working to improve, and with Pacific (11-8, 2-6), which averages over 20 3-pointer attempts per game in conference play, visiting Provo Thursday, and St. Mary’s, which is second only to Gonzaga in West Coast Conference 3-point percentage, coming Saturday, the Cougars can demonstrate their progress.
“I think it's just a mental focus in being consistent,” junior Tyler Haws said. “There have been times when we lock down and get stops, and then other times we relax. It kind of feels like our offense sometimes fuels our defense, which should never be the case.”
Haws also identified penetration as one of the catalysts for opponents creating space against BYU and he said that if the Cougars can do a better job of keeping their men in front of them, they’ll be able to make sure long shot attempts are at least contested.
“If we can defend people, we're going to start winning games because we can put points up on the board,” he said.
A lot of that might still have to with depth. Last year, we were really trying to protect Brandon (Davies) and keep him out of foul trouble and keep him on the floor as much as we can. We seem to have those same issues this year. We try to maybe protect some of our guys – playing zone – and at times it exposes us.
–Dave Rose on the Cougars playing zone
Rose acknowledged that BYU plays more zone than any other team in the league and that it sometimes facilitates open shots for the opposition, but concluded that it’s the best way the Cougars can extend the minutes played by their starting bigs.
“A lot of that might still have to with depth,” he said. “Last year, we were really trying to protect Brandon (Davies) and keep him out of foul trouble and keep him on the floor as much as we could. We seem to have those same issues this year. We try to maybe protect some of our guys – playing zone – and at times it exposes us.”
Mika and Austin were both limited by foul trouble in the most recent loss to Gonzaga. The new rules have diminished the ability for physical play in the paint without drawing a whistle, something Mika isn’t sure he’ll ever get fully used to.
“I don't think I'll ever really be well-adjusted to the foul rules,” he said. “It's hard because one game it's called one way and the next it's called a different way, so you've just got to try to feel it out throughout the game.”
Though the Cougars’ NCAA Tournament at-large aspirations are essentially foregone at this point, BYU looks to build momentum and play for a high seed in the WCC Tournament.
BYU and Pacific are scheduled to tipoff at 7 p.m. The game can be seen on BYUtv or heard on KSL NewsRadio.
