Intro/San Diego State-BYU Preview

Intro

Hello everyone and welcome to my new blog. As some of you may know, I have another blog at dansohler.blogspot.com, but wanted to start fresh for Professor Bradley's class, in which we have to run a ongoing blog. This to me is a perfect time to have a Sports Reporting class seeing as the sport I enjoy the most is basketball. That sport is obviously in high gear as the NBA and college season is near its halfway point and the state high school basketball seedings will be out soon as well. This blog will focus extensively on the sport of basketball. There's so many great stories out there and seemingly more in basketball than any other sport and as this blog and semester progresses, hope to bring some of these stories to light. My favorite sport is easily college basketball. I love how there's so many different teams--many of which are so close to us and they all have different styles and personalities to them. I love the buzzer beaters, the upsets, and the loser go home mentality. There is nothing in sports that tops the NCAA Tournament. It is important to note that I have a lifelong dream of seeing all 347 teams play games in their home arena. So far I have seen 27, in a little over 2 years, so I'd say I'm working at a good pace. I've been to games in 7 states so far (CT,DE,MA,MD,NJ,NY,PA). People might ask, why college basketball, as opposed to the NFL, NBA, MLB, etc. in which I wanted to see all the arenas and teams and there's three reasons for it:



1-It is probably the most challenging feat for a sports fan to accomplish and it's a challenge that I look forward to.



2-As an anthropology major as well, I feel the other major sports leagues all miss major locations which I feel helps define the regional identities while some others are college towns. For example, I tend to think places like Louisville add a lot to the Midwest's personality and what about college towns like Palo Alto, California or Ann Arbor, Michigan, how do the college teams there shape the area's identity?



3-I think some of the great stories of all time are rooted in college basketball. Within the last few years alone, a 11 seed has made the Final Four and a school with less than 2,000 students came within 2 points of defeating the future national champion in the Elite Eight. It is one of the few sports with a one and done playoff format and that certainly adds to the ppeal of the sport. It is a chance for little guys to upstage national powehouses which is why so many people get into March Madness as opposed to the MLB or NFL where it's generally the same teams year after year after year who are making the playoffs. Anything can happen and all it takes is one moment to make a play that these oung athletes will remember for the rest of their life. And as it goes with many tournament games of the past, a lot of the time these guys who step up and meake these game-winning shot are not future NBA players, but simply young college kids who work hard for four straight years and it eventually pays off for some of these guys. These guys aren't making big cities proud like professional athletes, but their college communities and their home towns (both of which can be very small sometimes).

This blog will cover some of those games I go to, as well as different thoughts and opinions around the basketball world in general ranging from high school all the way to the pros. Along the way, I'll give my predictions for state tournament as well as conference and NCAA tournament games as well as preview some of the marquee games going on throughout the regular season. This is usually the busiest time of the year sportswise for me and by the end of this semester I hope to show everyone why and why basketball is the best of the four major American sports.

San Diego State/BYU Preview

I'm sure I probably care about this game probably more than most East Coasters should but I'm in a very interesting college basketball pool where all 347 teams are in play. You create a roster of 11 teams using 100 fake dollars. I heard going into this season that San Diego State was a team capable of having a Butler like run from last year, so I jumped at the chance to take them, especially with having an 11 dollar value, which was a steal considering more unproven teams like Memhpis and Gonzaga were 12's. Duke was a 17 to put things in perspective. San Diego State lost a tough first round game last year to Tennessee, who always seems to show up come tourney time. They wound up advancing relatively deep into the tournament. San Diego State has a team you can't help but think will win come NCAA Tournament time. They start 3 seniors and 2 sophomores. However, one of their two sophomores is Kawhi Leonard. In his freshman year, he won Mountain West Conference Tournament MVP and first team selection. He is the only freshman in MWC history to earn first team all conference honors. He was one of only four freshman in Division I to lead his team in both scoring and rebounding. He finished last season averagin 12.7 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. So far this season Leonard is averaging 15.7 points per game. What I find interesting about this Aztecs team is through the 20 games they've played so far, they have had 6 leading scorers which shows the depth of this team and how there is not one guy they've relied on solely. Kawhi Leonard has been the overwhelming force on the boards capturing the team's high number in 14 of their 20 games. Their schedule has been relatively difficut playing at Big West Favorite Long Beach State, at perennial powerhouse Gonzaga, home against St. Mary's, Wichita State, at California, home against UC Santa Barbara and then of course teams like UNLV, BYU, New Mexico in conference play. But the thing is, through 2/3 of their schedule, they remain one of the 2 teams in the nation still undefeated, along with Ohio State. They have an us against the world mentality similar to that of Boise State and TCU in football and keep using the people who feel they shouldn't be ranked in the top 5 as motivation. I've seen this team play a few times and I like what I've seen. I like how they can win high scoring games as well as low scoring games. I like how they can rely on multiple people to score. I like how they're built like a more offensively sound version of Pittsburgh rather than a bunch of jump shooters like Butler or St. Mary's had last year. These kids are different physically than many other players you'll find at Mid-Major schools. They also have a decent coach in Steve Fisher who won a title back in 1989 at Michigan. They seem to be embracing all the attention they've been receiving from the media and have been put on national tv a lot more recently although good luck to people trying to find CBS College Sports, which is a reason why people still disrespect them. This game may be the Game of the Year in college basketball for at least its regular season. #4 San Diego State comes in with a 20-0 record while #9 BYU comes in with a 19-1 record. This may be the biggest game in Mountain West Conference history. They've only been around 12 years, but there may never have been this much at stake. For SDSU-A possible 1 seed, undefeated regular season, MWC Title. For BYU-if they finish strong at least a 2 seed, possible MWC Title, etc. For BYU, their play revolves around senior guard Jimmer Fredette who first made his presence known on the national stage last year in the 7-10 matchup vs. Florida where he scored 37 and hit two 3-pointers in double overtime to defeat the Gators, giving BYU their first tournament win in 17 years and he also tied a record for most points in an NCAA Tournament game for BYU. This year Fredette has been on fire for the Cougars. He leads the nation in scoring at 26 points per game while shooting 48 percent from the field. His high game this year was 47 against in state rival Utah. Besides Fredette, they have a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior starting and that is where I think things may get a little iffy for the Cougars. Are a freshman and sophomore ready for a huge game like this I think is really up in the air. The freshman is Kyle Collinsworth. Whether or not they win could be heavily based on his decision making. He's known as being a great passer but like I said before, will he be able to handle the bright lights on a national stage. Another 2 key players in this game will be the sophomore, Brandon Davies. San Diego State is undeniably a more athletic and taller team than BYU is. Brandon is their main post threat so he will have to play to all of 6 foot 9 ability if the Cougars wanna come out of this one on top. The same could be said for Noah Hartsock, who played a good game in the NCAA Tourney as well. He has matured a lot over the last year or so and was much better his sophomore campaign than his freshman one. He is a good all around players. He is capable of driving to the hoop, hitting mid range jumpers and threes, blocking shots and rebounding. Lastly, the main complement to Jimmer Fredette is senior guard Jackson Emery. If they want to win this game Emery is going to have to play well. If he doesn't have a good game, I think the Aztecs will be able to contain Fredette enough to come out of the game with a win. Emery is a great defensive player and is athletic. He isn't a prolific scorer but does contribute. He like Fredette is another good 3 point shooter and has gotten progressively better as the 3 years of playing time have gone by.

The three keys to this game are how Collinsworth and Davies play. Will they play beyond their years or will they show up like the freshman and sophomore players they are. I expect the Aztec players to be ready and expect the senior players to show up. Personally from what I've seen from Kawhi, I don't think there's a player on the Cougars team who will be able to defend him and I think the Aztecs team is a decent amount more athletic.

Let Fredette get his points. We know how good of a player Fredette his. Let him get his numbers and hone in the other guys who can potentially kill you like Hartsock and Emery. If you limit the rest of the team's points while allowing a lot to Fredette, you will likely come out on top. Although I don't see anyone stopping Fredette or Leonard, I think San Diego State is a more balanced team than BYU which could be cause for concern if Fredette is off...which I don't think he will be.

Best shot selection will win the game/Home Crowd. I haven't noted it yet, but these two teams are among the tops in the nation in terms of their shot selection and they account for nearly 50% from the field. Whoever takes better time and selection with their shots, will likely come out of this game victorious. The Provo crowd could also make an impact, but I have a feeling it won't impact SDSU that much as they've been in big spots before and expect both teams to play a great game.

Prediction- San Diego State 74, BYU 71. I have a feeling SDSU's experience will pay off here. They have found out that the sky is the limit for this team. As each game progresses they become more and more confident and have a never say die mentality. They are playing for a lot here and I expect guys like Tapley and Gay to step up. I expect Leonard and Fredette to have big games but I feel SDSU is a more athletic and well-rounded team and feel that SDSU has the defensive ability to limit Fredette to an extent and force the Cougars into enough poor decisions to get back to San Diego with a win and more importantly, a still unblemished record.