Fandom Etc.
In my 28 years as a fan of BSU basketball, the first memories I have of the team are of Derrick Marks showcasing his skills and Anthony Drimic’s exceptional shooting. Players like them inspired my love for basketball and deepened my passion for this beautiful game we all cherish.
Looking back at those mid-2010s teams, they were scrappy, tough, and resilient underdogs, often overshadowed by the dominant football program just across the street. For a long time, Extra Mile Arena (formerly known as Taco Bell Arena) was often half-empty, and Boise State basketball was somewhat of an afterthought.
If you had told 12-year-old Mason that the team he loved so much would go on to participate in three consecutive NCAA tournaments and even win a Mountain West tournament, I would have thought you were crazy. Yet, here we are.
Pasts Meets Future
Where do we sit concerning those past teams? How does learning from that same past help us going forward this season? Most would agree that this team, from spots 1 to 10, is the most talented in the program’s history. There are 3 all-conference players in the starting lineup, 1 NAIA player of the year, a couple of 4-star players, and more potential than you can swing a stick at.
With all that talent naturally comes expectations, and for the first time in program history, those expectations are to win the conference and, most importantly, win a game in the NCAA tournament. The question on my mind is: Are we on track for that? Deep down, the 12-year-old fan in me screams, “Of course, we can,” but the more seasoned fan isn’t so sure.
Tourney Day Dreams Or Nightmares?
When we look back at Bronco teams that came up short in the NCAA tournament, we see that they all had similar themes and self-inflicted problems. The first one is they were always under-seeded in the NCAA tournament. Whether it was having to play DAYTON IN DAYTON or a matchup against Memphis, the Broncos have never been given the benefit of the doubt when the brackets get released.
The second issue directly affects the first issue these have, which is losing to a team that we have no business losing to. A prime example of this was in the 2014-2015 season when we won a share of the regular season title but lost in the semi-finals of the Mountain West tournament (to Wyoming, of all teams). This loss dropped us from being in the field of 64 and had us playing in the first four in Dayton against Dayton (and to be fair, we still should have won that game).
The last issue is the ability to close out tight games. Some of those examples are against Colorado in last year’s NCAA tournament, being unable to secure a rebound in the final minute or missed free throws against South Dakota State at home, leading to a buzzer-beating basket. It seems that in big games or late games, this team struggles to get a stop when we need to seal the game late. This isn’t to say we haven’t had clutch players. The same player who missed the free throws against South Dakota State is the same player who hit several game-winning shots like against San Jose State at home.
So, Where Are We?
The losses this season seem to be the same story as in the past, with more talented players. When playing San Francisco, it was the defense who couldn’t hold a 10-point lead midway through the second half, and the offense couldn’t make a shot, which led to the 11-point loss. Against Boston College, the same issue. In clutch time, we relied on the refs to call fouls to get us to the free-throw line instead of using our strengths to get a bucket, which kept the door open for the buzzer, beating 3 as time expired.
Now, it’s not all doom and gloom. I believe there are solutions to these issues, and the first one is to change this starting lineup. In both the South Dakota State and BC games, the bench outscored the starting lineup, largely due to the play of Javon Buchanan and Julian Bowie. I know Tyson and O’Mar didn’t have good showings in this tournament, but that doesn’t worry me. They are phenomenal players and will get it going again and help lead this team.
So What?
This season is unique because we have added more conference games, which means conference play starts in just a couple of weeks. So, unfortunately, Leon and Company have 2 more big games to iron out these issues against Washington State this week (12/7) and Saint Mary’s (12/14). I believe those games will show us what this team will look like going forward to conference play and either instill confidence or open the door to more concern. At the end of the day, I believe that this team can make a run at both a Mountain West championship and, most importantly, getting the NCAA tournament win monkey off our back.
Bonus Coverage
I initially wrote this article on 11/30. Since then, BSU has played Utah Tech, and it looks like I have mind-reading powers because Leon did exactly what I was hoping he would. He started Buchanan and Bowie. I understand that this was only Utah Tech, but the team’s flow has already improved. Here’s building towards the future and more hardware.
Unfortunately, as the Washington State game showed – we aren’t really that good. There is a lot of “talent,” but we don’t have players who can consistently score and get tough buckets when they are not shooting well. I don’t even see this team making the tournament at this point. Sad way for Degenhart to go out, but that is my take. I HOPE I AM WRONG. 🙁
I think it’s still early to throw out the tourney hopes. Historically, these teams haven’t been good in the non-con. It adds more and more pressure to perform on the road during conference play.