Welcome Back, Bronco Fans
Today is day 1 for college basketball, and I, for one, am excited it’s back. It feels like Christmas day, and there is no doubt about it, I’m ready to get hurt again. This season for the Broncos will be unlike anything we have seen before. This is the last year competing in the Mountain West. It’s the first time playing Grand Canyon in conference play. We’ve lost 3 out of our starting 5 due to graduation/transfers. We also have one of the hardest non-con schedules that I can recall in recent years.
Non-Conference Schedule
When evaluating the non-con, I look for a couple of things. First, I look at our marquee matchups. I’m already hyped for a few games, the first one being at Wichita State (11/18). This team is always competing for AAC titles and is a marquee NCAA team with lots of history. The next one is actually our holiday tournament. This year, we play in the Maui Invitational. Not only is it a marquee tournament, it also gives us some of our best resume-building matchups.
The opening game is against a familiar coaching foe, Eric Musselman. For those who may have forgotten where they’ve heard that name before, he coached at UNR for many years and had many tantrums at Extra Mile Arena. KenPom has USC ranked 22, which would be a solid Q1 win for the resume.
The second thing I look at is the landmines. For every USC and Butler matchup, there are the Utah Valley and Montana St. I mean no offense to some of these teams, but a loss to them would crater any sort of at-large conversation for the Broncos. Last year, it was the buzzer-beater loss against Boston College that ended up dooming that team. If this team can win the games we are supposed to, beat Butler, and steal a couple wins in the Maui invitational, I’ll count it as a successful non-con.
Last up, we have lineups and rotations:
How Many lineups?
Early last season, it seemed (and the numbers back it up) every game had a new starting lineup. Most of them had various successes in the non-conference and conference play. It wasn’t until February against UNLV that we had a cohesive lineup.
That lineup consisted of Alvaro Cardenas, Pearson Carmichael, Andrew Meadow, Tyson Degenhart, and Emmanuel Ugbo. A combo of O’mar Stanley, RJ Keane, Chris Lockett, and Javan Buchanon was the bench rotation. Now that the portal is closed and players have graduated, there are question marks all over the roster.
Who will be the vocal leader Tyson was? Where will our offensive rebounding come from? I believe this roster is good enough to compete in the Mountain West and get us back to the Big Dance.
Starting Lineup For Your Boise State Broncos
If we take last year’s lineup and remove the graduates and transfers, we are left with Peanut and Andrew Meadow. That gives us three spots to fill, and while looking at the transfers, it’s pretty obvious that two of those spots are filled.
At PG, we have Dylan Andrews. He is a transfer from UCLA, where he led the team in average assists at 3.4 per game. Now, it’s nowhere near what Alvaro had last year, but the school record is an admittedly high bar. All great Bronco teams have had a pass-first PG that operates the offense like an orchestra conductor, and I believe Dylan is just the person to step into that role. He also shoots the basketball at an acceptable rate, averaging 38% from the field and 32% from behind the arc.
On the bench is sophomore Julian Bowie—who showed flashes of greatness—but really struggled with teams that pressed high up the court (SDSU, UNM, USU). I think he takes another step forward in growing, but he is still the PG off the bench.
At SG, we have Peanut Carmichael. He was supposed to have red-shirted his freshman season, but thankfully, Leon burned that and got him in the lineup. Last season, the Broncos were desperate for someone to consistently make 3s. That was exactly what Peanut provided, shooting 32% from behind the arc. He will look to continue as a 3 point shooter with flashes of attacking the hoop off the bounce.
At SF, we have Andrew Meadow. Andrew was selected as a preseason all-conference player. Every season, Andrew has taken on more responsibility and grown (much like his hair). I think Andrew will be the leading scorer for this team. He has a great mix of 3-point shooting and the ability to cut into space for easy layups.
At PF, Javan Buchanon. Javon had flashes of greatness last season, which earned him a starting role in 38% of games. He was a great backup for Tyson and even started in that Tyson role in certain situations. This year, he will look to be more consistent at crashing the boards and getting to the free-throw line. He was the second-best FT shooter behind Andrew at 82%. Last season, Javon averaged 9.6 ppg and 3.4 rebounds a game. Second-chance points will be another key factor in the Broncos’ team success, and I think Javan will have a large part of that.
At C, Drew Fielder. Talk about showing up for your homecoming game. In the exhibition game against Idaho, Drew had a team-high of 24 points and 8 rebounds. In my opinion, he more than passed the eye test. He can post up with the bigs and also stretch the floor with his 3-point shooting. If he puts up those types of numbers through the season, we will have a first-team all-conference post by the end of it. He averaged 7 points and 5 rebounds a game last season at Georegtown, but it looks like this coaching staff has a different game plan to show off his talent this season.
Bench and Rotation Players
You can’t say role player without talking about the masked man himself, RJ Keane. Last year, RJ was asked to do a lot of different roles. He would start some games and come off the bench in others. Credit to him, none of that affected his defensive effort. Leon and all of Bronco Nation knew once the masked man was on the court, he was going to give 110% effort on the glass. He had 4 games where he had 10 or more rebounds—a crazy clip. I would assume he will be the glue guy once again and a rebound machine for this team.
A couple of other players who could see minutes that I’m interested in seeing:
- Dominic Parolin. He had a great showing in the exhibition game, shooting 2-3 from behind the arc for 7 points in 18 minutes.
- Aginaldo Neto. Long and lengthy defender who scored 9 points and started the exhibition game. Could play the PF or the C
What’s Next?
The Broncos open Non-Conference play tonight at 7 p.m. at Extra Mile Arena vs. Hawaii Pacific. This game is the first of five home games in a row to open the season. In the words of the Coral: Be Early, Be Loud, Stay Late.
