BYU uptempo is the outlier - cougarguard.com — unofficial BYU Cougars / LDS sports, football, basketball forum and message board

MikeWaters · 12-30-2014, 05:51 PM

There is a piece in ESPN the magazine this week about tempo in college basketball. I looked for an online link and couldn't find one. If link is available, it will be INSIDER only.

It's been steadily declining since Kem Pomeroy has been tracking it since 2001. Tempo is usually higher in the first half of any given season, and then declines in conference play, as teams are in more half-court sets. And it has something to do with the competition as well (easier to run against bad teams).

This year college basketball is on pace to have the slowest tempo in its history since 2001.

Changes in rules made last year to increase offense have failed.

Most of the best teams are among the very slowest in tempo. Like Kentucky. Wisconsin.

In contrast you have BYU, which is not among the best teams, but among the highest in tempo (the article didn't mention BYU). Given the current college basketball landscape, this isn't a winning formula. Consistently high tempo teams do not do well when it matters. And we've seen that BYU cannot dictate tempo to slow-down teams. It's the other way around. Those slow -down teams dictate the tempo to BYU, if they are half-decent.

But at the very least we have to credit Rose with this: giving us a basketball style that is not tedious to watch. I'd much rather watch high-tempo basketball, than 58-50 scores.

Plus it would be a lot more fun to play for Rose, if you are offensively minded. The thing that BYU lacks is a great high-intensity effective defense that would more dictate tempo.

College basketball is broken. I don't watch any college basketball outside of BYU. It's awful. They need to reduce the shot clock to 30 pronto.

MikeWaters · 12-31-2014, 03:30 PM

"Only seven teams have ranked in the top 25 in tempo in each season since 2011-12 (including this one), and UNC is the lone marquee program. The Heels are averaging 71.8 possessions this season but fell to Butler (259 in tempo). Don't expect the pace to speed up without new NCAA rules..."

Here's the list:

UNC
VMI
Nebraska Omaha
Northwestern State
Massachusetts
BYU
Central Arkansas

Besides UNC, only 3 of the schools have made the dance, and only BYU has a win at the dance (1).

12-30-2014, 05:51 PM	#1
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	BYU uptempo is the outlier There is a piece in ESPN the magazine this week about tempo in college basketball. I looked for an online link and couldn't find one. If link is available, it will be INSIDER only. It's been steadily declining since Kem Pomeroy has been tracking it since 2001. Tempo is usually higher in the first half of any given season, and then declines in conference play, as teams are in more half-court sets. And it has something to do with the competition as well (easier to run against bad teams). This year college basketball is on pace to have the slowest tempo in its history since 2001. Changes in rules made last year to increase offense have failed. Most of the best teams are among the very slowest in tempo. Like Kentucky. Wisconsin. In contrast you have BYU, which is not among the best teams, but among the highest in tempo (the article didn't mention BYU). Given the current college basketball landscape, this isn't a winning formula. Consistently high tempo teams do not do well when it matters. And we've seen that BYU cannot dictate tempo to slow-down teams. It's the other way around. Those slow -down teams dictate the tempo to BYU, if they are half-decent. But at the very least we have to credit Rose with this: giving us a basketball style that is not tedious to watch. I'd much rather watch high-tempo basketball, than 58-50 scores. Plus it would be a lot more fun to play for Rose, if you are offensively minded. The thing that BYU lacks is a great high-intensity effective defense that would more dictate tempo. College basketball is broken. I don't watch any college basketball outside of BYU. It's awful. They need to reduce the shot clock to 30 pronto.

12-31-2014, 03:30 PM	#2
MikeWaters Demiurge Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 36,365	"Only seven teams have ranked in the top 25 in tempo in each season since 2011-12 (including this one), and UNC is the lone marquee program. The Heels are averaging 71.8 possessions this season but fell to Butler (259 in tempo). Don't expect the pace to speed up without new NCAA rules..." Here's the list: UNC VMI Nebraska Omaha Northwestern State Massachusetts BYU Central Arkansas Besides UNC, only 3 of the schools have made the dance, and only BYU has a win at the dance (1).