This hasn’t been a November to remember for Boise State
ANAHEIM, Calif. — When Boise State coach Leon Rice assembled the toughest non-league schedule in program history, he couldn’t have predicted how November would unfold.
He never expected the rash of injuries that has prevented his top players from developing into a cohesive unit during practice. Or the 36-12 disparity in free throw attempts that doomed his team to a season-opening loss at Montana. Or the scheduling quirk that led to his team facing 11th-ranked Arizona twice in 10 days with games against third-ranked Michigan State and mid-major power UC Irvine wedged in between.
The result is a 3-4 start for a Boise State team projected by many to win the Mountain West this season. The Broncos looked the part for stretches of their 68-59 loss to Arizona in the third-place game of the Wooden Legacy tournament, but their rally from a 19-point second-half deficit fell a few big plays short.
“The frustrating thing is we’ve played a lot of good minutes and we don’t have much to show for it,” Rice told Yahoo Sports. “I always tell our guys you are what your record says, but nobody has played who we’ve played. Arizona at McKale. UC Irvine. Michigan State. Arizona here. There might be someone else who has the same kind of stretch, but that’s as tough as you can have.”
The lingering question now for Boise State is whether the Broncos’ fortunes will improve as their schedule softens? They have a challenging home game against 21st-ranked Oregon on Dec. 12, but the rest of their non-league schedule consists of lightweights Loyola Marymount, Portland, Bradley and UC Davis.
To take advantage of those winnable games and build some momentum entering league play, Boise State needs to elevate its level of play on defense. The Broncos are difficult to guard because of their ability to spread the floor with shooters at every position and then exploit mismatches off the dribble, but not even that potent offense has been able to offset frequent defensive lapses.
Boise State is 241st in the nation in points per possession surrendered so far, 200 spots worse than last season. The Broncos don’t have a true center to alter shots at the rim, nor have they identified a defensive stopper capable of checking the opponent’s top perimeter scorer.
“Defensively we haven’t established any sort of identity yet,” Rice said. “Each year, we’ve had some tough guys that decide, ‘I want to guard, I want to guard.’ I haven’t seen that from anyone yet this year.”
It surely hasn’t helped Boise State establish that identity that its top players have seldom practiced together. Arthroscopic knee surgery sidelined starting point guard Mikey Thompson for much of the preseason. Standout forward James Webb missed a week with a concussion. And former all-league forward Anthony Drmic has been unable to practice consecutive days all season because of lingering pain from knee and ankle injuries that cost him most of last season.
Drmic has averaged a team-best 16.8 points per game, but the senior forward’s injuries took a toll Sunday. In his third game in four days, Drmic shot 1-for-12 from the field and finished with six turnovers, not the performance the Broncos needed against an Arizona team eager to rebound from its first loss two days earlier.
“He missed a couple of easy shots early, and I think it affected him,” Rice said. “He missed three lay-ins in the first half. If he makes those, it might be an even game at halftime.”
If Rice and his staff need a pep talk after yet another frustrating loss, they should probably pop in a tape of Arizona coach Sean Miller’s postgame comments. The coach whose team has defeated Boise State twice went out of his way to say he expects the Broncos to bounce back from their tough start.
“Great coach. Unreal offensive team,” Miller said. “They’ll look back on this November and it will be a real gift for them.”
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
