Say Hello to your Boise State … Warriors?
If you enjoyed watching the Golden State Warriors blaze a trail through the basketball worldlast year en route to their NBA title, then you are going to love watching this year’s Boise State basketball team. They may very well be the NCAA’s version of the Warriors: a high-powered, adrenaline-filled, long-range launching roster the likes of which Boise fans have never seen.
The recipe to the Warriors success last season wasn't hard to understand—push the tempo, move the ball, and make a lot of threes. Simple in theory, difficult in execution. The key ingredient to this master plan is also the rarest—deadeye shooters. Luckily for BSU, they have plenty of those.
The Warriors blueprint calls for 40% shooting from beyond the arc, a number Boise was close to last year with shooting a hair over 39%. The magic number for Boise to hit won't be 40% though; it will be 11.
The Broncos were 11-0 last season when making 11 or more threes.The only way the Broncos are going to hit 11 threes per game at a 40% clip is to cast up at least 28 deep balls a game. This is a lofty, but obtainable, goal for this group.
Boise is going to trot out four different sharp shooters who have all previously shot at least 39% from deep throughout an entire season (Drmic, Duncan, Webb, and Alford). Add in Lonnie Jackson who led Boston College in three-point percentage as a junior as well as Paris Austin who once made 12 threes in a high school game, and you have the chance for an extremely potent shooting roster.
Even with all their firepower, the biggest hurdle the Broncos will have to clear is attempting enough threes. The Broncos will have to increase their total attempts per gameby six, which equates to one three-point attempt every 85 seconds of game time.Talk about pushing the pace.
The Broncos have the requisite talent to alter their offense andexecute this game plan, but the risk is nearly as high as the reward. Teams who live by the three also die by the three.
An advantage Boise will have over most teams who attempt such a high volume of threes is the amount of options they have on their roster. BSU has four players who havemade at least six threes in aDivision 1 game (Jackson, Drmic,Webb, and Duncan), with Drmic being the only one who doesn't have seven in a game.
Being one-dimensional is usually a one-way ticket to being easily stopped, but as the Warriors showed us last year,sometimes great offense overcomes great defense.
Is there a Steph Curry on Boise’s roster this year? Of course not. Is there a Klay Thompson? Nope. Boise’s strength won't be in one or two superstars; it will be in the number of options.
Boise basketball will be a never-ending onslaught of net guided missiles. The Broncos will be a threat to shoot any team they play out of the gym at a moment’s notice. The pieces are there. The ability is there. Will the execution be?
Leon Rice could potentially have one of the best shooting teams in the nation. One thing is for sure though: this won't be like any BSU team ever see before. Buckle up; it could be a wild ride.
If you enjoyed watching the Golden State Warriors blaze a trail through the basketball worldlast year en route to their NBA title, then you are going to love watching this year’s Boise State basketball team. They may very well be the NCAA’s version of the Warriors: a high-powered, adrenaline-filled, long-range launching roster the likes of which Boise fans have never seen.
The recipe to the Warriors success last season wasn't hard to understand—push the tempo, move the ball, and make a lot of threes. Simple in theory, difficult in execution. The key ingredient to this master plan is also the rarest—deadeye shooters. Luckily for BSU, they have plenty of those.
The Warriors blueprint calls for 40% shooting from beyond the arc, a number Boise was close to last year with shooting a hair over 39%. The magic number for Boise to hit won't be 40% though; it will be 11.
The Broncos were 11-0 last season when making 11 or more threes.The only way the Broncos are going to hit 11 threes per game at a 40% clip is to cast up at least 28 deep balls a game. This is a lofty, but obtainable, goal for this group.
Boise is going to trot out four different sharp shooters who have all previously shot at least 39% from deep throughout an entire season (Drmic, Duncan, Webb, and Alford). Add in Lonnie Jackson who led Boston College in three-point percentage as a junior as well as Paris Austin who once made 12 threes in a high school game, and you have the chance for an extremely potent shooting roster.
Even with all their firepower, the biggest hurdle the Broncos will have to clear is attempting enough threes. The Broncos will have to increase their total attempts per gameby six, which equates to one three-point attempt every 85 seconds of game time.Talk about pushing the pace.
The Broncos have the requisite talent to alter their offense andexecute this game plan, but the risk is nearly as high as the reward. Teams who live by the three also die by the three.
An advantage Boise will have over most teams who attempt such a high volume of threes is the amount of options they have on their roster. BSU has four players who havemade at least six threes in aDivision 1 game (Jackson, Drmic,Webb, and Duncan), with Drmic being the only one who doesn't have seven in a game.
Being one-dimensional is usually a one-way ticket to being easily stopped, but as the Warriors showed us last year,sometimes great offense overcomes great defense.
Is there a Steph Curry on Boise’s roster this year? Of course not. Is there a Klay Thompson? Nope. Boise’s strength won't be in one or two superstars; it will be in the number of options.
Boise basketball will be a never-ending onslaught of net guided missiles. The Broncos will be a threat to shoot any team they play out of the gym at a moment’s notice. The pieces are there. The ability is there. Will the execution be?
Leon Rice could potentially have one of the best shooting teams in the nation. One thing is for sure though: this won't be like any BSU team ever see before. Buckle up; it could be a wild ride.
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