Busting Brackets
Fansided

BYU Basketball: Takeaways from the overtime loss to Saint Mary’s

By Tristan Freeman

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 06: Brigham Young Cougars mascot Cosmo the Cougar performs during the team's semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Saint Mary's Gaels at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saint Mary's won 81-50. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 06: Brigham Young Cougars mascot Cosmo the Cougar performs during the team's semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Saint Mary's Gaels at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saint Mary's won 81-50. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
2 of 4
Next
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 06: Brigham Young Cougars mascot Cosmo the Cougar performs during the team’s semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Saint Mary’s Gaels at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saint Mary’s won 81-50. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV – MARCH 06: Brigham Young Cougars mascot Cosmo the Cougar performs during the team’s semifinal game of the West Coast Conference Basketball Tournament against the Saint Mary’s Gaels at the Orleans Arena on March 6, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Saint Mary’s won 81-50. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /

Zac Seljaas misses Kyle Collinsworth

The bench of the Cougars last season provided next to nothing, so Dave Rose and the staff had to completely overhaul the reserves. An unexpected addition to the roster came when Seljaas came home early from his LDS mission in Iowa. Shoulder issues required him to cut short the two-year mission and, after some rehab, he was good to go this season.

The idea of Seljaas returning to the fold was incredibly exciting for fans for a couple of reasons. First, he provided good size at 6’7″ from the wing position, something completely lacking from a year ago. But more important, he was a 50% three-point shooter in his freshman season, a surprising area of weakness for BYU from a year ago.

But in the first 15 games this season, he has been a shell of himself, shooting just 33% from deep, despite playing roughly the same minutes.

There are two ways to look at this; the term “mission rust” describes Mormon athletes who have to play a sport at a high-level two years after leaving on a mission. He could very well be going through this. The other part is that the shoulder issues in the preseason may have gotten him off to a slower start.

But coming into the season, I actually predicted that Seljaas wouldn’t be as good this season and that’s because of a lack of a true distributor on the team.

Elijah Bryant has a very low assist-rate, and TJ Haws is an undersized shooting guard. Seljaas cannot create his own shot, so he needs someone to find him at all of his “sweet spots” on the court. Collinsworth did that in the past, sometimes with ease.

The scouting report to guarding Seljaas is simple: have someone by him on the perimeter and he’ll be quiet. He went 1-for-2 from the field against St. Mary’sand was essentially cold when taking that potential game-winning shot. A shot needs to be created for him, or he has to do it himself.