|
Jeff Judkins has a philosophy that works, evidenced by six previous years of success in which BYU has gone to four NCAA tournaments and produced a couple of all-Americans.
So he's not going to throw out the three-ring binder with his secrets. But the BYU women's basketball coach admits that he'd be "an idiot" to not consider some changes for this year's team, which is in a constant struggle to score -- a rarity for one of his winters.
What does it mean? Well, the Mountain West Conference's worst team at forcing turnovers (six per game) is going to try and become a lot better -- fast. BYU, which opens league play today at Colorado State after a 13-day layoff, is planning on applying a lot more defensive pressure.
It's to take advantage of what Judkins feels is this team's greatest asset -- athleticism.
And there's no avoiding why the Cougars may gamble more: anemic scoring. BYU is last of nine MWC teams at finding the hoop, scoring 57 points per game. That's 16 behind leader TCU. Easier baskets, out of steals, heavy defense and transition, are more important to find than past seasons.
"I have to change a few things for us to be successful," Judkins said of his 6-6 team that for once is not mentioned among the league favorites. "I'm not going to give up everything I believe in. My system has proven over the years that it's a good system and it wins. We've been successful. But I'd be an idiot if I had a chance to make our team better ... and I didn't use it."
As for the extra pressing:
"I haven't done a lot in the preseason but we're going to do it now," Judkins said, noting his team could work on such details during an extraordinarily long layoff that was good for a young team to get extra practice. "Defensively we have to be more aggressive."
This team will still ebb and flow around the success of Mallary Gillespie-Carling, a senior shooting guard who has struggled with some combination of the responsibilities that come with being a captain, the team's best scorer and recently married.
She's best in the league in 3-pointers per game, averaging 2 1/3 a game. But her percentage (31.8) doesn't rank among the league's top 15.
But Judkins thought Carling, like the rest of the Cougars, took big strides in finding out who they were by winning the last two non-league games against Utah State and UCLA.
Carling is one of the MWC's most talented point producers, a skill that appears to be a yearly luxury for Judkins. But the way the quiet player gets hers is different. She simply isn't the same producer with the ball in her hands as past all-Americans like Erin Thorn and Ambrosia Anderson, who could roam around screens or slash to the hoop as feverishly as anyone. Nor does Carling have the inside presence of, say, Dani Wright, who shared the MWC player of the year award last season.
Carling is best away from the ball, then getting set up. Problem is, the rest of the Cougars haven't done anything worth making defenses stray from her.
"Part of it is I don't really have a player I can go to every night ... it's more of a whole team than one player, so it's been as hard for me," Judkins said. "I'm used to having one player I can draw up a play to get something. I can't do that much now.
"I think Mallary's tried to do it, she's just put too much pressure on herself. I know she can do it; she is going to do it. That's the person I'm going to go to."
Freshman Mindy Nielson of Colorado, a 5-foot-10 guard, has been put into the starting point guard role. It's not her natural spot, but she's simply too valuable to keep off the floor. Her 6-2 classmate, Keilani Moeaki, is also in the first five these days.
Judkins doesn't want to have his tweaking misconstrued for panicking. He thinks the Cougars are closer than they might get credit for to being a successful team.
There was the nasty blowout at UConn -- which has dominated everyone in its path -- but there were also some lessons learned (albeit frustrating ones) against teams like Sacred Heart, New Mexico State and Arkansas State.
Those were games BYU could've won.
"I really hope we took a lot from the preseason, that we learned and we won't make the same mistakes," Judkins said. "I'm not trying to give excuses, but we've lost, really, four games each by one possession. Win those games and I'm sitting here right now with the 13th-hardest schedule in the country and we're 10-2 and everybody's talking about what a great year."
It still could be, Judkins thinks. If his mostly young team can handle the pressure of league play -- and dish it out. |
