Roger Reid has already got his basketball team thinking about the NCAA Tournament.
With just 27 games on their regular-season schedule, the Cougars don't have as much leeway as usual in trying to reach that 20-win plateau that always looks impressive to the NCAA Tournament selection committee.Last season, for instance, BYU had 30 regular-season games; they were 23-7 going into postseason play. This year, they are 5-2 with just two remaining pre-WAC games, against Weber State and Western Washington.
Even if they win both, that's just seven wins, and two of those will be against NAIA teams (Oklahoma Baptist and Western Washington), which the selection committee throws out.
That means the Cougars would have to go at least 13-5 in WAC play to reach 20 victories going into the WAC Tournament.
After the victory over Texas Tech on Friday night, Reid said, "I told the players that what we were doing here was playing an NCAA game. That was our motivation."
REID FANS: It's a little hard to understand why some people still aren't happy with the job Reid is doing at BYU. All he's done is average 23 victories in his four seasons as head coach, giving him the best winning percentage (.708) of any Cougar hoop coach who coached more than 100 games.
Reid's disciplined offensive system may not always be the most exciting to watch, but it seems to get the most out of the most players. Several opposing coaches have praised Reid in postgame comments this season, including Texas Tech coach James Dickey.
"The thing I marvel at is their (BYU's) offensive execution, and that comes from coaching," said Dickey.
REID II: The other Reid who is starting to make his detractors look pretty stupid is Randy, Roger's eldest son. Last season, Randy, then just a freshman, was frequently criticized by people who said he would never be a Div. 1 level point guard, who said that Kurt Christensen was a better point guard, etc.
It's true that Christensen was a far better shooter than Reid last season, but Randy easily had the team's best assist-to-turnover ratio, 141-89. Christensen had 32 assists, 29 turnovers; Ryan Cuff, 86-72; and Nick Sanderson, 52-56.
This season, Randy has improved his shooting while maintaining his status as the best passer, even though he doesn't play the point. Through seven games, Reid has hit 34 of 64 shots (53 percent), mostly from outside. He has 25 assists, 11 turnovers.
WARNING SIGNS: It's still early, but a couple of trends are developing that could mean trouble for the Cougs down the road.
For one thing, they are giving up the three-point shot. They have allowed opponents to make 52 threes so far (7.4 per game), at a success rate of 41.3 percent. Last year, opponents only connected on 31.5 percent.
For another thing, the Cougars are getting battered on the boards. Texas Tech had 20 offensive boards, BYU seven. Last year, BYU outrebounded opponents 38.8 to 32.3. This season, they are being outboarded, 35.8 to 31.0.
AWARD NOMINEES: The Top Hacker Award should be much more hotly contested this season than it has the past three, when Jared Miller held a stranglehold on it (and frequently opposing players). Russell Larson is the team leader, with 27, but his minutes-per-foul average (6.0) isn't that impressive. Randy Reid has 25, but he (and Danny Ainge) will tell you they were all unjustified.
The real candidates: Mark Durrant, the hold artist who averages a foul every 5.48 minutes and Jay Thompson, the chest-banger who averages one whistle every 3.5 minutes.