Let the losing streak continue...

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The streak will continue, BYU fans. And I'm not talking about a good one.

BYU fans are just three short days away from being treated to a drubbing at the hands of the Florida Gators. The reason this will happen, of course, is because a team like Florida is BYU's worst nightmare. I'll illustrate by bringing up painful memories of the football game against Florida State that was played in Provo just a few short months ago.

BYU came into the game fresh off an exciting neutral-site victory over No. 3 Oklahoma and a pasting of Tulane on the road. Florida State lost to Miami in the first game before getting way too much of a test against Jacksonville State, which is a Division I-AA school. The game was in Provo, where the Cougars are incredibly difficult to beat. So what happened?

Florida State put 54 points on a BYU defense that allowed 13 to Oklahoma and 3 to Tulane, games that were NOT IN PROVO. In other words, BYU was completely outgunned; Florida State was 12 for 15 on third down and rushed for an astounding 313 yards. And let me add, from somebody who was just a few rows up from the south endzone, that it looked worse than it actually was. The FSU players looked bigger, faster and stronger than nearly every BYU player, and Bobby Bowden knew it. The legendary coach used his obvious athletic advantage to craft a gameplan BYU had no chance against.

FSU didn't have the better quarterback that day. Their team was not as disciplined, their coaching staff was not as consistent and they had an entire stadium full of rabid fans against them. Their season would be considered a failure and result in the end of the Bobby Bowden era at FSU. But on that day, they had superior athleticism, superior focus and drive, and a game plan executed by a big time coach who had succeded in big time games many times before.

On Thursday, BYU will be playing more than the 10th seed in the NCAA tournament. They will play a school that has won two of the past five national championships. They will play a coach who turned down a job as an NBA head coach just a few short years ago, a coach who took a talented team to back-to-back NCAA titles. And they will play a roster built on top-10 recruiting classes in 2007 and 2008 and a top-20 class in 2009 (a deceiving ranking, because the class included just two players, but both are ranked in the top-50 nationally). So lets review the similarities between the Florida State game and the upcoming tournament game:

Great, proven, winning coach? Check.
Team has underachieved this season? Check.
Team is talented and athletic? Check.
BYU is favored to win? Check.

Florida doesn't want to lose to BYU. They have no intention of losing to BYU. They understand the advantage they have inside with their length and size (with seven players 6'8" or taller) and also with the speed of their guards. And they definitely know that BYU relies entirely too much on jump shooting to win games. BYU only wins if they shoot the lights out or if the game is close or tied with a minute to go, neither of which will happen.

The streak continues.

Davies is the key to BYU's success

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The men's basketball team at BYU has great expectations for this season, and rightly so.

The Cougars return four starters from last year's NCAA tournament team, including Jimmer Fredette, the preseason MWC Player of the Year and an All-Conference Team selection, and Jonathan Tavernari, who joins Fredette on the All-Conference Team. BYU was picked to finish first in the MWC, garnering nearly every first-place vote in the preseason poll, and just brought in a freshman class that includes Tyler Haws, a two-time Mr. Basketball Award winner as a high-school standout in Utah.

Still, the Cougars have a black cloud hanging over a season filled with so many expectations. BYU has made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, no small task for most schools, but was bounced in the first round in all three appearances.

Although the losses to Xavier in 2007 and to Texas A&M in 2008 and 2009 were different games with different comparisons, one aspect in each of the games was similar: BYU was dominated by an athletic big man. In three separate yet superb performances, Xavier's Justin Doellman (6' 9") and Texas A&M's Josh Carter (6' 7") and Bryan Davis (6' 9") took it to the Cougars, each scoring more than 20 points and grabbing at least 5 rebounds. In each case, a big man scored well above his career average. In each case, a superior interior athlete made BYU pay for its lack thereof.

But this year, BYU has Brandon Davies.

The 6' 9" freshman from Provo, Utah played his first game in a BYU uniform on Friday night. The numbers weren't spectacular (3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block). In fact, if you take into account the two turnovers, four personal fouls and the paltry 1 for 4 shooting from the charity stripe the numbers look downright awful. That's why, to really see how Davies can change the Cougars' fortunes against big, athletic teams, you had to have actually seen him play.

His lone field goal came with about 14:00 left in the first half, a put back from a Fredette miss. This wasn't an ordinary put back; you just had to see the freshman watch the ball in the air for a split second then suddenly break towards the basket, making three quick strides before elevating and laying the ball in -- all in one smooth motion. It's the first play in KSL's highlight:

Video Courtesy of KSL.com

The block came just over a minute later; an emphatic, athletic block of a Bradley player driving toward the basket. I can't think of another big man BYU has had in the past five years that can make either of those plays. Add in the fact that all three of those rebounds were offensive, and you get the picture: Brandon Davies has talent.

If BYU hopes to compete against Arizona, SDSU, UNLV and whatever gets thrown at them in the Tournament this year, they need that athleticism in the post. They need the big put backs, blocks and offensive rebounds. They need Davies.

Nash, Suns still have it

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Steve Nash has had a strange run in the NBA.

Nash made a couple of All-Star games in Dallas, but the point guard didn't emerge as a superstar until his 9th season, his first with Phoenix. Nash proceeded to rattle off back-to-back MVP's and four straight All-Star games -- he was 23 assists in the 2008-09 season away from recording five straight seasons averaging at least 10 apg (Nash hadn't even averaged 9 assists in his first eight seasons).

The strange part of his story was the timing. Nash turned 30 before his first season in Phoenix, meaning Nash started this incredible run at the age when most players are just leaving their prime years behind them. To put this in perspective, Michael Jordan posted seven of his eight 30+ ppg seasons before the age of 30. Bill Russell won seven of his 11 NBA Championships before the age of 30. Wilt Chamberlain led the league in scoring seven times, all before the age of 30. You get the idea.

And now, entering his 14th season at the ripe age of 35, Steve Nash is continuing his recent trend of spectacular mid-30's play by averaging well over 10 apg through the first nine games of the season. Phoenix is 8-1 and looks even better sans Shaq. This leaves me with a question:

Why?

Is he just so cerebral a player that his decreasing level of athleticism can be made up for with nothing but experience? Is he really slowing down as much as critics say he is? Are Nash's numbers a direct reflection of his offensive system and the players he is surrounded with?

For now I'll have to lean on the "offensive system/players" theory, if only because the 2009-10 Suns look faster and more energetic than last year's version. Nash's best statistical seasons were accompanied by high-scoring offenses and extremely athletic players, so I'll be curious to watch some of Phoenix's new role players. Either way, one thing is for certain:

The Suns are fun to watch again.