No. 8: Boise State

By: Lukas Eggen

Monday, March 8, 2010 - 10:33 PM

Scouting the Broncos

Boise State guard Anthony Thomas drives during one of Boise State’s games. The Broncos are the No. 8 seed in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament and will face Utah State in the first round. WAC Photo

RENO, NEV. — Strengths: Boise State’s biggest strength is its depth. While the Broncos lack a star scorer like Nevada’s Luke Babbitt or San Jose State’s Adrian Oliver, the team has depth that few teams can match. With seven players averaging at least seven points per game, the Broncos can depend on a variety of players to step up on any given night.

Also, the Broncos have a three-headed monster inside with forwards Ike Okoye (6-foot-9), Robert Arnold (6-foot-6) and Daequon Montreal (6-foot-7). The team is second in the conference in assists per game (16.1), which shows the Broncos aren’t dependent on one player to carry the team. Although they don’t get as much press as Babbitt, these three forwards lead the Broncos in scoring and rebounding and have shown they can hang with any forward in the conference.

Although the Broncos finished eighth in the Western Athletic Conference, Boise State proved it can beat any team.

The Broncos defeated Louisiana Tech, Fresno State, Idaho and San Jose State in the second half of the conference season and lost to Utah State, Nevada and New Mexico State by six points per loss. With almost no one expecting Boise State to win, the Broncos will be able to play without much pressure and are in a great position to ruin Utah State’s WAC Tournament title hopes.

Weaknesses: Although Boise State showed it can beat anyone on any given night, it also showed it can play terribly. After winning four games in a row to end its non-conference season, the Broncos turned around and lost their first seven conference games. The Broncos failed to show anything resembling consistency and can ill-afford to have an off game in the tournament.

The Broncos defense also leaves a lot to be desired as the team gives up 72 points per game. Free-throw shooting is also a problem as Boise State shoots only 67.6 percent from the line, the sixth-worst in the WAC. Although a balanced scoring attack is nice, Boise State does lack that one player with a killer instinct in close games. Boise State went 0-6 against the conference’s top three teams, and with their top scorer averaging only 12.9 points per game, the Broncos are not likely to win a shootout.

Team Style: Boise State will not wow anyone with a star player. But the Broncos can quietly sneak up on a team and do some serious damage. The Broncos offense runs on its forwards, as its top three scorers are all forwards. However, as can be seen by Boise State’s multiple players averaging at least seven points per game, the Broncos can use the inside game to get their guards open looks outside.

Although Boise State gives up 72 points per game, it is very aggressive on defense, averaging more than seven steals per game. The Broncos depend on multiple scorers to contribute in order to open up opportunities for other players to get good looks at the basket. In games where both teams score more than 80 points, the Broncos are only 1-5 on the season.

Lukas Eggen is the assistant sports editor at The Nevada Sagebrush, the school newspaper at the University of Nevada, Reno. He can be reached at sports@nevadasagebrush.com.