Aggie big men have played crucial role in team’s success

Utah State’s big men played a, well, big role in Saturday’s win over Colorado State. Senior forward Quinn Taylor and freshman center Neemias Queta, were much more involved than in recent games for Utah State. In total, they combined for 30 of the Aggies’ 87 points on the night as well as 20 of the team’s 39 rebounds.

This is something that USU head coach Craig Smith wanted to emphasize, speaking about it after their loss to Fresno State on Jan. 9.

Over the three games since that loss, Queta and Taylor have been featured more often in the Aggies’ plans. Queta over the past three games has been averaging 15.3 points per game and 8.3 rebounds per game in 31 minutes played per contest. Within the first three possessions of the Saturday’s contest, Utah State went to Queta twice in the post, hoping to establish his presence early on.

“Everybody wants to score the first ball, and I think it helps me a lot when I get the ball and score the first one,” Queta said.

Taylor, although not scoring as much as Queta, has still managed 28.6 minutes of game-time over the past three, and acts as a floor general for the Aggies when he’s on the court.

Photo by Tim Carpenter

“Of course Quinn, he’s just old reliable, right, he’s just Mr. Dependable,”  Smith said. “You pretty much know what you’re going to get out of him on a day-to-day basis. And we certainly went to him inside more tonight than maybe we typically have and I think that’s something we gotta look at doing more often.”

This change has been to the advantage of Utah State in a number of ways, not all directly related to the two star big men. The amount of attention that these two players attract in the paint does wonders to open up the Aggies’ shooting on the perimeter. Since the Fresno State loss, Utah State has been shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 39.3 percent from three, both tops in the league over that span. The bonus for Utah State is that both Taylor and Queta are plenty skilled enough to suck in the defense and make a quick pass to one of the Aggies’ many shooters.

Redshirt-freshman guard Brock Miller shot 6-of-9 from three on the night, scoring 18 points. He spoke on the contributions that both Queta and Taylor had in his ability to get so many good looks.

“You know, they were doubling on Neemias in the post, and he’s a really unselfish big man and knows how to play,” Miller said. “You know, he kicked that out and we had a couple of ball reversals and it gave me wide-open looks.”

Queta seemed to agree with his teammate.

“I think I’m a really good passer and the guys were moving really well,” Queta said. “Usually when teams double me, they try to close out the three point for them, but I think we moved really well and I could find them.”

The extra involvement from Queta and Taylor also helped the team limit one of the better big men in the conference, junior center Nico Carvacho, to 12 points on the night. Carvacho had been averaging 23.5 points per game over the past four. Utah State did this by trapping Carvacho in double teams every time he would enter the paint, largely a combination of Queta and Taylor being the ones to interfere with the center’s attempts at the rim.

“Neemias was an animal, quite frankly,” Smith said. “He did a really good job protecting the rim. He really anchored us, I thought he was really good, especially early on … He’s a good kid and he accepts coaching and he accepted the challenge, really, because Carvacho is a load, he’s a really good player. I just told myself we’re not taking Neemi out unless they take Carvacho out, and he played the whole second half.”

A lot of the growth and development that the coaches have seen out of Queta has been over the past few weeks, as he settles into the season a bit more. Queta is one of six freshmen on the Aggies’ active roster, and like most young players, thrives with the having a senior like Taylor on the roster.

“Quinn has been such a steadying influence, certainly on our team, but especially on Neemias. Because there’s not much Quinn hasn’t seen in his years as an Aggie, but he’s certainly been a great mentor for him,” Smith said.

There were a number of plays on Saturday night made by the Portuguese big man that showed an exceptional level of skill. One trip down the court, Queta used his 7’5” wingspan to steal the inbounds pass and beat Carvacho down the court for an emphatic dunk.

“Oh my gosh, WHAT WAS THAT!” –@ScottyGZone#AggiesAllTheWay pic.twitter.com/1hiTPIYf3I

— USU Men's Hoops (@USUBasketball) January 20, 2019

On another occasion, after pulling a spin move on a Colorado State defender and scoring at the rim, Queta stuck his tongue out at the Aggie student section and pumped up the crowd on his way back down the court. Queta has started to take on the role of hype-man for this Utah State squad as the season has progressed, a role he enjoys.

“I’m always the guy that likes playing in a full environment and everybody’s cheering for me, or playing in an environment where everyone’s against me,” Queta said. “I like having people there cheering for us and helping the team.”

Twitter: @dren_sports