Just scroll to the bottom of the page and all the way left…Baylor has 11 guys that shoot 40% or better. NEVER have I seen a stat like this…EVER. The only two guys that are below 40% from 3? Are at ZERO because they don’t take 3s.
Cinn was a top 50 team, Baylor is a top 15 team.
Vegas has Baylor winning by 2.5
Tom has them winning by 15
Me, Baylor will blow BYU out by 16 or more.
There is a tendency now to lean the other way and say we will get walloped by Baylor, and we might be.
However, I think we will be surprised how much better we look tonight–not necessarily enough to surprise Baylor and take the win, but I think Vegas has it right. All it will take is for someone besides Knell to start hitting from the outside, our PG and others to cut down on turnovers, and for our bigs to perform a little better at the post.
We will return to our rebounding and transition game and stay in this, right up until the end. It could go either way. I don’t predict a win, but it could happen.
It could be I’m still looking at the fool’s gold and thinking maybe there’s some of the real stuff in there, but I’m going to stay optimistic for now. We have the home court. Coaches will make some tweaks, players will realize we’re playing some real teams now and get ready to compete big time.
Baylor wins, but only by 5 or less. (But what do I know?)
Funny how one game (Cinn) opens your eyes to BYU in the big 12.
Cinn had a Putrid first half at BYU, they turned the ball over I think 12 times (to BYU’s putrid 11) but here’s the deal. Skinny Waterman was covering their best player, 6’11 Victor Lakhin. Not once did Cinn. exploit a clear mismatch. They clunked away from 3land allowing BYU to build a lead.
You can bet what that locker room sounded like at half. Coaches huddle, assistant coaches going off about mismatches and how we play into BYU run and gun philosophy. Cinn does a 180 and pounds an undersize BYU team with Foos, our best inside defender, no able to jump. BYU is left with Atiki as our best inside defender.
The big surprise was how unprepared Pope was to shift strategies. leaves Baker and Johnson sitting while Hall goes AWOL. Someone mentioned bring Stewart in, yet he had 4 TOs in 5 minutes. Really hope we saw 20 minutes of the worse BYU BBall I have EVER seen and that this is not BYU’s identity going forward. Still love Pope, love his recruiting, just hope it was an all-time brainfart.
I mentioned Stewart. I was aware of his 4TOs in 5mp. My point was that the game was lost and Hall deserved a benching, more than advocating for Stewart to take big minutes. But in addition to those epic bricks he was launching, Hall also got torched for 12 second half points from Cincy’s backup PG who who scored a total of 11 in his last 3 games against terrible teams. Hall was indeed AWOL and Pope turned a blind eye.
Well, I’m sure Pope cut after the guys because hall is playing in control and everyone has had to the hoop strong. We look like a completely different team.
15 to 11. Then a tiki gets a flagrant. Two quick turnovers he just has got to learn to play. Richie Saunders is on fire. Knell now it’s just quick to pull the trigger.
So, two technical fouls and 14 turnovers turned into 26 Baylor points. They made 10 more free throws. People like Hawks spend 95% of games crying about the refs. If we take better care of the ball, don’t make stupid fouls, don’t get technical fouls, we can win these games. We have to play better in the 2nd half’s of each game. We gave up 48 tonight and Saturday. Forget the refs. Do what we can do better.
Who else are you going to run the point but Hall? Pope won’t play Baker nor Adams. Makes me mad that he won’t. He’s thinking about next year already.
Stewart is a turnover machine as well. But, I’d still play him more and Hall less.
And, why does Johnson miss 6 foot shots and not hit the rim? His midrange game is horrible. Too much dribbling as well.
Good points. I didn’t see the refs as much of a factor as poor execution - too many turnovers.
Do like the adjustment Pope made to go inside. It opened up outside shots. Not really a bad game by BYU AT Baylor. Kept it very close. They could win in this league if they just get a bit better on the big stage.
I’d play stewart and Baker more also, and limit Hall.
Robinson has lost a lot of his dominance/shot. He’ll come back I believe.
We can go inside with Fousse. But he has to look to pass as well. We could go inside more if Adams would play as well. Johnson can get into the lane but bricks short shots. That one from 6 feet that went 8 feet and never touched the rim. That should be counted as a turnover.
I agree that Baker should be playing. And give Stewart another chance.
We didn’t have nearly as many assists tonight as we need to. And, missing freethrows down the stretch doesn’t help. Baylor didn’t.
Our defense in 2nd half’s hasn’t been good these past 2 games. That has to improve.
BYU lost the game on TOs, our point guard is the main culprit. Baker has to be hurt or he would be out there. Hall should of been turned over 4 more times, he is that loose with his passes. I’d sit him for a while. Robinson and Johnson have been bringing the ball up, works enough but we really need a decent point, Stewart OK as a back up.
Can BYU compete in the big 12. 30 minutes says yes, we just need to finish game.
Very encouraged by our playing the first half and 5 minutes into the second half.
Nobody sees the officiating as a factor, even when BYU wins every statistical category besides free throws taken and fouls. Baylor shot a lower percentage on free throws but when you get double the free shots, make 10 more and win a game by 9 how can it not be a factor?
Is the moving screen violation a rule in basketball this season? Because Baylor did it every time on their high pick at the top of the key and it opened up the shooting for them big time. EVERY time a BYU player was screened, the Baylor guy would turn into him as he tried to fight around the pick and create more space. I didn’t realize you could move in front of the defender after setting a screen.
I’m not blaming the loss on the officials but they certainly played a significant role. BYU will NEVER be the beneficiary of calls in this league, they are too scrutinized because of who they are. Baylor is a religious institution but most of you probably weren’t aware of that. I know the officials aren’t because they gave them the benefit of the doubt at the start of both halves tonight. It’s too bad but it has ALWAYS been this way and we should be used to it. Gonzaga is a private religious school too. I thought it might be different in the Big 12. I was wrong.
So, my question is do you think the refereeing is rigged against BYU in the last two games? My opinion is no. We simply aren’t aggressive enough driving inside, except for the bigs. We lean away from the basket too much to get calls. What say you?
Stewart turned the ball over 4 times against Cincinnati. That’s why didn’t play tonight. Does that
Mean Hall should not play Saturday? Hall did shoot well. Waterman completely disappeared.
Pope can’t get technical fouls down the stretch. It was a 6 point swing.
BYU outscored Baylor in the paint by a significant margin yet they shot half as many free throws. Isn’t that where the majority of fouls resulting in free throws come from? What say you?
This is like being in a bigger version of the WCC, except that BYU will not finish third or worse, like they did all the time in the WCC. They will finish in the bottom half, though I was hopeful for something better before the league play started. They are tied for last and most of the teams in the Big 12 have similar overall records so how can we expect anything different? After watching the game tonight, one in which I thought they played pretty well, and seeing how the league is going to treat them, they will be lucky to win 4 or 5 games in league. They aren’t going to the NCAA tourney, regardless of what KenPom or any experts think. The experts use stats and formulas but none of those account for officiating and that will be BYU’s demise ultimately.
After Pope’s justified water bottle slam, BYU has another red flag, added to the nice guys red flag they started with before league play began. That is two red flags (for officiating purposes) that will be there every game going forward. Too much to overcome over the course of the league schedule. They can still play hard and try but they aren’t going to the NCAA tourney, let alone as a 4 or 5 seed.
Lastly, once you understand the world we live in, my comments will make a lot more sense. It can’t be discounted.
