Just out of a desire for perspective, I took a look at the records of the current and future Big 12 men’s BB teams. A bit of a reality check. The current Big 12 has 6 of 10 teams in the top 20. Of the four teams not ranked in the current Big 12, Oklahoma State, West Virginia, & Oklahoma are all at 11-8, with losing records in conference (3-4, 1-6, & 2-5 respectively). Texas Tech is in last place in the conference at 0-7, but 10-9 overall with their two non-conference losses being to Ohio State and #10 Creighton by 7 & 11. Their only other double digit losses are @ #5 Kansas State by 10 & @ #12 Iowa State in a blowout. They lost to #11 TCU by 6, to #17 Baylor by 7, to #3 Kansas by 3, to Oklahoma by 5 and @ #10 Texas by 2. That is the winless-in-conference LAST PLACE team!
The future Big 12 will lose #10 Texas and replace it with #3 Houston; and lose unranked 11-8 Oklahoma and replace it with UCF at 13-6 with wins over Santa Clara, Florida State, & Oklahoma State & a loss @ #3 Houston by 6. Plus, Cincinnati at 14-7 who lost to #14 Arizona 101-93, and BYU at 14-9. But at least we beat Creighton, right?
The Big 12 will be like playing Gonzaga and St. Mary’s every other game, mixing in a Santa Clara every now and again.
Whoever coined the phrase “like a pig to slaughter” must have had BYU’s transition to the B12 in mind. I love BYU basketball and have been a big proponent of hiring Coach Pope ever since my oldest daughter worked for the team for several years (during the Tyler Haws/KC run). I’m EXTREMELY happy to get out of the Rec League with its terrible officiating and HS gyms, but have no illusions of BYU being competitive for awhile. Here is the current state of BYU bsketball:
We have zero fully functional players over 6’6",
we can’t defend guards on the dribble,
we have no respect for each possession (335th in the country in TOs),
we have terrible ball movement (227th in the country in Asst/TO ratio)
we are a terrible 3 point shooting team (198th in the country)
we don’t score in transition (144th in the country in FB points)
we don’t have a “star” to consistently save us when we struggle (no one over 12.8ppg)
I guess I could go on, but it’s a little depressing…the numbers don’t lie. This is bad, BAD basketball we are seeing…
pretty much. Tex Tech won ALL of its non conference games except Craighton and Ohio St. had a net of #18 before conference play. Today its Net is #51. And that is the last place team in the mighty Big 12.
BYU’s only hope on Sat vs. SMC is to get hot from 3land.
Tom about covered it.
No athletes and no playmakers. As my fishin buddy coach says, “Speed Kills”
Hard to figure BYU. With all the detrimental things you listed about BYU, they should be getting blown out every game-but they aren’t.? They are actually hanging pretty close in most of their games. They have good young players in Hall and Saunders. What they lack is a dominating, physical 6”11” or 7 foot post player and an athletic lights out shooter that can take over a game. Foose is really good but undersized Atiki is getting better but just trying to figure things out. I honestly can’t remember a year when BYU didn’t have a star talent player. Maybe next year they will be able to fill a couple of holes. Not sure about Pope-seems to be some dissatisfaction with some players. You would know more with your current BYU contacts. I thought Stewart was going to be a really good player, but the dude just cannot shoot. Anyone named Haws still around? Puzzling because I thought Pope to be a really good recruiter
The jury is still out on Pope. He had a great first year. He got Barcello and Toolson through the portal. The rest of the team Rose recruited. Since then each year has been a step back from the previous year.
I really want to believe Pope is a great coach but what I am seeing is that his greatest talent is hyperbole. I am super amazed at his fantastic, super, amazing hyperbole. It’s awesome.
Not really sure. So much of college athletics is coaching and recruiting. Year in and year out Randy Bennett gets the most out of his players, similar to Mark Few. Few, however generally gets great athletes where Bennett seams to develop great team talent. I don’t want to get down on Pope, as so many things factor into having a good program, but obvious deficiencies are apparent and going into an elite conference makes one a little apprehensive of the future
Boy, the shoe sure fell off this year. Bennett’s team was right on the top 10 preseason and they’ve been dismal. Personally, I’m kind of giggling inside a little bit. I don’t know maybe there’s something wrong with me, but never like the fact that Bennett will never play away from home in the preseason, and then he Expects to be considered as a good coach and a good team when they don’t play anybody and then they manage to win a few in WCC and then they stink it up in the big dance that is his pattern
It’s fun to go back and read these threads from last year, what a turnaround upperclassman can be on a ball club. We were lamenting how bad Byu was going to get slaughtered a year ago and now everybody in the country is considering Byu not just in the big 12 but probably one of the best 5 Teams in the big 12
It will be interesting to see how Adam’s transition in and when we get baker. Because I really like the chemistry of the team, and these two will certainly steal Minutes. Enjoy the ride.
One could ask why is Byu so much better this year. Johnson nailed it when he said they played together through the summer and know each other‘s game. I was at the FAU game last night here in Fort Lauderdale Florida. Sitting next to nba coach who leaves over to me and says these guys could make the final four and the reason why,? They played together they trust each other.
I agree () with what you say. I’d consider one change with either Adams or Baker is replacing Knell. His shot in games has gone into the tank. His feet are never under him which causes him to lean forward awkwardly when shooting 3’s.
From somebody who knows both coaches: “Mark Few is absolutely the greatest guy out there. He’s a great friend of BYU. Randy Bennett? He’s pretty much a jerk and is really REALLY easy to dislike.”
) with what you say. I’d consider one change with either Adams or Baker is replacing Knell. His shot in games has gone into the tank. His feet are never under him which causes him to lean forward awkwardly when shooting 3’s.