For some reason this game was error prone and frankly the continuity was poor. I was not impressed with the officiating, and maybe that’s why the game was often frustrating to view. But maybe I’m biased. Hope Baxter is ok and the ft shooting was abysmal
What happened to Baxter?
The officiating wasn’t too bad. Players on both teams were reaching a lot. The officials were calling a lot of body fouls that were questionable.
We got off to a slow start. Maybe because of the back to back games we should have known this. But, players came off the bench and sparked the play.
Free throws and turnovers have to get a lot better.
Knee injury
Any word what kind of knee injury?
The ugly: Haward misses 6 straight F Throws, BYU ended hitting 8-20 from the stripe (38%)
Baxter may be gone for the year, Knee
BYU had 18 turnovers, truly stunk it up out there. Their speed got to our guys.
Averette had 0 asists for the entire game…0!
The good: Much more balanced scoring with 5 guys in double digits.
Haward had his first BYU double-double
Knell hit his shots and actually defended well, I was impressed.
Lohner had 9 boards, 2 asists to go with his 6 points.
BYU had 54 rebounds (18 OR), no folks, that is not a typo…54 while NO had 28 for the game.
Averrette hit a couple of big shots. He got pressured and turned the ball over. He needs to find the defenders better.
The reffing was overbarring. Pope mentioned that in his statements after the game: “We could not get any continuality going in the game”
BYU is not as good as I thought they would be. Maybe Haarms will help. In a way, the Baxter injury helps the team in a twisted logic way. (don’t anyone freak and hear me out)
Baxter does not look for the ball, Never knows what he is going to do with it unless he is inside of 5 feet. We have plenty of guys that can not only do that, but better. Haward is the most improved guy out there from games one and two. He and Haarms can do what Baxter was doing and much more. Howard do kick it out immediately when he felt the double but Wade bricked it. Lowell shows just the littlest glimpses of what he can do. We will be into mid season before this team is clicking.
I agree. Defense is Baxter’s strength. He did get a midrange shot in the 1st game that looked good. But, we have a bunch of 6’8” - 6’10” players that can shoot and score.
It will take a few games for this group to work better. And having Haarms not playing isn’t helping. Hope he plays some tomorrow.
The big issue is free throw shooting.
Ok I see you logic- Pope said, however, Baxter has been playing superb the last two weeks, so I think we can use him. I expected him to develop some kind of offensive signature, but it hasn’t happened and by the way SF knocked off 3rd ranked Virginia today and Gonzaga demolished Auburn. The WCC looking good!
Agreed. Not a great showing. This was my first time watching the team play, and, well…byu has a long ways to go to get anywhere close to where they were last year.
Harward has potential, but I’m not seeing much real talent in the front court. Our bigs are decent, but seem a bit lethargic and lost at times. Hopefully they can get much better as the year progresses. I’m guessing 3rd or 4th place in WCC.
Hope I’m wrong.
Harward ft is bad-Barcello is the strength of this team. Waiting what Haarms brings to the table. The NO game was not a good one to watch or judge this teams on. 51 foul calls never allowed any continuity. Watch tomorrow night and see what happens
Pope also said Wade played an incredible game last night. yawn.
Baxter’s signiture is garbage man and he excels at it. that is not a slight. He burned a year just to play with TJ and Childs those last games before covid screwed everyone. I give him huge props for wanting to be part of that big moment. I have watched Baxter very closely through the years, expecting that killer mentality to click. Some guys demand the ball, others don’t, makes me sad because I know Baxter has the skills if he just had the motor. That game against Gonzaga, Baxter was the man.
The WCC made me proud today
Solid #2. I watched both SMC’s games. they managed to wins on their “never waste a possession” but they are a shadow of last year. SF pulls off a monster win but then Virginia underwhelms with offense. That says more about beating a highly ranked team before they have their wits about them.
BYU is going to be very tough once we get these transfers comfortable. I watched some of the UConn game tonight and we will need Harward. But BYU has a lot of weapons that most teams can’t handle.
San Diego State will tell us where BYU really is.
Did Baxter burn a year? I thought they get to keep that year because of COVID19?