Well, now we know the 3 main guards can light it up in any given night. 39 points and he had a great game. We do well if we move the ball around. Our players can score!
Haws got into foul trouble. He’s just pressing and trying to do too much. With 4 other scorers in the floor he just has to play within himself.
Emery and Mika had good games too. Shaw really helped on the boards. Not much from the bench. Beo at least shot the ball. That’s a good start for him. Not sure why Dastrup didn’t play.
I was picking my wife up at the airport and planning to watch the game when I got home. Her Allegiant flight was delayed a couple of hours so I had to listen to KSL to get the game. Darn! I’ve been waiting to see BYU play well and then I have to miss it. Maybe the loss to St Marys helped because Cleveland commented that this was first time this season he has seen BYU move the ball really well which lead to a lot of good shots. Shot selection was much better—well, that’s what he said and I have to take his word for it. Maybe Bryant will play a bigger role now.
Yep…
all is well in Cougarland again. At least that is what the average BYU fan will say.
What would really be impressive and actually mean something is to have BYU win Saturday against Gonzaga with all the starters scoring double figures but less than twenty each and get at least 15-20 points from the bench.
If the TEAM were truly improving like the way they could have been this season that is what we might see. If something like that happened and they were competitive but still lost the game it would still be a great sign heading into next season.
BYU needed a good bounce-back win. If you look at the volume shooters, Mika, Bryant, Emery and Beo all took a pretty balanced volume of shots (13, 17,12,11). Bryant took a few more than the rest but he had the hot hand so he needed to look for his shot a little more. It’s just fun to see this team play well and give a glimpse of what it could be like next year if they finally start to come together like we hoped they would. Yes, its only one game but after being down all week, its nice to think the program may not be in a downward spiral.
Yes, that is right. BYU has needed quite a few “bounce back” wins in the wcc this season. It seems to be the win two, lose one, win two, lose one, win one, lose one… kind of season. Just so much inconsistency and never really knowing which BYU team is going to show up.
I’m not sure how they can beat Gonzaga Saturday but the game doesn’t have much meaning so BYU has a shot for sure. The only thing on the line is an undefeated season for Gonzaga and that would be great for them but in the big picture it would probably be better for them to lose.
If Gonzaga goes into the ncaa tourney undefeated I don’t look for them to make it past the second, or possibly third round. Undefeated teams, especially from a mid major conference, just don’t fare well in the ncaa tourney.
Beo took 11 shots? Wow, that probably equals his season total to this point.
Good passing game and a lot of scoring. Bryant was hot from from 3 point line and at the free throw line…39 points. However, coming back to reality they did play a team that is dead last in the WCC, not a great post player on that team, and a ton of turnovers. I did like the passing to the open man. Didn’t see many turnovers except the awkward drive by Haws. Mika was solid tonight and well as Shaw playing very well. Nice to see Beo hit a few threes. Hope this give them a little momentum going up to play Gonzaga, because they will need it.
If one player scored 50 and beat GU would be just fine as long as others were happy with it. It sounds like they would be.
14 turnovers is way too many…it’s always a shirt 4 or 5 minutes of that stuff and they get behind the good teams. Pass the ball well. Make the open cuts and do it within themselves.
Mr. Negativity! How about maybe that NBA coach opened some eyes for a player or 3…there is a lot to work on.
Our coaches have to realize other teams have changed their games both offensively and defensively and so do we.
Great teams do this. We have the talent so we will see as they mature in the collegiate level game.
I’m Mr. Negativity too often myself. I was ready to write this team and coaching staff off a few days ago. My how a nice win changes things. Bryant was supposed to run the point from the start of the season but then he hurt his knee and plans changed. Rose was the next guy up but he really wasn’t much of a scoring threat so teams could sag-off him and take away Emery and Haws. Yesterday, we saw what a scoring point guard could add to this offense. I think the players were impressed with how St Marys could move the ball and win with average but skilled athletes. Whether it was buy-in or just the proper personnel, we saw the offense move the ball well and be effective at creating open shots. How many offensive rebounds did Braiden Shaw get that he kicked out to guards on the perimeter. There was some good chemistry there with him in the game. I hope Mika was appreciating how Shaw was having a big impact without always looking for his shot. Anyway, I’m hopeful that this team is progressing and starting to understand how they can get great shotsl by moving the ball quickly to get the defense out of position. So, here’s the rotation I’d like to see: Starting 5 (1-Bryant, 2-Emery, 3-Guinn, 4-Shaw, 5-Mika). Let Haws rotate in first off the bench at the 2 or 3. Haws can run the point when Bryant needs a break. Let Beo rotate in second at 2 or 3. Once Childs is better, he can start but for now, let him rotate in at 5. Let Dastrup rotate in at the 4. Am I crazy?
The thing I noticed is that this team played without Haws more than any other game this season… Good things happened and fewer TO’s too. Yes, Portland is a terrible team. However, I thought that we had breakout games in terms of rotations and playing time for the bench earlier in the year, and then Rose never duplicated it again. I am holding out very little hope for him figuring things out.
Yes, Bry was on fire but keep in mind that Portland purposely sagged back on the first 3 shots and Bry missed badly on the first. Once he caught fire, there was little Portland could do because after all, they are Portland and they have 2 OK players, the rest just stink. Best game by a mile as a coug.
Haws had by far his worst game as a cougar. He turned the ball over 5 times that I counted and I have not even looked at the stats. Teams are being told to go “AT” him because he is so skinny and plays poor defense…I would go at him if I saw him on the court. Just a total train wreak out there.
Emery had an exceptional game.
Mika is Mika- stud.
Shaw 11rebs…wow, he sure knew where to be when the ball goes up.
Beo-best game of his cougar life, he was aggressive and his talent came through.
Now for the bad…Portland is abysmal. They have no inside defense so BYU gets 17 offensive boards and blows them out. This win tells us nothing about our program. Gonzaga would have killed us on the boards and those 16 turnovers we had would have given GU a blowout win…and all the dribbling the Bry impressed us with, GU would have picked him clean 50% of the time.
Gonzaga, the machine…wins by 20 plus on Saturday. Will be ugly.
This win tells us nothing about our program.
You may be right. Portland is the worst team in the WCC. But, I’m hoping there was enough positive to draw from to create some momentum going into the Gonzaga game and then the WCC tourney. BYU is 79 in the Pomeroy rankings so there’s not much of an expectation that BYU will take down #1 Gonzaga but hopefully, they can compete well like they did in Provo. I’d like to see Bryant get the nod to start at PG. I don’t expect him to have another career game but he also did well with assists and rebounds. As long as he plays within himself, I think he can impact the game. Of course, it all depends on whose hot. Haws had a career night against Gonzaga last time. Let’s see who steps up against Gonzaga.
I dunno… the comments here are reflective of the season thus far. There is some hope for progress, there are some bright spots and potential, there is some ugly play and turnovers, there is indecision about who should be playing, there is recognition of all things good and bad.
Is there any progress? Does the team as a whole look better or is it just individual performances? Some people are saying “I told you so” about Bryant, some are saying Haws is terrible, some are saying Childs should be a bench sub, some are saying Beo can play, some are wondering why Dastrup didn’t. Some are calling for Shaw and Guinn to start.
It sounds like an early season game where the team is trying to figure things out and establish something that will show improvement by the time they get to the end of the season. But alas, it is the end of the season and nobody really knows who or what this team is… but they have great comraderie, potential and well… let’s just wait until next year.
The truth is nothing has changed.
After all that has been said from all of us who love BYU basketball, and our own assumptions of what is wrong and how to right the ship, it is up to coach Rose, and his chosen Assistants to bear the responsibility for the product they put on the court, to produce results we can all be proud off. Lastly, the players on the floor need to play within the system to lower the turnovers and to find the open man, and most most importantly play aggressive defense,.Now the team will get another measure of where the program is with the game at Gonzaga tonight. Would love to see them give Gonzaga a great game! Kudo’s to coach Few for always being able to find recruits to keep their program in the top teams in the nation.
Would love to see a competitive upset in the wcc. I don’t think there has really been one upset this season. Perhaps early in the season one of BYU’s losses, but that proved to be routine as the season wore on.
Such negativity! 
Sometimes reality is a negative thing.
There hasn’t been one upset win in the wcc this season… in like 80 games played. Wouldn’t the season be more fun to watch if some of Gonzaga’s games were close? St. Mary’s too? How many wcc games this season were overtime?
The most interesting thing tonight will be to see in what creative way the Gonzaga fans mock the church and BYU…
It just isn’t a very exciting or competitive league. Gonzaga and Few sort of put an exclamation point on that this season.
If Childs doesn’t play it will be a thrashing for sure. But if Bryant can go for 50 tonight we have a chance 