Granted we have only seen a few games but here is my take.
Last year we had LP3+Childs. Mika was our most consistent player with a 20 ppg average and close to 10 rpg. Emery had regressed (now we know there was a whole lot of off court junk going on with this kid) and Haws was a all WCC solection. (hard for me to accept because he does not bother with any form of defense). Childs was raw, basically a cleanup goy. We had Sr. Kyle Davis and emerging star, Bryant, go down with injuries. TJ Rose was our point, also oft injured.
This year Childs is the man, Dastrup has lost 60 pounds and starting to show glimpses of why we recruited him. Worthington is vastly improved, Andrus injured, Nixon is raw but strong. Are we better down low? Yes and no, Mika was a talent but in my opinion Dave Rose missused him by running an âInside/Outâ gmae rather than a âHigh Pic and Rollâ game. It made us predictable, easy to defend. Now we run a drive and dish offense with Hardnett, Bryant or Haws capable of penetratingâŚvery hard to defend. Our points are certainly not coming from a dominate center but BYU is capable down low to rebound and get put backs.
Last year we cringed everytime Davis or Childs headed to the FT line, this year, BYU is among the top % in the country.
This year BYU will be much more balanced in terms of point production.
Childs will get us 15 a game.
HawsâŚ14 a game
SeljaasâŚ9 a game
HardnettâŚ8 a game
BryantâŚ14-20 a game
DastrupâŚ6 a game
WorthingtonâŚ6 a game.
NixonâŚ6 a game
Defense:
With Heath Shroyer coaching, we wonât need to hit 100/game in order to stay in games.
Emery was our lock down guy (if you want to call anyone that from last yearâŚsad, I know) Hardnett looks to me to be a guy that can take on other teams star guards and the WCC is full of them.
Seljaas is long and Haws is still rail thing and not a factor on defense. Bryant can play either the small forward or defend a quick guard. By the way, Bryant is a star. Childs is a load.
Are we better this year. I think so just because we have better guards and some defense.
UVU is a 60% advantage with a rpi rating of 19th nationallyâŚwhere do they get this stuff.
RPI is still way too early to be any value. UVU has a high RPI because of the âtoughâ schedule they playedâtheyâve played teams with lots of wins. BYU not so much. In fact just playing, BYU win or lose, brings their current RPI down. Unless they smoke the WAC though BYUâs RPI should help shore theirs up by the end of the year.
The team defense is worse this year.
Three point defense is worse
Two point defense is worse
Offense rebounding is worse
Defensive rebounding is worse.
The team offense is worse this year.
Three point shooting is worseâthough how much of this is a TJ slump?
Two point shooting is worseâthough it looks like it might improve.
Turnovers are worse.
The team is tougher this yearâŚit is improving.
The next few games are all toss-ups. Last year they wouldnât have been. Though with the mindset of that team they might have lost just as many as this team.
Last yearâs team went 9-4 out of conference. This team will have improved shockingly if they get to that recordâŚthe easiest part of the OOC is finished except for the two gimmeâs right before conference starts.
Not sure about where you get the âworstâ list from. The defense is better in my opinion and we are doing well with rebounding, assists and foul shooting too.
How much of this is due to a different strategy and the addition of a new Asso Head Coach Shroyer?
Last year BYU went 22-12, 12-6 in conference.
Right now I see 9 games that BYU could easily lose and we would be right on track with last yearâs team. BYU could also win any and all of those game. Weâll see
I was only comparing tempo free statsâŚso strategy shouldnât matter muchâŚ
As to SchroyerâŚthat the team is doing things so much differently is because Rose chose to go with Schroyers suggestionâŚmuch more Steve Clevelandish than the joy of the early Dave Rose years. I would attribute the worsened stats to an adjustment periodâŚthe toughness the team has exhibited is impressive and a marked improvement.
I just prefer Stan Watts/Dave Rose offense to set half courtsâŚdefensive toughness doesnât require a staid offense. a top 10 tempo team to a bottom third tempo team is remarkable. and truly back to the Steve Cleveland era tempoâŚnothing against Cleve he mostly won and he brought in Dave RoseâŚif we could have Roseâs offense with Cleveâs defense the team would be back to the early Dave Rose years, which in my lifetime has been the best itâs eve been for BYU bball.
Agree with most everything you say. I havenât seen a lot yet this year, but like Hartnettâs quickness, strength and effort. For a little guy he sticks his nose in there and says, âIâll stop you.â Last year our guards were like, âHey, would you hurry up and score so I can go shoot again.â
Mika was TGTBT (too good to be true). Generational talent by BYU standards. Childs is good and is tough, but canât take guys facing the basket the way Mika could. Holy smokes he was good when heâd turn and faceâŚnot sure what I think about HawsâŚsooooo skinny and just looks like he doesnât even try on DâŚBryant? Big, tough, strong and finishes at the rackâŚhey, thatâs Big Russia, no??
Most complete game Iâve seen BYU play since the WCC era beganâŚit wasnât against a top notch team, just UVUâŚso how much of it was revenge? will the team choose to make that their floor instead of their ceilingâŚtime will tell but the last three games have been remarkably betterâŚis it a coincidence that Hardnett began starting 3 games ago???
I thought it was a solid game. All around as you said. Basically halved their point total from last year, not accounting for the pace of course.
I actually like the offense this year and that surprises me. I thought BYU needed to be up and down to compete. Now I think we can be effective without it. Honestly, do what St Marys does but try to out recruit them with even better bigs who can shoot from distance like Yo and Payton.
Honestly, I find myself a lot less frustrated lately with this team. Even in the losses.
Defense has been better too. Itâs still early but we have played well in away games too. Utah state game will be a good opportunity to see what we will do in tough away games like Pepperdine, who we should beat.
So this is what I said we should expect out our guys point wiseâŚ
Childs will get us 15 a game.
HawsâŚ14 a game
SeljaasâŚ9 a game
HardnettâŚ8 a game
BryantâŚ14-20 a game
DastrupâŚ6 a game
WorthingtonâŚ6 a game.
NixonâŚ6 a game
Everyone pretty well followed the script except Childs was far better and Bryant/Dastrup were below expectations. (Bryant made up his point production by filling out 4 assists and 9 rebs, while Dastrup was just not used). The only other exception was Cannon, did not know about him but it appears he is a Weber St transfer and can âballâ, makes BYU a better team.
Last year UVU set a new Marrriot record for made 3sâŚthis year, even after Popeâs motivational speeches, UVU still could get an open look at 3. I see Heathâs fingerprint all over this team and they are hardly the same ol Rose teams that put up 100 and still got beat. Its called Defense and its 50% of the game. Most change I have seen out of a BYU team in one yearâŚever
Haws is no longer âthe manâ out there. Never was the man, worst thing that could have ever happened was him getting selected to the WCC 1st team as a freshman. You just donât reward players who donât play a lick of defense. For the life of me, I canât understand why a kid shows up with the same body year after year when they play D1 ball and everyone else is hitting the weights.
Bryant is the star.
To hold UVU to 58 total points, at home, was a statement to everyone in the WCC and the NCAAâŚBYU has a new look with a new coach in town. USU and the Utah game will tell us if BYU has turned away from run and gun to a viable team.
This team playing defense has been like Christmas come early. Theyâll have to work on it all year and theyâll get burned by dumb mistakes but if they can imitate what St. Maryâs does on both sides I think we could take a step up in the conference.
And the fact that it would drive St. Marys nuts because we copied them is just a bonus.
I disagree. I think he tries hard on D up to a point, though heâs not very good. He gets frustrated when shots donât fall and then his defense dies. He needs to learn to control that. We just need to ask less of him on defense by sticking him in the corner on spot-up shooters as much as possible. Also, take charges man. On offense, TJ is the piece that takes the most âfittingâ but he can be a volume shooter for us if we can figure it out. I like the idea of running him off of double screens off the ball for catch and shoot wing threes or reversing screens over and over again until his defender hates himself. We really need to find ways to trick his defender into leaving him open in the corner. What do you think of his release? How quick is his shot? He pump fakes a lot of those corner three close-outs.
Iâve never liked hero ball or if you prefer, star-centric play. Iâm a longtime spurs fan and I love teams that pass. If we can get 12 to 15 from TJ on good shooting with 5 and 5 and a steal or twoâŚthatâs a winning component.
Clausewitz, you know you can left click to highlight part or all of someoneâs post and it will appear as a âquoteâ. Click on it and it makes our conversations easy to follow.
Haws is stealinâ church money by not hitting the weights. You and I are saying the very same thing, Rose has to put him on a corner shooter because the kid canât stay in front of a point or any driver.
Youâre right. Even if he was just marginally better it could make all the difference. I want to know if itâs mentality too with him. He seems fast enough on offense, though I donât know about his ability to move side to side on defense.
Defensive strafing has to be the least appreciated fundamental in basketball. That never gets on sportscenter
Stealing church money? Thatâs just over the top. Is he hurting himself and the team by not bulking up like you think? Do you know if heâs not following the strength coaches program? Heâs wirey but he has put on muscle. Byrant could get more defined too and I think both will. But stealing money?
Heâs 6-6 guarding 6-0 quick guards. I think he needs to and should be a 3 swing man. His defense will need to be masked with great team defense like last night. Iâm okay with that.
Haws shooting could get better by setting up closer to the basket. Heâs taking too many Jimmer shots. Heâs leaning in on the 3âs instead of keeping his feet directly under him because heâs too far out. Also, pass the ball until someone has a wide open shot and he will get the ball eventually closer in.
Nick Cannon looks like he could replace Emery. If Haws continues to struggle, if Emery comes back, I can see him replacing Haws. We could be deep at all positions. The other guards are getting better too.
Both Worthington and Dastrup got into quick foul trouble and ended up playing 4 or 5 minutes. I thought the refs early on were horrible and biased. Childs played well against a big center.
Hardnett and Cannon will be able to play the point. Hopefully Haws can stay at the wing. Shorter 3âs. And, Bryant didnât have to do everything. That will help prevent injuries.
Do you or anybody else know if Shaw or Andrus, or both, will play this year? I would like to see one more big man for depth purposes. I think the guard line is deep enough now with the addition of Cannon.