We started out slow and cold. As the season goes on I hope that ends.
Anyone have questions about Davis abilities? Dominating game.
Kaufusi got things going in the second half. As he gets his timing back he will do well.
KC got his game going. He can forget the 3 ball. Take the ball inside.
Fisher was dominating.
Austin helps on defense but adds nothing to the offense.
Toolson needs playing time.
Emery needs experience.
I would have liked to have seen Shaw earlier instead of letting Kaufusi foul out.
Thanks for the update Scott. I missed the game, but I’m glad they won!
Yeh-Davis had a monster game - experienced players showed up-i thought Chatman passed very well-he seems like he is a good fit for the BYU style of play-unselfish -I like Shaw - plays hard and takes the ball to the basket. I was wrong - they didn’t match up well but hey Grasshopper told me Neilson was playing:)so he is to blame
Well, they had some injuries and may have matched up better. I do know that we better shoot the ball better than 42%. And, Davis needs to spent 90% of his practices this week on free throw shooting.
I still want to see more post play rather than just jacking up 3’s every time. In-out game is much better.
So what did we learn from this game?
Nothing.
We still don’t know how good BYU will be, we don’t know which players are going to make a difference this season and we don’t know which combinations of guys on the floor will be most effective. I watched Gonzaga for a half vs. Pitt (a real basketball team) and although they were down by 2 you could tell who was going to be key for them, the type of game they would play and the best combination of players on the floor. And even though the game ended at halftime, because of floor conditions, you could see them already developing and getting better, working on the things they need to improve, etc.
We do know that KC can’t shoot worth anything, Fischer can score against weak teams, Kaufusi fouls too much… hmmm, those are things we already knew. 
We will have to wait another 2 weeks before we know what is going on with this team. Hopefully by then they will have developed some chemistry and they will know who is going to contribute what to the TEAM so they can put themselves into a position to be effective and make a run at second place in the conference. The goal this season should be to beat Pepperdine…
Well, the starters shot almost 46%. The subs shot about 31%. The subs need to understand they have to be able to score when they replace the starters. If the subs can shoot the same as the starters then we have a team that can compete with anyone.
I have to disagree with you on this one. We found out that Davis will make a huge impact on our ability to rebound. Yes, it was against an unknown (probably bad) UVU. However, in the last 40 years, only two rebounders have gotten 20 rebounds in a game. Two in 40 years for BYU. I guarantee that BYU has played worse teams in the last 40 years than UVU. His impact is/will be huge. Other than that, I agree, we don’t know much else, however, that is something.
UVU has zero inside presence so I just can’t see that as a takeaway from this game. It is too easy to get that many rebounds when nobody from the other team is trying. He didn’t have to do anything but stand there and catch all of the misses (and UVU missed a ton of shots).
Like I keep saying, we will know something after BYU plays an actual basketball team. Maybe vs. LBSU but probably in two weeks when they play Belmont or Utah.
All in all, not a bad game.
Both teams started slowly, but BYU started hitting well before they did. They looked extremely nervous and that’s understandable playing in MC with 17K fans. A bit different than the norm for them.
Observations
Davis really impressed with his hustle and all around hard nosed approach. Really looking forward to having him and Mika on the floor together. Drive in at your own peril on D and a solid scoring punch inside on O. Davis’s hustle made the entire team better.
Disappointed with Kafusi’s play. Looked completely like last year. Foolish fouls, bad positioning, all around lack of any offense. I like the guy but he’s got to learn from Davis about how to get after it with hustle, not lazy fouls. He can do better and needs to do better to be of serious help to this team.
Kyle was Kyle - great inside but still can’t shoot facing the hoop (although much improved free throw stroke and results). I really think he’s a bit slow for being a point guard - better 3 but it is what it is.
I hope we see games where Fisher, Emery and Kyle are all on the floor for some time once Emery gets his complete game legs back and is into full throttle mode. Chatman may also figure in on this as he appears to be able to penetrate off the dribble - a rare gift for BYU players. A bit disappointed with Hartsock last night as he looked a bit lost. Shaw, Toolson,
Austin hasn’t changed one bit. Same zero offense with good hustle on defense shoring up inside. Hard to play a guy much though who really gives you nothing on offense, where he (thankfully) gets rid of the ball as quickly as possible when he actually sees it.
Backups look stronger and more talented than in previous years and that will really become evident next year. This year looks good, but next year may be great, as well as 2017. This team has what it takes to run a fast offense - I believe the years after that may be lightening if Mika, Davis and other bigs become defensive board cleaners allowing for early release of 2 or 3 guys.
The only thing with Kaufusi is that he won’t do much if he spends time on top where he was most of the time. They need to have home post up a lot more. When he did twice, he scored.
I will repeat, in 40 years only two players have had 20 rebounds in a game for BYU. During that time, we have played other teams with no inside presence. During that time we have played other teams who have missed a ton of shots. I would almost agree with you if he just stood there and caught the misses. Since it’s obvious that you didn’t watch the game, I’m not sure what else to tell you except that he was impressive. I’ll agree that we didn’t see much else in this game. However, last year we had guys like Neilson at the 4 spot getting around 80 rebounds for the whole year. Davis has 1/4 of that total in one game. Granted it was a bad team. Everyone agrees it was a bad team. However, having someone who is capable of getting 20 rebounds when everyone else on the floor is also trying to get rebounds is a luxury BYU hasn’t had for awhile. It’s even more impressive when you consider that he did this in only 27 minutes of playing time. Before this game, all we had was hype. Now we know a little bit more than just the hype.
Anomaly: something that deviates from what is standard, normal, or expected:
It has probably snowed once or twice in the month of July in Utah in the past 40 years. Does that mean it is something that is going to happen regularly? Does that mean there will be more snow that year than is normal? That is considered an anomaly. Perhaps if we looked at the last time a BYU player had 20 rebounds in a game and see how that player did over the course of a season and how the team did overall we MIGHT be able to draw some conclusions about what that might mean during the upcoming season.
So, while it is a fun stat and something entertaining to talk about, it hardly has any meaning for what will happen this season. Now, if Davis has 10-15 rebounds against Gonzaga and it translates into second chance points and it makes a difference in the outcome of a game… THEN it will actually have meant something.
I remember Fischer making 10 3 pointers in a game against some weak team last season or something… and all it meant for the season was that Fischer could score against weak competition and disappear against good teams… something we also “learned” from the game vs. UVU.
Just sayin’…
Oh ye if little faith 
It doesn’t happen very often even in the pros anymore. But, Davis did play much better and he is going to be a good edition.
Gees Jim, you sure dig in when reality hits you in the face.
At the beginning of the year several of us pointed out that our weaknesses were post production, both on defense as well as points in the paint. As was pointed out in this game is the fact that Kaufusi makes dumb mistakes and fouls out of games, to the rescue come Austin on defense and Davis as a true power forward in every sense of the word. Davis is not a question mark given his nearly double double average at USU. Never has been.
All of us that follow basketball, could see that ON PAPER, before a ball ever hit the floor, that replacing Nelson, foul a second Worthington and the other true Freshmen with Veteran players in Austin, Davis, and Aytes would make a world of difference.
This could be a special year depending on how fast our greenies find their place on the team. So, yeah, Jim…you tend to be the voice of reason here while I am the eternal optimist but even you have to be smiling after Davis gets 20 in a game.
Don’t hold your breath! Jim has never been wrong. And he will come up with some other twist to create another conclusion to his benefit
Hehe… yes, I am hopeful of what Davis will bring. I am also hopeful of Hartsock and Austin and what they will provide. I try not to notice their upper body strength (something Worthington sort of had but never utilized) but wouldn’t it be nice if Davis looked like Araujo instead of Shawn Bradley? Noodle arms seem to be a requirement to play at BYU…
I appreciate your eternal optimism and I’m not trying to “dig in” so much as prepare myself for reality. We all thought Fischer would be fantastic and he certainly has been good… and I would even say “great” against weaker competition. I would love to see Fischer go off for 20+ vs. Utah or Gonzaga though. I would love to see Davis go up against Sabonis and Karnowski and have an impact on the outcome of the game. He will HAVE TO in order to overcome the officials.
I’m not sure if a real fan can be real-istic but that is where I see myself. I want the Cougars to be the best, but I’m not holding my breath and expecting it to happen.
Since you asked, the other two players who did it were Steve Trumbo (forward on the elite 8 team and #7 all-time at BYU in rebounding) and Brandon Davies (#5 all time at BYU in rebounding and center on the team that would have gone to at least the elite 8 had he been still with the team). So, yes, it might be an anomaly, however, based on past performance of teams with a 20 rebound player (as you requested), it would be an anomaly for the team to not at least make the sweet 16. I’m glad you had me look that up, I feel much better about the season already.
Sorry to bring you back to earth but I don’t know if this years’ team has a Danny Ainge or Jimmer Fredette on it… if that were the case then the 20 rebound thing would have me really excited.
Not an impressive first half in the late night game… let’s hope they turn it around.
This is ugly. We start of well and then turnover city from our experienced players. The refs aren’t very good either. So far, the best player is Kaufusi and that is scary. No one can shoot.
Foul shooting has been really bad. Then, freshman mistakes. Bad shots. This team has a lot of work before league begins.