BYU really slid after the 2 losses last week. We were hovering around #25 but got pushed back to #38 with the Prudue loss.
I have always said that road games should be closer to a 10 point swing, not the 4 points that Pomeroy uses.
Veteran teams fair much better on the road.
I am a little disappointed that the big 12 has been losing so many pre season games, ISU is the only bright spot in the league.
Sooooo. Fresno is a terrible team who BYU will blow out. As always on these weak teams, I look to see who our combos are and if we are jelling. In particular, I want to see how Catchings, Boskovic and Mug are being used.
Catchings is making some shots but struggles in some areas typical of a skinny freshman. Could use one more year under KY!
Boskovic is getting more play. Was highly disappointed his first few games but seems to be getting more comfortable in the BYU system.
Mag is still not jelled, His offense is suspect and we really need his defense!!!
BYU has not stopped anyone on D, an area we really need to improve on.
BYU’s 2 losses, Ol Miss and Purdue are Sr heavy teams who have played a lot of ball together.
I am watching for 2 things in the Fresno game:
1 Hall really needs a big game, he is the cornerstone to BYU’s newcomers and veterans
2 DEFENSE. I need Catchings and Bosko to step up
I read that Fresno has poor 3pt shooting percentage. I’m worried that they will have their best 3 pt percentage of the year. We have a tendency to make other teams look better than they actually are. I hope I am wrong and they play lock down D on the perimeter.
Interesting observation here because I saw it way too many times tonight… Fresno players wide open for 3’s on the perimeter. 12-37 isn’t great but they weren’t that far behind BYU, who looked like they were making everything at 14-34.
1 BYU shoots lights out from 3 at home, 41% , 14-34
2 Knell has his best day as a starter in for Egor…double double 10 boards and 22 points
3 Hall shaking the rust off 13 pts and 4 assists
4 Baker has the smoothest shot from 3 I’ve seen and he does not care, he will take the rock inside against anyone
5 Keba rim protecter, they have him down for 2, I counted 4 blocks
6 50 Rebs, that 20 more than Fresno
7 AJ Dybantsa in the HOUSE!
8 since being man handled by Prov. They worked all week on Defense, granted, this was Fresno but they could not get a look inside. Good. BYU has a ways to go defending the 3! Bad
About the three-point shooting for fresno. Coach young said he was happy with the defense. Their game plan was to give them the open three and keep them from driving. So they did shoot a little better than their average but that was the plan.
Another thought on catchings. Young was very happy with his game even though he didn’t shoot that great tonight. Young mentioned that he has been coaching him and he is very coachable. He’s responding very well and Coach young thought he played a very smart game tonight and was aggressive in the right way.
If Catchings doesn’t get his 3 point shot figured out, teams will let him shoot it and defend against the drive. I may be wrong but it looks like his shot changes a bit from shot to shot. He isn’t squared up every time. Foot work? Maybe he isn’t use to shooting in big gyms yet?
Belated earned praise for Knell - his best game ever.
All I have said ad nauseam is that he needs to shoot 44+% of 3 pointers to justify playing time given limitations/liabilities. Guess what? He’s at 45%. Keep it consistently at that level and I am a bona fide Knell fan.
Isn’t this what we thought would happen this season for Knell? With all this talent on BYU’s roster, Knell can not only guard their worse player but he can get plenty of open looks without rushing it, as was the case last year. Very happy for him
BYU gotta do a much better job guarding the 3. With Keba and Foos, teams are going to think twice before going inside
Well, KY was interviewed and he said he wanted to not go out and defend way out on the 3’s because it would open up the lane for Fresno and that was their strength.
