BYU vs. Kansas, for the win

Basketball
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This win is big, not so much from a historic standpoint just because Kansas is just not that good offensively, but because we finally won a road game and to beat #7 Kansas will do wonders for BYU seeding in both the Big12 and Big Dance. So here goes:

1 Without Mcculler Jr, Kansas has only Furphy, Harris Jr. and Dickinson as scorers. So the BYU Defense pretty much locked those guys down

2 Dickinson pretty much lost the game by going 6-15 from FT. and…he started by making his 1st 3 in a row. Go figure

3 Is this the top win in program history? NO, just because of Kansas lack of offensive fire power, if not us then someone else was going to expose them. Kansas has to go to Baylor and Houston on the road and they would of probably been outed in these games. Top 5? I will open a thread that we can all add our thoughts to and we will let the fans add lib.

4 now for the Heros: Hall has to be the MVP of this game and I will go in order from here, you all can chime in here…Hall 18 pts, 3 assists, 4 rebs, was as good in this game as he stunk it up in the OKSt game. As the floor gen., Hall got what he wanted all night and…Pope called the perfect plays by using Foos in the high pic and roll with Hall (most assists to Foos were wing looks after Hall passed to the wing…Hall to get open looks for Foos or…that killer 3 once Dickerson was left to guard Hall on that DAGGER 3 from the top. Ball game!!!

5 Johnson’s D on Harris Jr. As I have said all season, Johnson is our MVP as a floor general and locking down Harris. 0-2 on 3s, 4-9 on 2s, 6 assists. Not a lot to show for 35 mins

6 Saunders, I want to give Pope credit for replacing Knell in the 2nd but then Knell had 4 fouls…blessing either way. Saunders is lights out defender and our best drive and score guy behind Hall. His box score shows little but Saunders had to switch on Adam Jr with Waterman all night and he locked down Timberlake and that dude had been playing high level ball since McCuller has been out.

7 Waterman played stunning D on Adams! And that dagger 3 after the Dickerson 3 killed Kansas momentum at the end of the game.

8 Robinson is BACK! In a lot of ways, you could put him up at #2 on this list becuase of his big shots. I just can’t because he gets lost on D sometimes. He should play for Pope one more year but he needs to get paid so he might play pro ball, some say NBA but he needs 20 lbs on that frame and to be more time on the D and driving to the hoop.

9 Foos should also be higher on the list, like #3 for defending the inside but more so murdering Kansas anytime they rested 7’2 Dickerson. Pope was smart using Foos over Khalifa in the 2nd just on matchups.

10 Pope, Pope, Pope- He got that road win, so happy for him and the program on this road win. I said over and over, 3s are BYU’s MO but on the road you have to score inside and by using Saunders over Knell and running that Foos pic and roll with Hall, Kansas had no answers. Ball game.

11 This win is Historical in the Kansas had win 76 straight at home when leading at the half. BYU played perfect ball and this win will
Boost team confidence
Help our Dance seeding
Help our Big 12 profile.

Chime in everyone, especially you, Hopper on the 3 point %, ahahahahahaaha, of course you will

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Here are my keys to a GREAT victory:

  1. Defense. Defense. Defense. Yes McCuller was out and who knows if we win that game with him playing, but he wasn’t. Pope put his best team on the court for most of the 2nd half: Fouss, Waterman, Jaxson, Saunders, SJ, and Hall got almost all of the 2nd half minutes. KANSAS SHOT 8-29 IN THE SECOND HALF. Did you read that? We held a top 10 team that NEVER loses at home to 8 of 29 in the second half. Pope needs to remember who was on the floor.
  2. Sorry to keep banging the Knell drum, but I jumped for joy when he got his 4th foul. That was the key play in the game, because we are a better team when he is not on the floor. His calling card is his 3 point shooting. And yes he FEASTED from deep in practice games against far inferior talent. But then conference play started. He had a GIANT game vs Cincy with 9 3s. Then he was good but not elite for 2 games Since then? He’s a disaster on offense. In the last 10 games Knell is 10 of 46 from deep, or 21.7%. Every minute Knell plays is a minute that Jaxson or Saunders doesn’t play.
  3. Once again, we started Knell and Khalifa on the road and immediately fell behind. PLEASE COACH POPE I LOVE YOU AND LOBBIED FOR YOU TO BE HIRED FOR TWO YEARS BEFORE YOU WERE HIRED BUT YOU GOTTA START RICHIE AND FOUSS, ESPECIALLY ON THE ROAD. Yes you love Knell and admire his comeback from injury etc etc etc but he’s not athletic enough to guard guys in this league, and for the last 6 weeks his shooting has sucked too. Play your best players.
  4. Did you notice that we didn’t use the stupid zone D except in very limited circumstances, like a zone press that collapsed into man in the forecourt? Pope lined up Saunders and SJ and Jaxson and Hall and Noah against a team with ELITE athletes who could have signed with ANY TEAM IN THE COUNTRY and beat them on our end. Just beat them. Our D was just better than their O. Period.
  5. I agree with Fish on Waterman–he made some BIG BOY plays down the stretch. That wing 3 he hit to answer a KU 3 (2:49 remaining) was a DAGGER. And even better was the 3:30 mark, when he met KJ Adams–a beast of an athlete who will GET PAID in the NBA–at the rim, checked his shot, fought for and won the rebound, got fouled, and made a FT at the other end.
  6. In the second half, Hall outplayed KU’s All American PG. Outplayed him at both ends, period. Hall has the makings of a star.
  7. DEFENSE. DEFENSE. DEFENSE. We just shot 39% from the field and beat a top 10 team that was preseason #1 on the road. KU 8-29 in the second half. That is the STAT OF THE SEASON.

Random additional thought: Fouss, Hall and Saunders need to be assigned as weightlifting mentors to all the skinny guys. Those 3 are RIPPED, and well, some others are not.

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The biggest stat you missed was although we shot 39%, we shot 38% from threes. That’s a winning number you just won’t get on board with. That kind of shooting takes some out of the other team’s offense. Makes it easier to play defense.
We were down 6 at halftime shooting only 31% from three. I texted Jim Hawks that if we get that up to 37% we win. And, wait for it…………………WE DID!

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Agree with posts.
This’ll sound mean, but I don’t think we would have won if Knell played his usual minutes. A slow, “gritty” (white guy) who can’t play defense and is a 20% 3pt shooter should be at the end of the bench or play for Weber St. He seems like a good leader, but if he can’t hit 44%+ 3PT given his liabilities his minutes should be drastically cut. He will cost us games. “A man’s got to know his limitations” thank you Clint!) “Sometimes you got to cut a man loose” (from Remember the Titans).

Fouss - they had no answer. 6’6" made the 7’2" all american look silly at times. Fouss should get 25 minutes.
Waterman - he shows up. What an improvement from last year
As said, Robinson is back!

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Unless the dude works on his scoring and shot making abilities he won’t last one season. In fact he may not get drafted his shooting is so bad. I have seen several of Kansas games this season and have not been impressed once. Yes, he is very athletic but he misses way too many easy shots and has no touch. That won’t get you paid in the NBA. You gotta be able to score or you are a liability.

That “all american” if that is what he is or has been is not even close in my opinion. Like I’ve said he is a stiff, rigid robot who can’t move. He gets by with physical play and not much else.

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The double technical was a complete example of disrespect for Knell and BYU. I don’t see how the officials came to that conclusion other than the fact that every Big 12 official is afraid of Bully Self now.

No way that is a double technical in any circumstance or situation. Dorkenson puts his forearm in Knells throat not once, but twice and gets a slap on the wrist. What is to keep him from doing it again?

I need to add that Waterman has impressed me as the season has worn on. I just need to accept that he is 6’11" and soft but is willing to put it out there anyway. Props to him this season.

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However, in the NBA, a player like him can score 10-12 points and rebound, take up space in the middle, he will play many years. Who was that guy from Wyoming, Luke someone? Made a living being physical in the NBA.

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Agreed on Waterman. He FIGHTS for contested rebounds and plays above the rim. His play down the stretch at both ends was super impressive.

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Eric Leckner? He played for 6 or 7 different teams including stints overseas and his career lasted about 10 years. He was physical but he was also agile. Dickinson may ride a bench in the NBA but he is too rigid and robotic to be a force. He won’t last 5 years, the NBA isn’t about physicality anymore.

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Dickinson can push skinny guys around in college, especially when the game is officiated one way for him and differently for everyone else, but he will get to the NBA and won’t be able to bully guys around and won’t get touch fouls like he does now, and that will be the end of the road for him. Shoot, he had 8 inches and 40 pounds on Fouss and couldn’t even push Fouss around. Had Dickinson been officiated like everyone else, he would have fouled out in 10 minutes, and had the officials given Fouss every touch and bump as a foul, Fouss would have scored 20.

That was my only comment on the officiating in the Kansas game: it was SUPER annoying to see so many weak touch fouls on both ends–like watching a WCC game, but that wasn’t my beef. My beef was that it was called one way for EVERYONE else but COMPLETELY differently Dickinson. Of course he TOTALLY CHOKED from the line in the second half (I think he was 3/11 in the half) so it worked in our favor, but whatever.

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Naw. It was Luke something. Played for Wyoming and then in the NBA.

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You may be thinking of Luc Longley but I think he played for New Mexico. Seems like he played for the Bulls.

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From memory think Luc was from Australia
Jordan era Bull

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Yep, New Mexico.

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Yeah that’s what I remember. He was one of the many role players on the Bulls that supplemented the stars Jordan and Pippen.

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Prove it wrong. I gave you the best available option based on your question. Google it, there is nobody that fits your description. I am going to give you an opportunity to prove that you are not just disagreeing with me like you always do and that there is a real person that fits.

I don’t think there is but I hope you are right or you’ll need something to get the egg off your face.

Too late… this just proves what I have said all along. You disagree with me even when you’re wrong.

BTW - had you said New Mexico I would have told you Luc Longley, just like Aro did.

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No egg on my face. But it was New Mexico

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the point Hopper was making is that Luke was a NBA player and that he did not have to score.
The NBA today is all about mismatches. Point brings the ball down, gets a rub from either the center or a forward with the defenses’ weakest defender, usually their slowest player. The Point either drives and the defense collapses in forcing the point to pass out to a wing who either shoots a 3 or starts the same process over again.

The point here is 1-the NBA has changed and guys like Luke are NOT used. To be a center you have to move well on pic and rolls The closest guy we see in the NBA that can’t score is Rudy Gobert. Dikerson on the other hand can hit the 3. He should be drafted well. The opposite type Center is Purdue’s Zak Edney, who is generational @7’4, not sure how he draft because he is a Rudy Gobert type.

San Antonio’s Wembanyama is perfect for the direction the NBA is headed.
Thunder Game Day: OKC Looks to Extend Winning Streak as Star Rookies Face Off in San Antonio (msn.com)

Bill Self said that Kansas has no answer for BYU’s pro style offense. It was the first time that Pope ran the high pic and role with a healthy Foos-whereby the ball was going into Foos on every possession. We use Khalifa extremely well because he can assist or hit the 3 but hen teams have to rest their starting center…Foos is going to tear them a new one.