BYU should handle these guys with about the same ease as the Tx So. game. I must say that I have been impressed with Pope’s figuring out how to handle all this raw talent. What is it, 11 new guys playing this year?
We are looking set entering into WCC play when just 10 days ago, we had some real big questions after the BSU game.
Averette has carved his Turnover ratio from 32% down to 28% and that monster game of 30 should get him going in the right path.
The emergence of Johnson has been huge. Just gives Pope the option to settle Averette down. Harding has also started to play like his ol self.
Our 3 bigs continue to make things tough for opponents. Few teams, even Elite teams have more then one solid big man. We have 3!
That last foul on him was bogus too. Purely a jump ball. The ref who called the foul was completely behind Lohner.
He still has a lot to improve on. But I think he’s getting better each game.
At the end of games when teams want to foul, take Harwood out and put Haarns in.
The defense was a bit slow reacting today. WS got hot every time we would get double digits lead. Good preseason game. Now, for the season to start on Saturday.
You know when guys have a high scoring game, how they think that they are the man and just keep shooting (Averette). Geesh, 1-9 from three Geeeeesh. I get it and to be frank, I am liking Averette more and more anyhow;
my only real complaint right now is Free Throws, especially the front ends. We should of been closer to 100 points on the night.
Go cougs
Wish it couldabeen.
All journeys/seasons have step ups and step downs. This was a step down.
Not sure I would call Weber State a decent team this year. Rahe, much like Pope, has a bunch of new talent to integrate into a decent core. The talent he gets is nowhere near the talent that Pope recruits.
I would call Weber a decent team. They have some shooters and talent. This thought process is my complaint. When we beat a decent team, you push them down pushing us down. Yes, we are still developing as a team. But, when players have open shots, shoot it. I suppose since we thumped UCF now they aren’t so good and therefore we aren’t so good. Maybe it’s the other way around. We are good.
Teams play different every game. Gonzaga blew out NW State by plus 40 and turned around the next night and it was much closer. Weber State had good talent and BYU shot +50% for the game. Weber also has a really good coach which utilizes his talent. Team matchups are so important in basketball. Haarms is such an important factor for BYU. He changes players shots, causes teams to have to adjust their game plans. Too bad he isn’t 40 lbs heavier or he could play in the big league. BYU is 9-2 and that is really good. A different coach other than Pope, they might be 5-6. Relax and enjoy the show-it’s good entertainment in a boring Covid environment. Merry Christmas
Weber scored the most points on BYU this entire season @79. Coach Randy Rahe has 7 twenty win seasons, 3 NCAA dance invites and 4 championships in the Big Sky. I’d say they are a good basketball squad.
Had Harward not gotten Weber’s center, Carlson, fouled out, they could of made things a lot tougher for BYU. Remember back to last year when BYU was in serious trouble if Childs had foul troubles or Lee? BYU is built to play any style with talent ready to come off the bench. They are figuring things out and it sure looks like we have our rotations set going into WCC play.
Meanwhile, Pepperdine has been tanking. Their bigs have not been involved in the last few games? IDK?
Haarms needs to be in the game at the end when teams are fouling. That was the only coaching error last night. Good win. Lohner was under better control even though he fouled out. That last fouls was bogus. Complete tie up.
Major part of the evidence that BYU took a step backwards. BYU’s defence had been improving. WSU is if anything a defensively strong team. Their offence wasn’t particularly strong until they played the vaunted BYU Cougars.
The Cougs will do well this year. Plenty of room for improvement heading into conference season though.
I think a reasonable goal for them this season is to have fewer conference losses than last year, get to the conference tourney championship game, advance in the big dance.
Fewer conference losses this year is an almost certainty because so many games are likely to be canceled. The W/L record may or may not be worse but almost certainly fewer losses.
Given the availability of Covid vaccines and the likely priority of universities in the distribution process I would put it at better than even that the conference tourney will occur. Anything about potential opponents other than Gonzaga being present in the finals is too far ahead to accurately predict.
Big dance is on the edge of being a pipe dream now. The only thing Pope and his young men can do at this point is hope they have enough games to both improve and impress the committee. If both things occur they have a balanced enough team to make some waves. Probably not as deep as last year’s team would have…but the games have yet to be played.
A large part of my post that I deleted was my major respect for Rahe. Probably the best coach WSU has had there since Neil McCarthy, only Rahe doesn’t come close to cheating the way McCarthy probably did. McCarthy got caught after he was forced out at WSU and worked his magic at NMSU. Old timers talk of Weber State bball doesn’t belong on this board though. The U should have hired him instead of Coach Kry…they would almost certainly be doing better.
I wouldn’t characterize it as a step backwards. I think it was a learning step because they are still inexperienced and trying to get some traction and chemistry. It is amazing to me that Pope can do so much with so so talent. Let’s be honest, the big guys are not that talented, including Haarms, Harward and Lee in particular, but he finds out what they are good at and coaches them into improving and playing their role. Haarms is soft but he has good touch around the basket and shoots free throws well. Harward works hard and is effective because he is tough and gives 100%. Lee is a strange player, sometimes he looks good but then he does some weird stuff and I realize he is maximizing his potential because of Pope. It’s like Burton said, without Pope they might be 5-6 instead of 9-2.
I just hope Pope sticks around for awhile…
It has been fun watching full games, the last 2. Honestly, the end of the year for being a Cougar fan has been pretty satisfying. It’s nice to see them perform well and win.
Jim, I happened to be in Boise when Lee was playing in the state championship game. We went to the game just for fun. Lee has already signed with BYU and I walked away 1000000% convinced he could never be an effective D1 player. He couldn’t run, couldn’t jump, looked fat, couldn’t shoot, couldn’t defend. And with Rose he was a total non factor. But then something extraordinary happened: Pope and Burgess made Lee their project and in a 4 game stretch in January, including games vs SMC and Gonzaga, shot 22/28. Yes, 22/28. Utterly impossible, but it happened. From then until today he has been a large effective player and a threat to score without a double, which has paid huge dividends when they do bring a double, with his solid passing out of the post. No he’s not perfect , but man I will NEVER question Pope or Burgess’s ability to coach up a big man after what they have done with this guy. Props to our excellent coaches and to Lee foe his hard work to make himself and his team better!
I would agree with that. Krysto hemorrhages players. Why he is still there, i don’t have a clue
Makes you wonder what Pope would of done with Payton Dastrup.
What a blessing it is to have Pope here. The kids love him to death. I swear that Barcello was soo disillusioned by the time he came from Arizona, he did not smile once that 1st year. Now he is a leader, happy and killin it. Pope is so dang infectious.