Look like two good games. Gu leading 14 pts in mid 2nd half to NC. And smc leading 36 pts over ASU mid 2nd half.
USU barely beat (2 pts) over South Florida in OT.
ASU is like Nevada. The game with SMC should be another good game.
Ford 34 pts and Fitts 20
Our guys better be ready to play defense on those two guys.
Right now take care of Weber State and OR
Does anyone think Michael Jordan watching this game? That would be fun seeing him frowning face. But, I know it wasn’t during Final 4 (tonight). Pay back. Glad to see GU knocked them out.
Gonzaga dominated from early on, but SMC was awesome playing in Phoenix-40 point win. Very impressive showing by two of the top teams in the WCC.
Agree not to look ahead. That’s been a problem with BYU in the past.
Ford is the real deal. Barcello and help defense will help control him. We just have to play our game and not have 20 turnovers.
I took this comment from Haslametrics……
ANALYSIS:
When listing some of the better squads you will find in NCAA basketball this year, one can definitely make a case for Saint Mary’s. Haslametrics has them ranked 28th overall (out of 353) in All-Play Percentage, and the team holds a record of 10-2.
Saint Mary’s will create problems for opponents with their extremely prolific offense. Scoring roughly 117 points for every 100 possessions vs. AO and embracing a more deliberate, half-court style of play (the 15th-slowest pace in D1), the squad is rated #8 in offensive efficiency. Saint Mary’s is one of the most accurate teams when shooting from long-distance. They’re ranked first nationally in three-point field goal percentage and make about 48.4% of their attempts from there vs. AO. The team likewise falls in the top-25 in overall offensive field goal percentage, converting about 50.8% of their attempts vs. AO. Saint Mary’s also allows very few breakaway opportunities for the opposition, which typically translates to fewer turnovers. The team’s rating vs. AO for potential breakaway points allowed off of steals is 7.35, which ranks #18 in the country. If Saint Mary’s does have a glaring weakness offensively, it would have to be the team’s difficulties obtaining second-chance opportunities from offensive rebounds. The squad only has a rating of 6.88 vs. AO in potential points off of second chances, which ranks 14th-worst in college hoops.
Though they’re not quite as efficient defensively as they are offensively, Saint Mary’s still does OK when the opposition has possession of the ball. The team ranks 129th nationally in defensive efficiency, allowing about 95 points every 100 trips upcourt vs. AO. Saint Mary’s does a super job to deny opponents offensive rebounds and second chances. They have a rating of 8.47 vs. AO in potential points allowed off of second chances (ranked 20th in the country). Saint Mary’s has also been pretty good preventing teams from hitting shots in the paint. They are ranked 72nd in the country in defensive near-proximity percentage, allowing AO to make good on only 54.5% of their attempts from close-up.
Saint Mary’s has been playing some of its most efficient basketball of the season recently and is presently ranked 19th in positive momentum. Saint Mary’s has also been one of the more erratic teams in NCAA basketball this year (presently ranked 325th in the country in consistency), which makes forecasting the outcomes of their upcoming games tougher than most. When playing on the road, Saint Mary’s has played their best basketball this season. The team is currently ranked ninth in the country in the away-from-home metric our site tracks.
BYU is playing Defense with Pope. It is clear to me that he is an opportunist on offense and plays to his strengths. Childs has fit in better then any of us thought and Ratings throughout the country have taken note.
BYU has done enough to Dance with its resume to date. The two things BYU has to do going forward is:
Win games against SMC and Gonzaga and San Fran.
Not lose to any bottom feeders outside of SFU, SMC and Gonzaga.
If you look at BYU’s entire body of work,
The loses to SDSU, BSU, Kansas and Utah.
only BSU was a bad loss but that is pre childs so it will be an *
So far so good-win the next two-then conference schedule starts. I have to agree with you -win once against SF, SMC and Gonzaga which will be tough. If that flops win twice against SF. I believe BYU will compete for 2nd place in the WCC and if they win or tie will dance. I have not seen a dominate team in college basketball this year, but a lot of really good teams. I am looking forward to SMC on the road in January, not so much from a win or lose perspective but how they compete. I believe it will be good
How do you compare BYU and SMC coaches. Randy Bennett really outcoach Dave Rose since we played them (joining wcc 2011 all sports except FB). I love what Mark Pope is doing but Randy Bennett and Mark Few are tough to beat - but mostly Coach Bennett.
I like to see one game against smc that Coach Bennett would either be sick or just stay home (I know it sounds stupid).
Wishing I’ll-will on someone? How about the whole team? No? Well, we can beat them without that. Here’s how: fewer than 10 turnovers. Make 42% of 3’s. Make layups and short shots.
Watched the Nev-SMC game last night (til 130 in the morning) SMC has Fitts and Ford and some roll players. Their other guard, Kuhse was slow, brick layer at the Line. Frankly, SMC does not look dangerous, Had Nevada, which lead for most of the game, had not crumpled at the end, SMC would of lost 57% from the stripe. They shot 3-20 from 3 and should of lost…Nev is as bad as when we played them.
One of the things that SMC “IS” this year…erratic. One game they dominate, the next they struggle. Very un-Bennett like, usually they are a machine.
Few is the best coach in D1 by a long shot. To do what he does seems impossible but he does it. Few could get 6 million per year coaching a blue blood if they could get him to leave his beloved Steelhead/Salmon flyfishing mecca.
Bennett is a calculated machine who is not above cheating. He gets more out of his players then anyone I can think of because he runs a system. Bennett is also savvy as a fox in scheduling. He never plays anyone outside of Moraga that is better then his team. You are right, Bennett always out coached Rose, every single stinking year. Bennett would make a great Patton type general. He will rake up impressive wins for years to come but always Splat once he runs into top 25 talent in a neutral setting.
Pope is MUCH better then I had hoped he would be. He has transfored very average inside players into assets, impossible I thought, but he did it.
He got Childs to come back, that dude was soooooooooooooo gone. He reigned in Haws and made everyone play defense. Pope is the real deal and may be recruited away from BYU by Kentucky or even the NBA.
That’s why the SMC game is going to be intriguing-BYU has all the pieces right now to make a run at the tourney. Players, coaches-they have it all. Do I think they can beat SMC on the road-yes. But they have to play really well and not make mistakes. Do I think they can beat Gonzaga in Provo-yes-but, again by shooting well and don’t let The Zags hit the 3’s, because they will get their points in the paint regardless. Enjoyable season so far but the WCC is going to cough up some surprises before tournament time
A key will be if Childs and Nixon can stay out of foul trouble because Lee won’t either play or if he does be in good condition. Knee sprain.
The key will be if we can also not turn the ball over more than 10 times. And, make free throws. 12-21 won’t win much.
The Cougars were without forward Kolby Lee Saturday. Lee suffered a knee injury in practice this week.
“Hopefully, we’ll get Kolby back soon,” Pope said. “It’s a matter of him getting his full range of motion back. He felt way better today than he did yesterday. He’ll be on the stationary bike a lot the next couple of days. He’ll open his presents while he’s on the stationary bike. I told him we need him back by next Saturday.”
Very much looking forward to the SMC game on the road at Moraga.
USU completely dominated in the great state of Florida this week. Probably opened some eyes nation wide. BYU should get some love this week from the polls
A sprained knee is 2-4 weeks on a good day. It’s too bad because he was helping a lot with a rotation to give Childs and Nixon rest.
The way Seljaas is playing, we need to get him open for shots from the corner.
One of the markers of a good dance team is if the “dance quality” teams BYU beat have good resume’s. USU took one on the nose last night when they lost @ UNLV 70-53
USU was Dominated in almost every category. But mostly, and I can see this happening to BYU on the road, Rebounding and 3 points shooting
Live gets tougher for everyone as we get further into the season and everyone has film on your weaknesses. USU just could not make a basket
Interesting what happens in CB this season. I watched the first half of Gonzaga/Portland last night and Gonzaga couldn’t hit their shots and Portland was playing well and hitting their 3’s and were up by 7 at half. I decided to go do something else and checked back in at about the 6 minute mark and the Zags were up by 18. I thought they were probably going down at the half. It’s a sign of good adjustments by the staff and the players buying into the system, but Gonzaga looked far from invincible for at least half the game