72 FTs
46 for us 26 for them
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Blame the change in foul calling on the ejection of Self, Sampson and Scott. all last week and all 1st time for these 3 HOF coaches. I DON"T agree with it, Ruined the game to stop every possession. and the funny thing is, there could of been another 20 called in the BYU game. Knell was especially befuddled, his touch fouls were not called in past games, now…ugh.
After losing a 19 point lead, I am so concerned about any road games. BTW, Johnny Dawkins is one cool cat, came within a whisker of Beating BYU in the road His demeaner was amazing throughout the game…then there is TCU’s Jammy Dixon…
I thought 2 and 2 on the road before this homestand…now…every game away is a big question mark.
BYU needs to absolutely win out at home and hope upon hope that with health they can steal one or two on the road.
until the last three games I expected BYU to be included in this week’s announcement about the top 16 seeds for the big dance…winning the way they have cost the team 5 places in Kenpom and 2 in the NET…WVU, OK, and KSU I would chalk up to illness…UCF…scary follow-up.
now just hoping they get a decent seed in the conference dance.
I think some one said a few days ago, because we didn’t expect to be in this position, let’s just enjoy the show. I agree. Who knows what may happen in the next few games too. Maybe Pope will read our forum and read some from what we post here. Like how Jim points out that we seem to slow down and play weak while the other team steps it up a notch.
I like it that Pope recognized that between the refs and UCF there was going to be a lot of foul shooting and he had the best foul shooter in. However, he needed to have Saunders in for defense and rebounding. Same with Fouss. They can shoot free throws too. We tend again to play not to lose.
agree with everything you said, Hopper. but Foos would of been useless out there. He is built for the under the basket stuff. UCF was about stretching out BYU, there would of been open guys everywhere and blow bys.
I was thinking more about offense down the stretch where we went several minutes without a basket. There were a few times when Fouss would have blocked some shots and changed some shots as well. Thanks for agreeing with me on the other things.
Just heard on BYUSN that there was a total of 29 points in the last 2 minutes. The 3s UCF all of a sudden started making. All the free throws we shot. Crazy ending.
I was VERY critical of Knell in the second half (because he could not guard ANYBODY) and very frustrated that Richie sat. That was not due to illness (Richie had struggled the previous two games due to illness)–I’m told this one was simply a coach’s decision. I love Coach Pope but am constantly frustrated by his loyalty to Knell, whos is a gigantic defensive liability–he just can’t stay with anybody in this league. Richie on the other hand is arguably the best defender on the team (Pope says he leads the team in defensive metrics grading), and to see him sitting while UCF was scoring 62 points in a half made me crazy.
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Agreed. Fouss and Khalifa were worse than awful in this game. Waterman saved the day. Fouss and Khalifa combined for 37 minutes, 10 pts on 2-7 from the field and 6-6 from the line, 3 rb, 1 asst, and SEVEN TOs. They were both out of sorts and completely overmatched out there. Very hard to watch or to describe. Yet Waterman went 17 and 9 with ZERO TOs in 32 minutes. We will not win many games when Fouss and Khalifa disappear, so we were lucky to win this one when they both did more harm than good.
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I can understand why Pope wanted him in for the offense for free throw shooting. However, that barrage of points, almost half of them, happened in the last 2 minutes of the game. UCF scored 29 points in 2 minutes. Would Saunders made that much of a difference? I don’t think so. Knell made his free throws in the last 2 minutes as did Robinson. So did Waterman. Crazy turn of events. But, I was wondering as well if Saunders should be in. We are 18 - 6. Pope is getting the job done in this first year in the Big12.
Here’s what I see. Very poor 3 point shooting most of the time. People taking pressure shots way too much. Too many air balls. Big men inside are carrying the team…while others flail away with bad shots and a host of lay up and tear drop shots that don’t score. Does BYU just run out of gas in the second half or is it bad coaching strategy. Maybe the smaller players run around too much looking for a three pointer? Maybe better to have only one or two players try to get open outside…and let one rest ? It’s hard to watch the lousy shooting. Something has to change or BYU won’t have a chance to go very far in the Tournaments.
AND…yes, the big men didn’t do well this last game…and we were lucky to win. Nice if the Y could get a good game out of everybody…and do this over and over…to get a winning streak going before March.
Welcome to the forum. I’ve been harping on the floaters and layups for a long time. Sometimes you have to do the teardrop. But so many times a good jump stop and jump shot would be so much better. I’ve seen a bunch of easy blown layups. My take is they are expecting contact and lose focus and control of the ball. Johnson misses so many putbacks. Khalifa had a put back last night that missed the rim on a bank.
UCF did not score 29 points in the last two minutes. Check ESPN play by play.
Knell doesn’t guard anyone. Saunders is the best defender on the team.
Saunders and Knell have almost the same FT%. Saunders has the highest FG% on the team except Fouss who only shoots inside 5 feet. I bet Saunders has the highest +/- per minute played on the team except I can’t find where that is listed. It was a coach’s decision not to play him last night and that hurt the te and made the game closer than it had to be.
Pope says he needs depth—then he played essentially a 6 man rotation as the team completely imploded down the stretch.
Not going to argue that one. Personally i have Johnson and Richie as equals on D. Johnson is struggling with his 3 but he can sure do magic down low. Richie can hit that 3. But I am with you. Saunders, Johnson and Hall would be my defenders in crunch time. Robinson is soft whereas he was tough before the foot injury. Waterman is just too slow on a quick guard. Knell-for get about it.
You are correct. Both teams together scored 29 points in 2 minutes. A rate the the two together for 40 minutes would score 580 points. And, with all the fouls and going to the instant relay several times would take 6 hours to play.
With the game on the line I’ll take Knell at the FT line.
I’m not sure if it was coaching or just the same head cases that we see on a regular basis. It’s like they expect it at this point in the season. To play well and then coast to a win. It never happens but they act like it should and then they implode with bad decisions and bad confidence. They look like world beaters and then look like they could lose to anyone.
The only guy that looks confident out there is Hall, so when he does something dumb everybody follows along. Johnson does so many unbelievable bonehead plays in crunch time, Robinson does okay and his free throws mattered a lot. I don’t know how to explain it but it is painful to watch… every game.