ISU, why a blowout was a nailbiter

Basketball
1

Eight Takeaways from BYU Basketball’s Win Over Idaho State (msn.com)

Nice little writeup but does not cover what why the game was close.

  1. Was great to see Colby Lee on the court again. I’ve always liked Lee, He made a big mistake leaving BYU. Never a starter, good back up. We sure could of used him last year with the loss of Harward and Baxter.
  2. Heard plenty of people complain that this team is not that good. Pope is fooling around with lineups; we will see more of what he has in mind when we play ranked SDSU. The first 10 games or so will be rough to watch as Pope figures out who his lineups will be.
  3. Notice that the top 3 scorers for ISU were 6’3 or shorter guards. Precisely what the WCC is made up with. I saw both brainfarts and guys choosing to go under screens rather than fight through the pics. Easy fix but that Loss last night would of been catastrophic for our season.
  4. Veterans won that game. Johnson saves the day with a ballsy 3. I have always liked him as a great 6th man but his defense has always been underrated and his moxey makes him a starter.
  5. the offense will flow through Foos. Look at the total team, where are the dependable points coming from? It’s something I always cover every season…Foos is our most dependable player.
  6. fooling around with lineups will cost BYU games but it is the only way to find out what works. That almost happened last night and will probably be a loss @SDSU.
  7. Turnovers, turnovers turnovers- Got Rudi benched in crunch time (not to worry, Rudi is our starter). George really stunk it up with 5. Atiki had 3 in his limited minutes. It is also something that can be fixed but it nearly cost BYU the game.
  8. Yes, Hall is the real deal. Been saying it since he signed before his mission. Who was the true freshman out there and who was the senior. A player well beyond his years, going to be fun to watch as he grows into a reliable back up to Rudi and our floor general as we navigate the Big 12.
  9. What BYU cannot have is the George that disappears in games, we need the dominate George that gets 20. Last night we got Curious George.
  10. Newcomers, Waterman and Robison. Like them a lot, it will just take time.
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I watched the first half, then had to take care of some family stuff.

What I noticed is that some of the players were not making good decisions when they had the ball. Most of them tried to drive to the basket without passing it around first to see if they could get an open lane.

Not sure if that was by design of Pope or not, but that definitely led to some turnovers.

3

Looked like some hero ball and ball hog stuff.

4

I would not be surprised to see Hall the starter. Also, both Hall and Williams out there together. We really need another big come league. And big Kafusi types on the football team? Or, volleyball team?

5

Like your post-it was so bad, I had to switch over and watch Gonzaga beat a Florida team that looked better than Idaho State by plus 40

6

I think I counted 3 TOs by George in the paint–being curious about trying to make that extra, REALLY difficult pass in traffic. Meanwhile I was unsuccessfully telling him through my TV that when he dribbles into the paint he should just shoot. He can elevate over any guard and also has footwork to create space to score over or around a big.

Johnson passed up several midrange baseline jumpers looking for extra passes. He is really selective with his shot selection, but I’d like to see him be more assertive trying to score. Very talented in all three areas (inside, midrange, 3).

Hall passed up several midrange pull up jumpers looking to get the ball inside–which he DID several times, but he also needs to establish himself as a scoring threat–and I think he will.

Rudi and Robinson: not worried.

Atiki and Stewart: wow. No words.