Keys to the LMU win

Basketball
1

1 I really ripped Pope in the Portland game, so I will start with a “good job, Coach” in this game. My only criticism is that Pope left Foos on the bench too long and we could of used his clutch FTs in the final 5 minutes.

2 Hugh difference making 3s in this game. I have always felt that the team in the WCC Vegas tournys that played earlier has an advantage because they are used to the lighting and back ground. BYU’s 47% from long range was a big factor in this win

3 George and Foos both had bad games and yet we didn’t seem to miss them.

4 Foos had 7 Turnovers in the first half, yikes, he played very little but the above stat says that we did not need him tonight. George is Ge0rge, never know what game he is going to have.

5 BYU shot 69% in the first half, smokin

6 Saunders had himself another great night, didn’t score much but he roots out lose balls and rebounds like a mad man. Stats show him with 0 steals, baloney! He caused several. Atiki was the beneficiary of a Saunders steal.

7 Atiki was a swat machine, kept LMU from scoring much inside.

8 Robinson had himself another solid game, got to the hoop a lot and 8 rebounds, I think that was his season best.

9 Johnson…now for the real reason why BYU controlled the game from start to finish…Guarding Shelton, he had 21 by half, looked like he was going for 40 but Johnson and a host of guards kept him at 27 and in crunch time, the dude fouled out when LMU could of made things interesting. Johnson also bot Shelton his 5th foul

10 Johnson could of been the MVP for this game with his timely scoring and great defense but I have to go with Williams. Yeah, he have a big scoring night, 23, but the easy win came with Williams hitting 11-12 Free Throws in crunch time. Between Williams and Johnson’s FTs over the last 5 minutes, the game was never in question.

2

Defense, FT and shooting (3’s) were the keys. I still think something was up with Foos. Either his foot or he had the stomach flu. He was hesitant going up for his quick shots. Hopefully against St. Mary’s he will be 100%.

3

A pleasant surprise as they played a good game from start to finish. It was nice to see BYU being physical and putting forth effort for a complete game win.

I hope Pope’s job is safe for the time being. He needs more leniency to get things going and next season is going to be a tough one.

Did anyone stay up and watch the USF-SC game? What a great game, double OT and went past midnite. That Shabazz dude for USF can really light it up. I hope they give GU all they can handle and more. Would love to see somebody knock them off but I don’t hold out much hope that the WCC will let it happen even if it could happen.

4

The WCC? The best team on the court will win. If SF plays well, they have a shot. If BYU plays well, we have a shot. The WCC decides? That’s a very specific tight conspiracy for sure.

5

It is amazing to me that Pope was able to keep this team focused with all the rotation changes that lasted the entire season. Kudos to Williams, who should of been pissed for having to play behind a true freshman all season, speaks volumes for his character. We had solved the rotation quagmire finally with a lineup of Williams, Robinson, Johnson, George and Foos.

Just for kicks I went back to see what I thought would be the rotation before the season:
Williams, George, Robinson, Waterman Foos.

I had Johnson and Hall, Atiki coming off the bench

After a million rotation changes, we now have a winning rotation. Finally, I think Pope would be the 1st to say that he learned something this year that he already knew but had to be humbled a little about, and that is you always go with experience. Williams should have always been a starter.

6

Williams just isn’t a good starter. Even when is starts he doesn’t get going until he sits on the bench for a bit. It’s been good for the future to see Hall get lots of minutes. His outside shooting has gotten better too.
Pope has done a good job with this group of basically 2’s and 3’s with a couple of forwards.

7

The real culprit here was Waterman. He should of never been a starter, EVER! Pope may of thought forever that with a 6’6 center, he needed 6’11 Waterman. What a waste. 6’5 Saunders is by far our 2nd best rebounder considering his minutes.

I love Hall’s game, from back in September, I said he would be a major impact player. Wait til next year with the rust gone. We still need a true center. Atiki has improved but he has no shot, has good to great games, then falls back to mediocrity. Kind of like Curious George, so frustrating

I am loving what Robinson is just now starting to do. His driving to the hoop is new. 8 rebs tells me that he has commited to work inside.

How about Williams 0 turnover game last night and that pass to Johnson for a wide open 3, he could not do that a month ago.

1 Like
8

ya’ll got the analysis down. Thank you, I don’t have those skills - just watch the game and make some observations. Keep 'em coming!

9

BTW - this team is really coming together. I said before the Tourney - more hopeful than realistic based - that this team would win 3-4 games, beat SM or GU (before the seeding) They will beat SM, let’s hope SF takes care of a more passive GU

10

What a pile of nonsense. You know there has been biased officiating in the past and you know it has affected some of the outcomes of games. BYU isn’t the only team that has been victimized by the Gonzaga favoritism. It has happened with others on occasion.

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11

GU will be given every opportunity possible to beat USF. If they don’t it is on them because they can’t blame the officials for not giving them chances. The game hasn’t even been played yet and already I generally know how it will go down. The whole tournament was rigged in favor of Gonzaga and St. Mary’s (not as much as GU) based on who they are playing and how many games it takes to win.

If anyone can convince me that it is okay to have the top two seeds playing in the semifinals in their first game of the tourney, please try.

It should have been like this

St. Mary’s vs. Portland
Gonzaga vs. Pacific
Santa Clara vs. BYU
San Francisco vs. LMU

  1. SMU - POR winner vs. USF - LMU winner
  2. GU - PAC winner vs. SC - BYU winner

Winner game 1 above vs winner game 2 above for the title. Every team plays at least 3 games except the winners of the play in games between Pacific - Pepperdine and Portland - San Diego. They would end up playing 4 games if they made it to the championship.

12

I agree. Now both SM and GU are rusty haven’t played in 9 days. It’s not fair for them either. But, that’s the Rec league for ya.

13

The thing I like about JCoug and his passion regarding the WCC conspiracy is that he is willing to put it all on the line. If either GU or SM loses Monday night (and especially if they BOTH lose) and if neither SM or GU win Tuesday night then the conspiracy notion falls entirely apart. However, GU or SM winning Tuesday and especially if they play each other means the conspiracy theory stays alive for discussion/debate. But odds are good GU and SM will be in the finals (they are rightly seeded #1 and #2). So for a lot of reasons I hope BYU wins the whole thing.

14

There is no conspiracy. It’s all made up to give an allusion as the reason for not winning a championship. Make the shots and defense when it counts and you win.

15

The simpleton has spoken.