Keys to the win over a determined Clev. squad

Basketball
1

All seniors and never intimated by the BYU Marriott, Clev played the entire game pressing. At all times they were throwing 2 guys at Barcello. He had 3 TOs but once our other players came to help, rather then go to their spots, BYU got some easy buckets.

1 Foos Traore is a STAR. Pope knows it, so he keeps this TRUE FR. in for 22 minutes, the 3rd most time on the court last night, that is just how much Pope believes in FOOOOOOOOOOS! Aside from his freakish timing on swats (3) and soft touch, Foos would set high pics, 2 and 3 times in a single possession and once our guards are comfortable lobbing the ball up to a rolling Foos, he is going to routinely get double doubles! 8 rebs in his first game…oh my! Mark it down.

2 Barcello is our General out there. 24pt, 4 assits, 3 rebs. He is the reason why BYU will make it to next rounds in the big dance.

3 Lucas was a disappointment last night. 3 OTs on only 3 assists stinks. He did show glimpses as he took it to the rim just before 1/2 time

4 Lohner was his usual rebounding machine, did some great work near the rim. I can feel the surge happening, he’s going to look to score then watch out.

5 George continues to show his ridiculous athleticism. Block on one end, then blow by lay in on the other.

6 Seneca, not much to show for himself in his first BYU game…some with Baxter, just not getting enough out of him

7 Knell is a deadeye, we all know it…more please

8 Johnson is my co MVP out there. 13 points, he is so confident, knows the game so well. two timely 3s

9 as a team, BYU shot 81.5% from the FT line. very good numbers. The reason why I think this is inflated? Barcello was 13 -13.

10 Not a bad night for for a BYU team that faced Horizon league champs and five 4 year Sr’s while BYU started 3 new guys and a true Fr.

Going forward, SDSU returns a big chunk of their ranked team, BYU needs:
1 More out of Lohner and George, we need double digits from you guys!!!
2 Lucas to have a GREAT game, we need 6+ assists!
3 Cut down the turnovers, everyone, please.
4 Clev. St. schooled BYU on back door cuts and ball pressure. Fortunately, these things can be fixed.

Very happy for the win, too close a game for all but the last 3 minutes.

2

Great post! So much to unpack from the game last night. SOOOO frustrating to watch but I had to keep telling myself this is not a cupcake–this is a Big Dance team vs a good but not great BYU team. I agree with each of your points but will emphasize a few:

  1. Fouss SHOCKED me with his mature play. He is new to basketball but plays like a confident veteran. His athletic plays make me say OHMYGOSHDIDHEREALLYDOTHAT?!?!?!
  2. Speaking of Fouss, Cleveland State exposed how defend BYU; they made it really hard to get open perimeter shots without the “inside out” game we had with Childs-TJ-Toolson. We need a back to the basket post presence who can force some help D and allow us to kick it back out for 3s. That has never been Baxter’s game, and although Harward has rapidly improved in that area, he’s out for awhile. FOUSS SHOCKED ME at how comfortable he looked when he posted twice against a 6’9" shot blocker and schooled him twice (three times without that chickenshi$ offensive foul they called on him–only terrible call of the night BTW).
  3. LOHNER and GEORGE: oh baby baby gimme some more of those hops…
  4. Te’jon: TAKE THE INITIATIVE AND SCORE. Stop being so passive; stop deferring because you are the new guy. You got game and go score. We saw his great ballhandling against the press, then he got all passive in the frontcourt.
  5. Good W vs a good team. Mad respect to Cleveland State for some quality D and coaching.
3

The game went pretty much as I thought it would. Starting 4 seniors like that without our starting center made a difference with the pressure they were doing. Also, after watching the exhibition game, we had a lot of work to do to get ready for Cleveland St. They were also in the tournament last year.
I like your breakdown of the players. I agree with your analysis. Johnson is going to get a lot of playing time. George has those moments where he like blacks out or something and does something lazy. He just needs to play more.

4

Atiki has to get ready for prime time quickly. Who knows if Harward will return. As time goes on, Fouss will play more and so will Baxter. Perhaps Fouss at the 4 and Baxter at the 5 at the same time. That will make it difficult for teams to double outside so much.
It was good to have Cleveland St. press so much because SDSU will probably do the same.

5

Foos in his high pics frees Lucas or Barcello, turn the corner , step back for a 3 if their center is stuck guarding our guard. Shoot it or lob into a Foos now guarded by a guard. George and Lohner can do the same thing. This is today’s NBA game.

Foos, Lohner and George are so athletic, no one outside of Gonzaga could hang with a high pic and roll on any of these guys and after a couple of easy lay ins, wing defenders have to come help out and that leaves a outside shooter open every time. That is how I would run this team.

6

Sounds like Pope is the next Tuiaki. Off with his head! I’m sure Pope can run his team just fine. :upside_down_face: