George should be starting and not Knell. We have Pepperdine Saturday and we need him out there against their 2 NBA talented players. Start Harward or Lohner too. 9 minutes for George tonight after what he did to SMC and SF?
I’m not sure it’s that important who starts, it’s minutes played that really matters. Lohner doesn’t start but gets good minutes, but can be foul prone, so it’s critical he is in during a close game down the stretch. Knell or Johnson are good choices, primarily because they are good shooters, and Pope gets a glimpse of how well they might do that particular night. If they don’t look on, they will see limited number of minutes, except Johnson is a better defensive player than Knell. I was puzzled by George’s lack of minutes (0) in the first half and BYU didn’t play particularly well in the first half and could have used him. All and all a good game against size deficient Portland. Saturday’s game with Pepperdine will be a test with Ross and Edward’s and they could use Barcello on Ross and George on Edward’s as he shoots the three really well. Back to backs with Pepperdine-another test for the cougars
The margin of victory in this game combined with the lack of minutes George played, I am confused as to what was going on. I didn’t see the game. All I saw was a 6 point halftime lead and then a rapid increase in that lead starting the second half. There were plenty of minutes to give George more time to get experience and chemistry with the team. I will trust Pope and chalk it up to whatever he was thinking.
Good to see BYU take care of business in a convincing manner.
George didn’t play until 10 minutes left in the game, then played nine minutes and hit one of two threes
No reason, just that as Burton conveyed, George sat while other less deserving players get play ahead of him. As Fans, we don’t know what happens in practice or in the locker. Just that George IS the reason BYU won at SMC and SF (two road games that our elite team LOST to last season). I read the headline that BYU has ONLY won twice in it’s history @SMC! What we did this past week was quietly historic for BYU in the Rec league. we have never done it before and the reason I think the national sports guys are lagging on the BYU story. We were breaking a new team when we played BSU and USC. Now our guys know their roles and trust each other.
I have watched Iowa, Kansas, Mich and other blue bloods and NO ONE has as deep a team in the middle. To be clear, BYU would get owned by an Elite Center but we have 4 guys deep that can wear bigs down. We are lacking an elite PG but that horse has been beaten all year long my me and the rest of this board. Given the right matchups, this team could make a sweet 16.
The media’s headlines read, “BYU comes alive after slow starts”. When they should say, "BYU’s depth just wear’s out teams. Barcello, Johnson and Averette (when he defends a small guard) smother guards, Our bigs just grind you down. We are only susceptible to big physical guard play or a stretch forward that can shoot 3s.
It bothers me that George only gets important minutes when our weakness rears it’s ugly head. Must be that others get the team concept better then George. otherwise, IDK
Agreed on our bigs. I am very impressed with Harward’s increasing ability to score on his own. Pope and Burgess coach him up and Harward will get quicker and smoother with his footwork (pivots and drop steps with the ball in his hands); I could see him dominating the way Araujo did.
This is Araujo’s line at BYU:
Per Game
| Season | School | Conf | G | GS | MP | FG | FGA | FG% | 2P | 2PA | 2P% | 3P | 3PA | 3P% | FT | FTA | FT% | ORB | DRB | TRB | AST | STL | BLK | TOV | PF | PTS | SOS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2002-03 | BYU | MWC | 32 | 32 | 25.1 | 4.8 | 8.7 | .558 | 4.8 | 8.3 | .569 | 0.1 | 0.3 | .273 | 2.2 | 3.4 | .642 | 2.8 | 6.1 | 8.9 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 3.0 | 3.7 | 12.0 | 5.29 | |
| 2003-04 | BYU | MWC | 30 | 30 | 29.8 | 7.0 | 12.3 | .573 | 6.8 | 11.3 | .601 | 0.3 | 1.0 | .267 | 4.1 | 5.6 | .722 | 2.9 | 7.2 | 10.1 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.8 | 2.9 | 3.1 | 18.4 | 6.31 | |
| Career | BYU | 62 | 62 | 27.4 | 5.9 | 10.4 | .567 | 5.7 | 9.8 | .587 | 0.2 | 0.7 | .268 | 3.1 | 4.5 | .691 | 2.9 | 6.6 | 9.5 | 1.2 | 1.4 | 0.6 | 2.9 | 3.4 | 15.1 | 5.80 |
Notice that Araujo went 12/9 in 25mpg as a Junior, and 18/10 in 30mpg as a senior. Harward’s production so far this year would be approx. 12/8 in 25mpg and 14.5/10 in 30mpg (with a shooting percentage and other metrics very similar to Araujo). Harward is playing ALMOST as productively as did Araujo, a GREAT college player and NBA first round pick. I am NOT saying Harward is an nba pick–what I’m saying is that his productivity has been outstanding and is improving–he could be a great one. And my 5 year old grandson Chase loves watching BYU with me and calls Harward “THE STRONG GUY.” Like “PAPA, THE STRONG GUY JUST DUNKED ON THAT GUY’S HEAD!”
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He was getting lost on both offense and defense earlier in the season. But, he looks comfortable out there now. I’d start him before Knell. We will need him with Pepperdine’s elite players.
I’m told George sat last night for reasons unrelated to his play, but don’t know the specifics and didn’t ask. George is a great kid and obviously it wasn’t something very serious because he did come into the game. I think George should start and/or play 20mpg. I think he and AB are the two best on-ball defenders on the team, and it’s not like Knell or Johnson are shooting lights out. From deep Johnson is shooting .389 , Knell .360 and George .250, but that’s on only 16 attempts for George. If George had just 2 more makes, he’d be at .375.
But how about this: let’s say all three are roughly equal from deep, and just look at other scoring. EXCLUDING 3’S, Knell and Johnson have scored a combined total of 51 points in 483 minutes. EXCLUDING 3’s, George has scored 54 points in 169 minutes. Even including 3’s, George scores 30 percent more ppm played, not counting threes and excluding 3s it’s a total wipeout. George is more productive on offense, is a better defender than either and a better rebounder than both combined.
I love you, Coach Pope, but come on and do the math!!!
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Did you see Harward step inside the SF forward on a rebound and plant his elbow square in his chest, sent the kid flying backward about 10 feet and the ref. completely missed it? That would be a flagrant in any game. Kind of like the elbow shiver Johnson gave Eli in the Portland game but got caught. Did I say that Coach Hecker and I have worked with Johnson back when he was with SLCC, he has come a long way…and he has a 7’ brother commited to Oregon and on a mish.
Harward: haha yes I saw that. Sneaky.
Johnson: hope he has a great experience and his brother comes to BYU!! No 7 footer will get better coaching than from Pope and Burgess!
BTW, anyone notice that BYU has jumped 12 spots in the Pomeroy comparison after our road wins? Up from 58 to 46. BYU is sitting solid at a 9 seed in the matrix, all the way from a 5 seed-10 seed. With out favorable schedule all the way out to Gonzaga, BYU should get ranked.
Fun year to be a Cougar
If BYU wins today and with SF’s game lost to covid, BYU could crack the top25 next week or 2. We finally got votes and with all the intense battles and losses. Steady climb
2020-21 Men’s College Basketball Rankings for Week 10 | ESPN
Time to not lose anymore games unless your name is Gonzaga
yeah, I jinxed it. But this loss shouldn’t hurt us too bad. Pepperdine has a team that could place them 4th in the WCC. Just can’t lose too many more
A lot of people are wondering about George, but my assessment would be -great athletic skills. Fair shooting skills but is somewhat lost in the movement of the offense and does a lot of standing. He needs more minutes and needs to learn to move within the offense more and his up side will greatly increase, both on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Expect Lohner and George to be really good next year
3 minutes in a game where Averette gets 0 assists and has 6 turnovers. George is simply too valuable to sit in tight games.
If George sticks around. Pope needed him out there on defense more. George gets one turnover and he’s benched. Averette gets 6 and he gets a pat on the back.
Haarms should have been in the game at the end. What’s up about that?
Did George played at all today? I was listening to the game and about four minutes left in the second half I fell asleep. Then I woke up hearing that BYU lost and what a bummer. Anyway did George play today at all? And wow did we played against Pepperdine at the fire house little gym with no crowd but echoes? Maybe we should go back to MWC or some better league and take Gonzaga out of there too.
He played about 3 minutes. He needs more pt to get in his and the teams game. There again he was held out for a large portion of a game for something unsubstantiated, so who knows
We always struggle there. Fans or no fans.
George made a turnover and was yanked after about a minute. Averette makes 6 terrible turnovers and he gets a pat on the back. I wouldn’t be surprised if he transfers out.