Emery wasn’t perfect, but a darn sight better than anyone else, except for Mika, who again watched half the game from the bench. This was a lose lose situation for BYU and they lost. Time to move on and see what happens with USU. Rose cares about defense, it would be absurd not to.
I was venting. We have the talent, there is no excuse for letting your guy have continued open looks. If we call for their heads when they don’t make the effort or write articles about firing Coach Rose like the lawless republic just did, they hear you.
Its not like these youngsters don’t hate losing, I know them and they are feeling the burn right now but we are no longer in protected high school programs where you have few options. BYU has to think about $$$ paying fans, boosters and their long term goals of getting into a P5 conference. Coaches do get fired over stuff like this.
These kids are money, they will figure it out.
We were a total, complete embarrassment vs UVU. That said, I’m happy for coach Pope, who is still loved and missed in the BYU basketball department. I know a bunch of people in that group and I’ve never spoken to a player or team employee who doesn’t love and respect Coach Pope. I still believe our talent can overcome our flaws. TJ has been terrible overall the last few games (and 10-30 on the season on TWO point shots–yuk!). But he makes athletic moves that take our breath away, and that is evidence that his ceiling is VERY high. Mika is perhaps the most dominant post player we have ever had, with no close second. He took himself out of the Valpo game with 4 of the silliest fouls I have ever seen–all over the back on rebounds. His production per minute–on both ends–is off the charts, and he needs to learn to back off on a few plays so as to not foul. Emery is a gunner who thinks he can score every time. Most of the time he backs it up. He is developing into an OUTSTANDING finisher at the rim. He is super athletic and is a really good man-to-man defender. He will simply athletically overwhelm many opponents, and that is a welcome sight in a BYU player. Childs looks as great as advertised in the post. Dastrup needs to get in shape. LJ Rose looks like a major liability any time he shoots, but he has been a terrible shooter his entire college career. But he is a great passer and is very poised out there, and heaven knows we could use more poise. Rose has all these 4 star guys, but so far they look sloppy, undisciplined, and out of position. But I’ve always believed that in sports–and ESPECIALLY in basketball–superior talent beats out everything else in the end, and I hope that is the case with this group.
1 Like
Another sign of delusion and denial is making overblown statements to try and convince oneself that things are a lot better than the evidence suggests.
I love your posts, I love your enthusiasm and most of the time I agree with what you guys are saying. I guess there is a first for everything… I’m trying real hard to see it this way and agree with you guys but I just can’t yet.
Looking at the first 4 games we played good team ball. Defense has been lacking since the first game but isn’t surprising because defense takes longer to work as a team. So team play isn’t the problem.
When players go cold they press. Especially when real young or inexperienced at the college level. Someone has to fill in and/or take the lead. That’s all Emery is trying to do.
Rose on his past defenses. Lawless Republic posted:
Often, Rose has gotten a pass because there hasn’t been top-end talent in Provo. Plus, with the Cougars wanting to run the floor, there are plenty of opportunities for opponents to score. In the 2013-14 season, BYU basketball was 326th in the nation in opponent points per game (77.8). The Cougars were 318th in the country during the 2014-15 season (73.6). Last season, they were 199th, but didn’t really improve (73.2).
This season the Cougars rank 254th, allowing 77.5 points per game.
I’m not saying Rose is the problem and needs to be let go, but I do think that if things don’t improve, his feet should on the fire. If he can’t teach his players how to play defense, then he needs to find a coach that will.
Hovering in the 300’s for defense leaves BYU out of any discussion of winning the WCC, playing past the 1st round in March or calling Rose a great coach. He has the talent now, if he squanders it, he is done.
Even if BYU was efficiency-wise one of the best defenses in the country, statistics cited here, points allowed per game, would indicate BYU was pretty bad. BYU’s pace of game virtually guarantees the opponent’s ppg will be higher than average…meaning in the ppg point of view BYU will always have a terrible defense. For WCC conference play, last year BYU had the most efficient defense. Only once has it not been in top three and even then it was in the upper half of the conference. This does not mean there isn’t room for improvement. Even a blind man looking at the defense would not see room for improvement. But ppg is hardly a legit stat to use in the discussion.
'To say that BYU is out of the discussion of winning the WCC is truly delusional. For the five years BYU has been in the conference championship discussion from the national commentators, and the conference discussion has always had BYU in the conversation. The BYU Cougars have never finished worse than third in the regular season and in the WCC tournament has twice lost in the finals and twice lost on the semi-finals.
Not even close to being out of the conversation.
That is very true. Stats can be used to deceive people. That’s why I’m always looking for the reasons behind the numbers.
I agree with your comment about the points allowed part of the equation not being accurately reflective of the BYU defense. I think a more accurate reflection might be the 114 points they gave up against a team that didn’t rank in the top 300 of Pomeroys ncaa teams. BYU will give up more points than most teams because they will score more points than most teams.
Also, you can talk about BYU winning the wcc all you want… this is the post “Jimmer destroying Gonzaga” reality of the situation and the fact that he embarrassed the darling of the conference. How many years will it be before they actually win the league or tournament title? How many chances do they need? The wcc is playing the Cougars and reaping the financial rewards. Welcome to big time college basketball in the little wcc.