Because of all the injuries or whatever, I think Pope decided he needed to “Adjust”…
Here is an article about it:
BYU basketball: Why Mark Pope is retooling team due to health issues - Deseret News
But BYU looked awful against Creighton. No bigs, we lose against big teams.
In the article, Pope mentioned that, and it was a motivating factor to relook at how he runs his team from now on. Not sure if they will do the “small ball” type offense, but Pope and his coaches are pretty good at adjusting to things, “I think?”
Well, it’s about outscoring the other team. We shot 3’s very good. It was short hook shots and layups where we sucked. Shot like 25% from 2’s. So, 6 more 2’s and a free throw and we may have won. Pope knows this and I suspect he is working on that now that we are doing better with 3’s.
I have tremendous faith in Coach Pope. Few top 25 teams could lose their two biggest guys–particularly upperclassmen–and stay in the top 25. Pope and Burgess are well respected for their ability to work with bigs. With B12 membership on the horizon, I bet we see some quality big men come into the program. Our entire talent level will have to be significantly upgraded to compete, but if anyone can do it at BYU, it’s Coach Pope. Just remember what we saw vs Creighton–that’s EVERY game in the B12.
And just 5% 2 point shots better and we may have won. That’s what has to get better.
But BYU didn’t even come close to beating Creighton.
Well, beg to differ. Again, we beat ourselves by shooting horribly everything but 3’s. Only a handful of 2’s would have brought us within a chance of winning. Ya, the foul shots were bad officiating but just make a few more floaters and layups.
Maybe I didn’t make my point clear about Creighton: “what we saw” means “we saw how far we are from competing every game against teams like this” as we will have to do when we join the B12.
I’m starting to build a theory that the most important player on our team this year was Baxter. Before you Cougarfans thing I’m crazy, hear me out. Gavin was our only truly athletic big. He might not have scored or rebounded much against Oregon and Utah and others, but he was a major presence. He attracts defenders. He alters shots. He competes physically in a way that no one else does at BYU. Lohner does some good things and George is a good swing man but neither of them are a true inside presence.
Is Baxter more important than Barcello? Probably. Lucas could step in and Johnson Knell and others could adjust in the backcourt if AB is out. But without Baxter, there are no personnel adjustments possible. We now need to completely retool our strategy.
- Good to see you posting again, little (and more athletic) brother! Don’t be a stranger!!
- It will take more convincing to get me on board with Bax being more crucial than AB, but no need to convince me that he was at least the 2nd most important player on the team. Bax has a 7’1" wingspan, lateral quickness, strong upper body and a 40+ inch vert–absolute NBA level measurables and athleticism. Very few BYU bigs have had NBA size, length, power, leaping ability, quickness, etc., and Bax has all of that. And he’s gone. And we have NO ONE to replace him. As I’ve posted, if Pope gets this team to the dance, he gets my vote as national COY.
- See #1. This board needs your perspective.
- I’m still just a little bitter that no matter how hard I worked, you were always still a better athlete than I was. Just sayin’.
Your career was compromised by your torn ACL in high school when you were in that Ski Race on Mt Hood. Otherwise, who knows what could have happened with you. MLS?
The Weber game was a very good game for BYU…We have now put together 3 good games %wise from 3land. Barcello is finally getting some help from distance.