Dangerous game. Portland is long with Van De Mars and Guron. Last time they played BYU they were without Bailey, their leading scorer. They are also susceptible in that almost all their points come from their starters. English has 30 in the first BYU game but he averages 6 a game. Bailey and V D Mars are the guys to worry about as they bring it every game.
BYU cannot afford to go 7 minutes without scoring in this game or their year is over. BYU has a much deeper bench with serious scoring punch while Portlandia suffers when starters go out. Its a good thing BYU’s post has experience now so we should hold down the fort. This game will be all about defense as BYU’s shots don’t fall well on the road and now that BYU is playing a semblance of defense, it should be a win.
No way I can say with confidence that BYU wins this game. This years’ team is totally unpredictable so I give them a 50/50 chance on the road. I think that is being optimistic.
Also, somebody said something about the wcc commish hoping that BYU would be a ncaa tourney team, but I don’t believe it. Why would he say that? He would say the same thing about every team in the conference not named Gonzaga or he would be criticized and lose his job. No reason to include the Zags on the list of teams he wants there because everyone (coaches, players, officials, conference leaders) already knows they will be a tourney team EVERY year. That is a given… whether they are good (most of the time) or not (less frequently), but the name and special treatment gets them there when necessary.
Of course any conclusion that might be drawn from one of his comments would be easy to sell as the attendance numbers at games from having BYU in the conference is obviously huge. BYU averages more attendance than the next 5 highest teams in the conference combined.
BYU probably carries the wcc just like they carried the mwc… and everyone hates it.
Very interesting call to tonight’s game written 6 days ago, Fish. BYU will need the second half of tonight’s game, minus the foul calls, for the full game against the Zags on Saturday.
