That was a really good first game and way to start the season…Princeton is good, and we were just better. Good to see.
Mika looks far more polished, and just as athletic.
TJ Haws just can flat out score–not as smooth yet as Emery, but very high ceiling.
Emery is so good when he looks to finish at the rim–it makes his jumpers that much more difficult to defend.
Childs avoided fouling and is clearly an athletic marvel. Meanwhile, Davis looked clunky, out of position, and plain yucky.
LJ Rose is athletic, a great passer, unselfish, and a great defender. Looks very poised.
Bryant: was I the only one who thought he looked perpetually out of control, forcing EVERYTHING?
We played zone for two possessions and gave up six points. WE SHOULD NEVER PLAY ZONE, EVER!
At one point the short dark haired ref called FOUR tacky tack fouls–two on each team–in ONE minute of play. That guy is an idiot, plain and simple. No better than he was last year. He needs to stow the ego or find a new job.
So beautiful to watch the guys who will have the ball late in games knocking down free throws.
Gonzaga looks REALLY GOOD, AND I MEAN TOP 10 GOOD. Kanowski looks like their 3rd best big, behind Tille, the 6’10" freshman from France, and Collins, the 7’0" freshman from Bishop Gorman. Talk about reloading…Few is loaded.
Man I agree with everything you said. Good first game. I was annoyed where our guards were dropping down to help and leaving the 3 open. Stay with your guy!!! Let the big men play D.
I did end upon watching the Gonzaga vs San Diego State game. Gonzaga is wow, I can’t believe the big men Few has recruited. They are impressive and they play defense! Be interesting to see how Mika plays against their bigs, could get frustrated. If BYU could finish second in this conference and surprise St, Mary’s that would be a very successful season.
Rose mentioned playing a full ten man rotation this year.
Beo played so I expect he’ll be part of it.
Rose loves Kaufusi, who also has experience, so he’ll be in it too.
interestingly Aytes saw time last night but not surprising Dastrup didn’t. Dastrup should redshirt and be a monster next year. That would leave Rose with five legit bigs in his ten man rotation. No wonder why he’s been so excited for this year.
Frampton saw the court last night. ahead of Liefson. I could see Rose playing both this season. Frampton for his defence and Liefson for his 3s.
That of course means 11 man rotation.
That would leave Guinn and Shaw on the outs…I’d call them solid players who on most of Rose’s teams would see regular time and perhaps work their way into regular or more minutes. Rose says he’s won a lot of games with such players. I just don’t see them playing now that Rose has the horses to get back to winning championships.
You saw that too. Freshmen mistakes. I saw some lazy passes and poor shot selections but I also saw a bunch of newbies do just about anything they wanted to while they made a bunch of seasoned seniors take 35 threes on the road, total domination if you ask me
Mika in a single game just threw his name in the national POY hat.
I have harped about this forever it seems…you can tell when someone is serious about their future when they go out and fundamentally change weaknesses into strengths. Mika said this after the game:
“I’ve spent the last six months shooting free throws,” said Mika, who was a 62 percent free throw shooter before his mission. “It paid off tonight.” 11 of 11 at one time!
Too bad it may be too late for Davis but I hope ManChilds gets the memo. I bring this up because I think that Davis and Childs Free Throws along with our guards allowing open looks are the only weaknesses on this team going forward.
The biggest reason why BYU won last night…Our newbies made a senior laden team (who is soooo much like SMC in every way) and forced them to huck up 35 threes. Just look at the disparity of free throws, BYU shot 41, Princeton 12. BYU was able to get to the basket all night and Princeton only attempted once the game was out of reach. Rose ran circles around the Princeton coach.
Gonzaga is as good a great team coached by a great coach. I am anxious to see how our bigs handle Gonzaga’s. This will be the rumble in the jungle.
Princeton shot 35 3’s and fewer FT? Sound like the other way around for several years during Dave Rose coach here. Hope we keep it up in our inside game.
Very Nice WIN! Go Cougars!
Great win vs a quality opponent. Mika and ManChild owned the paint, and our guards really played very good D. Our D has been putrid for a few years now, but I think this group gives us a chance to be good on that end. In a game full of BS ticky-tack fouls (for both teams), Rose, TJ and Emery all did a fantastic job on D of staying in front of their guy without fouling. Bryant looked horrific, but I think we need to give him some time because he’s just back from knee surgery. I met him and spoke with him in the basketball offices when I was down for the Mississippi State game, and at that time Bryant wasn’t even sure he’d be back at all before December. I think his knee explains why he looks hesitant one minute and careening out of control the next. He is big, he is fast, he is strong, and I think he will turn into a really good player for us. Q: When is the last time BYU had four primary guards who all were fast and all played above the rim? A: NEVER. We finally have the athleticism to defend, and I think we will. Davis looks like a klutz compared to our future NBA power forward, but he and Mika and ManChild all ELEVATE and challenge shots in the paint. Kaufusi will be an important post defender as well. I think this can be a much better defensive team than we have been used to in recent years.
Tell me if you remember this moment in the game: Emery came up with a loose ball on our end and pushed the ball up court. TJ ran the left wing. At full speed, Emery just slightly–almost imperceptibly, but very much on purpose–shifted his momentum to his right, causing the guy on TJ to shift his weight to his left foot; in that split second, Emery fired the pass to TJ, and, before the defender could regain his balance, TJ nailed the trey. Emery knew that the defender, being human, simply could not resist the urge to shift his weight to follow the ball with his eyes (instead of sticking on TJ, as he should have). Emery also knew EXACTLY where to find his lifelong friend. My son and I just looked at each other and smiled, because was great basketball and great to see the LP boys together again.
The one play that Mika did made me worry and hope that he or anyone doing this by chasing the ball by landing in the crowd or chairs. DON’T DO THAT AGAIN not until if we reached in the ncaa.
Mika would have been fine with “chasing the ball” had the Princeton player not cheap shotted him in the back. terrible reffing.
I think the reffing of this game was sad. Granted, there are new rules this season but all I saw all night were ticky tack fouls that got Davis and Princeton’s best player in trouble. These new rules are BAD for basketball.
What I saw in this game was a rotation that I think Rose will use throughout the year…this has never happened in decades. To know who your guys are so early will pay dividends…BIGLY.
There are always odd men out so I feel for Bryant but he just looked out of control out there. His knee really set him back and I am sure he will get to where he is a trustworthy 6th man but there is no way Rose is the point at this time.
ManChild is so comfortable out there with LP3 but Davis is a double double guy so while he does not start, he will get starter minutes.
91.7? Wow…that is good…thanks for researching that. And, in that I’m not on any social media, I appreciate your forwarding that twitter message from Gurney. TJ Haws can flat out score, and he can do it in a variety of ways. What I think many don’t know is that, like his dad, TJ can really elevate. There were a couple last night where he got deep and got fouled and kind of just threw the ball up in the air-- as he gets stronger and more confident he will be able to absorb contact and dunk over guys in traffic. Mika will have the opportunity to go to the NBA after his Jr. year, if not after this year, and I just hope we can keep the LP boys together long enough to have the fun as fans of making a good tournament run.
I only got to see the last 13 minutes of the game. I was completely impressed with Mika. Emery needs to clean up his three point shooting, but there is time for that.
I said this the first time I saw him play as a freshman. Obviously he hasn’t missed a thing by serving a mission.
When I say I worry about Emery, this is what I worry about. He wants to be Jimmer. Some of his 3 point shots were ridiculously out of range for anyone but Jimmer, yet Emery hucked it up there anyway… not even close. When Emery plays within his abilities he is very, very good. When he tries to do too much or go into Jimmer mode, he is a liability.