1 SDSU was replacing 5 starters from last year’s final 2 team. so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
2 Why ESPN+ and about 0 people could watch this game. sucks
3 The core of Johnson, Foos, Saunders, Hall and Robinson is going to carry us a long ways this season.
don’t know when Dawson Baker is going to be ready but he can play, Khalifa is a conditioning challenge for now.
4 My man, Hall, got the rust off., great game but Spenc is standing there wide open.
5 Spenc Johnson, still the rock of this team.
6 Robison will get 30 in a game before the season is over
7 Foooooos, best 6’6 big man in the game.
8 Waterman, I started… I fouled out but I’ll have a big game against a no name team, just your wait.
9 Richie Saunders, the ever ready bunny, love his motor.
10 I think we dance but that depends on Khalifa and Baker coming along.
11 Big Win tonight but then we were favored. SDSU-solid but again, all 5 starters from last year, gone. We will have to wait and see, possibly for the Utah game to see what BYU is as a team because BYU is pulling a SMC at the Marriott in the preseason.
point #12 BYU is going to live and die by the 3 this year
code word for Road Wins are going to be tough. Ken Pom buts home court advantage at 6 points but with BYU’s affinity for long distance, I would put that at 10 points.
I worried about Hall on D. Obviously Trey is a great defender but can’t score, so Hall had to go. Butler is awesome. I thought he would take Hall to the woodshed but Hall held him to nine points. Huge respect for Hall’s D last night.
BYU D was AWESOME! Man D for 40 minutes (except zone for inbounds under our own basket but immediately shifting to man when the ball was inbounded).
Saunders was awesome. That kid is an AWESOME athlete—true B12 athleticism. He has it all and was clutch down the stretch.
Robinson played great. SDSU was guarding him in the first half a lot with 5’10” Trammell and Pope smartly kept calling for him to iso. SDSU put a bigger guy on him in the second half, so Pope adjusted.
Agreed on Fouss. Ledee is a legit NBA player, is 3 inches taller than Fouss, and JUST AS STRONG. For Fouss to go 12/8 and shoot over 50% was a huge neutralizer.
You know Robinson didn’t play in the 2nd half. Any inside reason for that after 12 points in the 1st half? I asked Fish but no response. He has this inside birdie that says Sitaki is getting fired so I thought he would know why Robinson didn’t play?
Ok I hate to do this but I have to respond. Robinson DID play in the second half. They put a bigger guy on him and Pope countered with a different guy. If you are so inclined you can check the play by play on ESPN game cast. 2nd half:
13:43 Jaxson Robinson defensive rebound.
13:13 Jaxson Robinson missed three point jumper.
Robinson played in the second half. Just not very much and the lineup on the floor got the job done.
There are various reasons that the reduced time for Robinson was done. No one really knows except Pope.
I remember when Jerry Sloan was coach and he actually benched Karl Malone for not following instructions.
Jerry’ quote " NO ONE is above the rules and more important than the team."
As you know, Coaches puts players on the floor based on what they see the other team is doing (going small ball or large ball type stuff). My guess is that Pope saw or felt something from the floor that prompted him to do what he did.
Exactly. Saunders took most of Robinson’s minutes in the second half. And the results speak for themselves. Saunders and Jaxson combined:
39 minutes
24 points on 8/14 shooting, 2/6 from deep and 6/6 from the line (Richie was MONEY from the line late)
7 rebounds
2 assists
2 steals
1 TO
2 fouls (note both defended like monsters without fouling)
Both were awesome when we needed them. What a luxury for BYU to have two hyper athletic, long guards who are both great defenders and both of whom jump out of the gym. Richie maybe a little better defender and rebounder, but Jaxson better from deep. What a luxury.
Hmmm don’t think so…sitting here thinking of all the NCAA D1 and NFL Super Bowl champs who ran a 2 QB system…ok, done thinking. It’s zero.
Look at Knell in the practice game vs Knell vs SDSU. He went from being a high scorer to barely able to even get a shot off, and on the other end couldn’t guard. During the SDSU game I was texting my friend in the program and told him this, but then added “but just watch Knell will hit a key triple.” Then he did. I think Jaxson and Richie will wind up taking a lot of minutes from Knell as the season goes on. Both kids are outstanding defenders, are two of the best leapers on the team, can score, and Richie is a pretty elite rebounder for his size.
Tom articulated it in his post, “Ok I hate to do this but I have to respond. Robinson DID play in the second half. They put a bigger guy on him and Pope countered with a different guy.”
Richie, the ever ready bunny. For Robinson, it was always confidence, he is a different man this year… And as you point out. both are much better defenders (its a speed thing) over Knell. If Knell could defend, he would be a no brainer starter.
Again, I will point out that this SDSU team is NOT the team we saw in the finals, still good, great coach but they are a shadow of that great 2022 team. BYU was favored in this game, so this win is not saying much
I’ll say it again, Robinson plays the 3, Saunders replaces Waterman at the 4. So what they put a taller defender on him. He still is a better athlete and could drive around the defender and still get off shots. You have a legit 4 star athlete and you back off cause a defender is taller?
Pope did what he did because he either felt or saw something that dictated to reduce Robinson time. Or maybe Robinson is nursing a nagging injury that is not reported, or maybe Robinson “Gassed out” or maybe Pope did not consult with the grasshopper how to properly coach the team.
