This was the most important game in the WCC to date. Highlights.
1 Some say this was a throw back game from 40 years ago. All defense, zero punch. I say, Beat SMC at their own game. revenge is a soup served thick.
2 We held their best scorer, Tess, to 13 points although he did get 15 boards
3 BYU caused 19 turnovers, unheard of stat. For a ball control team like SMC, death blow.
4 Traore and Atiki were the key to stopping SMC’s balance, Tess had been averaging 22 a game.
5 Knells baskets were timely, BYU had gone 7 minutes and 4 minutes without a score until Knell’s jumpers.
6 Lucas was also key to the win, his ability to get to the rim
7 another stat that pops…BYU could only manage 7 assists. 4 from Barcello. To say that he had a bad game because he did’nt hit double digits would be a big lie. Lucas and Barcello were as lock down as you can get.
8 Knight also had a very good game, altered shots while scoring 8
9 Odd that Kuhse did not start, he is by far their catalyst, shows just how hard Barcello and Johnson locked down. also odd that George did not have a big night.
Wondered that about Kuhse myself. I think the player that has really picked up his game lately is Knight. I like it when players keep improving on a weekly basis.
Fouss Charles Barkley Traore is already a legend with the ROC. Fortunately for us, he is too short to go to the NBA early (if at all), so in 3 years could be one of the BYU greats. Jeff Chatman was not too shabby in the post at 6’6” with long arms and big hops, similar to Fouss. I think we will lose our share this year simply because we are so small. I’ve already said that BYU was a sweet 16 team (or better) at full strength, but if this team even makes the tourney as last team in, they should put a statue of Coach Pope outside the Marriott Center.
He had to go up against Wilt, Russell and many other great centers. It was more physical too. He could also shoot the outside shot too. Fousse does a lot of the same things.
My wife and I were in the Portland temple a few months ago and saw Jeff, his wife, his son Jordan, and Jordan’s wife in the lobby as we were leaving. He is even more physically imposing than he was back in the day. We heard him speak several years ago and he was the funniest and probably best speaker I’ve ever heard. His description of going from black rural Alabama to lilly white Provo was beyond hilarious. I was friends in class with Steve Schreiner and got to know Andy Toolson fairly well (he lived with Steve and I’d go over to hang out). Those guys played with Chatman and I know Chatman was a model teammate and great leader from the way they talked about him.
