Why are we playing their game?

First half BYU is catering to St. Mary’s. Too much standing around and waiting for the Gaels and then jumping at them when they shoot or standing and watching them drive to the basket. They are more disciplined, play more as a team and stick to their game plan.

BYU does too much one on one stuff, I don’t understand why the little guys on our team insist on taking it inside all the time and the big guys want to shoot 3’s. Kaufusi playing like a rookie again, Davis shooting 3’s, Emery acting like he is still at Lone Peak.

Time to grow up guys and start playing like men. Why is KC on the bench so much? This is a game where the veterans need to step up and lead the team. Tough defense, share the ball, work and be patient for good shots. It isn’t rocket science in the wcc.

First 5 minutes of the second half and BYU needs to take advantage and make a run.

Stop trying to be the hero Emery…

BYU takes it out to a 9 point lead and then Fischer and KC make back to back stupid plays. This team just doesn’t get it. When you have the opponent by the throat you have to play smart and force them to make the plays… don’t turn it over and help them.

Okay… 12 point lead. Slow it down and force St. Mary’s to get back into the game. No stupid glory plays, keep sharing the ball and get the inside out game going.

The key to the comeback is defense so far. Stay aggressive but don’t make dumb mistakes. This game is BYU’s if they do those things.

St. Mary’s can’t hit the broad side of the barn and BYU got bailed out on a couple of plays. If we could hit the free throws down the stretch better than 50% we would win this game by 20.

BYU will win this game because St. Mary’s doesn’t know what it is like to play from behind.

Cougs win!

Good win for the Cougars. Good defensive effort in the second half of the second half. The Gaels couldn’t hit anything at the end.

I think the only time I have seen killer instinct from a BYU Basketball team is when Alan Taylor played center. He just dominated in the paint. He was 6’ 10" as I recall. That team really played as a team.
Jeff

BYU wins because of great defense in the second half. Having both bigs playing the defense really took them out of their game.
Free throws and short shots again made the game closer than it should have been. But, BYU did great in a very big game!

it is nice to see that kaufusi has his confidence back and even better that his play is so much better than it was earlier this year, let alone last year.

He may actually get some playing time next year…

When he stays on his feet and times his jumps while trying to alter/block shots he is very effective. It is just a matter of discipline and experience.

BYU wins this game because Kaufusi is finally playing like Kaufusi instead of whatever we saw earlier this year.

I guess that is what we can point to because I didn’t see anything else that would lead me to think BYU won this game. I think he made a difference on defense because St. Mary’s was terrible in the second half. They tied their scoring low for a game this season… one of their other losses, to Cal. They only had 22 points in the second half and I think they finished the game going scoreless for the last 4 or 5 minutes. They got behind, they got rattled playing in a big arena/crowd and BYU stepped up the defense in the second half.

On BYU’s side of the ball, the free throw shooting was bad again, the assists were low and shooting %'s were so so. It was the defense in the second half that made a difference. When they went to that modified 1-2-2 where KC was pressuring the point up high, it seemed to throw the Gaels out of any rhythm they had.

Good win on a mediocre offensive effort. Defense wins championships… if they keep it going they might have a shot.

I disagree on several points. The offense shot an average 45%% and from 3 land, 32%. That’s not what I would call mediocre. Yes, the assists were down but I’ve said before, we win with percentages :wink: We also had 12 offensive rebounds and only 10 turnovers, 4 in the 2nd half. Assists were down because of SMU’s defense.

We should have scored more because of what I’ve been saying all along, we blow layups and short shots. And, we tend to miss free throws in key times during the game.

Defense in the second half was much better. Kaufusi said today on BYU Sports Nation that Rose had them practice all week changing up defenses every time down the court from man to 1-3-1 defense (Not 1-2-2). Those were Kaufusi’s words not mine. But, any coach could see we were playing a 1-3-1, not a modified 1-2-2 (whatever that means). You can only modify a zone with a match up zone :smile:

Defense travels. The defensive effort payed dividends. I liked the way Austin and Kaufusi played off of each other. Did you see Austin and Kaufusi celebrating together afterwords? It seems another poster indicated that they hated each other.
Bottom line, they are not good enough offensively to beat teams on the road. The defensive effort last night made the difference in the game. Hopefully they can take this defensive intensity and put together a run here. It would be nice to win a conference tournament for a change.

Thanks Richard… there are some “cougarfans” who can’t help themselves and scramble around at the opportunity to “disagree” with anything they can.

It doesn’t matter so much what you call it… 1-3-1 or 1-2-2, the bottom line is that the pressure KC put on their point was really disruptive and it was the defensive effort in the second half that made the difference between winning and losing the game. 22 second half points for SMC is the only stat that is worth mentioning. St. Mary’s had fewer turnovers, more assists, shot 85% from the line and were victimized by home court and 50% more foul calls. I saw several calls that were missed that could have gone SMC’s way. On a neutral court I’m not so sure BYU would win as easily if at all. That is why I am concerned when the wcc tournament rolls around. St. Mary’s is a very well coached and disciplined team. I hope BYU can bypass them in the wcc tourney.

I don’t need to look at stats to determine how or why a team wins a game but I can use them to confirm what I see.

SMC became very average outside of the confines of their own home

Without their weapon of three-point shooting St. Mary’s has very little chance of beating even average teams

There’s a big difference between a 1-3-1 and a 1-2-2. And it wasn’t just the zone. It was how Rose devised the rotation from zone to man each time down the court. The key to do this is the basketball intelligence of the players. I rarely had the opportunity to do that sort of thing. The one year I had a team that could do that we had a blast. We did all sorts of defensive maneuvers.
We beat a 4 team Simi Valley confusing them by shifting from zone to man and man to zone as SV went from side to side. We got several turnovers because they would throw the pass into a shifting defense. It was great!
Well, what you do is cherry pick the stats to manipulate your theory :wink: it’s all how you look at it :slight_smile:

You need to rewatch the interview with Kaufusi. He clearly stated that, the original game plan was to change back and forth, then, at one point in the time out, Rose opted to stay with just the 1-3-1 for an extended period of time. Since that is what actually happened during the game. The 1-3-1 is very different than man. Since, for a time they stayed in just 1-3-1, I think you, with your vast basketball knowledge would have noticed this. We didn’t beat them by keeping them off balance. In the critical stretch of the game, we stayed in the defense that they couldn’t beat. When they started beating the defense by hitting threes in the corner, we switched back, however, by then, we had the crowd, the momentum and the game.

You are just knit-picking. Of course they stayed with it a few times. If you re-watch the game, you will see the they also did man D a few times in a row too. Mixing it up to keep them off-balance.

You hate it when somebody tells the truth and it conflicts with your perspective. What Richard is saying is exactly what happened. They didn’t keep switching defenses every time down the court…

Bottom line is BYU isn’t a very good team. I should have known that every time they make us think they have it together, they play some sucky game like today.

Time to face the music and admit that this team just isn’t very good.