VS Saint Louis (SLU)

[Gunk]

I don't think Guinn was fouled on that.

All the blocks are insane.

[byufan4ever]

16-0 run!!

[Gunk]

We dominated. Wednesday will be a good test for these guys.

[tmoney35]

Glad they finally put SLU away at the end there. SLU had been hanging around way too long

[Qman]

The game just ended and make it is good to have a little depth. Also the officials were pretty bad both ways in the first half and seem less noticable in the 2nd. We battled through and blew SLU out. In a game we went 3-13 from 3, we dominated with inside scoring.

Overall our D was okay-- good enough. We struggled with one of their guards Bishop. Bishop would get a step on whoever was guarding him. If Mika couldn't come over and the block the shot, then Bishop would score for a total of 27 points. We went to a 1-3-1 in the 2nd half that caught SLU off guard. Haws was effective at the top of the zone.

First of all Mika was overpowering in 20 minutes with 20 pts, 10 reb, 3 blks, 1 stl, 1 ast and 1 to. He went 7-10 from the field and 6-7 on free throws. His minutes were limited by foul trouble in the first half and Aytes came in with his best game as a Cougar that I can remember. He had 12 pts and 5 rebs in 13 minutes. He was perfect from the line and the field.

Rose was in control of this game. He played 33 minutes and got 12 rebs, 8 asts, 0 TO's and 5 pts. With Emery in foul trouble and Haws struggling we desperately needed him.

SLU defense really collapsed down and focused on Mika/Emery/Haws. The D seemed to loss track of Davis and he finished a bunch of buckets around the hoop. He had 20 on 10-13 from the field.

Emery played okay but fouled out with 12 minutes go in the 2nd half. Guinn came and provided some needed energy to finish off SLU. He ran his way into important buckets.

Haws turned the ball over 5 times by trying to force the action. He wasn't strong enough to deal with the contact. But he did make a couple of highlight plays. He needs to get smarter about when to attack.

Childs was okay in a limited role. He made a few great passes but had 2 to's too.

Leifson can't guard right now and doesn't seem to be able to find his shot.

Bryant played 6 minutes, missed 2 3's and didn't come back in the 2nd half. The announcer said he was questionable to play with a sore knee.

[scott715]

[Gunk]

Emery played okay but fouled out with 12 minutes go in the 2nd half. Guinn came and provided some needed energy to finish off SLU. He ran his way into important buckets.

Haws turned the ball over 5 times by trying to force the action. He wasn't strong enough to deal with the contact. But he did make a couple of highlight plays. He needs to get smarter about when to attack.

Emery forced things. He took some bad shots. That 3 pointer off the in-bounds play shouldn't have been taken as with the 30 footer with 10 seconds on the clock. Oh well. I loved seeing his back door cuts.

Haws is rusty. The flashes of jaw-dropping brilliance distract you from the sloppiness. He's a baller, but he pushes things a bit too much at times. Love the fakes and passing. Again, 10 more lbs and another year under his belt and he'll be the main event.

The game was sloppy at times. There was a stretch in the 1st half where it was just miss after miss after miss. Fortunately, St. Louis wasn't making much either but we can't have spells like that against better talent.

The outside shooting needs to come around, which I think the team understands, but rather than force it they need to take what comes. In the end, with all our bigs, it's going to be a "boring" season to be a wing player. Our bigs not only know what to do with the ball underneath but they're fully capable. For the last 5 years, tossing it into the post was more of a courtesy--let Austin have the ball for once--than a game plan and if you were a wing player you got to fire at will. Not anymore. Tossing it inside is almost a sure 2 pts and that's where the ball is and should go on every play.

[SpiffCoug]

I was decently big on Emery last year. So far this year, I'm beginning to think that he's just a chucker. He's Jonathon Tavernari. He's Matt Carlino. He takes more shots than he should and doesn't make enough to warrant the volume and difficulty of his selection.

[Cougs_Rule]

A little harsh on Emery. His D is well worth his PT.
But what has not been mentioned much is that last years film would suggest that he doesn't get covered ADHD not left alone. Now, this years film is piling up mounds of evidence that if you want to compete vs BYU you must shut down Mika. As teams start to monster Mika there Willmore be many more open 3's. So, hopefully Mika and Davis know how to pass it back outside. Then this team will be fairly complete and pretty darn competitive.