At Illinois (Neutral site sort of)

[Qman]

This was a fun game to watch. In fact it probably will resemble our games against Gonzaga.

In the first half, IU got all the 50/50 balls and several ones that BYU should have been able hold onto. They were bigger and stronger across the board. We kept in contact for the first 10 minutes with Emery's hot 3 pt shooting and Mika inside. When Mika got his 2nd foul and we brought in some bench guys it started to get ugly and was 37-22 at one point.

We called timeout and brought Mika back in. Our aggressive 2-3 zone and some improved effort got us close by half time. We battled all second half but never could string together enough defensive rebounds or good offensive possession to take the lead. We ended up missing a 3 pt heave at the buzzer and lost by 2.

Mika was a stud again. He struggles with is post defense, but his work on the boards was stellar again. He also flashed a 15 jumper a few times. He also had an impressive finish on a fastbreak. An IU guard was set to take a charge and Mika sidestepped him and layed in off the glass.

Emery played a very good game tonight. His shot selection was mostly good and his defense was excellent. He just wasn't able to hit enough of his free throw or good looks to get us the lead.

Haws couldn't get his 3 pt shot to go consistently. I liked the way he played defense but just lack of strength hurt him on fighting for boards. I wonder if his lack of strength is killing his outside shooting.

Childs had good game overall. But he was getting punked early fighting rebounds. Someday he will know to box out every time.

Rose had some nice moments but we needed more offensively from him. IU was sagging off him and Haws to clog the lane. We made our last run because Leifson was brought in and he banged in a couple of 3's. Then Rose made some tough shots to give us a chance with Emery's 3 pt half court shot.

It hurt that Leifson made a mistake when in was 69-68 on switching defensive assignments that put us in scramble.

Davis tried to play and was ineffective with his bum knee.

Aytes and Shaw both got chances with mixed results. Shaw's length and mobility helped on D. But his struggled to box out. And his trademark offensive rebounds and putbacks were bumped our by IU size and ahtletic ability. Shaw needs to put in the work to get stronger. Aytes was effective in post defensively but his lack of height hurt him when his tried to score in the paint.

Beo got a few minutes and made a few plays but couldn't finish his chances.

[hawkwing]

Cougars fought really hard to make this a game, they easily could have folded half way through the first half. I'm impressed with their fortitude to stick with it.

Doubt this team will make the NCAA tourney, but they fought hard.

[Qman]

Cougars fought really hard to make this a game, they easily could have folded half way through the first half. I'm impressed with their fortitude to stick with it.

Doubt this team will make the NCAA tourney, but they fought hard.

We really need some one to make a few more plays. It seems likely that Haws and Childs will show significant improvement..... but probably not until next year.

[SpiffCoug]

I hope you all enjoy Mika because he isn't going to be at BYU next year.

[Qman]

I hope you all enjoy Mika because he isn't going to be at BYU next year.

Is he going to play in Europe? He isn't ready for the NBA nor does he have that kind of buzz.

Note he is not in Draft Express's mock draft.

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2017/

Nor is he in NBADRAFT.NET's mock draft.

http://www.nbadraft.net/2017mock_draft

Are you seeing him getting NBA buzz anywhere?


Edit:

I found Mika on Draftexpress's 2018 mock

http://www.draftexpress.com/nba-mock-draft/2018/

#59 in the second round.

The point is Mika isn't getting enough buzz to get drafted in 1st round. So if I was advising him, I would tell to stay at BYU and get better.

[SpiffCoug]

Neither NBAdraft.net nor Draftexpress have any updated information on Mika.

IF (and that's a relatively big if) he continues playing the way he is, 21 points, nearly 9 rebounds, and he won't be back.

[Mars]

BYU will start playing really well too late this year. RPI will still be in the triple digits entering WCC play.

[Gunk]

Unless we go on a huge win streak, we're going to have to win the WCC tournament to go dancing this year.

[BlueK]

BYU will start playing really well too late this year. RPI will still be in the triple digits entering WCC play.

Technically it's not ever too late in college basketball until the conference tournament is over.

[BlueK]

Neither NBAdraft.net nor Draftexpress have any updated information on Mika.

IF (and that's a relatively big if) he continues playing the way he is, 21 points, nearly 9 rebounds, and he won't be back.

It's not a big IF that staying healthy that he keeps playing well. It's not as if the WCC has a wealth of talent to throw at him. He's just a really good player. Out of HS, ESPN had him rated as the #3 center in his class for the entire country. The only thing that should be that surprising is that he's doing this right off his mission. I don't know that he's been discovered enough yet to go pro after this season though. We'll see.

http://www.espn.com/college-sports/bask ... /eric-mika