Defense?

"[Freshmen] come in thinking, if I can score, I can play. They find out if they can guard, they'll play." - Steve Fisher

Who have we got on this year's roster that can really play D? Seems like coach rose pays lip service to wanting a tough defensive team, but it's been a few years since we've been good defensively. Is it the coaching, the players, the schemes or something else?

BYULV wrote:

"[Freshmen] come in thinking, if I can score, I can play. They find out if they can guard, they'll play." - Steve Fisher

Who have we got on this year's roster that can really play D? Seems like coach rose pays lip service to wanting a tough defensive team, but it's been a few years since we've been good defensively. Is it the coaching, the players, the schemes or something else?

Probably a bit of both. Defense has been horrible and if it really is about who can defend, Haws shouldn't be getting the minutes he's getting and Winder or Bartley should have seen a lot more minutes.



I have no idea who can play D. Haws can't. Austin can't. KC can't defend against guards. Winder is solid. Bartley is solid. Other than that, your guess is as good as mine.



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Halford plays terrific defense against smaller guards. Other than that, I don't think anyone is very good defensively, except for maybe Bartley if he improves his lateral quickness. I'm including Winder in the "not good" defensive camp. He plays really bad man defense, opting to swipe at the ball while the defender runs past him instead of guarding him.



KC plays really good defense down low, and boxes out, but doesn't have the body to play bigger forwards and centers. He also can't guard ones or faster twos.



Austin plays "okay" defense, if you are looking for charging fouls and don't care about your almost 7 footer not actually trying to block anyone (which I kind of do care...).



You all know how I feel about BYU losing it's best man defender from last year... we are going to miss all those steals for easy baskets.

It is a conundrum. Can any of the new guys play D? Toolson's highlights are 100% dunks and 3's so I'm assuming he doesn't take pride in stopping anyone. We never get big guys who are swatters so I'm used to that. But you'd think we could recruit or teach a couple of guys who take pride in playing sticky D. We've already proven that just playing O doesn't work.

mizzoucoug wrote:
It is a conundrum. Can any of the new guys play D? Toolson's highlights are 100% dunks and 3's so I'm assuming he doesn't take pride in stopping anyone. We never get big guys who are swatters so I'm used to that. But you'd think we could recruit or teach a couple of guys who take pride in playing sticky D. We've already proven that just playing O doesn't work.

Tough D is the only thing that makes Rose's offense work. It's transition basketball. We don't have the bigs nor the skill set run an effective half court set. It's get stops and boards and run your opponent to death. The recruiting doesn't seem to follow this sometimes.



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Gunk wrote:

It is a conundrum. Can any of the new guys play D? Toolson's highlights are 100% dunks and 3's so I'm assuming he doesn't take pride in stopping anyone. We never get big guys who are swatters so I'm used to that. But you'd think we could recruit or teach a couple of guys who take pride in playing sticky D. We've already proven that just playing O doesn't work.

Tough D is the only thing that makes Rose's offense work. It's transition basketball. We don't have the bigs nor the skill set run an effective half court set. It's get stops and boards and run your opponent to death. The recruiting doesn't seem to follow this sometimes.



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Exactly. Without J. Emery and M. Carlino there isn't going to be much transition to be had. Anyone ever think it was just coincidence that we always seemed to narrow the gap or increasing the lead when he came in at 5-7 minutes into the half?

BlueIsBetter wrote:

mizzoucoug wrote:
It is a conundrum. Can any of the new guys play D? Toolson's highlights are 100% dunks and 3's so I'm assuming he doesn't take pride in stopping anyone. We never get big guys who are swatters so I'm used to that. But you'd think we could recruit or teach a couple of guys who take pride in playing sticky D. We've already proven that just playing O doesn't work.

Tough D is the only thing that makes Rose's offense work. It's transition basketball. We don't have the bigs nor the skill set run an effective half court set. It's get stops and boards and run your opponent to death. The recruiting doesn't seem to follow this sometimes.



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Exactly. Without J. Emery and M. Carlino there isn't going to be much transition to be had. Anyone ever think it was just coincidence that we always seemed to narrow the gap or increasing the lead when he came in at 5-7 minutes into the half?

Haters are gonna hate.



At the rate Carlino was going, he would have finished 2nd in all-time steals at BYU, surpassing Danny Ainge and coming in second to Emery. As a Junior, he's 6th all-time in steals at BYU. You could argue, Carlino was BYU's 2nd all-time, best defender. Most of his steals turned into points. Wipe those steals and points away.



We don't beat USF this season. Gonzaga will sweep us.

Gunk wrote:

Gunk wrote:

It is a conundrum. Can any of the new guys play D? Toolson's highlights are 100% dunks and 3's so I'm assuming he doesn't take pride in stopping anyone. We never get big guys who are swatters so I'm used to that. But you'd think we could recruit or teach a couple of guys who take pride in playing sticky D. We've already proven that just playing O doesn't work.

Tough D is the only thing that makes Rose's offense work. It's transition basketball. We don't have the bigs nor the skill set run an effective half court set. It's get stops and boards and run your opponent to death. The recruiting doesn't seem to follow this sometimes.



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Exactly. Without J. Emery and M. Carlino there isn't going to be much transition to be had. Anyone ever think it was just coincidence that we always seemed to narrow the gap or increasing the lead when he came in at 5-7 minutes into the half?

Haters are gonna hate.



At the rate Carlino was going, he would have finished 2nd in all-time steals at BYU, surpassing Danny Ainge and coming in second to Emery. As a Junior, he's 6th all-time in steals at BYU. You could argue, Carlino was BYU's 2nd all-time, best defender. Most of his steals turned into points. Wipe those steals and points away.



We don't beat USF this season. Gonzaga will sweep us.

I definitely don't (didn't) hate Carlino. I was in attendance for his debut against Baylor and remember sitting in a sports bar in Boise and watch him (on ESPNU in non-HD) singlehandedly beat USF in a wild and crazy game. I for one wish he had stuck around this season, but it is what it is and the reasons really don't matter anymore. With that being said, with regard to this year's team, I am not ready to jump off the nearest bridge (Really??? We don't beat USF this season???). I will give Coach Rose and his staff the benefit of the doubt that they will put the pieces in place for a competitive and successful team. The have definitely earned that much (and more) from this fan.