perimeter d, rebounding, post scoring are problems

I think rebounding will improve but our d and post scoring will be major problems all season..



I don't miss Carlino at all... I do miss Mika



I really really like Chase Fischer; I really really hate our on ball defense



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Above average team, but I was disappointed. Very nonathletic performance by a cast of thousands. I didn't see anything that made me feel that we had improved. The defense gave it more effort, but allowing a team 90 doesn't reflect well on making much improvement. It will be interesting to see how good Long Beach St. is. If they had Tyler Lamb, things might have ended ugly.



I still like the choice of playing LBS as I believe they taught us far more about out issues than some cupcake team we could have played. I'll hold out further judgement until we've played a few more games, but it was very sloppy tonight.

If BYU has to start Worthington all year, they are in trouble.

If BYU has to rely on Halford all year, like tonight, (even though he hustles alot) BYU is in trouble.

If BYU can defend the perimenter, yes, trouble. Good thing we have alot of bigs for fouls.

If BYU cant find an identity when KC is on the bench, BYU is in trouble.

If BYU allows 75-80 ppg average, it is in trouble.

IF BYU has to score 85-95 to win, BYU is in trouble.



Good adjustments by coaching staff tonight to go small. it made the difference.

Very good FT %. Difference in the game.

I dont like seeing Tyler go high and hard to the hoop like hes Taysom Hill.

We finally have a Big who can hep defend o the perimeter and get back in time to protect the hoop. I hope Kaufusi develops fast.

LBSU was desperate for a win at 0-3. they played very hard ad wouldnt go away. Credit them. But, are they really that good? I dont think so.

But a win is a win.

Just some thoughts.

Someone tell me how good LBSU really is so I know how concerned I need to be.

hawkwing wrote:
Someone tell me how good LBSU really is so I know how concerned I need to be.

Dangerous enough to beat some solid teams, young and inexperienced enough to get run by others. They will not shoot the 3 as well as they did tonight... however they should not have been able to get to the rim. Their bigs are terribad and we didn't capitalize on the boards.



When we come up on a legit rebound and dunk big man... we are going to get eaten alive or we're going to hack him to death

It's going to be a long year...



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BYU didn't look too sharp. A lot to improve on. KC was not in top form, in fact, he looked like a liability out there most of the time. Nate Austin is our most dominant big man... again. I like his hustle and drive, just wish we had another araujo to play the 5 next to him.

We did not look good. Glad Halford stepped it up.



Perimeter defense is bad. Everyone was collapsing on the penetration leaving wide open 3s.



While Austin was a beast on the boards (9 rebounds) we don't have a post scorer. At least Worthington tried some low post moves, even got one to go. No Mika-like player will hurt us more this season, but KC is not a PG. He's very, very rusty and IMO should not be handling the ball right now.



I didn't see anything promising from Nixon tonight. He and Sharp were pretty much the same player.



In general, though, we played really sloppy. We turned the ball over 15+ times.



Good games by Winder, Halford, Fischer and Haws.

BroncoBot wrote:
BYU didn't look too sharp. A lot to improve on. KC was not in top form, in fact, he looked like a liability out there most of the time. Nate Austin is our most dominant big man... again. I like his hustle and drive, just wish we had another araujo to play the 5 next to him.

If he just had a turn around jumper. That's all he needs. He's not a banger, but if he gets that ball outside the key and just turns around and shoots that would be enough.

Lbsu don't dismiss them so quickly this is a team that will probe win its conf. They r fast and athletic and that 3 ball as always great equalizer.. I saw some good things out there and its just game 1. At least we did not have a night like the sec lol..ouch

Definitely a lot to improve on, but it's game #1. We have not settled into a starting 5 or consistent rotation yet. This team will be developing its identity over the next few weeks and then it we will have a much better idea of what we can expect from them. It's way too early to go negative on this team, but I do agree that worthington as a starter is a scary omen. I'm still not sold on Halford. After last year's flash of brilliance followed by mediocrity, And his terrible preseason, I'll wait till he prove it with consistency.



I don't put too much stock into the high score; that's mainly a result of the torrid pace both teams were trying to establish. Sloppiness, turnovers and loose defense are first game struggles that I think we will greatly improve on as we play more.

Couple of things that demonstrate improvement over last year:



1. BYU played man defense for most all of the game, as opposed to zone (which they played all of last year). BYU did force 18 TO against good LBSU ball handlers and Tyler Haws had 3 steals (that was a rarity last year).

2. BYU has 3-point shooters this year (Haws, Halford, Fisher, Winder) - they shot .458 for the game which is good enough to win for most games.

3. BYU was able to rotate the big men in the game and give up some fouls (Worthington, Kafusi, Nielsen and Austin) did a good job on LBSU athletic big men (i.e. Temidayo Yussuf (6-7, 260) is a man-child and a load to handle. Eric McKnight (6-9) is long and can sky). They were neutralized by the 4 bigs and weren't much of a scoring threat.

4. Mike Caffey (26 points) is a baller and will see the NBA after graduation. He was the reason that BYU struggled as his penetration and kick out to sharp 3point shooting specialists: McKay LaSalle, Jack Williams and Deontae North caused BYU trouble all game. Fortunately, BYU ended up playing Winder, Halford, Fisher, Haws and Austin to counter their guard play and they prevailed.

5. Welcome back to improved FT shooting. Big man Nielsen shot .857, and Austin .750 and team overall shot .848.

6. BYU can play small or big this year and definitely have more options/depth than they did last year. When KC gets back to full health and ability, they will be a better team than last year.



One game doesn't make a season, but there were some positive trends that were evident despite the 90 points that were given up.

To me the important things we saw tonight:



KC was rusty and step slow.



Winder and Halford improved over last year.



We have a lot of good 3 point shooters.



We have one big guy ready for crunch time(Austin). Btw Austin is still 15 pounds away from having a real chance on the NBA. Guys how can move on D and rebound and are 6'11" are always in style. Though he will never gain the weight.



I hope over next few games we see Kaufusi taking some big steps. Worthington is better than he was last year. If he was 2 inches taller, then the fact he can't jump would be okay.



Overall I am encouraged. We have a lot of good experienced guards. They can do the PG by committee thing.

One game I know, but here are my thoughts. Maybe Carlino left because he knew Fischer would take many minutes away from him. I liked Fischer's play and don't think I'll be missing Carlino. Haws is such a scorer but he also turns it over too much and is no defensive asset. I guess we get to appreciate what he is, which is a lot, instead of what I'd hoped. Austin will do ok. He ain't Mika, but the bigger question is whether Nielson and Kaufusi can provide good enough support. Perimeter D is still a work in process. Free throws were money and will be a huge plus if that continues. KC is such an athlete. He needs to get the rust out and I hope he can find a 15 foot shot. The team needs KC. Up and down year with mostly ups I hope