BYU at #7 Nevada

34 - 34 at the half.



Everytime down the court is a foul for Nevada. BYU emptying the bench, playing everybody. Yoeli playing well, everyone else playing okay. Cougs still look like they are figuring out a rhythm together.



Seljaas playing the 3-4 really well defensively.



Baxter looking really good (until he got in foul trouble). Haws with some big shots and some big turnovers.



Cougs playing really solid D. Nevada getting bailed out on tacky fouls driving to the hoop.



Nevada is deep and talented, and will be good this year.

Every once in a while you watch a game where it just feels like a handful of bad calls really swings the momentum. Apparently Caleb Martin is the next James harden. You can’t look at them without it being a foul.

coachK wrote:

Every once in a while you watch a game where it just feels like a handful of bad calls really swings the momentum. Apparently Caleb Martin is the next James harden. You can’t look at them without it being a foul.

That was frustrating.



The Cougs kept it close until the last 4 minutes when they just had to jack threes. If they played that at home or with a different set of refs this could have been a very different game.



Nevada is good and super deep. They are Gonzaga-light, the Cougs kept it close and played with poise. Yoeli still is foul prone, and there is a big drop off from him to the other bigs, so he's got to get that under control.

Tall team, them Renoans.

Cougs played tough for a while. I was glad to see that they didn't just give in after going down 9-0. Childs had some nice inside shots against bigger shot blockers. I was surprised to see Nixon start over Worthington because that basically puts Childs at the 5. I if he's going to have any NBA future it's going to have to be at the 3 and not the 5.



I am really impressed with Baxter. I don't know if he's ready for it now, but I'd love at some point to see him start along with Childs. That block and then sprinting down the court for a dunk, that's what I'm talking about!



I will try to do my PER stats performance later maybe on Saturday.



Having done some reffing myself I hate simply blaiming them as many fans do when they're emotional over a loss. The first half was really difficult to watch. So many fouls, on both sides (although I was taught to start the game tight and then loosen up later). If those twins aren't sitting for the majority of the half, we might not be tied at HT. The main lesson I learned as a ref was to be consistent (because you're not going to be perfect and make every right call). So what bugged me was Worthington getting a flagarant and then Nevada not getting one in the second half. Honestly, I thought both were common fouls, but it's the conisistency that I grade the refs on.



My son and I are super excited for the home opener this Friday! He's joining a basketball team for the first time and I'll be an assistant coach. Good times ahead!

Just like the football team at Boise, I had no expectation that we even had a chance against Nevada. They're a legitimate top-10 team with a Player of the Year candidate and over half of the MWC all-conference first team. Just like after the first quarter at Boise, I thought my expectations were confirmed with the 0-9 start and what looked like a horrible matchup with their size, length, and athleticism.



But, then BYU surprises me and makes it competitive and keeps it close until the last 6 minutes or so - I think it was a 65-61 game with about 6 minutes left. We can do this! But then, we can't make any shots down the stretch beyond 5 feet, we can't stop Caleb Martin or Jordan Caroline in the key, and former Pilot Chaz Johnson shoots us out of the gym....and the heart is ripped from our chance for a big road win.



Oh well. I saw more positive than negative. Hardnett can create his own shots and the zone defense is solid. Childs must limit the stupid, ticky-tack fouls. We can't have him on the bench for most of the second half. Hardnett isn't enough against good teams, especially when our 3-point shooting is awful (and that needs to resolve itself quickly!). Also, I hope Baxter develops quickly because we need his length and athleticism on the floor more.

Went pretty much exactly how I expected.



Too bad the BYU boys can't shoot as well as BYU teams used to be known for.

Well I couldn't wait so I did it during my lunch. I don't have the historical data with me so I don't know how it compares to our 10 year average but here is the PER for the Nevada game:


Nevada.PNG

Good game from Childs. I'm encouraged by Hardnett and Baxter. But Haws is going to have to play better and more consistently



We comitted less than 10 TOs which I think is great although also didn't get many steals.

Fun game. We list it down the stretch. Couple missed defensive rotations and weird foul calls doomed us.



Hardnet kept us in this game. I wish he took less threes and drove a bit more, but he was getting buckets when no one else could.



Poor three point shooting and a poor performance TJ Haws sunk us. We can't afford bad games from Haws.



All in all, I thought we played well. Nevada is good. The length in that team is insane. I think Nevada may be better than Gonzaga.

BYU outscored Nevada from the field. That both surprised and impressed me.