Basketball Season Has Started

Just started watching the replay of tonight's game with CSUF. Heard we won the first game but Know no details.

This will be a challenging year with the loss of Baxter and Wade. If BYU makes it to the NCAA it will be a spectacular coaching job.

I was there with my son! Barcello had a very nice game. The three point shooting was nice to see. Toolson struggled scoring, but still provided rebounds and assists. Fullerton is in the 200s in the KenPom ratings so they shouldn't have been much of a challenge and we probably should have won by more.



I am very excited about Mark Pope! That guy is hilarious! Can someone please bring him some BYU brownies to the next post game interview!?!

Wow, just a whole new edition of BYU MBB team. Next year, with an actual bunch of seniors this year, for the 1st time, leaving, it will be different.



Barcello is definitely an improvement over Emery. He seems more active on both ends and on nights that Toolson and Haws are hitting like they should, that 3-some could make it very interesting.



BYU big men. For so many seasons I've seen these big lanky white BYU big men and rarely do they break out of the mold of being just a basic serviceable player with no athleticism. I believe that's why I fell in love so much in the past with Eric Mika and Trent Plaisted and currently with Yeoli Childs. Finally big men that were really athletes and could move around the floor.



Here's what I hate to see--EVER. A player, like Colby Lee this season so far, that is up at the top of the key wanting to set a screen, because he's been told to, and there is never a look toward the basket to see if he can just turn and drive to the basket to slam that orb down. All he does is stand there, kind of bent over, not fully extending themselves, and try to see who he's going to pass to. Hell, you don't have to guard him in that mode because he's only going to always just pass the ball.



That is what you have to love about Yoeli. When he's in that position, he REALLY is a threat to turn around and drive and slam the ball down. He's not trying to be a robot. Nate Austin, et al, were of the same stereotypical mold of BYU big men. I will say that in his senior season, Nate transformed a bit, but it's like they have been told to attempt to work the ball in and that's all they are focused on--nothing else. So one-dimensional. I had fears when I saw Colby momentarily last season that he'd develop in this same mode and after watching the exhibition game and this opening season game, that's exactly what we got--AGAIN. Man, if I ever had their bodies I'd be a beast.



I don't know what the deal was last night with Toolson. We know from past history that he can hit baskets and not look so lost, but maybe he just doesn't sync well with this set of teammates. I don't know. I have faith Pope will get it worked out.



It was interesting last night to see what our season would have been like without Yoeli coming back. I'm scared to even think about that. Such a huge, big and bad shame we don't have him for these great opportunities coming up during his suspension. It would have been great to get this whole team schematics worked out with the 4 main players, Yeoli, Haws, Toolson and Barcello. Each of those four I believe, on a given night, could carry a team to a win, but finding a way to integrate them all with the other cast of characters will be no small task.



The team that would finally bring down Gonzaga is still a theory and not a reality--sorry to say.

I've never seen a player like Zac Seljaas that can physically look so different each and every year. I got to give him credit for his individuality.



What was that sort-of haircut of TJ? Embrace the baldness my brother!

Ahh, I missed it!



We've got San Diego on Saturday. That will be a good barometer. Lack of a post presence will really hurt us. Our 3 point shooting will need to be on fire.



Only way I see this team making the tourney is if we win the WCC tournament. Without Childs for the first 9 games and Baxter out, I don't see us earning a bid. Unless, of course, Pope has something up his sleeve.

Talking again of Colby Lee reminds me of my own mechanical-ness when I played high school football. I was playing defensive lineman around my sophomore year. We had been taught lately how to stunt and slant in our drives in the line. Prior to that, my whole life had been just taking on the guy in front of you. I was so focused on getting the stunt correct, a slant to the right in this one classic memory, that I wasn't focused on why I was slanting. I blew right through the gap and was standing there as the ball was handed off to the running back. I was so focused on making sure I had done the stunt correctly that the ball carrier waltzed right on by me. All I had to do was open my arms and I would have had a TFL, but no, I was focused on what I was doing and not why I was doing it. Same thing when Colby gets the ball at the top of the key, just going through the mechanics and not understanding the potential of every situation. Always be looking at yourself as the individual that can make the play, not just the mechanics of finding another player to pass the ball to. EVERY TIME I see that behavior I'm sorely reminded of how likewise, at one period of my development, I was also very robotic and not the true athlete that uses all the tools to work toward a score/win.

Gunk wrote:

Ahh, I missed it!



We've got San Diego on Saturday. That will be a good barometer. Lack of a post presence will really hurt us. Our 3 point shooting will need to be on fire.



Only way I see this team making the tourney is if we win the WCC tournament. Without Childs for the first 9 games and Baxter out, I don't see us earning a bid. Unless, of course, Pope has something up his sleeve.

In total honesty, a team comprised of Childs, Haws, Toolson, Baxter and Barcello is quite daunting. I'd put Haws or Barcello at the 1 (I haven't yet seen enough of who I like more at the point) and the other at the 2, Toolson at the 3 as a shooting guard, Baxter at the 4 and Childs at the 5. Wow, we've rarely had that much talent in one team. What a huge shame that will not ever happen.



It was interesting that Pope has in his offensive schemes the play where two guys just stay on the wings and the concept is to get the ball in and then out. So many teams have used it on us and if you get a team that the wing players can't miss, well, turn off the lights. San Diego did that to us a few seasons ago. We've used it to some degree at times, but more often than not, maybe one player on the wing. This was a pure, "we're going to burn the house down and kill you with our shooting ability" and it's been awhile since we've attempted that gunslinger attitude. I love the energy of Pope. That's just my kind of coach--not knocking Rose, but I love that passion.

EM_Puma wrote:

Ahh, I missed it!



We've got San Diego on Saturday. That will be a good barometer. Lack of a post presence will really hurt us. Our 3 point shooting will need to be on fire.



Only way I see this team making the tourney is if we win the WCC tournament. Without Childs for the first 9 games and Baxter out, I don't see us earning a bid. Unless, of course, Pope has something up his sleeve.

In total honesty, a team comprised of Childs, Haws, Toolson, Baxter and Barcello is quite daunting. I'd put Haws or Barcello at the 1 (I haven't yet seen enough of who I like more at the point) and the other at the 2, Toolson at the 3 as a shooting guard, Baxter at the 4 and Childs at the 5. Wow, we've rarely had that much talent in one team. What a huge shame that will not ever happen.



It was interesting that Pope has in his offensive schemes the play where two guys just stay on the wings and the concept is to get the ball in and then out. So many teams have used it on us and if you get a team that the wing players can't miss, well, turn off the lights. San Diego did that to us a few seasons ago. We've used it to some degree at times, but more often than not, maybe one player on the wing. This was a pure, "we're going to burn the house down and kill you with our shooting ability" and it's been awhile since we've attempted that gunslinger attitude. I love the energy of Pope. That's just my kind of coach--not knocking Rose, but I love that passion.

It's sad that starting 5 will never be. Agree, that would have been an amazing team to watch. At we'll get Childs, Haws, Toolson, and Barcello on the court at the same time.



I'm going to watch for the guys on the wing. You're right in it's an approach we rarely utilized under Rose. I feel Rose's offense post Jimmer eroded into this off the dribble isolation game.



So many times I would be shouting at the TV, "Watch the guy in the corner!" Nice to hear we may do the same.

Watched the game. Very very early, I know, but Barcello is a huge plus over Emery. Seljaas hit the boards very well. Toolson looked like he was pressing, but he'll be fine; he's too accomplished a shooter/player. Haas looks like he can score at will. Defense was quite good. I know CSFullerton is a bad team, but our defense was not lazy. SDSU has three 6'10" guys so I question how well we will do in this game, given the loss of Baxter and Childs. If we can shoot the 3 well, maybe....Oh and Harding reminds me some of Collingsworth....

Gunk wrote:

So many times I would be shouting at the TV, "Watch the guy in the corner!" Nice to hear we may do the same.

Exactly!

Nice win tonight against Houston.

scott715 wrote:

Nice win tonight against Houston.

Hearing Mark Durrant’s screaming as TJ hit the final shot was awesome! :)