Thud.

Cougs were out of this game from tip-off. Took them too long to get under control emotionally and figure out how to make the defense work with the new bodies and rotation.



The offense never got going. Jimmer in the second half was the only thing that kept this within 20 points. Otherwise, I don't think our offense ran a single set play on the night---everyone just jacked threes or hurled the ball at the backboard.



Here's hoping this is the bottom of the abyss and that the team can figure this out with some game film and a few days of good practice.

Listening to Hartsock postgame right now and he sounds emotionally defeat. His language and how he is wording things--The team is emotionally messed up. I don't think they will have the mental strength to overcome Davies off the team. Hope they prove me wrong but Noah sounds like someone just kicked him in the Jimmer and he is trying to sound happy about it.

Without being pessimistic - this is a disaster!!!!!

Hartsock should be embarrased by that performance tonight. I feel bad for Jimmer and Jackson, the only guys on the team that tried tonight. Pathetic.

We lost this game on defense.



UNM could do anything they wanted and their shooting percentages were sky high. I watched guys constantly reposition whomever the 5th man on defense was supposed to be cause they were out of position all night. All UNM had to do for half of their offense was pass the ball, and by the 3rd or 4th pass, someone was so woefully out of position, it led to an easy UNM basket.

BPcougs wrote:
Hartsock should be embarrased by that performance tonight. I feel bad for Jimmer and Jackson, the only guys on the team that tried tonight. Pathetic.

Don't forget Abouo. At time he looked like the only one that came out to play.



We're cooked guys. It'd be a miracle if we got to the finals of the Las Vegas Invitational and I doubt we get past the second round of the NCAA tourney again this year.

Abouo was pathetic also. I think they just fell to a 7 seed and a one and done in the tourny. It was a good run while it lasted.

How about Anderson looking completely shell-shocked from the opening tipoff. His offense has always been laughably bad, but at least he's shown some promise on defense in past games. Tonight though, he was completely in over his head in every aspect of the game.

BPcougs wrote:
Abouo was pathetic also. I think they just fell to a 7 seed and a one and done in the tourny. It was a good run while it lasted.

Did you watch the game. Yes, Abouo missed shots, but he was routinely the only battling for boards. Not to mention the several steals he had. Kid hustled all night.



Meanwhile, Jimmer keeps launching half court shots, shoots the ball away and finally decides to play defense 2/3 the way through the game.

Interesting stats for NM game (compare to SDSU):



FG 34.5

3 pt 20.0

Outrebounded 34-22

Our starting 5 - 56 pts/32 by Jimmer and 13 by Emery

We give up 82 pts and their starting 5/67 pts -

NM had an inside and outside scoring punch - we had Jimmer and Emery



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We simply don't have an inside presence. Hartsog is more like Okur, has an exceptional long range, outside shoot for a big man. He's not a plug the middle type guy. Anderson has the size, but not the experience nor the talent that Davies brought. Abouo is athletic, but lacks the size to be a big man. I just don't see an answer for "in the paint" problems. The announcers criticized BYU for too many outside shots and said they need to go inside. I was thinking, "Who are they going to go to?" I soon found out it was Jimmer taking the ball to the hole. And every time getting physically manhandled and the announcers then saying "good no call by the referees". I'm not optomistic. Are we even a top 20 team without an inside presence? Between Jimmer and Davies, that left the others to be WIDE open for 3 pointers. We'll see how far we get in the MWC tournament, but I can't see us competing with any of the top MWC teams. Man, how things change in less than one week......

...Just woke up...no it was not a nightmare...it is real and true...man this sucks.

BPcougs wrote:
Abouo was pathetic also. I think they just fell to a 7 seed and a one and done in the tourny. It was a good run while it lasted.

Probably true - sadly. Although I respect Brandon Davies for stepping up & being a man. This unfortunate situation has destroyed his teams chances this year. The Cougs are toast. Very disheartening!!

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"The Sky is Falling, The Sky is falling...... Nope it was just an acorn. Let's not judge this teams performance by one game last night. Yes, they looked terrible, but they just found out that Davies was gone the night before, they were ALL pressing and trying to do to much. There is still time to rebound and re-group. Yes my expectations fell (I was expecting a final four run, now I expect a sweet 16 run). And I believe they can still get there. They won't be a one or a two seed, but I don't think that 3 seed is out of the question.

Without a "big man" presence, this spells doom. We have absolute zero players that can get physical under the basket. If MWC teams don't take advantage, the "big dance" teams will, even if they are a 14 seed....

Ddawg wrote:

Abouo was pathetic also. I think they just fell to a 7 seed and a one and done in the tourny. It was a good run while it lasted.

Probably true - sadly. Although I respect Brandon Davies for stepping up & being a man. This unfortunate situation has destroyed his teams chances this year. The Cougs are toast. Very disheartening!!

I'm not sure how Davies has "stepped up and been a man."