As a BYU fan 2 things I'm certain of, that we'll never know:

I will never be convinced that I'm wrong of the following two opinions:



1) That if Luke Staley plays against Hawaii in 2001 that BYU loses. BYU lost by 27 in that game and fumbled NINE times. I am convinced that BYU would have won with Staley. He scored 28 TDs in 11 games. He hadn't lost a fumble. There is no way Staley wasn't good for at least four TDs that games and would have prevented at least five of those fumbles.



2) If BYU tracks down that lose rebound with 14 seconds to go last night BYU wins. Jimmer would have willed the team to victory. He would have either hit the shot or gone to the FT line to win the game.



I'll never be convinced otherwise. Unfortunately, Staley didn't play and we didn't track down that rebound.



Florida made the plays they needed to late, and we didn't. Props to them for making it happen.

Agree.



The Hawaii game would have been completely different with Staley. Hawaii's defense would have played us differently, we would have played differently, and our defense would have played differently since they wouldn't have been down by 27 points.



The loose ball was tragic. 14 seconds was plenty of time to get down the court and put up a shot, or get to the line.

Gunk wrote:
Agree.



The Hawaii game would have been completely different with Staley. Hawaii's defense would have played us differently, we would have played differently, and our defense would have played differently since they wouldn't have been down by 27 points.



The loose ball was tragic. 14 seconds was plenty of time to get down the court and put up a shot, or get to the line.

That was supposed to be Jimmer's "Ainge Moment" last night. Ruined by the inability to get the rebound.

What killed me is that the rebound BOUNCED first before it was collected! We had sucked so far under and past the basket that we couldn't even get it off the 1st hop!



Oh well! Great season.



Go Cougs!!!

J. Child

Ammon, ID

Thing is, we boarded well all night, except at that crucial moment. KC had 15 boards, which is insane. We had more offensive boards than them, and were only -2 overall, which is no surprise considering how poorly we shot it. I thought the key to the game was rebounding, as we shined in that area. Except 1x when we got the key stop. Still, can't shoot it like crap and expect to win. But the fact we were in it late with how bad we shot it was due to rebounding.

I'm with you on the staley thing - but I'm absolutely convinced we would have at-least made the final four if we had Davies. If if and buts were candy and nuts

MJCOUGAR wrote:
I'm with you on the staley thing - but I'm absolutely convinced we would have at-least made the final four if we had Davies. If if and buts were candy and nuts

Go on...

SpiffCoug wrote:
I will never be convinced that I'm wrong of the following two opinions:



1) That if Luke Staley plays against Hawaii in 2001 that BYU loses. BYU lost by 27 in that game and fumbled NINE times. I am convinced that BYU would have won with Staley. He scored 28 TDs in 11 games. He hadn't lost a fumble. There is no way Staley wasn't good for at least four TDs that games and would have prevented at least five of those fumbles.



2) If BYU tracks down that lose rebound with 14 seconds to go last night BYU wins. Jimmer would have willed the team to victory. He would have either hit the shot or gone to the FT line to win the game.



I'll never be convinced otherwise. Unfortunately, Staley didn't play and we didn't track down that rebound.



Florida made the plays they needed to late, and we didn't. Props to them for making it happen.

I'm not in either camp.



1. BYU fumbled 43 times during the 2001 season. Ball security was an issue with or without Staley. Staley did not play defense or special teams which were big parts of that game. Hawaii beats BYU that year whether or not Staley plays.



2. It seemed like in the last 3 minutes and OT Jimmer wasn't interested in driving to the basket at all. It doubtful he would draw a foul with no commitment going to the hoop. So if BYU did actually get that rebound it's doubtful that in the last 14 seconds Jimmer would do anything else other than shoot a jump shot. His legs were gone and he had nothing left. It probably clanks off the rim and we go to OT anyway.

Lawboy wrote:
Thing is, we boarded well all night, except at that crucial moment. KC had 15 boards, which is insane. We had more offensive boards than them, and were only -2 overall, which is no surprise considering how poorly we shot it. I thought the key to the game was rebounding, as we shined in that area. Except 1x when we got the key stop. Still, can't shoot it like crap and expect to win. But the fact we were in it late with how bad we shot it was due to rebounding.

Don't forget the missed rebound off of a missed free-throw that bounced off of Emery's hands. That and the loose ball rebound will haunt us forever.

mormonrasta wrote:

1. BYU fumbled 43 times during the 2001 season. Ball security was an issue with or without Staley. Staley did not play defense or special teams which were big parts of that game. Hawaii beats BYU that year whether or not Staley plays.



2. It seemed like in the last 3 minutes and OT Jimmer wasn't interested in driving to the basket at all. It doubtful he would draw a foul with no commitment going to the hoop. So if BYU did actually get that rebound it's doubtful that in the last 14 seconds Jimmer would do anything else other than shoot a jump shot. His legs were gone and he had nothing left. It probably clanks off the rim and we go to OT anyway.

I may grant you #2. BYU fumbled 12 times in the three games Staley missed. Ball security was much more of an issue without Staley than without him. Yes, he didn't play D or ST, but he does score and that changes how D can be played. Maybe Hawaii starts pressing more. The game would have been different and I believe it would have been for BYU's favor. We'll just agree to disagree.

BYU had already been told by the cartel that they were not going to be placed in a $$$ bowl. It was deflating to the fans and players. I think they lose w/ Staley in the backfield any way.



I'm in the "Jimmer's miracle moment" camp had we wrangled in that rebound w/ over 10 seconds to play. Jimmer starts to drive. The entire D collapses, leaving Jax wide from the left wing where he nails his 4th 3 w/ 1.4 on the clock. FL's inbound heave stolen by KC. BYU wins and the plethora of negative articles take a 180.



That's how it would have gone.



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don't forget Jimmer missed two DEEP, DEEP 3s in the final 2 minutes that likely would have sealed the deal for us and not required us to make a simple rebound.



While Jimmer's been making those types of shots all year and would have made for a thing of legends in the tournament, missing both likely cost us the game. Planning to get a rebounds IMHO is a lot harder than planning shot selection.