CougarCorner

Ugly ugly game. Last game it was the last one minute was a nightmare. This game it was the first 38 or so. The team looked lost on both ends. I’m not sure I understand the playing time for Lohner, Johnson and Knell. I mean George adds so much more than what Lohner is providing. And the same for Knight vs Knell. And where have all these unforced errors come from? Frustrating game. They don’t make the NCAAs if they don’t figure a few things out and quick.

They don't seem like the team they were at the first of the year. I think they could really use Baxter (if he can get healthy) and Harward. Will either one of them come back before it's too late?

They are both done for the year. Baxter's career is over.

Could we mix some full court press into our Defense. It worked against them. Maybe we should have tried it a few times earlier in the game.

scott715 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 31, 2022 1:50 pm Could we mix some full court press into our Defense. It worked against them. Maybe we should have tried it a few times earlier in the game.

We need a tears icon.

I've really tried to avoid being a Debbie Downer, but I've seen this coming. I'm not saying that Pope is a bad coach, but I think we all gushed all over him too early when 2-4 seasons are really needed to analyze a coach and see what they got.

Pope's first season was amazing and definitely had Final Four potential if not for the cancelled tournament. But...he inherited that team from Rose. Childs may have come back on his own when he knew he wasn't getting drafted, but Pope may have helped convince him as well. Pope did get Toolson which was a great add. The team shared the ball really well and Pope's positive energy had a huge impact.

Second season was good. We made the tournament, got a hard matchup and lost.

Third season Pope lost more talent than he brought in. Sure you can't predict Harward and Baxter getting injured and who knows maybe with them we only have one loss right now. But the matter of the fact is that several players were either pushed out or not convinced to stay. Every team and every coach has players leave the team for whatever reason, but when there's a lot all at once I believe it says something about the coach. I know it's in fad to go to the transfer portal and get some fun new players for your roster. But I'm not too impressed with who we brought in this season and would rather have the players that left.

So we're left with two freshman big men. We have a lot of guards. Why aren't we playing more up tempo? Why aren't we trying something different? Pope is really stuck on this dribble left, handoff, dribble right, handoff offense. I'd like to see him be more adaptable. I think Santa Clara was the first time that I saw specific plays run for Barcello multiple times. My small HS team had multiple offenses that we would run. He's also stuck on playing the same guards and roster and rotation. Oh, he's made a few changes here and there. But our guards not named Barcello cannot freaking shoot. Why can't we hit 3s? I hear Fowler raving about how well our guys shoot in practice. But we suck at shooting in games. Are the other guards at the end of the bench really worse than Knell and Johnson? And I know we all love Lohner, but for crying out loud please bench him and tell him to not shoot the rest of the season. I know we need his big body, but he's flat out playing horrible this season.

Team defense was pretty good at the beginning of the season, but it has gone downhill. Was Baxter really that much of a presence in the paint? I see no defensive intensity. It took until there was 1 minute left in the Pacific game to try something different. Rose would at least switch to zone every once in a while to throw the other team off and try something different.

I like Pope as a person. I really like his personality. He had a great start with someone else's recruits. He's been unlucky with injuries this season. But there are warning signs that not everything is super kosher. Is this a knee jerk reaction? Maybe. It's only the first time that Pope has lost two games in a row. But these were two turds. Blah blah blah about his number of wins. Tournament or bust.

This is NOT a fire Pope message. This is a I really like Pope, but I'm worried and kinda saw this coming. I believe that he can turn it around. But I also want him to be more adaptable. Go Cougs!

We could really use Lee the 6'9" 240lb kid from Idaho as well as Conner Harding. How much better would we be with them?

nuk13 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:50 pm We could really use Lee the 6'9" 240lb kid from Idaho as well as Conner Harding. How had would have been to have kept them?

My understanding is that Harding forced his move. But with his wife still playing at BYU it shouldn't have been hard to convince him to stay. I've said before that I thought Lee had reached his ceiling and wasn't likely to improve, but I never thought that he was useless and should be booted from the team. I want to say that Pope wants to be done with the Rose recruits and wants his players here, but then he also chased away his big recruit that followed him from UVU (can't even remember his name). I just think we're seeing the honeymoon end and we're going to find out what kind of coach Pope really is now.

nuk13 wrote: ↑Wed Feb 02, 2022 9:50 pm We could really use Lee the 6'9" 240lb kid from Idaho as well as Conner Harding. How much better would we be with them?

I edited this.

Even if Lee had stayed the same he might be one of the top 3 big men on the team at this time.