Next year...

[Senioritis]

Going off of the Rose/Boylen thread, I think one thing Rose has proven is that he can get freshman to contribute meaningfully. He consistently seems to find a first year guy that makes a real difference.

His first year it was McBeal. The second year was the Chucker. Last year it was Mrs. Fred. This year, it's the young bigs and Emery in his return from an actual full length mission.

Add to that his ability to coach up role players like his bizarro slumpbuster son in law and Ben Murdock, and you've got yourself three straight championships.

This is important because the Mighty Cougars are going to really miss McBeal next year. I know a lot of you like the Chucker, but I think he would give me the serious yees if I took the Cougars. With the ball in Madame Fred's hands, you're going to be good, but I think Emery is what he will be (I like him a lot) so you need one of your new guys to make up a good chunk of the loss of McBeal. Maybe Chuck Abouo makes the leap, but he's got too many vowels. I've seen Haws, and I like him. His dad may have been a more athletic Ron Howard, but I think Haws is your guy. We'll see. If he is what a lot of people think he is, this BYU run isn't ending anytime soon.

That said, don't count out Boylen. Sure, I'm more than a tad underwhelmed at the contributions of the freshman class this year. Tavita got lots more time than I expected, and Cyphers got a lot less. The other three guys redshirted, among whom one is projected as a backup point, one is going to be the most hated big in the conference since Nicole Welch, and one won't see the lights of the Huntsman until male pattern baldness has set in.

Next year, Utah gets back Drca, Brown, Tillie, Grim, Cyphers, and Tavita. Other than Brown, none of them have done anything that makes my hackles stand up and turn red. I'm not counting any of them out, but whooo boy they've got work to do.

Anyway, I can't bitch about the results this year, but Boylen's ability to get new guys to contribute is the absolute primero impacto story of the Utes next year. I really like what he's got coming in (Shawn Glover especially makes my nipples hard), but for Utah to be competitive in the league Boylen's got to show a lot of what has made Rose successful - getting real contributions from young guys. I can't wait to watch it. I'm bullish on Boylen.

BYU needs just a little Botox to keep it rolling. Utah needs total facial reconstruction.

[RockyBalboa]

Tavita always looks like a scared kid. A deer in the headlights if you will when he's out on the court.

I will be very surprised if he lasts under Boylen.

[il Padrino Ute]

Tavita always looks like a scared kid. A deer in the headlights if you will when he's out on the court.

I will be very surprised if he lasts under Boylen.

I agree about Tavita. To me, he looks like reality has hit him as he realizes this isn't high school ball. I don't know how much of it has to do with Boylen, but I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up transferring.

[jay santos]

I expect Miles and Harstock to improve to the point where BYU's team will be more inside outside like Rose would rather play, and not rely on everything coming from the perimeter in, the way the offense has been with Lee and Jimmer.

Haws will pick up the majority of Lee's minutes, but obviously will be a huge drop off at that position.

But overall, I don't expect much of a drop off in BYU.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Going off of the Rose/Boylen thread, ... BYU needs just a little Botox to keep it rolling. Utah needs total facial reconstruction.

A balanced, sensitive and thoughtful analysis. But once again, a couple of follow up questions. I thought Bigelow was McBeal, or does that appellation go to anyone who sits in the Karen Carpenter Chair of Nutrition? Personally, I've always thought Cummard looks like the Gyro Captain from The Road Warrior, but no one else has ever shared my astute vision.


And what are hackles? Not nipples, apparently, as you've used that Goatnapper metric elsewhere. Through your use of the plural, I can deduce that you have more than one, ruling out at least one possibility, which is a relief as initially I feared it was another Majerus six-inch reference.

Finally, I love Abouo, although I wonder if he and Drca could work out a vowel-consonant trade in the offseason (I could note that by surrendering the superfluous first "o", Sir Charles Jr. turns your returning guard into Dorca, HA HA!!!!, but I don't wish to get kicked from behind, so I'll move on). SU and the Utes can have Dallas; Rose has opened up the Ivory Coast pipeline.

[Jeff Lebowski]

SU and the Utes can have Dallas; Rose has opened up the Ivory Coast pipeline.

Be careful. There is a certain someone in Dallas that could shut Jimmer down.

[Senioritis]

A balanced, sensitive and thoughtful analysis. But once again, a couple of follow up questions. I thought Bigelow was McBeal, or does that appellation go to anyone who sits in the Karen Carpenter Chair of Nutrition? Personally, I've always thought Cummard looks like the Gyro Captain from The Road Warrior, but no one else has ever shared my astute vision.


And what are hackles? Not nipples, apparently, as you've used that Goatnapper metric elsewhere. Through your use of the plural, I can deduce that you have more than one, ruling out at least one possibility, which is a relief as initially I feared it was another Majerus six-inch reference.

Finally, I love Abouo, although I wonder if he and Drca could work out a vowel-consonant trade in the offseason (I could note that by surrendering the superfluous first "o", Sir Charles Jr. turns your returning guard into Dorca, HA HA!!!!, but I don't wish to get kicked from behind, so I'll move on). SU and the Utes can have Dallas; Rose has opened up the Ivory Coast pipeline.

A couple of answers for you:

1. McBeal goes to the guy that Utah can't stop, and I can't really find anything else degrading to say about him. Had Jake Shoff not looked like me, he would have been McBeal. It just so happens that both Bigelow and Cummard actually look like Calista Flockhart. Next year, McBeal will probably be Jackson Emery, as Mrs. Fred holds the current award for BYU Male Athlete Who Would Make the Best Lesbian (or the "Rosie", as it's commonly known).

2. I'm not sure I can clearly state what hackles are without offending the womenfolk, but suffice it to say that there are really strange things that fall into an industrial sausage link, not excluding rodent hairs and bug excrement.

3. On the vowel-consonant trade, I would suggest Chuck give up the U to the U, so we would have Luka Durca and Chuck Aboo. Think of the possibilities!

"I said a-boom Chuck Aboo!"

[ERCougar]

And what are hackles? Not nipples, apparently, as you've used that Goatnapper metric elsewhere. Through your use of the plural, I can deduce that you have more than one, ruling out at least one possibility, which is a relief as initially I feared it was another Majerus six-inch reference.

You're not a flyfisherman, are you? I bet you spent all your time growing up in an ethnically diverse NoCal neighborhood, absent of Crocs, Dockers, and anything with Cream of Mushroom soup in it, working on your #2 education.

[il Padrino Ute]

Be careful. There is a certain someone in Dallas that could shut Jimmer down.

Mike Waters?

[Flystripper]

I can't speak for all of cougardom but a MORE involved Chucker scares the shit out of me.

[Katy Lied]

I have a theory about Brown. If you have four or five Browns on the team (UNLV, SDSU), they can be very effective.

If you have only one Brown, his athleticism gets wasted within the coach's "system." Then he's only good for posterized jams when the game is out of reach for his team.

We shall see.

[KillerDog]

Aren't hackles the hair on the back of your neck or something?

Anyway, I agree with your post (even if it took a lot to figure out who was who). I think Boylen will have some work to do this next year and going forward. He doesn't want to fall into the Steve Cleveland trap where you are only good every few years when you have a few seniors.

[kccougar]

I think Boylen will have some work to do this next year and going forward. He doesn't want to fall into the Steve Cleveland trap where you are only good every few years when you have a few seniors.

Why not? It seems to work for Whittingham.

[SeattleUte]

Why not? It seems to work for Whittingham.

I have not seen a "good" BYU football or basketball team in at least 12 years. YOU may think you have, but my standards for what is "good" are a lot higher than yours, I venture. Whittingham has been building a program that is objectively good by any measure. I trust Boylen is doing the same and have regarded him with optimism. But if he has not gotten the Utes genuine national recognition by five years he'll probably be shown the door. Judged by that standard this NCAA playoff year would be due or die for Rose.

[cougjunkie]

I have not seen a "good" BYU football or basketball team in at least 12 years. YOU may think you have, but my standards for what is "good" are a lot higher than yours, I venture. Whittingham has been building a program that is objectively good by any measure. I trust Boylen is doing the same and have regarded him with optimism. But if he has not gotten the Utes genuine national recognition by five years he'll probably be shown the door. Judged by that standard this NCAA playoff year would be due or die for Rose.

Which means you have only seen 2 good Ute football teams and 1 good ute basketball team in your lifetime.

speaks volumes.