This year vs next year

[jay santos]

I expect us to be slightly better next year than this year.

'10/'11 Davies/Hartsock/C Collins > '09/'10 Miles/Hartsock/Davies by a lot. I expect Davies to be the most improved player on the team next year. Miles wasn't giving us much of anything the last 10 games of the season. I don't expect a lot from C Collins, but he doesn't need to give us much.

no JT > JT. Sorry, I know it's the kind of thing only a spoiled fan says, but it's true. The team was better without JT in the game. JT had his minutes cut progressively over the last 10-12 games and didn't play in crunch time in games that mattered. He shot below the team average from 3 point land. His assist to TO ratio was the worst on the team. He was an overall positive in his career at BYU and showed a lot of maturity in accepting a lesser role. I like him and he's one of ours. But in an analysis of this year vs next year, I'll go ahead and say we won't miss him on the court.

'10/'11 Abouo/K Collins/Emery > '09/'10 Haws/Abouo. Slightly. This is close to being a push. Abouo started taking a lot of Haws' minutes towards the end of the season. Haws is a very good player, but Abouo made great improvement from two years ago to last year, and I expect more improvement. He'll go back and play with his national team in Africa for the summer and come back a little more polished. Emery started getting some minutes at this position the last few games. and K Collins is the question mark. I would not be shocked if he comes in and beats out Charles for the starting position.

'10/'11 Jimmer/Emery/Loyd Jr > '09/'10 Jimmer/Emery/Loyd Jr. Slightly better. Their games are already reasonably developed, so I see some improvement but not significant. Jax needs to work on his left hand. Jimmer needs to work on ball handling and defense. Loyd Jr needs to keep working on his outside shot.

The biggest area I see improvement on is our inside scoring, rebounding, and defense. Davies becomes the man, Hartsock gets better, and Charles gets a lot of PT. That's starting to be an adequately athletic and tough inside team.

[jay santos]

I'm assuming Jimmer doesn't go pro. His game needs a lot of work before he's ready for the NBA, and I'm hoping he believes BYU next year is the right place for him to do that work.

[Goatnapper'96]

I expect us to be slightly better next year than this year.

'10/'11 Davies/Hartsock/C Collins > '09/'10 Miles/Hartsock/Davies by a lot. I expect Davies to be the most improved player on the team next year. Miles wasn't giving us much of anything the last 10 games of the season. I don't expect a lot from C Collins, but he doesn't need to give us much.

no JT > JT. Sorry, I know it's the kind of thing only a spoiled fan says, but it's true. The team was better without JT in the game. JT had his minutes cut progressively over the last 10-12 games and didn't play in crunch time in games that mattered. He shot below the team average from 3 point land. His assist to TO ratio was the worst on the team. He was an overall positive in his career at BYU and showed a lot of maturity in accepting a lesser role. I like him and he's one of ours. But in an analysis of this year vs next year, I'll go ahead and say we won't miss him on the court.

'10/'11 Abouo/K Collins/Emery > '09/'10 Haws/Abouo. Slightly. This is close to being a push. Abouo started taking a lot of Haws' minutes towards the end of the season. Haws is a very good player, but Abouo made great improvement from two years ago to last year, and I expect more improvement. He'll go back and play with his national team in Africa for the summer and come back a little more polished. Emery started getting some minutes at this position the last few games. and K Collins is the question mark. I would not be shocked if he comes in and beats out Charles for the starting position.

'10/'11 Jimmer/Emery/Loyd Jr > '09/'10 Jimmer/Emery/Loyd Jr. Slightly better. Their games are already reasonably developed, so I see some improvement but not significant. Jax needs to work on his left hand. Jimmer needs to work on ball handling and defense. Loyd Jr needs to keep working on his outside shot.

The biggest area I see improvement on is our inside scoring, rebounding, and defense. Davies becomes the man, Hartsock gets better, and Charles gets a lot of PT. That's starting to be an adequately athletic and tough inside team.

When Tavernari played well, BYU was a very good team. When JT did not play well, BYU was merely just a good team. Perhaps without JT BYU won't have the higher highs but for a fan that makes the lows easier to tolerate. Regardless, JT's season was interesting. He sucked, then came alive when Jimmer got mono, then systematically went back to sucking towards the end. I think he contributed more this year than many wish to give him credit because of how his end of the year poor play left the team yearning for something that was not achievable.

In the end, I think it all comes down to two players. I doubt BYU will be any worse. But to get better enough for it to matter, Brandon Davies and Noah Hartsock are the two that matter. If between the two BYU can get 22 ppg and 12 rpg, BYU will be a better team. If Abouo and/or Lloyd can shoot from the outside as well as Tyler Haws did, BYU will be a much better team. I think the improved outside shooting from Lloyd and Chuckie are likely to occur. I am really interested how much improvement and utilization we see from the two bigs.

[Blueintheface]

The biggest area I see improvement on is our inside scoring, rebounding, and defense...That's starting to be an adequately athletic and tough inside team.

Unless you can teach about 4-6 more inches in height I don't see us becoming that much stronger on the inside. Offensively Davies will be much more of an option but we remain undersized and unathletic with Hartsock at the 4.

[SeattleUte]

The whole conference should be quite a bit stronger. New Mexico returns its nucleus and it has had a very strong recruiting year.

[LiveCoug]

Is Anson Winder a 1 or a 2? Will he play much?

I really hope we snag a JC big.

[WashingtonCoug]

I agree with this assessment. Jimmer will not go pro. Pullen proved that Jimmer won't be able to play point at the next level. Jimmer will either need to prove he can play the two guard and play great defense or he will need to work on dribbling and get a bunch of assists. Teams with scoring point guards rarely have great success. They may make the playoffs, but it's tough when the player that should be distributing the ball is the one taking most of your shots. I think Jimmer makes the move to the two guard. Has a solid career at BYU, gets a shot at the NBA, but moves on to Europe similar to Travis Hansen. Fredette's game is suited perfectly for the Euro game.

I'm most excited about the improvement of Davies during the off-season. He needs lift weights religiously. BYU cannot afford to give up rebounds next year like they did this year. A beefier Davies will help with that. As will Abouo playing more minutes. Hartsock just needs more confidence. If he can get that confidence I see him as a solid player in the mold of Eric Nielsen.

I think with the experience BYU gained from advancing and then playing K-State they should dramatically improve. I think the physical nature of that game was an eye opener for BYU. Hopefully they can build off that.

[jay santos]

Unless you can teach about 4-6 more inches in height I don't see us becoming that much stronger on the inside. Offensively Davies will be much more of an option but we remain undersized and unathletic with Hartsock at the 4.

I expect Davies to be significantly better. By the end of the season, he was getting the more minutes than Miles.

I expect Hartsock to make slight improvement.

I expect C Collins to be a solid backup.

I don't expect these guys to lead the nation in rebounds and chop anyone's head off that comes in the paint, but I think we'll be significantly improved in this area.

[New Mexican Disaster]

I expect Davies to be significantly better. By the end of the season, he was getting the more minutes than Miles.

I expect Hartsock to make slight improvement.

I expect C Collins to be a solid backup.

I don't expect these guys to lead the nation in rebounds and chop anyone's head off that comes in the paint, but I think we'll be significantly improved in this area.

Davies showed tremendous improvement throughout the season and was much more skilled than I would have ever imagined. If he can keep from fouling constantly next season that would be a big improvement. He should get a lot more calls next year, too.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Davies showed tremendous improvement throughout the season and was much more skilled than I would have ever imagined. If he can keep from fouling constantly next season that would be a big improvement. He should get a lot more calls next year, too.

I'd be willing to kick in for his tuition at the Pete Newell Big Man camp, followed by three weeks of imprisonment at The Cheesecake Factory or some other, perhaps more healthful, bulkup salon.

[old_gregg]

he just needs to spend the summer at the cannon center with our polys

[Surfah]

I am stoked for next year's squad. I am excited to see conference games on major networks against the likes of Kansas, KSU, Texas, etc. Our SOS will be much improved.