Brigham Young University Cougars versus the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs

[TripletDaddy]

I'm pissed...why did they stop doing the NBA intro with the floor length white curtains? They haven't done that for awhile now.

Not sure if they showed it on TV but some dude kidnapped Rogers, put on his suit, and played the game in his place. Very surprising to see.

I think Jimmer was torn between trying to force the issue to keep ahead of "wright" and letting Jackson have his night. Sme of the shots jammer took tonight looked awful, though. On a bad night, scores 21, gets some assists, and otherwise outplays mostly everyone, anyway.

Nice video greeting from Danny ainge tonight, congratulating Jackson for his accomplishments.

[EdmondDantes]

The NBA intro will return for a more important game....like the showdown with SDSU next week.

Speaking of SDSU....where we're in very big trouble with them is on the boards. TCU isn't more athletic than we are, but yet in the 2nd half they were difficult to keep off with the offensive rebounds....against a very athletic and long team that's going to spell a big problem.

[TripletDaddy]

There was a major moment tonight during a timeout. Straight from the Utah Ute College Tradition Crime Files.

BYU band was playing the Blues Brothers theme. Fortunately, nobody started doing crazy dancing, but it certainly was a shameful act of petty theft.

I feel like the honest thing to do is to be transparent with the Utes about this blatant theft.

[camobmus]

I agree BYU is overrated. It simply isn't playing the same schedule as Big East and ACC teams and other conferences.

Is an ACC schedule really all that tough this year? I submit to you that it is not. Other than Duke, that league looks pretty deflated.

[Jota]

That should have been a 30+ point margin embarrassment. Jimmer could have easily had 10 more points but for some head-scratching misses.

For some reason he seems to actually play better and with more passion on the road. I think he thrives on the adversity...thrives on the h8. Then he converts the opposing fans and gives them a show.

At home.. he's non-chalant.. been there, done that.

[Goatnapper'96]

I have to be honest. I like this team a lot. They are exciting to watch, but I'm not convinced they will take us to the promised land. I offer the following reasons.

Scoring. They've shown they have the ability to score a lot of points, but if a team is some how abile to slow us down and force us into a half court game, we don't get too many high percentage shots from our half court sets. We have a lot of great shooters on the team, but we settle for far too many jumpshots. That can come back to bite you when the shots don't fall or you don't get enough good looks.

Defense. We don't really play any to speak of. TCU is a horrible team, yet we consistently let them get to the lane, beat our bigs in the position battle, rebound, and get a lot of good shots close in. The only reason we beat a team like TCU is because we ran them ragged and they couldn't keep up.

I really want this team to go deep into the tourney, but I'm a doubting Thomas in this case.

I think the loss of Collinsworth hurts. That is just an unfortunate fact we have to deal with. Especially with how it affects BYU post defense. Regardless, I have seen BYU nut up when they have to nut up. They did so in mid December when the offense was struggling against some pretty decent teams. Starting with the Arizona game the offense started clicking and that is when BYU started putting it together. I have noticed with these BYU teams with really prolific offenses that many games follow the pattern of yesterday's game. BYU comes out and jumps to a big lead early and then the game just floats after that. The game never really becomes competitive but BYU doesn't step on the throat.

I don't know what everyone means by deep tourney run. I think BYU is a solid candidate to make a run to the second weekend, but if they do I do not expect them to make the Elite 8. I think it fair to expect BYU to win its first round game, as a loss there should be considered a disapointment, but the second round matchup is going to be dictated by matchups and whether or not the perimeter guys are hot. After the second round any BYU win will probably include a great deal of luck.

I think this is a really good team but I don't really believe it is a legitimate top 10 team. I think somewhere between 15-20. But I think it could get a very favorable seeding, compared to where I would rank the team, if it keeps playing well.

[Goatnapper'96]

For some reason he seems to actually play better and with more passion on the road. I think he thrives on the adversity...thrives on the h8. Then he converts the opposing fans and gives them a show.

At home.. he's non-chalant.. been there, done that.

Rose coached teams have followed this pattern for a long time. They frequently beat bad teams at home decisively but after jumping to a big lead the games get kind of boring and just float. They often play with a little more intensity on the road or so it appears.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

I have to be honest. I like this team a lot. They are exciting to watch, but I'm not convinced they will take us to the promised land. I offer the following reasons.

Scoring. They've shown they have the ability to score a lot of points, but if a team is some how abile to slow us down and force us into a half court game, we don't get too many high percentage shots from our half court sets. We have a lot of great shooters on the team, but we settle for far too many jumpshots. That can come back to bite you when the shots don't fall or you don't get enough good looks.

Defense. We don't really play any to speak of. TCU is a horrible team, yet we consistently let them get to the lane, beat our bigs in the position battle, rebound, and get a lot of good shots close in. The only reason we beat a team like TCU is because we ran them ragged and they couldn't keep up.

I really want this team to go deep into the tourney, but I'm a doubting Thomas in this case.

Tell that to the 40th ranked eFG% defense in the nation, or the 32nd best defensive rebounding%, or the 63rd best steal% in the country, or the above average 28th rated adjusted defensive efficiency.

[Indy Coug]

Yes, the suckitude of our defense has been greatly exaggerated.

[Indy Coug]

First 10 minutes: BYU 25, TCU 7
Last 30 minutes: TCU 60, BYU 58

[Flystripper]

First 10 minutes: BYU 25, TCU 7
Last 30 minutes: TCU 60, BYU 58

that's called cruise control

[cougjunkie]

First 10 minutes: BYU 25, TCU 7
Last 30 minutes: TCU 60, BYU 58

I think this was by far the best Jimmer has been defended all year. Every time he touched the ball they brought another guard to double and try to trap him. For the most part he did a good job getting rid of the ball and BYU moved the ball very well finding the open man. I think this bodes well for BYU as teams will look at this game and realize that you may be better off letting Jimmer get his and try to stop everyone else. The other players shoot far to well to leave them open. I think thats why we saw so much Rogers tonight not only was he playing well but he stretches the floor and gives us another shooter.

[Flystripper]

. I think thats why we saw so much Rogers tonight not only was he playing well but he stretches the floor and gives us another shooter.

I was happy with the way he finished off the bounce. He is not a guy that will only settle for 3's. His defense is getting better. I think we will see more and more of him especially if KC continues to get himself in foul trouble.

[KillerDog]

I was surprised by a few things last night. I didn't expect us to play so much zone. TCU has guys with range at the 4 and 5 spots but we played a zone. That seems odd unless you consider that we didn't play zone until about 10 minutes in. Did we do some SDSU prep? Maybe.

I was also surprised by Rogers. I watched him exclusively for a while. He has positives and negatives but the positives are outweighing the negatives.

Negatives: His D is still poor. He is not making contact with cutters. He does not make the effort to beat his man to a spot. He is often confused about defensive switches and what D we are in. This was most apparent last night where he followed his man across the paint at the foul line and down toward the block while the ball swung the opposite direction. Considering we were in a zone and he obviously thought we were in man and true Freshman KC had to tell him what to do, this was a major screw up.

Positives: Length. This kid is a long 6'8". Skills. Rogers can really do some of everything on the offensive end. He can handle in traffic, take his man off the bounce to the rim or to a midranged jumper, he can shoot from range, pass, and cut. His screens are ... well, uh, flaccid but other than that the offensive game is there and he provides us with more size.

I think Rogers is critical and will be the surprise of the SDSU game. We need guys who can stretch SDSU and rebound out of a zone. We have to force SDSU's defense out of the paint. In the past that has been the key to beating them. Rogers is that guy. He can shoot and play the big 3 for us so we can go zone with a front line of 6'9, 6'8, 6'8. He also frees us up to use KC or Abuou at the 2. Best of all, he can spell Noah and Davies if they get tired or in foul trouble better than Magnusson on the offensive end.

Bottom line, last night's game wasn't pretty. Davies played iffy and Jimmer looked like the ball hog he is rumored to be. Rogers is a bright spot.

[KillerDog]

Another player I wanted to talk about was Noah Hartsock. He is really coming on strong. Last year he displayed a mid-post game and the ability to get garbage points while playing hard nosed defense and rebounding. This year he is shooting the three with confidence. He is also putting the ball on the floor and throwing more aggressive passes. I think he is our #3 player on this team. I like Davies and think he is a tough guard but his D is still very weak and foul prone and his O requires a lot of space.

I think the offensive aggression we have been seeing out of Noah will pay dividends against SDSU and tournament teams. Pulling the defense out to the perimeter at the 4 spot allows for second chance points by our athletic wings (KC and Abuou) as well as better looks for Davies and Jimmer in the paint. Doint all of that at 6'8" and 230 lbs could be a tournament difference maker.