BYU Hoops 2013-2014

[Blueintheface]

I'm not sure there is an appropriate thread for this:

Awesomeness. I liked the retro BYU graphic at the end. Very 70's PBS-ish.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Sharp's the confusing one to me. I always hated him and didn't like that Rose played him so much. Then I started warming up to him and just when I was coming around, Rose started cutting his time until he became a non-factor.

When asked about who would play the 4, Rose said Austin and Mika could play together, Worthington and Mika could play together, and a lineup with KC and Bartley would have Bartley playing the 4 on offense and KC guarding the 4. No mention of Sharp.

Sharp is just a square peg in Rose's scheme. He isn't skilled enough to help on offense at the 3, but he isn't big enough to allow his defense/rebounding at the 4 to make up for his offensive deficiencies. As it stands, it looks like foul trouble will be what dictates Sharp's minutes this year, and it will stay that way until he either gets a lot stronger or improves his ball handling and passing significantly.

[Pelado]

When asked about who would play the 4, Rose said Austin and Mika could play together, Worthington and Mika could play together, and a lineup with KC and Bartley would have Bartley playing the 4 on offense and KC guarding the 4. No mention of Sharp.

Sharp is just a square peg in Rose's scheme. He isn't skilled enough to help on offense at the 3, but he isn't big enough to allow his defense/rebounding at the 4 to make up for his offensive deficiencies. As it stands, it looks like foul trouble will be what dictates Sharp's minutes this year, and it will stay that way until he either gets a lot stronger or improves his ball handling and passing significantly.

While reading this paragraph, I didn't think of Sharp until you mentioned him.

[Blueintheface]

I like Sharp more than most but I understand he has a lot of limitations. If Worthington shows an ability to consistently score I have no problem seeing Josh as a cheerleader. His (JS) greatest asset is hustle and I'm not sure if you are expecting a lot of scoring from the position you can even consider using him.

[Katy Lied]

His (JS) greatest asset is hustle.

Sometimes it seems that he's the only one willing to slash to the basket.

[Flystripper]

Sometimes it seems that he's the only one willing to slash to the basket.

He crashes the offensive glass very hard. I really appreciate his effort in that regard.

[Jacob]

I think I can agree that the kid will be able to contribute at some level. But I am expecting his minutes to usually be a function of whether or not Austin and Mika can stay out of foul trouble. It will also be matchups. When BYU wants to go big the reality is BYU only has 3 possible big men to play so my guess is Worthington will see some minutes. I think Worthington will play a role of being tough, rebounding and playing physical defense. Given his innexperience with the college game my guess is that will result in foul trouble but I only think he will see 6-10 mpg so that will be ok.

Does Worthington have any offensive game? If so, he may play a lot considering that Mika is extremely raw offensively and the other guy is Nate Austin. We need some scoring in the post. Worthington may provide it. I've been told that he was the most impressive big. But that was based on only one viewing.

I think with Sharp at the 4, Mika at the 5, and KC at the 3 we are just going to rebound the shit out of the ball this year. I hope Austin can become dependable this year and that Worthington isn't a bust.

Uh oh. Someone else didn't get the memo.

[MarkGrace]

VIDEO: BYU lip-sync's Chicago and it's mandatory you watch this

Well, the long college basketball offseason has brought us to this: BYU star guard Tyler Haws (RELATED! Ranked No. 34 in the nation by us) lip-syncing on a grassy knoll to Chicago's 1984 top-five hit, "You're the Inspiration." He's soon joined by teammates Luke Worthington and Skyler Halford.

How this isn't a violation of the Student Honor Code in Provo is a mystery to me, but I'm thankful no one will be suspended for it.

Even though they probably should. Because, honestly: it's '80s Chicago. At least give me something off one of the early '70s LPs. You can't mess with that horn section, son.

Anyway, BYU is a weird place. And, yet, thank you, BYU. PLEASE MAKE MORE OF THESE. Recommending this immediately. I close with this:

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...you-watch-this

[cougjunkie]

Mika is a monster. 9pts and 8 boards at half of the blue/white game. Including a sick alley oop from Carlino.

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[Surfah]

Mika is a monster. 9pts and 8 boards at half of the blue/white game. Including a sick alley oop from Carlino.

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Mika is impressive. I just hope he can stay out of foul trouble. His athleticism is impressive and he gets up and around guys quickly. He needs to work on keeping the ball up though as he resets to go back up on the offensive end. He was stripped a couple times. Worthington works hard on defense and the glass but his offensive game did not look good. The airballed free throw didn't help. Bartley looks like a more athletic Winder. I doubt they'd ever be on the floor at the same time, but they look to be our best perimeter defenders. Fischer's debut looked as good as his round in the three point contest at #boomshakalaka. I was really impressed with Carlino, Halford and Haws. I think Halford is going to be a solid contributor. If Carlino can play like that consistently this team has potential. BYU needs that second scorer with Haws because I think they can get 10 a piece from Mika and Halford. Haws looked really good. It's pretty amazing what he did last year coming off mission legs. He's had a whole off-season to work on his game and not just conditioning. I'm expecting big things. That dunk he had off the backdoor cut from KC was pretty sick. He did it easily too. Wrubell tweeted last night that this team gives Rose lots of options. I agree. I wish we had one more big, but otherwise Rose can put together some interesting lineups I think.

[Goatnapper'96]

Mika is impressive. I just hope he can stay out of foul trouble. His athleticism is impressive and he gets up and around guys quickly. He needs to work on keeping the ball up though as he resets to go back up on the offensive end. He was stripped a couple times. Worthington works hard on defense and the glass but his offensive game did not look good. The airballed free throw didn't help. Bartley looks like a more athletic Winder. I doubt they'd ever be on the floor at the same time, but they look to be our best perimeter defenders. Fischer's debut looked as good as his round in the three point contest at #boomshakalaka. I was really impressed with Carlino, Halford and Haws. I think Halford is going to be a solid contributor. If Carlino can play like that consistently this team has potential. BYU needs that second scorer with Haws because I think they can get 10 a piece from Mika and Halford. Haws looked really good. It's pretty amazing what he did last year coming off mission legs. He's had a whole off-season to work on his game and not just conditioning. I'm expecting big things. That dunk he had off the backdoor cut from KC was pretty sick. He did it easily too. Wrubell tweeted last night that this team gives Rose lots of options. I agree. I wish we had one more big, but otherwise Rose can put together some interesting lineups I think.

While Carlino is the same indicator of BYU success this year as he was last year, even with the loss of Davies I think there is greater depth. One thing to remember is Nate Austin was out yesterday with a busted tooth. Nate is not likely, in my opinion, to contend for AA this year but I think he is another second tier offensive contributor that will make the whole better than the sum of the parts.

The way I see BYU this year is thus:

1.) As goes Matty Carlino so goes the Cougars. He is the primary point guard and the engine of the offense.
2.) Assuming Haws does what Haws does and assuming Matty Carlino goes, who is going to step up to be the 3rd player to get into double digits. Last year BYU had Haws, Davies and Carlino. If all 3 were going BYU had a decent club, if one was off BYU struggled and if two were off we lost to JohnnyDee led USD Torerererererererooooos! This year after the big two there are a few players with the capability to get to double digit points. I am looking at Mika, Halford, Collinsworth and even perhaps Nate Austin. Now I doubt any of the four aforementioned second tier offensive stalwarts will average double digit points, but at least one of them and two would be nice need to score in double digits each night and I hope that between the 4 BYU can "average" 32 points a game. BYU will need 35 from the big two keys of Carlino and Haws and then 32 from the second tier offensive stalwarts. Then guys 7-10 (namely Bartley, Winder, Worthington and Sharp) need to only average 11 ppg collectively for BYU to get to 78 ppg.
3. In time I also think this team should play a little better defense than we have seen the past two years as well. They are going to have to because I doubt they can average more than 78 ppg. I think they will with kids like Collinsworth and Mika around to play 26-30 mpg. I also think both Bartley, Winder and Worthington should provide some decent defensive options off the bench while being extremely limited offensively. Halford will be the only sub off the bench, IMO, that will have any ability to score.

[Indy Coug]

I wish we could count on KC for 12-13 ppg this year, but I'm not holding my breath.

[jay santos]

I wish we could count on KC for 12-13 ppg this year, but I'm not holding my breath.

He scored four last night in the blue white game playing 33 minutes.

[Katy Lied]

So is there any appreciable increase on the development of the big men with Pope in there? Or is BYU going to wear this hat during the Mika years as well?

Also, I love Nate Austin, but I want Coach Rose to put a shock collar on him and everytime he falls to the ground, he gets a shock administered to his neck. I'm volunteering to send the shocks from the 4th row. And not in some sicko way. A lot of his problems (busted chin, arm, elbow, etc) would be solved if he just stopped falling when he makes contact.

[Goatnapper'96]

I wish we could count on KC for 12-13 ppg this year, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think KC can get to 8-9 ppg this year. The bigger challenge as I see it for BYU to find success is Nate Austin needs to as well. I think Mika will get to 8-9 ppg but BYU will need another legit scoring threat offensive big to be good. The only option for that is Austin. Nate doesn't need to be an AA but just a legit scoring threat somewhere similar to what Hartsock was as a soph and junior. He showed that type of ability as a true freshman and I am really hoping it was the injuries that limited him last year. Even in the NIT when he started playing better he only averaged about 5 ppg, he has got to almost double that. BYU needs to get 17 ppg between Nate and Mika. One might take a step further and say BYU needs 25 ppg between Nate, Mika and Collinsworth because they have the most ability to score in the paint or inside of 12 feet between jumpers, running the lane/putbacks/trash/offensive boards/slashing to the hoop. A team doesn't need a post player but they need points in the paint and those are the 3 who can do that for BYU. BYU needs Nate to have a reliable outside-inside game, IMO. That to me looks like the biggest challenge facing this team other than Carlino finally finding some consistency.