Cougar Hoops off to a great start.........

[cougjunkie]

First 6-0 start since 91-92. A few early season numbers for the team:

Lee Cummard: 19.0 pts, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.7 steals and he is shooting a blistering 63.4% from the floor. Also he is doing this in only 30 minutes a game do to every game being a blowout.

Jonthan Tavernari: 17.0 pts, 7.2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals. Amazingly he has a 3-1 assist to turnover ratio, he is also shooting 45% from the floor. The downside is that he has taken 23 more total shots and 30 more three pointers than Cummard. They are both playing about the same amount of minutes.

Jimmer Fredette: 11.5 points, 5 assists, 2.5 rebounds. Jimmer looks like he is going to be as good of a point guard as BYU has had in a long time. He can hit the open 3, which BYUs last 5 starting PGs couldnt (murdock, Nashif, Lemes, Woodbury, Montague) and he can get in the lane and create. He is also really picking up his defense and has done a nice job so far this year. 30 total assists to 13 turnovers is also a solid number.

Chris Miles: 9.8 points, 4.6 rebounds. Solid numbers from Miles, I think he needs to increase the rebounds to about 8 or 9 but so far not a bad season. He has been a defensive presence and has shown an array of post moves. He is also shooting 67% from the floor making 24 of 36 shots. Also since starting the season 1-10 from the foul line he has hit 10 of his last 13 freethrows.

Jackson Emery: 8.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists. My early season MVP, he has been Mr. Everything for BYU. The main thing is that his solid play has allowed BYU to keep Jimmer at the point. Emery has guarded the opposing teams best player in just about every game so far, which also keeps Lee out of foul trouble. He is hitting the open 3 (42%) and shooting an unbelievable 63% from the floor. Great hustle player that has made an immediate impact.

Bench: First guy off the bench needs to be Abouo and his minutes need to be around 20 per night. He can guard postions 1-4, he is quick, and eventhough he is only 6'5 he is very long, creekster would like him because his knuckles drag on the ground when he walks, kid has a huge wingspan. In only 14 minutes of play he is averaging 6 points and 3 rebounds. Second guy off the bench Lamont Morgan, although I see BYU playing more Emery at the point as the season wears on. Morgan should only get about 15 minutes per night and that is when they slide Jimmer to the 2. If Jimmer is in foul trouble then I would actually move Emery to the point. Put Lee at the 2 and Abouo at the 3. Finally to round out the 8/9 man rotation you bring in Mcgregor/Anderson (let them split minutes) and Hartsock.

I see this as a 25 win team, and I will get back to you on if I think they can win a tournament game.

[CardiacCoug]

Yeah, I like this team. The atmosphere last night reminded me a lot of the road game at Boise State that BYU blew last season. This year, though, our guys were more mentally tough and never let Idaho State back in the game. If JT can avoid taking bad shot and distribute the ball like he did last night, this team will be very good.

[RockyBalboa]

I really like how the team is playing so far as well, but I'm gonna reserve judgement til I see how they perform against ASU in Glendale.

Also I think the game against USU this Saturday is going to be a fun environment. The USU Center, Wilkinson, that dude is intense and always screaming, yelling and pounding his chest.

Should be a fun game since it's been a while since we've played each other.

I still think Stew Morrill is the biggest pussy in the coaching biz just because of his scheduling philosophy.

[Clark Addison]

I still think Stew Morrill is the biggest pussy in the coaching biz just because of his scheduling philosophy.

Can you expand on that? Why is he a pussy? I know that a lot of Utah State fans think we are afraid to play them in Logan, but I don't live in Utah and don't know anything about this really.

[Goatnapper'96]

Can you expand on that? Why is he a pussy? I know that a lot of Utah State fans think we are afraid to play them in Logan, but I don't live in Utah and don't know anything about this really.

Stew will not play any team that doesn't give him a home and home type of deal, hence he plays nobody decent in the preseason.

Rose has played a couple of more bigger name teams or programs in deals not favorable to BYU, but not a great deal more. I don't think BYU's scheduling is the model of manly behavior and I am not real prone to criticize anybody else's scheduling manlihood.

As for the Logan deal, Rose wanted to move the series to a home-away-neutral deal. Stew dug his heels in whining that BYU did not want to play in Logan. That wasn't true. It is true that Rose picked a year where it was Utah State's turn to host the game to make his pitch, but that was also the year that the current contract ended. I would think the legal angle was the most compelling aspect to Rose and it was just coincidental that it happened after the game was played in Provo as what Rose wanted was just as many games in Logan as Provo and as many in SLC as in either home location. Rose did use the deal BYU gave the Aggies a couple of years ago, when BYU played a second game in Logan in a year the game was scheduled for Provo, as political leverage because the timing was coincidentally favorable to BYU. The facts of the matter are that Stew dug in his heels that he would never play BYU again and took the matter public before he should have. In fact the two schools had agreed to keep it quiet until the deal was negotiated and contracts signed. Stew's public temper tantrum demonstrated the fact that Utah State lacked the integrity to negotiate in good faith so BYU gave the whining little child a "time-out" for a year. If Stew wouldn't have whined like he did I doubt the series would have skipped a year, he created that situation by his whining and BYU did the morally ethical thing by teaching the whining child a lesson by putting Utah State in "time-out" and reminding the littlest brother where they stand on the pedestal. Certainly that is what God would expect BYU to do, correct?

After Stew and his AD had some time in "time-out" to evaluate the situation and Utah State's standing in the real world, they gladly accepted a new contract on BYU's terms.

Sufferin' Sucotash!

[jay santos]

I like this team and it's coming together quicker and better than I thought it would.

Jimmer is becoming more and more confident. Miles is showing he can be an offensive force. And Emery is way ahead of where I expected.

Depth is an issue. There's a real drop off in talent after the starting 5.

We will have some adversity. JT will go through a five game slump sometime and not stop shooting, causing us to lose a couple we should have won. Cougar fans will have a temporary melt down. JT hasn't learned what a bad shot is this late in life. He never will. He's a tremendous talent but he's also extremely frustrating.

I expect about a #40ish type season with yet another trip to the Big Dance with a tough first round matchup and a probable loss.

[RockyBalboa]

Can you expand on that? Why is he a pussy? I know that a lot of Utah State fans think we are afraid to play them in Logan, but I don't live in Utah and don't know anything about this really.

Last year during a radio interview with David Locke here Stew was asked about his scheduling philosophy by Locke and Stew went apeshit on air threatening to hang up and end the interview right then and there.

Locke pressed him a little bit further even using the example of BYU playing a one and done with UCLA at Pauley Pavilion and he freaked out even more saying that's there no way he'll ever play any team that won't sign a home for home. Locke pressed him again and said..."What about a 2 for 1,,,woudl you be willing to do something like that?"

The best teams Utah State plays year in and year out are BYU and Utah because they refuse to schedule anyone else of note.

Utah has put together a home schedule of note with some fun programs of note like LSU, CAL, Oregon and Gonzaga.

I would like to see BYU do more of that. They talked to Coach Rose about the other night and he lamented the fact that they spend a minimum of an hour each day on the phones trying to schedule and make tons of phone calls and he said it's rare they get a phone call back from an interested party. He also said teams will look at how many they've lost in the Marriott Center since 2000...(I think they've only lost 4 or 5 times this entire decade there, could be more..>I'm not sure)...and then they freak and won't agree to it, not to mention the fact they're on a 50+ game home win streak. Granted it's come against mostly really crappy competition.

I really would love to see them upset Wake Forest at home. The Demon Deacons are dang good this year.

[jay santos]

Stew will not play any team that doesn't give him a home and home type of deal, hence he plays nobody decent in the preseason.

Rose has played a couple of more bigger name teams or programs in deals not favorable to BYU, but not a great deal more. I don't think BYU's scheduling is the model of manly behavior and I am not real prone to criticize anybody else's scheduling manlihood.

As for the Logan deal, Rose wanted to move the series to a home-away-neutral deal. Stew dug his heels in whining that BYU did not want to play in Logan. That wasn't true. It is true that Rose picked a year where it was Utah State's turn to host the game to make his pitch, but that was also the year that the current contract ended. I would think the legal angle was the most compelling aspect to Rose and it was just coincidental that it happened after the game was played in Provo as what Rose wanted was just as many games in Logan as Provo and as many in SLC as in either home location. Rose did use the deal BYU gave the Aggies a couple of years ago, when BYU played a second game in Logan in a year the game was scheduled for Provo, as political leverage because the timing was coincidentally favorable to BYU. The facts of the matter are that Stew dug in his heels that he would never play BYU again and took the matter public before he should have. In fact the two schools had agreed to keep it quiet until the deal was negotiated and contracts signed. Stew's public temper tantrum demonstrated the fact that Utah State lacked the integrity to negotiate in good faith so BYU gave the whining little child a "time-out" for a year. If Stew wouldn't have whined like he did I doubt the series would have skipped a year, he created that situation by his whining and BYU did the morally ethical thing by teaching the whining child a lesson by putting Utah State in "time-out" and reminding the littlest brother where they stand on the pedestal. Certainly that is what God would expect BYU to do, correct?

After Stew and his AD had some time in "time-out" to evaluate the situation and Utah State's standing in the real world, they gladly accepted a new contract on BYU's terms.

Sufferin' Sucotash!

I really think we ought to go back to playing a home and home with USU every year. It's unique, but we're both in unique situations sitting in Utah. Most schools have >=30 D1 BB schools within 300 miles. We have < 10.

The home and home every year is more advantageous to USU than to us, so I'd combine it with a FB contract that was more advantageous to us.

Would somebody give this idea to the athletic department already? Let's get it done.

[RockyBalboa]

I really think we ought to go back to playing a home and home with USU every year. It's unique, but we're both in unique situations sitting in Utah. Most schools have >=30 D1 BB schools within 300 miles. We have < 10.

The home and home every year is more advantageous to USU than to us, so I'd combine it with a FB contract that was more advantageous to us.

Would somebody give this idea to the athletic department already? Let's get it done.

I don't want Utah State on our football schedule every year,,,but the current contract is a 3 for 2 deal set to expire after the 2012 year...but Bronco has emphasized he wants to keep it a yearly thing.

[cougjunkie]

Last year during a radio interview with David Locke here Stew was asked about his scheduling philosophy by Locke and Stew went apeshit on air threatening to hang up and end the interview right then and there.

Locke pressed him a little bit further even using the example of BYU playing a one and done with UCLA at Pauley Pavilion and he freaked out even more saying that's there no way he'll ever play any team that won't sign a home for home. Locke pressed him again and said..."What about a 2 for 1,,,woudl you be willing to do something like that?"

The best teams Utah State plays year in and year out are BYU and Utah because they refuse to schedule anyone else of note.

Utah has put together a home schedule of note with some fun programs of note like LSU, CAL, Oregon and Gonzaga.

I would like to see BYU do more of that. They talked to Coach Rose about the other night and he lamented the fact that they spend a minimum of an hour each day on the phones trying to schedule and make tons of phone calls and he said it's rare they get a phone call back from an interested party. He also said teams will look at how many they've lost in the Marriott Center since 2000...(I think they've only lost 4 or 5 times this entire decade there, could be more..>I'm not sure)...and then they freak and won't agree to it, not to mention the fact they're on a 50+ game home win streak. Granted it's come against mostly really crappy competition.

I really would love to see them upset Wake Forest at home. The Demon Deacons are dang good this year.

Yep and when Utah State goes 26-5 with an RPI of 75 and they are left out of the tournament Stew starts bitching.

[ERCougar]

I've just seen a little of our team this year, but are we looking good because we're just playing bad teams? I noticed that a few computer polls (non-RPI) have Utah ranked ahead of us, even with their bad loss, because of who they've beaten.

Eerily similar to the football season.

[cougjunkie]

I've just seen a little of our team this year, but are we looking good because we're just playing bad teams? I noticed that a few computer polls (non-RPI) have Utah ranked ahead of us, even with their bad loss, because of who they've beaten.

Eerily similar to the football season.

RPI means nothing this early in the season, we have not played great teams but we still have 2 road wins, it is always hard to win on the road in CBB.

Also D-2 wins and losses do not count for RPI that is why Utah is ranked ahead of us. Utahs strength of schedule is going to be better than BYUs this year, but by the end of hte year we will have the better RPI.

[RockyBalboa]

I've just seen a little of our team this year, but are we looking good because we're just playing bad teams? I noticed that a few computer polls (non-RPI) have Utah ranked ahead of us, even with their bad loss, because of who they've beaten.

Eerily similar to the football season.

Utah's loss doesn't count against their RPI for some reason. Someone explained it to me, but I'm can't remember the reasoning. Maybe it's because it was a Div II. school.

I hate it when sports prognosticators use the term "sexy" when describing a team or scenario,,,but Utah does have a "sexier" schedule than BYU this year.

They've got Oregon, CAL, Gonzaga, and LSU just on their home schedule alone this year....we've got Wake Forest and a "neutral" court game against Arizona State.

I think someone posted on CB that our SOS to this point in basketball is like 343 out of 347 or something like that....again I don't remember exactly...man my memory sucks this morning.

[il Padrino Ute]

Utah's loss doesn't count against their RPI for some reason. Someone explained it to me, but I'm can't remember the reasoning. Maybe it's because it was a Div II. school.

I hate it when sports prognosticators use the term "sexy" when describing a team or scenario,,,but Utah does have a "sexier" schedule than BYU this year.

They've got Oregon, CAL, Gonzaga, and LSU just on their home schedule alone this year....we've got Wake Forest and a "neutral" court game against Arizona State.

Yes, the SW Baptist loss doesn't count toward RPI because it's a DII school. Utah is able to dodge a huge bullet there.

I really like Utah's home OOC schedule this year. I'm hoping to be able to get to a few of those games.

Wake Forest is a solid game for you guys. It's never bad to have an ACC team play in your gym.

[ERCougar]

Everyone--I'm not talking about RPI (what I meant by "non-RPI"). I'm talking about computer rankings.