BYU Hoops 2014-2015

[Goatnapper'96]

The future is bright, son! We will change the norm at BYU...(basketball only).

See "faith" truly is a beautiful thing!

[BlueK]

There is very little chance we would win a game. Legitimately athletic teams will shut down Fisher and seriously mitigate Winder. KyleC has the juice to get it done against good competition as does Tyler Haws. Two decent player, two non-liabilities and then a glaring black hole in the post is no way to go through the NCAAs son.

Not this year, my friend. It will kinda sorta be like most years.

I'd still rather get in. A program needs to at least believe they will make the tournament every year. Then starting next year hopefully they make the jump to going and winning, which is not as big of a hurdle as knowing you didn't even go last year.

[Goatnapper'96]

I'd still rather get in. A program needs to at least believe they will make the tournament every year.

I am not sure we will get in. I would rather get in and be a one and done instead of NIT, however.

[BlueK]

I am not sure we will get in. I would rather get in and be a one and done instead of NIT, however.

Agreed. I have a really hard time seeing any value in going to the NIT.

[smokymountainrain]

Agreed. I have a really hard time seeing any value in going to the NIT.

Perhaps it's not much, but you get to see your team continue to play basketball.

FTR, I would rather go one and done in the Dance rather than have a deep run in the NIT.

[Green Monstah]

Aytes' twitter feed is mostly Bible verses. I'm not sure if I perceive that as a good thing or not.

[SCcoug]

I'd expect BYU win a first 4 game. We'd have to get hot from 3 to win any other games.

[BlueK]

I'd expect BYU win a first 4 game. We'd have to get hot from 3 to win any other games.

Good point. I think we could beat another bubble team in that game. If everyone is healthy, I would probably expect BYU to win.

And as far as the first four games are concerned, after all the bashing by fans and media of the whole idea of expanding the tournament and adding those games, I was even surprised how I felt after we beat Iona in 2012. Maybe it was because of how we came from way behind, and maybe it doesn't make that much sense logically that I would rank that as one of my favorite BYU basketball wins ever, but emotionally that's how it felt for me. What was even stranger was how the loss in the next game to Marquette didn't bother me much and was nothing like the pain of losing all those first round games in a row before we finally beat Florida in 2010.

[BlueK]

Aytes' twitter feed is mostly Bible verses. I'm not sure if I perceive that as a good thing or not.

I want him to play this year.

[Omaha 680]

I want him to play this year.

Tweet a verse at him that will push him in that direction.

[KillerDog]

Injuries have really hurt this squad. I really thought we had great potential but the injuries have been the only consistent theme.

[BlueK]

Injuries have really hurt this squad. I really thought we had great potential but the injuries have been the only consistent theme.

Yup. Starting the year with KC trying to get up to speed coming off the ACL injury. Then Austin going down for most of the year. Haws hurt just in time for Gonzaga and Austin of course missing Gonzaga. Now Winder hurt and missing the St Mary's game. It's been ridiculous. I blame Bronco for sending the bad vibes over to basketball. :-)

[TripletDaddy]

Yup. Starting the year with KC trying to get up to speed coming off the ACL injury. Then Austin going down for most of the year. Haws hurt just in time for Gonzaga and Austin of course missing Gonzaga. Now Winder hurt and missing the St Mary's game. It's been ridiculous. I blame Bronco for sending the bad vibes over to basketball. :-)

BYU's offense is just fine. It is our defense that sucks. Injuries havent hurt our defense. Having sucky players has hurt our defense. having bigs that dont or cant rebound hurts us. Having big men that dont produce any points in the paint or draw fouls hurts us. Most of those players you are describing generate plenty of scoring but are mostly terrible defenders even when healthy. There are times when Haws is actuality a liability on defense.

The only injury that you could credibly say has hurt us is Winder's injury. His absence definitely hurts us offensively and defensively.

[BlueK]

BYU's offense is just fine. It is our defense that sucks. Injuries havent hurt our defense. Having sucky players has hurt our defense. having bigs that dont or cant rebound hurts us. Having big men that dont produce any points in the paint or draw fouls hurts us. Most of those players you are describing generate plenty of scoring but are mostly terrible defenders even when healthy. There are times when Haws is actuality a liability on defense.

The only injury that you could credibly say has hurt us is Winder's injury. His absence definitely hurts us offensively and defensively.

St. Mary's beat us because of their offensive rebounds, and Austin takes a few of those away. Also, I agree the defense is the main problem, but just a little better offense or just a little better defense (and taking away the other team's offensive rebounds is part of defense), can be enough to win a close game. For example, Haws making an open shot at the end of regulation against Purdue wins that game even if our defense was bad.

Bottom line: in a close game it doesn't really matter if your bigger problem in general is offense or defense. Just a little more of either at any given moment can win the game for you. So to say Haws being less effective against Gonzaga than he would have been if 100% healthy is irrelevant doesn't make sense to me. You take whatever you can get to help you win a close game. Against Utah the offense was far worse than normal but the defense was actually better than average for this team. Every game is different. Having Austin's rebounds also would have helped that night.

[wapiti]

I think this team at full strength would be dangerous in the tournament. Great guard play and 3-point shooting can make for a good tournament team. This team has that. I hope we can get there.