2018 - 2019 BYU Hoops

[cougjunkie]

Same body type? Is he "doughy?"

Yes. And he has allegedly lost weight from last season.

[BlueK]

My thoughts after 1 game:

1. Rylan looked like garbage to me. He doesn't look like a D-1 talent at all.

2. Harding is a Jake Toolson clone. He will fit well in Dave Rose system.

3. Gavin Baxter is extremely long and I think he will be a very good player. However at least this year, he is going to play out of position.

4. Hardnett still looks like Tim Drisdom

5. TJ is TJ, Yo is Yo

6. The non-con schedule is insane, they might enter conference play 9-6 or 8-7.

7. Luke still sucks

8. Zac is still a liability on both ends of the floor. He is a one trick pony and that trick didn't work last year.

9. This team actually needs Nick Emery.

10. Nixon is Magnusson 2.0. Dave Rose has some Bronco in him, he loves those gritty guys. Reality is Dalton Nixon should be a 8-10th man on this team and he will start.

This post is a poster boy for why I'm happy fans don't coach.

[cougjunkie]

This post is a poster boy for why I'm happy fans don't coach.

You must not like make the NCAA tournament.

[BlueK]

You must not like make the NCAA tournament.

Your post doesn't mention the NCAA tournament.

[cougjunkie]

Your post doesn't mention the NCAA tournament.

Because with the way this team is currently constructed, its not happening.

Unless you see huge leaps from TJ, Zac can shoot closer to the 50% from 3 he did as a freshman, and Gavin Baxter becomes the NBA prospect I think he will eventually be. This team is NIT bound again.

[BlueK]

Because with the way this team is currently constructed, its not happening.

Unless you see huge leaps from TJ, Zac can shoot closer to the 50% from 3 he did as a freshman, and Gavin Baxter becomes the NBA prospect I think he will eventually be. This team is NIT bound again.

We'll see. This is the first team we've had in 5-6 years that returns having played together and worked together in the off-season. That continuity matters for improving not just as individuals from the previous year but as a team. We haven't had the team improving as a unit factor in a long time, so we forget the concept even exists. And contrary to popular internet fan opinion, a 24 win NIT team is really only a couple of wins minus a couple of bad losses away from having qualified for the real tournament. As disappointing as the NIT is, which is an expectation we have exactly because Rose made the NCAAs seem like an entitlement, we talk kind of like we had a 10-win team last year (the 4-9 football equivalent) or something. Getting there is not a huge chasm. Now getting there and winning multiple games is another subject.

We do probably have the non-conference schedule to do it though like in 2015 and especially 2014. Those years we only won a couple of those tough games and made the tournament anyway. The committee would rather you play those games and lose than beat a bad team instead.

By the way, Nevada just lost to Washington in an exhibition - by 18 points. At home. Maybe we can sneak out with a win there.

[jay santos]

We'll see. This is the first team we've had in 5-6 years that returns having played together and worked together in the off-season. That continuity matters for improving not just as individuals from the previous year but as a team. We haven't had the team improving as a unit factor in a long time, so we forget the concept even exists. And contrary to popular internet fan opinion, a 24 win NIT team is really only a couple of wins minus a couple of bad losses away from having qualified for the real tournament. As disappointing as the NIT is, which is an expectation we have exactly because Rose made the NCAAs seem like an entitlement, we talk kind of like we had a 10-win team last year (the 4-9 football equivalent) or something. Getting there is not a huge chasm. Now getting there and winning multiple games is another subject.

I like your optimism. (but aren't you this optimistic every year?) We lost the best player from a bad team and replaced him with Emery. We have a couple other new guys to provide depth, but no new difference makers. I'm just not seeing it. Haws, Emery, Childs provide an experienced core that should help us from avoiding bad losses. But the talent is just not there to go very high. Regardless of whether Rose or cj are coaching. Sorry cj.

[cougjunkie]

We'll see. This is the first team we've had in 5-6 years that returns having played together and worked together in the off-season. That continuity matters for improving not just as individuals from the previous year but as a team. We haven't had the team improving as a unit factor in a long time, so we forget the concept even exists. And contrary to popular internet fan opinion, a 24 win NIT team is really only a couple of wins minus a couple of bad losses away from having qualified for the real tournament. As disappointing as the NIT is, which is an expectation we have exactly because Rose made the NCAAs seem like an entitlement, we talk kind of like we had a 10-win team last year (the 4-9 football equivalent) or something. Getting there is not a huge chasm. Now getting there and winning multiple games is another subject.

We do probably have the non-conference schedule to do it though like in 2015 and especially 2014. Those years we only won a couple of those tough games and made the tournament anyway. The committee would rather you play those games and lose than beat a bad team instead.

By the way, Nevada just lost to Washington in an exhibition - by 18 points. At home. Maybe we can sneak out with a win there.

Yeah you see to forget that we lost Eli off last years team. Also we had a terrible non-con schedule and the WCC was worse than usual.

Also what continuity are we talking about? They are running a new offense yet again this season. Back to the uptempo run and gun, early threes. Quincy Lewis is running his Lone Peak offense so TJ and Nick feel comfortable. That is a concern.

[BlueK]

I like your optimism. (but aren't you this optimistic every year?) We lost the best player from a bad team and replaced him with Emery. We have a couple other new guys to provide depth, but no new difference makers. I'm just not seeing it. Haws, Emery, Childs provide an experienced core that should help us from avoiding bad losses. But the talent is just not there to go very high. Regardless of whether Rose or cj are coaching. Sorry cj.

I am the optimistic type for sure.

"Bad team" = 24 wins is part of the odd dynamic here with our fans. It does not in any way mean I'm content with not making the NCAA tournament. I most certainly am not. I'm an NCAA tournament guy as much as is possible. But I think starting with the premise that we're "bad" warps the assessment a bit when talking about what would push us back up to making the tournament. The two previous bad teams beat Gonzaga on the road, including when they were undefeated and made it to the national championship game. It isn't going to take as much as some of our fans think. Being a few wins away from making the real tournament is different than the recent football team level of "bad" of going 4-9, but I think many of us are more or less equating the two.

[BlueK]

Yeah you see to forget that we lost Eli off last years team. Also we had a terrible non-con schedule and the WCC was worse than usual.

Also what continuity are we talking about? They are running a new offense yet again this season. Back to the uptempo run and gun, early threes. Quincy Lewis is running his Lone Peak offense so TJ and Nick feel comfortable. That is a concern.

The fact that most of the team knows each other is precisely why you can change up the offense a lot easier than installing a new offense when 9 of 13 players haven't played together before and don't know each other's strengths and tendencies as much. Also, I don't think changes in basketball are as drastic as say it would be in football to go from the spread option to the Ty Detmer pro set. It's not nearly as complex. You don't have an offensive line that now has to learn an entirely different blocking scheme or a quarterback that has to take snaps from the line instead of the shotgun while completely re-learning how to read the defense an entirely different way.

And all of these players were recruited to play what they're playing this year. Last year that was not the case. Last year it also looked to me like most of the team was never comfortable with what they were doing on offense. The only exception to that seemed to be Bryant, who until last year was bashed by many of the same fans who are now saying how unrecoverable his loss is. We'll see. Just enjoy a game at a time.

I remember going back to the awesome 2011 season how it took almost the entire non-conference schedule for some of the fans to let themselves enjoy what was happening before their eyes. There were a lot of comments like "I won't believe it until we can actually win in Vegas..." Blah, blah, blah. Then we went there and blew them out. Then it switched to, "well, until we can beat SDSU..."

I'm not predicting anything like that for this team. But I do think we'll have a much more fun year. If anything, the style won't be boring like Schroyer ball was.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Pass the bong, BlueK!

[frank ryan]

My thoughts after 1 game:

1. Rylan looked like garbage to me. He doesn't look like a D-1 talent at all.

2. Harding is a Jake Toolson clone. He will fit well in Dave Rose system.

3. Gavin Baxter is extremely long and I think he will be a very good player. However at least this year, he is going to play out of position.

4. Hardnett still looks like Tim Drisdom

5. TJ is TJ, Yo is Yo

6. The non-con schedule is insane, they might enter conference play 9-6 or 8-7.

7. Luke still sucks

8. Zac is still a liability on both ends of the floor. He is a one trick pony and that trick didn't work last year.

9. This team actually needs Nick Emery.

10. Nixon is Magnusson 2.0. Dave Rose has some Bronco in him, he loves those gritty guys. Reality is Dalton Nixon should be a 8-10th man on this team and he will start.

I'm not gonna disagree on a lot. Except part of point 10. Nixon is better than Magnusson, and I'd say significantly. But Rose loves those types, that's why Cusick, Zylstra etc. were featured so prominently. Also I think part of the reason he's so enamored with Worthington who should've been a career bench big guy.

[LiveCoug]

Baxter looks very smooth and athletic.

[BlueK]

Baxter looks very smooth and athletic.

Don't believe your eyes. He plays for us, so he can't be any good.

[smokymountainrain]

Don't believe your eyes. He plays for us, so he can't be any good.

to be clear, he didn't say baxter was good.