BYU vs St. Mary's

[YNot]

IMO, it was all about BYU's lack of offense. Defense was fine, except for the absolute zone meltdown in the second half. BYU did get back to 8 with about 4 minutes left in the first half but just couldn't score consistently.

BYU had 1 assist in the first half! We just don't know how to work the ball around or run an offense to create open shots. That spells disaster when our hero-ball shots aren't falling.

Then, in the second half, St. Mary's absolutely dismantled BYU's zone defense. I assume we switched to zone because BYU players were tired, but it was open shot after open shot. Credit the Gaels for a great scheme, fantastic passing and hitting the open shots.

[snoscythe]

IMO, it was all about BYU's lack of offense. Defense was fine, except for the absolute zone meltdown in the second half. BYU did get back to 8 with about 4 minutes left in the first half but just couldn't score consistently.

BYU had 1 assist in the first half! We just don't know how to work the ball around or run an offense to create open shots. That spells disaster when our hero-ball shots aren't falling.

A week or so ago I remember Steve Cleveland in a pre-game rundown saying that BYU's offense runs through Mika, but if he is struggling or off the court, the offense turns into passing the ball around the perimeter while the three guards try to decide who is going to take the three. That's what I saw last night.

[byufan4ever]

Dave Rose is not Dave Rose without Dave Rice.

Rose has struggled to find an adequate replacement down the bench since Rice left for UNLV.

I agree. That's what I keep coming back to as well.

[Fido]

This game showed exactly why I struggle to like this basketball team very much. Early in the game Haws brings the ball down the floor, dribbles around the right side, goes to the baseline, drives right past the basket, then seems to pick his head up and look for somewhere to send the ball to as he comes out on the left wing. I was thinking to myself, where is he going with that drive and what was his intent? It just looked like he was running around and had no plan--didn't look like he ever was going to go for a shot--nobody was on the wings ready for a 3, he didn't even look up to pass until he had taken about 10 dribbles.

Then the game goes on--and it doesn't feel like they are running much of an offense at all. Just pass to someone--they take 6-7 dribbles to try and get around their guy, then stop and look for someone to pass to--none of whom have been playing off the previous ball movement and aren't in a threatening position. Finally someone jacks up a 3 which for the most part was off badly.

If this team is to become anything other than a 10-12 loss team who has more bad losses than good wins, they really need to play team defense and run an offense that isn't the same thing they run in ward ball. It reminds me too much of a guy I played with in HS where his plan on offense was to give him the ball so he can jack up a 3--if he misses, just get the rebound.

[Jarhead]

I don't even get the good effort for a while quote. It started out like 9-2 with us scoring only 2 points in like the first five minutes. We sucked from the very get go. And how pathetic is it to say that our play was reflective,of not practicing on Sunday? A Sunday practice would not have saved that crapfest. Rose comes off as a whiner.

I'm with you on Rose sounding like a whiner (in full disclosure, I haven't heard the exact quote from Rose yet). Rose had a whole week to prepare for this tournament and they pretty much knew they would be facing St. Mary's in the second round. On top of that, they have played St. Mary's twice already this season. What a load of garbage blaming the lack of one day of practice for that pitiful performance the team put on last night.

I think I am with a lot of folks here. I'm okay with some blame going to inexperienced young players, but at the end of the day, what bothers me is that I have not seen any progression over the course of 32 games this year. Why should I believe that this team is magically going to perform better next year just because everyone has aged a bit more?

This team has talent. If they had discipline and coaching like St. Mary's has, they would be playing again tonight and ranked.

[SenorCougar]

We sucked from the very get go.

But we won the opening tip, didn't we? We were tied 0-0 and in possession for a few seconds...

Then we sucked.

[Jarhead]

When we do pass on offense, we get too "cute" with our ideas; and force a lot of low percentage passes that don't end well. It would be nice to see some simple disciplined ball movement (and not just from the other team).

[Gunk]

Rose has never really been one to run set plays or a half court offense.

Rose likes an up-tempo style. The style works but the play starts on defense not when passing the ball in. Up-tempo, in transition hoops starts with defense and rebounding. Get a stop or get a board and move the ball up the court as fast as possible before the other team sets up on defense. Minimal effort goes into the offense. Maximum effort goes into defense.

This is why past Rose teams with lesser talent put up better numbers. We didn't need world-beaters on offense because the goal was to get a stop and get down the court before the D got there. The system made Trent Plaisted, Lee Cummard, etc. look like all-stars.

Rose & company need to get back to defense. Or, become a well disciplined, half court team like SMC.

[McY]

Abysmal showing last night. Painful to watch. I had to avert the eyes at some point in the 2nd half.

In addition to the coaching complaints being tossed around, I am going to toss out an additional theory that I believe has plagued this team this year -- and this is not based on much more than my lay observations this year. This team lacks mental confidence and toughness. Maybe I'm totally wrong. But, how can a mentally tough, confident, and positive thinking team, with this level of physical talent, explain the losses to UVU or SD? Sure, there is the occasional glimpse of great play and we pull off solid wins, e.g., beating #1 Gonzaga. In many other instances, we pull off egregious losses to teams that do not have better talent. I also see too much complaining to the refs, although in last night's game I didn't see as much of that going on as earlier in the season. So, in addition to potential coaching questions, when I see losses like last night, plus distracting complaints to the refs, and lack of cohesive play, I think the team is not mentally in a good place.

Last night's game was so frustrating to watch. I hope that the version of the team that beat Gonzaga reappears for the NIT and that we do not see players complaining to refs so often and that we see a team that appears to be mentally focused and confident.

This is the end of this rant, for now.

[byufan4ever]

Rose has never really been one to run set plays or a half court offense.

Rose likes an up-tempo style. The style works but the play starts on defense not when passing the ball in. Up-tempo, in transition hoops starts with defense and rebounding. Get a stop or get a board and move the ball up the court as fast as possible before the other team sets up on defense. Minimal effort goes into the offense. Maximum effort goes into defense.

This is why past Rose teams with lesser talent put up better numbers. We didn't need world-beaters on offense because the goal was to get a stop and get down the court before the D got there. The system made Trent Plaisted, Lee Cummard, etc. look like all-stars.

Rose & company need to get back to defense. Or, become a well disciplined, half court team like SMC.

I agree about the up-tempo offense. We've kinda slowed it down this season with Mika and because we have more "quality" bigs. However, Mika is athletic. Couldn't we go up-tempo with this team? That's what I'd like to see. I think Mika can still score lots of points in an up-tempo offense. And we can still throw the ball to him in the paint when not on a fast break, but he needs to either make a quick move or pass it back out. I want to see more passing and less dribbling. We need more assists!