BYU-USF Game Thread

Few thoughts on yesterday's game:



1) Carlino once again came off the bench and salvaged the team. He seems to be doing better coming off the bench, but prior to him entering the game BYU's offense was stagnant. USF was locking Haws down. Mika was on and off the court. KC looked lethargic and Halford was pretty much just running around.



2) We clamped down on defense in the 2nd half and got points in transition.



3) KC came alive in the 2nd half.



4) We won that game at the stripe. What a change of wind. Two weeks ago we would have lost that game due to poor free throw shooting. Yesterday, we won it.



5) Up half a dozen with a few minutes play and we started to burn the clock! Few weeks ago we would have tried to force shots and kept playing at a maddening pace. Instead, we clamped down and worked the shot clock.



6) We got sloppy against USF's press. Nearly handed the game to them.



7) Haws' dunk was sick.

I think Carlino has been fairly consistent his entire career. He has a bad game here and there (and numerous bad parts of games) but on the whole will be vital to this team even getting into the Tourny. I go back to what I have said before. He is usually on in the first 5 min of a game, especially from deep. My thought is that he needs to come out for a while after the first 10 min of the game for a big breather. He seems to me to get sloppy as he gets tired. He also seems to do well shooting right after the half but then begins to make mistakes as he tries to duplicate his first half. To me he is the scorer running the first leg of the race and Haws is the guy running the last leg of the race. They both seem to excel at those points of the game.



The thing about last nights game was at the end when the ball kept ending up in KC's hands passed to him by Haws. My only thought could be that Haws just felt wrong and had decided he wasn't going to be "the guy" last night (the guy that carries the team down the stretch nor the guy that loses the game for us).



One other thing that was completely messed up throughout the game was the half court O. They kept getting the dribble penetration and then the kickout but it was either Nate or Sharp getting the kickout. WHA??? Who drew that up? I have to give kudos to Sharp though, a few times he tried to make something of the kickout since nobody was coming out to guard him. IIRC he drew a couple of fouls, scored a prayer of a shot, and missed badly on some "shots" that were more like throws at the hoop.



All in all a decent game. I will say this however, I was concerned that we could lose the game and reflected that this year is the first time in the Rose era that I am actually concerned about losing to teams in the WCC not named St Mary's or Gonzaga. I wouldn't have even imagined losing to any of the other teams. I hope that changes starting next year although I am still concerned about next years team. Not sure if it will be better or worse than this year.

To be fair to the WCC, teams are getting stronger. USF isn't the complete doormat of yester years. And lets also not forget when USF took a Rafa led BYU team to the wood shed - no reason we should have lost that one.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

I think the Carlino coming off the bench experiment has been a rousing success. It puts a leash on our player most likely to get out of control, and brings him out with a passion to prove he deserves to be out there. You certainly can't argue with the results either.

Gunk wrote:
To be fair to the WCC, teams are getting stronger. USF isn't the complete doormat of yester years. And lets also not forget when USF took a Rafa led BYU team to the wood shed - no reason we should have lost that one.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

The bottom of the WCC is way better this year. It is tough to find a gimme in the league this season. Fans really seem to forget SOS in BB and FB. That and home field or court advantage are huge. LV odds were showing a 15 point swing in home vs away on one service I looked at.



Zags and Mary are slightly down. Everyone else is up. There will be much more of a middle this season. In the past it was 2 or 3 at the top, 1 or 2 in the middle and a cluster at the bottom.



When I projected 25 wins after the Stanford win, I did not look at the schedule. OOC was tougher and WCC was surprisingly stronger. BYU will need to fight for every road win.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

I agree that the league is up this year. But is this an anomaly and has BYU helped elivate the other teams?



I will admit I am sick of the HS gyms we play in and hope the other schools start financing real BB arenas or we get a B12 invite (we are allowed to dream aren't we?).



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

imuakahuku wrote:
I agree that the league is up this year. But is this an anomaly and has BYU helped elivate the other teams?



I will admit I am sick of the HS gyms we play in and hope the other schools start financing real BB arenas or we get a B12 invite (we are allowed to dream aren't we?).



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Nothing wrong with dreaming, but something tells me until USF and the like start making some runs they won't be investing in bigger gyms anytime soon.



USF can't even sell out the gym with BYU in town. Going to be a while till we see expansions.



I think BYU joining helps the league. I get the sense there is renewed energy in building the league up. With just a 1 or 2 horse race every year between Gonzaga and St. Mary's there wasn't much incentive to grow the league. A school like BYU adds exposure, legitimizes the league a bit and in turn provides extra motivation or incentive for a school to improve it's program. Also adds cash, and with that cash schools can invest more in coaching, etc.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Gunk wrote:

I agree that the league is up this year. But is this an anomaly and has BYU helped elivate the other teams?



I will admit I am sick of the HS gyms we play in and hope the other schools start financing real BB arenas or we get a B12 invite (we are allowed to dream aren't we?).



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Nothing wrong with dreaming, but something tells me until USF and the like start making some runs they won't be investing in bigger gyms anytime soon.



USF can't even sell out the gym with BYU in town. Going to be a while till we see expansions.



I think BYU joining helps the league. I get the sense there is renewed energy in building the league up. With just a 1 or 2 horse race every year between Gonzaga and St. Mary's there wasn't much incentive to grow the league. A school like BYU adds exposure, legitimizes the league a bit and in turn provides extra motivation or incentive for a school to improve it's program. Also adds cash, and with that cash schools can invest more in coaching, etc.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Yeah I think attendance didn't even top 3k. That is not good. Anyone know if they are in a not so good location for attending? I would think BYU could get more than 3k at SF.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

imuakahuku wrote:

imuakahuku wrote:
I agree that the league is up this year. But is this an anomaly and has BYU helped elivate the other teams?



I will admit I am sick of the HS gyms we play in and hope the other schools start financing real BB arenas or we get a B12 invite (we are allowed to dream aren't we?).



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Nothing wrong with dreaming, but something tells me until USF and the like start making some runs they won't be investing in bigger gyms anytime soon.



USF can't even sell out the gym with BYU in town. Going to be a while till we see expansions.



I think BYU joining helps the league. I get the sense there is renewed energy in building the league up. With just a 1 or 2 horse race every year between Gonzaga and St. Mary's there wasn't much incentive to grow the league. A school like BYU adds exposure, legitimizes the league a bit and in turn provides extra motivation or incentive for a school to improve it's program. Also adds cash, and with that cash schools can invest more in coaching, etc.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Yeah I think attendance didn't even top 3k. That is not good. Anyone know if they are in a not so good location for attending? I would think BYU could get more than 3k at SF.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Smaller than past two years BYU crowd. maybe it was tough to get into SF on a weekday for a 6 pm start (with rush hour, city traffic, etc?). USF is not easy to get to.



But why couldn't the Dons fill some of their seats? I seriously question how they only manage a handful of students to a game like this. Maybe 50 students there by my estimation.

USF isn't a big school to start with. Throw in the fact much of it's student body are local kids that live at home and I am not surprised by the low student turnout. Not a sports centric school either. People go there to go to school and go home.



I am sure marketing has something to do with it, but also USF basketball hasn't done anything of note in 20 years.



Middle of the week game at 6pm is hard for folks, especially those with kids. I had tickets but ended up not going. No place to park, bit of a pain to get to SF, etc.



Ought to be a good BYU turnout at the Santa Clara game today.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Texas takes out Iowa st and utes beat ucla both help us out....still wish utah would have lost

[album][/album]

ChiTownCOUG wrote:
Texas takes out Iowa st and utes beat ucla both help us out....still wish utah would have lost

My guess is that BYU is beyond the "needing help" stage. I believe it will be up to them to help themselves at this point. Teams in the P5 conferences can afford to beat themselves up without damaging their at large hopes too much. Teams in the WCC can't. WCC more than likely a 1 bid league and 2 at most. BYU has to keep winning.

Wolverine wrote:
[album][/album]

Texas takes out Iowa st and utes beat ucla both help us out....still wish utah would have lost

My guess is that BYU is beyond the "needing help" stage. I believe it will be up to them to help themselves at this point. Teams in the P5 conferences can afford to beat themselves up without damaging their at large hopes too much. Teams in the WCC can't. WCC more than likely a 1 bid league and 2 at most. BYU has to keep winning.

This year 2 bids. I believe 3 could be possible a lot of years.

Wolverine wrote:
[album][/album]

Texas takes out Iowa st and utes beat ucla both help us out....still wish utah would have lost

My guess is that BYU is beyond the "needing help" stage. I believe it will be up to them to help themselves at this point. Teams in the P5 conferences can afford to beat themselves up without damaging their at large hopes too much. Teams in the WCC can't. WCC more than likely a 1 bid league and 2 at most. BYU has to keep winning.

It's not about needing help, it's just makes that Texas win that much better...You always need the better teams you beat to keep on winning..Yes if BYU keeps racking up W's that all that matters...

Cougarbib wrote:

Cougarbib wrote:
KC is in the game because he is our most consistent player.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

Unfortunately, when it comes to FTs, you are correct, he is very consistent at missing them. although, I believe he did hit higher than his season average tonight. When the game is on the line and you know USF is going to start fouling, get him out of there. Carlino, Haws and halford should be the only people touching the ball when BYU is trying to eat up clock.

Maybe we should just put 3 men on the court? After those 3, Collinsworth, who has improved the last three or 4 games, is probably the next best bet. BTW, when the game was still tight with time left, Carlino missed both shots when he got fouled. Carlino, lately has been a little off his normal mediocre percentage for a point guard. Collinsworth has been improving slightly from his normally poor percentage. Who did you want on the floor in the other two spots?



We agree on the first 3. Collinsworth is one of the top 5. He might even grab a rebound or a steal when the others miss one.



[ Post made via Mobile Device ] http://cougarcorner.com/images/mobile.png" alt="" loading="lazy" style="max-width:100%">

At that point in that game, BYU did not need rebounds, they didn't need steals. They weren't playing from behind. They had the lead and it should have been a comfortable "make your free throws and get the W". I love the way KC has been playing, but in that situation, you put Carlino, Haws, Halford, Winder and Austin or Mika or Sharp, doesn't really matter for the 5 position. I like that lineup for a few reasons.

1. They can guard the perimeter, giving up quick threes and missing FTs is the only way you get back into a game like that, and this lineup reduces the risk of both of these variables.

2. In the case that Austin/Mika/Sharp is to get the rebound they can immediately throw the ball to ANYONE that is open, that will ensure that someone with a relatively high FT% will be shooting FTs.

3. 80% of the players on the court can handle the ball and makes a press much more difficult.