vs. Utah State
 

I don't like this team. Meaning I don't like this product. I don't particularly care for these players. I'm having a hard time getting behind them.

I can't put my finger on it exactly. Do they have a style? No. Do they play beautiful move-the-ball basketball? No. Are they disciplined? No. It feels like an advanced version of garbage ball. It works well against not very good teams, but it doesn't work well against better teams.

Last night was a very good example of how BYU can do well when its bigs have an advantage inside. We saw how the BYU bigs were completely dominated by Utah. And then we saw the opposite against Utah State.

Bottom line is that this team lacks talent. You have Collinsworth at the first tier. Kaufusi and Emery at the second tier. And then everyone else at 3rd tier or lower. This gets back to my problem of mediocre interchangeable parts. Sure you have a lot of depth, but it's all the same kind of depth. All third tier depth. Maybe Calvert is just as good as Toolson. But because they are the same, it doesn't really matter that you have Calvert.

This team lacks length and athleticism.

I believe this is going to be an NIT-bound team.

We beat USU and looked pretty good doing it, so it must be because USU is terrible. There is a little bit of truth in that, but not entirely. The team has been playing better. USU is a lot better than Mississippi Valley or a couple others we've played this year and didn't play as well against. USU is average. They aren't terrible. They're top half of the MWC. They're at least as good as anyone we'll play in the WCC this year except maybe a couple of teams.

It's not easy to change out nine new players. It's highly unusual for any team at any level to do that from one year to the next and it takes time for a team to come together. They aren't a great team, but in fairness, the fans predict NIT for BYU every year and are always wrong.

BYU ranks #327 in FT percentage. 98 of 161 (60.9%). KC is shooting 61% after 74% last year.

I think that tells you the skill level on this team. It's low.

They were 12/15 from the line last night, which is 80%. Nothing is set in stone in college basketball in early December.

And I'm being negative. I want a team that doesn't exist.

I want players that aren't on the team.

I can't blame these players for being who they are.

Even Collinsworth, overdribbling, getting lame to watch.

The only "5-tool" players on the team is Emery.

It is tiresome to watch BYU, year in and year out, to be teams low on athletic talent and sometimes average on basketball IQ. This team has a lot of average talent and no exceptional talent.

And dang it, they keep wining 25+ games and making the tournament every year while doing that, which means you can't fire the coach and start over. How sad.

That said, I would love to take the next step. But it just has never happened at BYU through many years and several coaches. You can argue it was once more like that 40+ years ago, but the game was totally different then. Numerically Rose is about as good as it's ever been at BYU. He's WAY better than Cleveland, Reid, Andersen, and overall even Arnold. Arnold struck gold on a few recruiting classes, but he couldn't sustain it. Hope for better and hope the new guys entering the program starting next year can reach a higher level. But thinking it would be easy is just not realistic, IMO.

it's just that this year definitely feels like a rebuilding year, or more aptly, a potential lost year. Meaning that many of the players who will contribute this year won't contribute in future years as their minutes are taken by incoming players who are better.

Mika will be a game changer.

The frontcourt next year could be really good. Mika, Dastrup, Kaufusi, Davis, Childs.

Maybe this will help cheer things up. Video on Gavin Baxter, one of BYU's 4* signees. It will be a couple of years. He has mission plans. He's 6-9 and very athletic. He's still growing and it is thought he could be like Kaufusi and grow a few more inches before coming home from his mission. 3 more inches and he's a 7-footer with that athleticism. That's exciting.

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