I am confused about this byu team....

[Mormon Red Death]

Since I don't have the mtn and I dont follow them to begin with I can only go off the one and only time I saw them play and that was with too blue at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

What happened to turn their season around? They lost by 20 to Michigan St. Did someone come on strong that I dont know about? Did losing Broadus actually make them better? What has been the story behind this team?

[MikeWaters]

I watched the UCLA game and thought that Ainge was much better than Broadus.

So yes, I think the turning point was losing Broadus, and Ainge stepping up the plate.

Also Keena Young really solidifying himself as the go-to guy. If you had told me that teams would be constantly double teaming us this year, I would have thought it would be Plaisted. I never would have thought that it would be Keena Young. But I haven't seen enough games to really know how Keena has evolved this season. Most games I have watched have been during conference.

Also don't forget about Tavernari. Huge contribution. Utes talk about their young guys as lacking poise. Tavernari has poise in spades. He's going to be a real star.

And also Mike Rose has stepped up with a positive contribution, whereas at the beginning of the season he was either doing nothing or riding the pine.

If Plaisted could have made the quantum leap that KY did, we would have really been a force this year. I don't think I've ever seen a player who suddenly goes from "decent/good" to "MVP" from the junior to senior season.

[cougjunkie]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

Since I don't have the mtn and I dont follow them to begin with I can only go off the one and only time I saw them play and that was with too blue at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

What happened to turn their season around? They lost by 20 to Michigan St. Did someone come on strong that I dont know about? Did losing Broadus actually make them better? What has been the story behind this team?

Since you havent seen them much let me explain it, they learned to play DEFENSE. This team played atrocious defense right up until MWC play, they were horrid on the defensive end. We knew they would be fine on offense, the first half of the first game of the year they shot 80% against what was at one time the #1 team in the country in UCLA. But defensively they were very bad. Now they play great team defense. Also another factor is Keena Young has stepped up and become that go to guy. Whenever BYU needs a bucket they kow that Keena will get it for them.

[jay santos]

Originally Posted by Mormon Red Death

Since I don't have the mtn and I dont follow them to begin with I can only go off the one and only time I saw them play and that was with too blue at the Palace of Auburn Hills.

What happened to turn their season around? They lost by 20 to Michigan St. Did someone come on strong that I dont know about? Did losing Broadus actually make them better? What has been the story behind this team?

This team really is night and day difference from the first 10 games of the season. A better comparison would be to how they played at the end of last year, which wasn't great but better than early this season. And their play now is indicative of natural progression a year later from how they played last year.

TP improved. Keena settled into his role as go-to guy. Ainge emerged as leader. JT provided production off the bench. Rose tightened his rotation down. Mike Rose and lately Burgess emerged with production off the bench, reducing Balderson's minutes. It's just major improvement all around. We lacked inside presence in the UCLA and Mich State game, and without looking up stats I think we got outrebounded badly as well as dominated in the paint. Keena and Plaisted have turned that around both on offense and defense and especially the boards.

[ute4ever]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

Also don't forget about Tavernari. Huge contribution. Utes talk about their young guys as lacking poise. Tavernari has poise in spades. He's going to be a real star.

Jeez in addition to watching Utah games you also read their interviews? I thought you didn't follow them.