Beat by the stormin' Mormons

Barf, I hate losing. BYU is a very good team. They should be an at large team for sure and they know how to run offense. They did a terrific job in execution and strategy and we were poor at adjusting. Despite what looked like hot shooting, they were not good from the outside. Why did they shoot over 50%? Because they repeatedly and routinely beat us off the dribble. It was painful to watch us make no adjustments whatsoever. Why on earth we dont at least spring a zone on someone for several minutes a game is beyond me. We didnt play bad defense for most the game, we just had lapses where they made adjustments and we didnt. BARF.

Offensively, we are inept. The JP offense was a lot better than this. You know why we were 4-21 on 3's? It is not just because we are a poor shooting team, it was because, no less than SEVEN of those shots were forced up at the shot clock buzzer because our offense just plain sucks. On about half our possessions, we have 3 guys standing, doing nothing for 15-20 seconds. WHAT THE HECK?!? Our screens are terrible and our motion is arbitrary. Turnovers are not this issue, it is a complete and utter lack of offensive philosophy, strategy and execution. I was with a friend from out of town and I was explaining how we had been oh so close on Randle and Clarke. His reply, "they probably came to some games and saw how crappy the offense was and decided to go somewhere that was going to be more fun to play." BARF.

All that said, we played a good team to within 6. It also appears that Illinois is FOR REAL. Geesh, what a great improvement in a years time. They just beat #11 Purdue on the road. That was the start of an 8 game stretch that will include 6 ranked teams. Texas A&M has still not lost since we beat them but I will be STUNNED if they start the Big 12 off better than 5-5. We'll see. Before we get too encouraged by close losses to good teams and one quality win, look no further than the first 9-20 JP team. They played EVERYONE close most the year and had a couple top 75 wins. That team started 7-11 but were within 6 points at the under 4 timeout in ALL 11 losses.

I cant believe there are those still talking about the NCAA. We have to win the CUSA tournament or go on a crazy run. I still think CUSA can get 2 teams in, but TU wont be one of them. We are headed for the NIT people... at best.