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BYU Basketball opened its season in Reno Tuesday night against the no. 7-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack. It ended up being an 86-70 loss for the BYU Cougars, but we have rarely ever felt so hopeful after a loss.
It was definitely not a perfect night for the Cougars, but they managed to be tied at 34 at halftime, and were in the game until very late against a very long, athletic, deep, and experienced Nevada team. BYU made a solid effort defensively, and bounced back after being down 9-0 to start the game. All of BYU’s freshmen made contributions to the game, Yoeli Childs looked great (EXCEPT FOR THAT DANG FOUL TROUBLE WHICH WE CERTAINLY WILL PARTIALLY BLAME THE REFS FOR), Jahshire straight up put the team on his back a few times, and scored 17 points... Seriously, you guys, lots of good stuff.
This week for Couch Coaching, we are switching it up a little and crowdsourcing. We asked y’all on Twitter one thing that went wrong, and one that went right, and you came through. Here are those tweets. Keep @’ing us! We will add more to the article throughout the day. Or leave your input in the comments.
All in all, we were very encouraged by what we saw. The Cougs are back in action Friday night at 8 p.m. against our foes from down the street, Utah Valley. Check that game out at the Marriott Center or on BYUtv.
We’ll start with a tweet from our very own Jess... She stayed up to watch from the east coast! Can you say dedication? We are trying not to make ourselves go crazy wondering what might have happened if Yoeli would have been allowed more minutes in the second half (DANG REFS).
Never a doubt that Nevada is legit. Would've helped to have Yoeli on the floor more. Few of those threes to drop. Not rush a shot on some of those possessions.
— Jess (@everydayjess) November 7, 2018
Overall I'm feeling great! Lots to like about the defense. Big plays by old and new guys. It's gonna be fun! #byuhoops
We will remain objective on this one, but here it is:
Right - Baxter
— Nate Dubs (@natedub9) November 7, 2018
Wrong - TJ
Three point shooting certainly left a lot to be desired. The Cougars were 6-31. That’s 19 percent. Ew.
Wrong?: Officiating, 3-point shooting
— The IT guy ✈️ (@COL_James83) November 7, 2018
Right?: Hardnett, potential of bench
Them’s my two cents...
WE DO NOT HAVE FOND FEELINGS FOR THE REFS, IN CASE THAT WAS UNCLEAR:
Wrong? Too many fouls for key players when the game was close & winnable
— Kelli (@kelli_BYUFan) November 7, 2018
Right? Yoeli...enough said!
Pat Haws, the basketball authority, has spoken. Let it be written. Gavin Baxter DID look great, if we do say so ourselves.
Wrong: bigs defense, open 3s, L
— HawsP (@HawsP) November 7, 2018
Right: Baxter can contribute, TJ & Zac are finding their swing again.
From Jay Yeomans over on our Facebook post:
It was a promising effort with plenty of good things, but what stood out negatively was the shot selection and the foul issues. Obviously the refs had something to do with the foul issues, but players still have to adjust to how the game is being called, and I feel like they didn’t do that. As for shot selection, on a night where the outside shot isn’t falling you really have to make more of an effort to get to the rim.