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Post by ALioninWinter on Jan 18, 2016 18:50:06 GMT -5
BYU has a lot of talent, but they are even more dysfunctional this year than Gonzaga. If they come out clicking, it could turn into a rout. But if the Lions can disrupt the Cougars' game, there is a chance of pulling an upset because the Cougars can collapse if certain elements don't fall into place for them.
As good as Collinsworth is, his point guard play has really hurt BYU at times this year. He can score in heaps and bunches and he can pile up assists when the Cougars get into their running game. But there are times when BYU has desperately needed a quality PG who can control the game. Collinsworth doesn't provide that quality and things have spun quickly out of control for them.
Their guard defense is also soft and their interior play, while better than ours, is nothing to get overly worried about. Kaufusi is big, strong and their best inside guy. Austin is tall and gets some rebounds but isn't a big scoring threat. Aytles has been disappointing so far. Kyle Davis is going to cause us some problems with his size, rebounding and scoring.
I get the 70 point threshold. It makes sense that when our guys score, we win. When they don't we lose. We need to score points on Thursday but we can't get into an uptempo running game with the Cougars. Their scorers are a lot more used to scoring than ours are. We will get crushed if we let the Cougars run.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Jan 18, 2016 20:58:34 GMT -5
lmu2015 - makes you wonder how the Lions would have fared in our first trip up north vs Portland and the Zags if Humphries had not gotten into Dunlap's dog house and stayed home. That issue might have had a psychological impact on the others on the team also, which didn't help. All this is speculative, I know.
Winter you have a nice analysis as usual. Thanks for your thoughts. And Pumpfake - I'm hoping you are correct in the long run - Haney showed what he can really do in the second Fullerton game.
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WCC Watch
Jan 22, 2016 1:03:38 GMT -5
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Post by slblions08 on Jan 22, 2016 1:03:38 GMT -5
Gonzaga was up by 15 50-35 in the second half. They lost again.
St Marys in first where I thought they'd be.
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Post by lmu2015 on Jan 22, 2016 10:08:12 GMT -5
I don't know why St. Mary's isn't top 25 yet, what is also a little scary is that not one Senior played last night for St. Marys. They could be a legit top 10 team in the country next year.
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Jan 22, 2016 11:04:51 GMT -5
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Post by ALioninWinter on Jan 22, 2016 11:04:51 GMT -5
Yep, RB has done it again. The Gaels are getting better and better. They play so well together. They aren't flashy. They don't have a single, lights out "go to" player. But RB has them so well prepared that other teams are always responding to what the Gaels are doing. It's seldom the other way around.
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Post by LIONS90045 on Jan 22, 2016 17:35:02 GMT -5
Portland beats BYU then loses to Pacific - Portland is a real enigma this season.
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Jan 22, 2016 18:34:54 GMT -5
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Post by slblions08 on Jan 22, 2016 18:34:54 GMT -5
And consider Pacific has an interim coach and missing a couple players and sits at .500. Hell of a coaching job this far in league by whoever he is.
Hopefully Dunlap can adjust his coaching to the competition of the WCC.
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WCC Watch
Jan 22, 2016 23:32:02 GMT -5
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Post by thx4leavinjimlynam on Jan 22, 2016 23:32:02 GMT -5
The WCC revised the tournament, since Pacific is ineligible. The eight and nine seeds will play on Friday.
On Saturday the winner of the 8/9 seed will play the one seed, two will play seven, three will play six, and four will play five.
Sunday will be an off day, the semifinals will be Monday and the championship game on Tuesday, March 8.
So, taking Pacific out of the mix, we definitely want to finish ahead of two teams. That way we are only playing three games instead of four.
It is all about being hot in March! Go Lions!
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WCC Watch
Jan 25, 2016 17:39:27 GMT -5
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Post by slblions08 on Jan 25, 2016 17:39:27 GMT -5
No teams in the top 25. Gonzaga has I think one last shot at an at large if they beat SMU. However BYU might have lost their chance. Pepperdine reminds me of our 2011 team that finished 4th after splitting with BYU and St Mary's.
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Post by lmu2015 on Jan 25, 2016 18:18:31 GMT -5
Jacko named WCC player of the week, good to see he is getting some recognition for his play and not just his dunks. And Saint Mary's deserves to be in the top 25, I assume if they don't lose this week they will crack the top 25.
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Post by ALioninWinter on Jan 25, 2016 18:48:37 GMT -5
Yes, it's great to see Jacko get the recognition. As he learns to control his fouling, he can become a more and more dominant player. As he gains recognition, it helps CMD on the recruiting trail.
I've watched BYU and Gonzaga enough this year to be as frustrated as their fans. Both teams have a lot of talent, more than enough to be tournament teams. However, both are really struggling with putting that talent together in the right ways. They are both so dysfunctional and they have deserved the losses they've gotten. They don't deserve Top 25 rankings, probably won't make the tournament as at-large teams unless they do some noteworthy things during the rest of the season, and I think their fans would agree.
St Mary's does deserve some recognition. Maybe not quite Top 25 yet, but I suspect it's coming. RB has a young team that is improving. They lack a go-to leader and they aren't real strong inside. They rely on heady (but not spectacular) guard play and their 3-pointers. When they can't hit those long shots, they struggle because they don't have the other attributes needed to win (ie., a strong inside game with guys like Waldo or Samhan, quick players like Mills and Simpson, or the special "guttiness" of Delly.
While the WCC doesn't seem to have much in the way of Top 25 teams this year, the top four teams are showing that they're each capable of coming out on top. There's some nice competition in the upper division. I'm hoping our Lions can play strong enough in the second half of the league season to prove that they belong in the next echelon down. That they can separate themselves a bit from the bottom of the league. As I mentioned in a prior post, I see some glimmers of hope. But I also see evidence that he might not make that "leap."
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Post by lmu2015 on Feb 6, 2016 18:53:02 GMT -5
With BYUs loss to UOP it is safe to say we are at best going to get 2 teams in this year.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 9, 2016 15:25:08 GMT -5
Looking at the over all records- this is a very down year for the WCC- and LMU is currently sitting at the very bottom.
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Feb 9, 2016 15:37:35 GMT -5
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Post by ALioninWinter on Feb 9, 2016 15:37:35 GMT -5
... and that's what we call "improvement."
I have it on good authority.
Welcome to the board Ronin.
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WCC Watch
Feb 10, 2016 14:22:19 GMT -5
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Post by slblions08 on Feb 10, 2016 14:22:19 GMT -5
I'm not sure it's a down year. I just think that the very top is down and the middle is better. I happen to be a fan of UNC, but even though they were ranked 2 they are highly beatable . So is Duke and the whole ACC. So is Oklahoma and Kansas. Point is, parody is high because there is less top tier individual talent.
That is happening in the WCC. Gonzaga lost Pangos and Bell and Karnowski. BYU lost Hawes. But teams like St Marys and Pepperdine have improved since last year.
Because of this it's the perfect storm of events to make it even.
What kills me is that even though the rest of the league is catching up, we are still last and getting blown out.
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