Comments about ‘Dick Harmon: Frustrated Tyler Haws is tip of iceberg for BYU, coach Dave Rose’

It is way clear that the BYU team is very talented, but they lack the warrior spirit! They need to man up and get mean, as in down right nasty! Intimidation is they key ingredient in sports. All the great coaches teach it. Coach Sloan taught it, coach K teaches it, ALL of the great Coaches teach it; and Coach Rose needs to teach it. In a word, they are "wimps."

at Thomas Jefferson, I am NOT a BYU fan, but coach Rose has always been tough and taught the same. This team has weaknesses and is not as talented as you say.

One of the reasons I don't watch the NBA, is that I hate the physical play. I know I am old school, but I don't think the tactics used against Haws, or anyone else, should be tolerated by referees. A foul should still be a foul. It takes away from the beauty of the game, in my opinion, to allow such rough play. I would be frustrated too. I think the loss of Collinsworth and Rodgers plays a big role in the struggles the Cougars have experienced this year.

The WCC referees have been awful, even as bad as PAC-12 refs. Haws can overcome much of his struggles if Dave Rose tweaks the system so as to give Haws a better chance to develop as a more all around player and passer. Haws can also learn to be better at driving the basket and dishing to the open man. The system needs to create far more screens to create opportunity for Haws to lose the dog on his tail. Teach them to make better picks. This system of coming down the floor and firing up the shot without a play is not working.

Since hockey is the only real sport it's only natural for basketball to want to emulate hockey without skates and sticks. However, even in hockey clutching and grabbing and interference is not tolerated and penalties are automatic. If i were coach Rose i'd send in Kaufusi a lot more and send the opposing players a message. Test out the refs as harmon indicates.

@atl coug.
Couldn't agree with you more. A foul is a foul and it should be called! This is on the referees. Its really sad that people are getting heralded as "defensive stoppers" when a player, not just Haws, any player, on any team can't even move becuase he is being grabbed, pushed, and even some cases wrestled to the floor. I have watched enough of WCC and PAC games and the refs are a joke! When you see the refs walk in and recognize certain ones, you know exactly what kind of night its going to be and that is horribly unfortunate, that you know that before the game even starts!

It boils down to the wrong decision of joining the WCC. BYU was a much better team in the MWC and should rejoin.WCC is a terrible fit. Yes they don't have to play on Sundays and ESPN broadcasts more games but its unnatural. The MWC is far stronger than the WCC and the teams are more natural opponents.Basketball was more enjoyablein the MWC. It is difficult to watch and enjoy BYU playing in the WCC.

Whining about physical play and reffing is worse than pointless. That attitude is exactly what opponents are hoping for when they decide to bang on a particular player. I don't think moaning about it makes anyone "old school," it means you don't understand basketball. I don't know what hoops was like 50 years ago, but if you think pro basketball is more physical now than it was in the early 80's, you need to watch more ESPN Classic. That's an absolute fallacy.

Maybe I'm sympathetic because of my personal experience. I played HS ball from '88-'90, and we were a very physical team. I remember after one game a coach was quoted in the local paper as saying we "have a pretty good football team." I couldn't have been more delighted. Once the other side started focusing on the refs, they were toast. We ended up 5th in state my junior year and 2nd my senior year, before winning state the next two.

If you're not playing physical against top scorers, you're not playing smart. Do you want to look pretty, or do you want to win?

RE: New to Utah

"The MWC is far stronger than the WCC and the teams are more natural opponents."

We just lost to San Fransisco and San Diego and have not yet beet St. Marys and only have one win against Gonzaga. Being in the WCC is not the problem... winning is. We're in a down year but Rose is an excellent recruiter and we should continue to be competitive for the foreseeable future. Bummer there will be ONE year not going tot he tournament but the Cougars should bounce right back.

Haws needs to toughen up, and I'm sure he will. Loads of talent.

But what is it with this team? They just haven't been able to pull it together. I'm convinced it is a mental thing. Too many who haven't transitioned from their missions?

In the game of basketball, if you can't shoot, you don't win many games. For all the shooters who are supposed to be on this team--they are awful. If not for Haws, this team would have a losing record. Davies is a huge disappointment...and it isn't his ankle. Zylstra is terrible, Carlino is Mr. inconsistency. Teams don't win with starters like that.

Cinci Man

"The WCC referees have been awful, even as bad as PAC-12 refs."

True, but there's little BYU can do to change that, so the Cougars are simply going to have to adjust each game according to how the refs are calling it. BYU may have to put in some pick and rolls, and screens to free up Haws for shots. If the defense is going to play aggressively, the offense can be adjusted to take advantage of that over aggression.

New to Utah

"It boils down to the wrong decision of joining the WCC. BYU was a much better team in the MWC and should rejoin.WCC is a terrible fit."

The MWC is a much better league and was a much better fit, but the WCC is a decent league, and until BYU starts dominating the conference, it's silly to suggest that BYU is too good for the WCC. There's no reason BYU can't be very successful in the WCC. Just as Gonzaga has done, BYU will have to beef up its non-conference schedule to compensate for the weakness of the lower half of the WCC.

"It boils down to the wrong decision of joining the WCC. BYU was a much better team in the MWC and should rejoin.WCC is a terrible fit. Yes they don't have to play on Sundays and ESPN broadcasts more games but its unnatural. The MWC is far stronger than the WCC and the teams are more natural opponents.Basketball was more enjoyablein the MWC. It is difficult to watch and enjoy BYU playing in the WCC."

BYU has no attractive options when it comes to conference affiliation or joining a conference with schools of their size. This will not change as long as they're affiliated with the LDS church and abide by LDS church rules.

The MWC might be performing at a high level in basketball but, the revenue is peanuts and certainly wouldn't warrant moving football back (the MWC isn't going to allow the non-revenue sports to come back).

New to Utah

Gonzaga is looking like a potential #1 seed and Final Four team. BYU's biggest obstacle to success isn't the conference, it's themselves. This BYU team simply isn't very good. When Haws, Davies, and Carlino are all having good games, and Zilstra, Sharp and Winder are contributing, this team can be very good. But, they haven't done it consistently, even against mediocre teams, and they haven't shown that ability at all against very good teams.

Not to worry. Help is on the way. ESPN ranks BYU 2013 recruiting class #15 in the country.

Yes, officiating has been horrible. HS refs in Utah are superior to these jokers. Seriously. They are jokes. None of them know the difference between a block and a charge and call which ever one gives them the most opportunity to dance around the flow taking attention away from the players and the game. But...

BYU has failed to adapt to the poor officiating. The other WCC teams know what they have and have adapted. BYU needs to punch the other teams in the mouth on 3/4/5 consecutive possessions until the defense knows how the game is going to be called and then adjust accordingly.

Tyler needs to finish his shots and stop doing the Jimmer falltothegroundaftereveryshot move and finish strong, upright and get the call or get the shot to go thru. He's not. Brandon needs to stop fouling after he has a turnover and stop the stupid shots. This team is 11-1 in conference with only those two changes.

The Key? Dave Rice. Yup. He is gone. I love Rose, but the coaches are not doing their job. No adjustments of merit. Right players always seemingly in wrong places. Season is done.

New to Utah

Gonzaga is looking like a potential #1 seed and Final Four team. BYU's biggest obstacle to success isn't the conference, it's themselves. This BYU team simply isn't very good. When Haws, Davies, and Carlino are all having good games, and Zilstra, Sharp and Winder are contributing, this team can be very good. But, they haven't done it consistently, even against mediocre teams, and they haven't shown that ability at all against very good teams.

Not to worry. Help is on the way. ESPN ranks BYU's 2013 recruiting class #15 in the country. Not all recruits will be playing for BYU next season, but with the ones who will, plus some returning missionaries, BYU should have a much better team next season.

I've been one of Harmon’s strongest critics with his cupcake, low lying fruit, feel-good articles. However, I actually like his analysis of the team in this particular article. I guess the only question I have is: "Recruited quick help hasn’t made up for losing Chris Collinsworth and Steve Rogers with their career-ending injuries." Collinsworth and Rogers were that big of a loss? When did Collinsworth actually play last and how much did he contribute when he did? He made 2 games last season and 9 games 2 seasons ago. No big miss there because he never did anything, other than look "big" on paper. Also, at 6'8" & 195, was Rogers that big of a help inside to where his absence is a lost? What I'm getting as is that our Cougs have historically been soft inside. Look at the size of our 3, 4's & 5's? We rarely have much meat at those positions.

Tyler is fouled about 3 times more than the fouls that are called. Don't know why this always happens to BYU since it was the same for Jimmer.

For Skywalker and ATLCoug:

Can't agree more; Except.

I think you both don't see the whole picture. Right now the odds of Kyle coming back to play ball is Provo is about 10%. No one wants to talk about it. No one wants to think about it. But the reality is this: When was the last time anyone saw any Collinsworth's in the Marriott Center??

Yep. That's right folks. You haven't.

Until the coaches figure out how to handle the loss of Rice, and get their Coaching up to par, our recruiting class of both recruits and returning missionaries is going to look a whole lot different than what we think.

I'm generally not a naysayer, but the cloud over BYU Basketball right now is dark and ominous. Unless Rose makes some changes with plays, players, staff and strategies; Our program will be flounder in mediocrity. I for one won't pay the extortion for tickets that I did this year. Too frustrating.

The way to combat physical play from your opponents is to set hard picks. Knock them down. When you foul, foul hard. Dribble through them and knock them down. Set a pick and put an elbow in their mouth. Physical play should result in kind. If you are going to get called for a charge, make them pay for being in the way. Haws needs to get loose? Set a very hard pick on his man. Knock them down. Rebounding? Get a rebound, put an elbow in the face if you are closely guarded. The bottom line? Play intelligently dirty.