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Welcome in jaj Ruve the desert Red News.
Speaker 1: Jay, how you living doing fantastic? Thanks for having me
on today.
Speaker 2: Always a pleasure, always a blessing. Talking ball with you here, Jay,
Let's talk basketball to start us off. I always say
this like whenever there's a problem right with a team,
I say, I revert back to my movie by my
movie Favorites, and I asked the question, what is it
that the people have sent the folk go really does well?
What is it that this BYU basketball team really does well?
And what do they need to do better in the
first half?
Speaker 1: Yeah, what do they do well in the first taf
or what do they do well overall?
Speaker 2: What do they do well overall, right, which is all
second half, and then what is it that they need
to do in the second, in the in the in
the first half to change their ways?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think I think what they do overall for
the most part, they're unselfish. And we can get to
that in a minute about maybe AJ needs to be
more selfish, but they're they're really unselfish. They've the big
three have really melded well together, a lot better than
I think people thought. I think they rebound fairly well.
That's been a consistent throughout the year. I think they
have some really good rim protectors. Uh, their perimeter defense
isn't great, but we're talking positives right now, so I
would say they're rim protectors with with Kiavaketa and then
obviously when when Beatle comes in, they don't lose much
in that regard a little bit but not much. So
I would say those are the the strong point. I
think their shot selection for the most part is pretty good.
So to stay kind of on that positive note that
those are the things that have got them, you know,
seventeen wins and the top whatever they are now sixteen
national ranking, they were not nine. I think that was
the best they got. So, yeah, there are plenty of
positive They do a lot of things well, but those
are some of the month that come to mind.
Speaker 2: Are you optimistic that? Look, let me take a step back.
Last year around this time, we were concerned. We were
concerned about yegor, we were concerned about bench scoring, We
were concerned about three point shooting. They found it, they
found a way. Their defense was a bit poorous at times.
Are we going to see something similar to that in
the lead up to March Madness like we did last year?
Speaker 3: Or is this team.
Speaker 2: Maybe a little bit short due to injuries, due to
like specialties, We don't really have anyone coming off the
bench that can be a three in the guy like, well,
what mag You don't have a Dawson Baker, You don't
have a Trevin nell There maybe some missing pieces here.
Speaker 3: Where do you stand?
Speaker 1: Yeah? I agree with you.
Speaker 3: You don't have a Trey uh Tray Stewart, Yeah.
Speaker 1: Trey Stewart. Yeah, you don't have him, you know, Trevin
Nellen walking through that door as a shooter. Yeah. I
want to tell people that I think I think this
team can get better. That hasn't hit its ceiling yet,
But I'm just not confident. I just don't see it.
I don't just Mihailo Boskovich and lets say, uh caustic.
They just haven't shown that ability to beat those guys
off the bench that the by you really relied on
last year. They missed Dallan Hall too, they missed boost
that they don't really have a great low post scorer
that can kind of change things up. Keba Cada is
a phenomenal defensive player, you just lack some offensive skills
that you maybe need out of your big guy, and
so far, Abdullah mad Beato has not shown a lot
of that as well. So I wish I could be
optimistic and say, yeah, I think there's hope right around
the corner, But man, I just don't see it right now.
I just don't see that any of these bench guys can.
You know, they've literally forgotten about Tyler Morass, who was
supposed to be a guy that could come in and
do a lot. And then obviously, as you mentioned, they
missed Dawson Baker a lot. I don't when Dawson went down,
I don't think we really realized how much they might
need him moving forward. So as of right now, I
can't really say this team is better than last year's team,
even with AJ and Rob Wright, who are two phenomenal players.
I think if you put him head to head, I
think last year's team had more elements for success than
this year's team has at the current time.
Speaker 3: Are there any G League players available that can hit
a standing.
Speaker 1: I don't know that. I just saw where somebody signed
a football player. Now now it's reaching into football with
these signing guys that are played professionally, so it's it's crazy,
it's but I don't know. At this point of the season,
I don't know.
Speaker 2: I mean, if I'm BYU and I want to win,
if I want to get to a final four, I'm
going out to see what's available in the G League.
That is, somebody that can hit a three point shot.
Just stand there, you know, just stand there and hit.
That's all we need.
Speaker 1: Somebody, please, well, you know, I think I think if
they can get Canard Davis and I don't know what
the deal is. He was he looked so good and
get the second half against Arizona and then he just
comes out and just doesn't have it against Kansas. I
think he's the key. That's as I analyze this whole thing,
and then by you're going to repeat what they did
last year or maybe even get better. I just think
they need whatever can Davis had a Southern Illinois learned
he averaged eighteen points a game and was what was
the forty something percent three point shooter? Whatever that was.
They need that. I just I think that's the answer.
And maybe it's not possible, but that's the guy that
I would really try to depend on to get better.
I don't I don't know if there's a solution. I
don't know if they need to hypnotize him and go
that route. And but he's clearly he's got it in him.
I think he's got it in him. I just think
he's got to be more consistent and they got to
bring that out somehow.
Speaker 2: I was talking Tobu Buddy Keith and weird debate to
kind of go back and forth a little bit, and
one of the things he just he texted me said,
they don't have as good of a quotation of our
team this year. Better players for four spots, but five
through eight not as good.
Speaker 3: I agree or disagree with my guy Keith.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I totally agree, and you know I will say
they've played fairly well as a team. They're not They're
just not They're clearly not as deep. They're just clearly
not as deep. They're better at the top obviously with
Aj and Rob Wright, two great players, and Richie's gotten
even better if that were possible. That guy's amazing. But
they just don't, like you said, have that I was
I mentioned before this kind of I wrote this big
story about how unselfish they were and how how we're
really doing well in that regard, and these three guys
were meshing. But I think the other night, I think
AJ needed to get a little more selfish. He just
was not aggressive at the beginning. I don't It was
almost as if everybody was there to see him and
Darren Peterson square off, and it was almost like he
was I don't know if he was waiting or if
he was like, let the game come to me sort
of attitude. But I just think you need to set
AJ down and tell him, man, we're we're counting on you.
This is you know, this is the year. We got
one year with you. We need everything you've got. Uh
this year and uh, And that was that was lacking
against Kansas For whatever reason.
Speaker 2: J Drew des red News here on ESPN the Fan
talking to b y U Basketball. Look, I feel like
were you at the game. Did you do the interview
post game?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I was there. I was the one that asked Kevin
about the second half where he said he was going
to throw off if anybody brought up again. So Kevin
is the great guy, but man, after they lose, he's uh,
he's he doesn't want to he doesn't want a little bit.
I mean, there have been worse. I mean, Mark Pope
wasn't mister congenialogy after they lost either. So I'm not
I'm not saying Kevin's alone in that. Every coach is
I I've rarely met a coach who could smile after
a loss.
Speaker 3: Yeah, no doubt about it. Where does b YU go
from here?
Speaker 2: It's I was chatting with Brett and Ronald about the
uh they kind of they were kind of alluding to, Hey,
these were the marquee matchups, these were the big games,
and by you fell short in these marquee uh, you know,
I guess they would be these like uh exclamation points
to your resume if you will, are there still opportunities
to make a uh to get the best seating available
in the NCAA tournament.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, there's plenty. There's a I would call it
signature wins or quad one A wins. But obviously they
got to play Texas Tech again, they got to play
Houston on Saturday, they got to play they play at Arizona.
I mean right, there's three, three huge ones. They got
Iowa State coming in. That's another one. They're at their top.
I think they're back in the top ten or close
to it. So yeah, that's the thing about the Big twelve,
like Kevin mentioned after the game, is the blessing and
a curse you got, you know, having said that, they
cannot afford to look past any of these other team
means Oklahoma State's pretty good. They got to play them
in steel Water. It's a team that went I think
twelve and one in the non conference, didn't play a
real difficult non conference schedule. But obviously they went up
and beat beat Utah worse than BYU beat Utah at Utah.
This is past weekend, So yeah, there are plenty of opportunities,
But there are plenty of land mines. There's plenty of
ways to if they if they don't take care of business,
they look past somebody, or they just don't bring it
on a certain night, they could lose a game they
shouldn't lose, and that's going to hurt them as well.
Speaker 3: Let's stock some football, shall we jay this? Uh?
Speaker 2: Well, hard on one last thing here, seating wise, where
do you predict this team will be as far as
seating is concerning the NCAA And we got it, we
got them on, we got time, we can win games,
et cetera. But right now, what does it seem like?
What's the what's the trend? What's the trajectory.
Speaker 1: Looks like there right now? Right around a four seed?
I I think, you know, I think there's opportunities to
move up, but I'll also, like I mentioned before, to
move down. But I think they're going to finish at
a four. I think, I think, you know, I think
if they finish worse than a four, like get a
five or six seed, I think that's a got to
be called a disappointing season, or at least, you know,
before the tournament starts and all that happens. But that's
got to be as that's going to be a disappointment
if they don't get a four or better. Just because
of all the hype and you know, they hey, this
is a one time thing this year. They've got you know,
who knows what's going to be happened next year. They're
not obviously not going to have a j next year.
They're not going to have Richie, They're not going to
have Kakata. Who knows what Rob Wright's going to do,
who knows what Cannar Davis is going to do. But
this is their year. This it's got to happen this
year for b y U and you know, this whole
Final four or bust and all that. But so I'm
saying if they're they're not better than a four a
four seat or better. It's it's just been a disappoint
up to that point.
Speaker 3: Jay Talking Football.
Speaker 2: B YU has made their hires official BYU Football, replacing
Jenne with Guildford and Jay Hill and acquiring a couple
of new coaches elevating others. Give me a reaction to
the news show coach Chad Kay taking outside edge and
outside linebackers, Justin Enna is going to be solely focused
on special teams. It sounds like Kelly Peping is going
to be the decordinator and take inside linebackers, and then
you got Lewis Clark at cornerbacks coach, and then Damario
Warren safety's coach and passing game coordinator.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's a solid staff. I think it's
interesting that they put Justin Anna over on special teams.
You know, I'm not sure Kelly Peepinga's obviously was really
good in that role and can maybe help him out
there a little bit while he's still doing the decordinator.
But that was a mild surprise to me. But yeah,
I think it's a good the Lewis h what's his
last name, that Lewis. He came from Monmouth. But I
actually covered him in high school when he played at
Judge Memorial of all places, and then went on to
play at Hawaii and then at University of Utah. So
that's how long I've been around, is uh. I remember
that guy from way back when he played high school football.
But I think it's a good staff, and I think
they're ready to pick up, you know, to not skip
a beat losing Jay Hill to Michigan. I think they'll
be fine there.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's uh, you wonder, right, like there's a lot
of fear when Jay Hill and Junaro left. What were
the repercussions, like, what was lost?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 2: What type of impact did that move of Kylewindeham to
Michigan have on b YU football?
Speaker 3: Would you say?
Speaker 1: I think I think they were able to mitigate the damages.
If a couple of players have gone with with Jay
to Michigan, I think I think a lot of YU
fans would have been pretty upset and maybe even devastated.
If maybe that's a bit too too harsh, but I
think I would have heard him if you know, if
they had lost some of these stars like Platow and
Isaiah Glasker and you know, maybe Evan Johnson, I don't
I don't know who else might have even considered it.
But yeah, the fact that they really lost one guy,
and that was a backup linebacker.
Speaker 3: Uh.
Speaker 1: Was was you know? It could have been much worse,
I guess, is what I'm trying to say. So yeah,
I think, you know, obviously those two gentlemen that you
just mentioned, Hill and Gopher are going to be missed.
I mean, both of them are really gonna be hard
to replace, but but I think they're I think they're
going to be fine.
Speaker 2: Bottom line, What what's your way too early feeling about
this BUA football team in twenty twenty six, the preseason
ranked top twenty five. What type of way too early,
like win loss field do you get right now?
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a good question. I mean, so much can
happen even when you have the same personnel almost I
think they've done pretty well in the transfer portal of
addressing some needs. I still think they need a big
time receiver, but but those, you know, don't grow on trees,
so I think I think they're poised in prying to
repeat what they've done in the past two years. There's
some really really tough games. Obviously they don't have to
play texts tech, which is you know, going to be
a relief for a lot of people. That game at
Utah is going to be really hard, obviously playing there
in early November. But I think that a lot of
winnable games, though I expect them to be five and
oh when they played Notre Dame, I think they I
think that's a reasonable outlook. And then you know, if
Notre Dame's also undefeated, that that's going to be the
game of the week and maybe even of the season
for college football, and it's going to happen in Provo, Utah.
So I think there's a lot to look forward to,
and I think he's got it going. And yeah, I'm
I'm not the usual e or you guys like to
tease me about. I I'm just pretty bullish on this,
on this team, I you know, I'm I think they
can keep it going. I don't see any reason why
they couldn't.
Speaker 2: It's uh, yeah, yeah, I poke at you every one.
I don't call you e or though I call Brandon
grinny Eu. Yeah, you know, i'd call you maybe more
of like you know, I mean, you're you're a realist,
pragmatist with a slight hint of negativism. Sure, sure, there's
probably some negativism every once in a while.
Speaker 1: I've been in that business thirty five years. So I
got a healthy dose of skepticism with everything I see
read and uh, I don't even believe my own eyes sometimes.
Speaker 3: So a healthy dose of skepticism. I love it, man.
Speaker 2: Uh, Jay, what have you been working on over the
desrat News? What can you tease us with? What are
you gonna be writing about here?
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm just writing a little signing day preview for
you know, signing day Wednesday, although it doesn't look like
by he's going to sign anybody new football wise, but
just kind of a recap of where they are on
the national team rankings and how this is one of
the best classes, if not the best class and recruiting
classes in BYU history. So I got that coming out tomorrow,
and then obviously Wednesday, I'll have another signing day story.
And then Jackson Payne, my colleague, is heading out to
steel Water. He's going to give me a little break
from traveling with BYU, so he's going to do that game.
But then I'll be back at it with Houston coming
to town on Saturday. So that's kind of what my
week will look like.
Speaker 3: Love it man, Well appreciate you hopping on.
Speaker 2: You mentioned best recruiting class, maybe the best recruiting class
in BYU football history. It seems like BYU football one
of the reasons why you're really you're really bullish on
these team is because they're trending in the right direction.
Speaker 3: I was looking at eras you know.
Speaker 2: The best airon BUA football history was seventy nine to
nineteen eighty five.
Speaker 3: Second best era.
Speaker 2: Was like six to twenty and eleven or even five
to twenty eleven. You won a lot of games, top
twenty five finishes, double digit win seasons.
Speaker 3: It seemed like every single year.
Speaker 2: The third best era, okay, is the era we're living
in right now, twenty twenty to twenty twenty five, with
an argument to be made right that that this is
the second best era in BYU football has history. Do
you agree with that assessment or is there another era
that I'm missing?
Speaker 1: No, I think that's I think he nailed that. I
think that two thousand and six to twenty eleven, you know,
the Max Hall, Dennispit, Austin Coley, Harvey Unga. That was
when I kind of first got on the beat two
thousand and eight, and I would say that given the
degree of difficulty and the schedule with being in the
Big twelve, that I would probably make a case that
the era they're in right now might be able to
edge that one out. I'd have to kind of go
back and dissect it a little bit more, but just
I just don't think you can discount the BYU in
the last three years has played three of the most
difficult schedules in school history because of Power Forward memberships,
So that that would be the only thing that would
bring this group to number two over that that group
from Maxall's era.
Speaker 2: J Drew follow him on x and read all of
his content at the des Rednews des Rednews dot com.
Speaker 3: Thanks so much, Jay, appreciate your brother.
Speaker 1: All right, thanks for having me on there.
Speaker 3: Go.
Speaker 2: That was a cougar beat, A great cougar beat, one
of the best cougar beats, maybe the best cougar beat.
Speaker 3: We've ever had.
Speaker 2: Shout out to j Drew from the Desert Red News.
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Much to get, too much to break down. Don't miss
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nine ninety eight point three Yes,