Kalani Sitake profiting from soccer momentum

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With BYU’s victory over Colorado within the Alamo Bowl, head coach Kalani Sitake is seeking to capitalize on his extension and 11-win season with recruiting and newfound respect from the media.

By being tied for the Huge 12 within the common season and dropping the league championship recreation as a consequence of a tiebreaker, the credibility BYU discovered within the bowl season is a far cry from what was this system a 12 months in the past with a five-win season. a dropping report on the finish, no bocce match, no further practices earlier than winter exercises and spring ball.

ESPN Trevor Matich defined to BYUtv on this article how necessary this momentum is presently of 12 months and the way a lot it has paid off in recruiting. Final fall, BYU needed to begin the season utterly out of the rankings and claw its approach as much as sixth place with a 9-0 begin. The 12 months forward, with so many gamers returning, the Cougars ought to begin 2025 within the high 25, maybe high 15, which can present a significantly better runway to advance to the CFP.

On this article I clarify how a few of Sitake’s momentum is paying off with BYU’s funds and sources, that are a lot completely different than 18 months in the past for this system.

Query of the week

Kevin Younger’s problem in mixing his veterans and rookies is establishing a harder, extra aggressive mindset for street video games after Windfall and Houston bullied the Cougars into submission. How will Younger resolve this downside?

Jay Drew: After watching Windfall’s explosion on tv and Houston’s debacle in particular person, my intestine response was this: Kevin Younger and his BYU basketball teaching employees have quite a lot of work to do over the subsequent few years. subsequent two months in the event that they hope to make the Cougars a event run. group. Proper now, it may very effectively be the Nationwide Invitation Event. All these preseason fears when Younger was constructing this group of six dependable veterans and about the identical variety of newcomers, together with two extremely touted freshmen, turned out to be substantial.

Towards weaker opponents, the Cougars have been A-OK. Towards the sorts of groups they may now face within the Huge 12, the Cougars have been uncovered. Positive, they beat Arizona State by 20 factors. Nevertheless it was at dwelling, and there is not any larger home-court benefit in sports activities, for my part, than in school basketball.

Can Younger repair it? He can, however first he should face actuality: Egor Demin has a protracted option to go to turn into an NBA lottery choose. And this try to put two guys used to being level guards – Demin and Dallin Corridor – on the court docket on the identical time shouldn’t be going effectively. Neither man seems comfy in opposition to one of the best groups the Cougars have confronted.

One other job can be getting Kanon Catchings to play as much as his potential. The freshman’s shot choice leaves one thing to be desired, he is too unfastened with the basketball, and his protection is common at greatest.

Dick Harmon: Kevin Younger has his work lower out for him. When Egor Demin missed video games as a consequence of damage throughout a key chemistry interval, it set him again. Taking part in a quite simple schedule with plenty of dwelling video games did not assist introduce Demin and Kanon Catchings to the pains of Huge 12 play on the street. Each freshmen have targets on their backs in opposing recreation plans and the way the Cougars fare will rely upon how they reply and enhance. They need to achieve confidence whereas being intimidated by veteran gamers within the hardest league within the nation.

Step one is to get Demin and Corridor to combine their abilities, assume much less and be aggressive in their very own performs whereas seeking to arrange teammates. Each are facilitators. Each have handles, can bounce, go and shoot. What we’ve got seen is a paralysis attributable to an excessive amount of fear about what is occurring and their function in it. Younger needs to each use his instincts and play sooner. He tries to make use of his skilled gamers to assist the youthful ones progress. It can take time.

I take Houston’s loss with a grain of salt. Houston was favored and BYU’s odds of profitable in opposition to the No. 14 Cougars have been about 18%. Houston turned off the lights and BYU backed up the boards and fumbled on offense, one thing many groups do in opposition to these Cougars. The turnovers did not assist Younger’s guys, however that is a part of the sport in Houston. TCU solely scored 46 factors in opposition to Houston just a few days later in Houston. BYU didn’t capitalize on its strengths (rebounding) by giving up 15 offensive rebounds to Houston. It’s repairable with effort and blocking.

Proper now, enjoying on the street on this league seems like a given loss for this group except progress is clear, however Younger is deep in fixes. If this group manages to win 20 video games, we will think about progress made. In any other case, rising pains will persist into the offseason.

BYU began the Huge 12 final 12 months 0-2 with a 71-60 loss to Cincinnati at dwelling and an 81-72 loss at No. 14 Baylor. It was a studying curve for Mark Pope’s group who finally completed fifth. Younger’s group, with its challenges, will get off to a greater begin with a rating of 1-1.

Cougar Tales

Luke Benson had 21 kills in a 3-1 win over No. 11 Ohio State in males’s volleyball final week. The Cougars swept the Buckeyes in back-to-back video games final weekend.

Right here is an evaluation from Jay Drew the day after BYU’s first Huge 12 street journey to Houston and on this story from Dave McCann, Former Finnish Cougar star Timo Saarelainen explains why enjoying in America is a lot faster for Egor Demin.

Former Cougar Zac Blair continues to combat for PGA Tour standing regardless of dropping his card in 2024. On this article I clarify its plans for 15 conditional occasions, beginning with the Sony Open in Hawaii this week. Present sophomore Peter Kim gained the Coral Canyon Novice in St. George, his first event of the season.

BYU’s bowl victory was a useful expertise however the spoils can be shared between the Huge 12 groups.

Archives

From verse

Further Factors

• Kevin Younger is keen to seek out fixes earlier than the TT and TCU video games (Desert Information)

• Xavion Staton joins AJ Dybantsa on Utah Prep (KSL Sports activities)

• How former BYU stars fared within the NFL (Desert Information)

Fananalysts

Feedback from Deseret Information readers:

Give Houston credit score. Their protection was stifling. Any group will battle with such a protection. Moreover, enjoying on the street, Houston was scorching from wherever on the sector and the officers weren’t even near being neutral. This isn’t an excuse, but it surely merely contributed to the loss. Keita was attacked throughout his slam dunk and no fault. Houston was the foul line 12 occasions within the first half in comparison with 0 for BYU. If Houston can play like this on the street, they may win the convention.

— 512Boxer

Predictable NBA offense with ball screens and guys standing within the corners. This works effectively when Kevin Durant and Chris Paul run the offense.

However with school expertise, BYU’s offense is stagnating. The necessity for extra motion and off-ball screens is actual. Let’s examine if Younger can do what Pope did: be taught and implement a extra dynamic offense.

— Native language

To be continued

• January 8 | 7 p.m. | Girls’s basketball | Houston | @Provo

• January 9 | To be decided | Athletics | BYU Invitation | @Provo

• January 10-11 | To be decided | Swimming and diving | Invitation to diving in Utah | @Salt Lake Metropolis

• January 11 | midday | Males’s basketball | TCU | @Fort Price, TX

• January 11 | 4:00 p.m. | Girls’s basketball | Kansas State | @Provo

• January 11 | 7 p.m. | Males’s volleyball | Saint Thomas Aquinas | @Provo