I wanted to get this out before Selection Sunday even though I don't usually post much on Sunday. Once the bracket is revealed we will obviously be focused on that moving forward.

*A loss to Houston is not something to be worried about. Let me repeat, a loss to Houston is not something to be worried about. Listen I am as high on this team as anyone, but I did not expect them to compete for a national title. The team they played has a good chance at it. It is clear it is not a good matchup for us. I actually love how the game turned out as I think it is a benefit in the long run.

*The good: By far our best player in the game against Houston was Keba Keita. He was a 0 in the plus minus in a game we lost by 20. That is impressive. In 22 minutes he had 14 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks. In game with "Dawgs" all over the court he was the biggest dawg. I do think he starts games a little tentative and he received an early ticky tack foul (which is why I think he starts games tentatively, to stay out of foul trouble). But man the guy was a beast. I said at halftime that the way to beat a team that is over aggressive with their switching is over the top. Coach Young agreed.

*Mag and Knell both did well in the plus minus due to playing with Keita, but they also defended well. Neither of them could shoot, but those are two guys that are not afraid of physicality. I know many will say that you are putting Knell in with Mag? Well yes. Knell is one of our wings that doesn't mind mixing it up a bit. He is not as physically gifted as Mag, but he handles pressure better than most of our team.

*I thought Richie was OK, but forced a few in the end. He ended up 3-9 with 10 points. But he is was very clearly the focal point of a very good Houston defense. If he got a step on his guy the next guy was right there including a shot blocker at the rim. Richie needs to become more of a passer in those situations and early he was, but other guys weren't hitting shots or making plays so he forced more late.

*Egor, Egor, Egor. I have love/hate relationship with you my friend. I mostly love you, but man do you struggle with bad turnovers often at the most inopportune times. Also 7 threes? Too many. If you are wide open for a 3 you are a good shooter. Otherwise it is a bad shot. I know some were late and those were understandable. 4 assists and 5 turnovers isn't going to cut it. Yes Houston is really, really good.

*Dawson Baker was our 2nd leading scorer with 11 points on 4-9 shooting. Baker is VERY GOOD against physical teams as he can use their aggressiveness against them. He also was one of the very few making his open 3 point shots. Baker played 23 minutes which is more than usual as he was effective. He did get bullied for rebounds on occasion and needs to get more physical on that end.

*Dallin Hall was better than Egor at the point. He finished with 4 assists and 1 turnover, which is a great ratio. But that is about where it stops with positives for Dallin. He was tied for a team worst -17 in 23 minutes. The problem for Dallin in a game like this is two fold. First, Dallin likes to slow things down to initiate the offense. The problem against a team like Houston is you need to look for your first best good shot immediately. We don't have time to reset at 20 seconds at the top of the key or we risk not getting a good shot (it happened often). The other problem is that Dallin gets away with doing that largely because he can create offense at the end of the shot clock. Well Dallin could not get by his guy and they were generally as strong as he is (which is pretty rare). So it was a tough night for Dallin. But again he took care of the ball which was a major upgrade from Demin.

*Fouss...Friday was another reminder why Fouss is so enigmatic. Given the right defensive players and strategy he can dominate. This was not that night. Houston doubled quickly and Fouss struggles in those situations. He finished 2-5 for 4 points, but was a -15 in just 14 minutes. When he was out there BYU was in trouble on both offense and defense.

*Boskovic usually provides relief for a bad Fouss day. But Bosko was not good. He played 5 minutes and was a -8. Bosko is probably example #1 of a guy who got sped up. I would have liked to have seen him given another stint (other than garbage time), but not if it meant taking Keita out.

*I thought Stewart provided a spark when he initially came in (although that T was weak). Overall though he didn't make enough shots as he was 1-5 from the field. He did, as always, play very good defense. He also found open shots and was willing to take them, but just the first one fell.

*I do think one thing is becoming a trend. When Mag and Knell go out, it leaves Richie as our only physical wing defender on the court. But it has put him in foul trouble now game after game. For someone as good offensively as he is that can't happen. So what do you do? I don't know, stagger more minutes with Mag? Stewart is usually on the other team's PG so maybe have Dallin really D it up. (Dallin is a solid defender, but not really against physical wings). Either way I would hate to lose a tournament game because Richie is in foul trouble and you know he is going to go 100% while he is in the game.

*I have seen on this board many calling for a scoring center. While Keita will need a backup, I don't think it needs to be a scoring center. Put more succinctly: Keita is our 2nd best player on the team (I would have said Demin, but too many bad games). He should see 30 minutes a game next year or close to it if he can stay out of foul trouble. Whether he is backed up defensively by Boskovic, Staton, or Dybantsa I don't really care. Sure if you can find a talented big in the portal I am all for it, but Keita is a beast. If he could just learn how to shoot free throws.

*Our team is like many BYU teams in the past in that we don't have a lot of guys who can create their own shot versus a good defense like Houston. Richie beat his initial guy a couple of times, but that was about it. While we can scheme things up, that is a huge problem if you want to win a game. More athleticism is on the way in the form of AJ Dybantsa. We desperately need a 2 guard who is a good defender who can also beat his guy off of the dribble.

*My other huge concern is that the team panicked a bit at the beginning. Yes shots were not falling, but we went from getting decent looks to everyone taking their own bad shot. There will be times when shots are not falling in the tournament. You have to still run the offense and look for good shots. Hero ball extends opponents' runs, it doesn't stop them.

*Houston is a really, really good team. I expected the smothering defense, but they had multiple guys that hit tough shots against good defense. The combination of defense and shot making could take them to the Final Four. So all credit to them for beating us, they obviously deserved it (even if I think the refs have given them more leeway to foul than they should).

*I still feel very good about this BYU squad. The best I have felt about a BYU team going into the tournament since Jimmer. In the first two rounds we will not play a team anywhere near the caliber of Houston. They won't have the athletes, they won't have the shooting, they won't have the winning mentality. BYU needs to bring all of those things. I like what happened because I think it uncovered some weaknesses that we have worked sort of around during this win streak. But I think we need to address them. I think we will. I also think our team will come out hungry after that performance.

*For me, win one game and I consider this season an overwhelming success. Win two and I will be amazed at what Coach Young accomplished in season 1. Anymore than that and I will be recommending Coach Young for Sainthood at our next General Conference (isn't that how it works?)