Monday, March 28, 2011
A season to rember
PROVO — Without question, it will go down as one of the best, and most memorable, seasons in BYU basketball history. It just may take a little while for the Cougars to truly appreciate what they accomplished. "We're proud of what we've done, but the loss is in the back of our minds," freshman Kyle Collinsworth said after BYU's heartbreaking 83-74 overtime defeat to Florida in the Sweet 16 Thursday night in New Orleans. "I'm sure in a week or two we'll be able to see how special this team and this season was." Bottom of Form Special, indeed. The Cougars (32-5) won a school-record 32 games, took their first trip to the Sweet 16 in 30 years, spent numerous weeks ranked in the top 10 — peaking at No. 3 — won the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship in their final year in the league, and matched their highest seed ever, No. 3, in the NCAA Tournament. Along the way, Jimmermania swept the country. BYU senior Jimmer Fredette led the nation in scoring (averaging 28.9 points per game), and turned into a one-name rock star, captivating the basketball world with a relentless will to score. Many of his made-for-SportsCenter highlights, in which he exhibited an array of acrobatic shots, an ankle-busting cross-over and jaw-dropping range, will live forever on YouTube. Fredette surpassed Danny Ainge as the school's career scoring leader (2,589 points) and he played a part of more victories (112) than any player in school history. It was almost fitting that against the Gators, in Fredette's final game as a Cougar, his scoring output matched his jersey number — 32 — and also equaled the number of victories BYU earned this season. "Winning games. That's his legacy," said coach Dave Rose. "He just helped his team find ways to win games." Fredette, who has been named the national player of the year by several prominent publications, became the face of college basketball as celebrities like President Barack Obama and NBA star Kevin Durant praised Fredette's play. His name, and game, inspired numerous musical and poster-board tributes, as well as introduced new phrases ("You got Jimmered!) into the sports lexicon. Of course, the Cougars dealt with significant adversity, too, losing sophomore forward Brandon Davies to an honor code violation at the most critical juncture of the season — March. That stunning news resulted in a torrent of national headlines and commentaries about the school's stringent honor code, and how the suspension would affect BYU's NCAA Tournament hopes. Without Davies, the Cougars won two games in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1981. It's been everything we wanted to achieve," said senior guard Jackson Emery of the season. "A lot of people doubted us and our ability, and (because of the) things we've gone through, they didn't think we could accomplish those things. It shows something about those guys, that we're going to fight hard every day and practice hard." BYU players say they didn't spend much time thinking about what-might-have-been scenarios involving Davies. Bottom of Form "It's basketball. You lose guys," Emery said. "You can't speculate or think about those kind of things. You just think about the opportunities you had with this team and we did a terrific job." "I think that their competitive spirit, this group, they're just tough," Rose said. "They all have a different personality of toughness, but the bottom line is that they're competitors, and they want to win and they trust each other and they play together." Rose was grateful for the contributions, and leadership, of his three seniors — Fredette, Emery and Logan Magnusson. "Jimmer's ability to make shots late in the game, Jackson's ability to defend and rebound and make winning plays consistently, Logan's ability to come in and just give you whatever you need to win a game," Rose said. The season began with plenty of promise as Fredette was named to multiple All-America teams. Not only did he live up to the hype, he exceeded it. In December, Fredette returned to his hometown of Glens Falls, N.Y., for an emotional homecoming game against Vermont. Once Mountain West Conference play began, Fredette took his game to another level. He scored 39 points, including seven 3-pointers, in leading the Cougars to a victory at UNLV, snapping an eight-game losing streak to the Rebels at the Thomas & Mack Center. Less than a week later, he exploded for 47 points against arch-rival Utah, hitting a 40-foot shot at the first-half buzzer. Fredette enjoyed a 42-point outing at Colorado State. Then came a 43-point barrage during what was billed as the biggest regular-season game in MWC history — the first meeting between two top-10 teams — in a win over No. 4 San Diego State in late-January at the Marriott Center. BYU knocked off the Aztecs again, in San Diego, in late February, as four Cougars scored in double figures. Days later came Davies' suspension, weakening BYU's confidence, depth and inside game. The shell-shocked Cougars lost at home to New Mexico, but rebounded to defeat Wyoming in the regular-season finale and claim their fourth conference championship in five years. In the MWC Tournament semifinals against New Mexico, Fredette poured in a single-game school-record 52 points and, in the same contest, broke the school's career scoring mark as BYU avenged two regular-season losses to the Lobos. BYU entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 3 seed, its highest seed since 1980. After an opening-round victory over Wofford in Denver, the shorthanded, smaller Cougars were widely regarded as an underdog against No. 11-seeded Gonzaga. But BYU turned in one of its best performances of the season, knocking down 14 3-pointers en route to a 22-point blowout and its first Sweet 16 berth in 30 years. The storybook season drew to a close in the Sweet 16 against Florida. But for the Cougars, there are memories to last a lifetime. As for Fredette's future plans? "Hopefully, I'll be able to play at the next level, in the NBA," he said Thursday. "That's the dream. I'm looking forward to being able to work out and get drafted and make a team." And how does he want to be remembered? "I want to be remembered as a good person first, someone my teammates enjoyed being around and the fans enjoyed watching," Fredette said. "Hopefully, the legacy of myself and my team will be remembered for years to come. We still had a great run into the Sweet 16. We'll always remember that."
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Byu Loses to New Mexico Lobos :(
PROVO, Utah (AP) - Zero is the number 6-foot-9 forward Brandon Davies wore before being booted off BYU's team this week for breaking the school's honor code.
Does it now also represent the odds the third-ranked Cougars have of making a deep run in the NCAA tournament?
Signs in the arena insisted "We Believe" while others reminded opponents that "We Still Have Jimmer."
But player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette can only do so much.
If anything, Wednesday night's lopsided loss to New Mexico showed that, and further exposed something BYU critics have been saying all year _ that the Cougars don't have enough power up front to be considered among the very best teams in the country.
Before Davies was dismissed from the team Tuesday for having premarital sex, according to reports in the Salt Lake Tribune, the Cougars ranked seventh in the Mountain West Conference in rebounds allowed.
On Wednesday without Davies, they were outrebounded 45-29, including 33-22 on the defensive boards.
"We wanted to go inside," Lobos coach Steve Alford admitted after Wednesday's 82-64 victory, the second straight over the Cougars this season. "(Davies) has been very, very big for them all year. He's very skilled and he's very talented ... that's a tremendous loss, so we just wanted to make sure that we went inside as much as possible."
The Lobos won't be the only one.
BYU might get by in the early rounds of next week's Mountain West Conference tournament, where the Cougars still can earn a No. 1 seed with a win Saturday over Wyoming.
But if they have to face San Diego State again? Or in the NCAAs, where depth often is key?
"It's still a week or two away, all the postseason stuff," small forward Charles Abouo said.
Still, coach Dave Rose admitted the team has to regroup following the shocking turnaround since the win over San Diego State and rise to No. 3 in the land.
The body language on display Wednesday night indicated it may take some time.
Senior guard Jackson Emery could be seen kicking a chair, and Fredette spent the final few minutes at the end of the bench with his chin buried in his chest.
"It's been difficult," said Fredette, one of the team captains that Rose broke the news to first on Monday when school officials were made aware of Davies' situation. "(Davies was like a brother to us, family. It's tough to lose a guy like that and pull together. I think we'll be all right."
Before the shocker lit up talk show lines, twitter accounts and fueled a national debate about BYU's code of honor, BYU was drawing comparisons to NCAA tournament darling Davidson, which made an NCAA tournament run three years ago by working its offense around star point guard Stephen Curry.
But how far can a team go with no power in the paint?
"It was definitely noticeable," Lobos forward Drew Gooden said of BYU's lack of muscle inside. Gooden had a game-high 16 boards, 13 on the defensive end.
"It definitely hurt them that Davies wasn't there, but you have to work with what you're given."
BYU started 6-10 junior James Anderson in Davies' place but Rose quickly went to Plan B, then Plan C and so on.
"We need time, and we don't really have time." Those were the words of BYU head coach Dave Rose after his team's 82-64 home loss to New Mexico on Wednesday night--a night after the Cougars learned they would play the remainder of the season without one of their most important players.
Not much seemed to work as BYU's inside game disappeared. The Cougars made 8 of 30 shots in the first half and were outrebounded 25-14 as the Lobos took a 42-26 lead.
"We found a lineup that we were really comfortable playing, a lineup we started the (previous) 20 games," Rose said. "Now we need to find the next comfortable lineup."
Falling behind so quickly then tossing up so many perimeter shots didn't help, even with Fredette shooting.
He often tried to do too much, forcing shots before exiting the game having made 10 of 26 overall and 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
"We were trying to score five, six, seven points in one possession," Rose said. "We never got into a rhythm."
Abouo insisted there was no resentment toward Davies, who apologized to his teammates.
"I don't know why we would have resentment toward him," Abouo said. "We love him... everyone makes mistakes. He didn't let anyone down."
Rose also said Davies did the right thing by acknowledging his transgressions to university officials.
But the coach stood by the school's honor code.
"Everybody who comes to BYU, every student if they're an athlete or not an athlete, they make a commitment when they come," Rose said of a code that also forbids use of alcohol and coffee and requires students to be honest and attend church regularly. "A lot of people try to judge if this is right or wrong, but it's a commitment they make. It's not about right or wrong. It's about commitment."
As of Thursday morning, there was still no word whether BYU staffers would edit changes to a pre-game video tribute that still shows Davies patrolling the paint.
At least that would be a simple fix.
(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Does it now also represent the odds the third-ranked Cougars have of making a deep run in the NCAA tournament?
Signs in the arena insisted "We Believe" while others reminded opponents that "We Still Have Jimmer."
But player of the year candidate Jimmer Fredette can only do so much.
If anything, Wednesday night's lopsided loss to New Mexico showed that, and further exposed something BYU critics have been saying all year _ that the Cougars don't have enough power up front to be considered among the very best teams in the country.
Before Davies was dismissed from the team Tuesday for having premarital sex, according to reports in the Salt Lake Tribune, the Cougars ranked seventh in the Mountain West Conference in rebounds allowed.
On Wednesday without Davies, they were outrebounded 45-29, including 33-22 on the defensive boards.
"We wanted to go inside," Lobos coach Steve Alford admitted after Wednesday's 82-64 victory, the second straight over the Cougars this season. "(Davies) has been very, very big for them all year. He's very skilled and he's very talented ... that's a tremendous loss, so we just wanted to make sure that we went inside as much as possible."
The Lobos won't be the only one.
BYU might get by in the early rounds of next week's Mountain West Conference tournament, where the Cougars still can earn a No. 1 seed with a win Saturday over Wyoming.
But if they have to face San Diego State again? Or in the NCAAs, where depth often is key?
"It's still a week or two away, all the postseason stuff," small forward Charles Abouo said.
Still, coach Dave Rose admitted the team has to regroup following the shocking turnaround since the win over San Diego State and rise to No. 3 in the land.
The body language on display Wednesday night indicated it may take some time.
Senior guard Jackson Emery could be seen kicking a chair, and Fredette spent the final few minutes at the end of the bench with his chin buried in his chest.
"It's been difficult," said Fredette, one of the team captains that Rose broke the news to first on Monday when school officials were made aware of Davies' situation. "(Davies was like a brother to us, family. It's tough to lose a guy like that and pull together. I think we'll be all right."
Before the shocker lit up talk show lines, twitter accounts and fueled a national debate about BYU's code of honor, BYU was drawing comparisons to NCAA tournament darling Davidson, which made an NCAA tournament run three years ago by working its offense around star point guard Stephen Curry.
But how far can a team go with no power in the paint?
"It was definitely noticeable," Lobos forward Drew Gooden said of BYU's lack of muscle inside. Gooden had a game-high 16 boards, 13 on the defensive end.
"It definitely hurt them that Davies wasn't there, but you have to work with what you're given."
BYU started 6-10 junior James Anderson in Davies' place but Rose quickly went to Plan B, then Plan C and so on.
"We need time, and we don't really have time." Those were the words of BYU head coach Dave Rose after his team's 82-64 home loss to New Mexico on Wednesday night--a night after the Cougars learned they would play the remainder of the season without one of their most important players.
Not much seemed to work as BYU's inside game disappeared. The Cougars made 8 of 30 shots in the first half and were outrebounded 25-14 as the Lobos took a 42-26 lead.
"We found a lineup that we were really comfortable playing, a lineup we started the (previous) 20 games," Rose said. "Now we need to find the next comfortable lineup."
Falling behind so quickly then tossing up so many perimeter shots didn't help, even with Fredette shooting.
He often tried to do too much, forcing shots before exiting the game having made 10 of 26 overall and 1 of 9 from 3-point range.
"We were trying to score five, six, seven points in one possession," Rose said. "We never got into a rhythm."
Abouo insisted there was no resentment toward Davies, who apologized to his teammates.
"I don't know why we would have resentment toward him," Abouo said. "We love him... everyone makes mistakes. He didn't let anyone down."
Rose also said Davies did the right thing by acknowledging his transgressions to university officials.
But the coach stood by the school's honor code.
"Everybody who comes to BYU, every student if they're an athlete or not an athlete, they make a commitment when they come," Rose said of a code that also forbids use of alcohol and coffee and requires students to be honest and attend church regularly. "A lot of people try to judge if this is right or wrong, but it's a commitment they make. It's not about right or wrong. It's about commitment."
As of Thursday morning, there was still no word whether BYU staffers would edit changes to a pre-game video tribute that still shows Davies patrolling the paint.
At least that would be a simple fix.
(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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