HB Arnett’s
COUGAR SPORTSLINE
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West 800 South –
Vol. 32,
Issue 34 – March 12, 2012
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THINGS YOU WON’T HEAR DAVE ROSE
SAY IN AN INTERVIEW
(Editor’s note: After 30-plus
years of doing this stuff, I learned that I often need to explain myself. The
following interview is fictitious. Dave Rose didn’t and wouldn’t
say any of it. This is an exercise in how I would answer questions from the
media if I was Rose.)
Interviewer: Dave, now that you have been invited again to the NCAA big dance, can you tell us what you are most proud of since becoming BYU’s basketball coach?
Rose: Ironic
isn’t it, but “Iona”
nice home in
Interviewer: Is that all?
Rose: Well, if you
count
Interviewer: What about being one of the last teams selected? Did that bother you?
Rose: Not at all. As Noah said (the original one, not Hartsock), it doesn’t matter if you are the last Camel or Cougar on the boat, once they close the doors, it’s better to be inside and floating, than outside and fretting
The NCAA money and recruiting bragging rights also don’t hurt.
Interviewer: They say NCAA tournament success is determined by guard play. How do you feel about yours?
Rose: To borrow from Bronco, “it is what it is”. It’s not great, but it was good enough to get 25 wins.
Interviewer: So you are saying that your guards can get you a couple of wins in the tournament?
Rose: No. I am saying that if they just don’t screw things up and quit hoisting up ill advised three point bombs, our bigs inside should have enough to get this first game over Iona.
Interviewer: What
about
Rose: They have guards and we don’t
Interviewer: You had guards for the last couple of years in Fredette and Emery and it looks like you will have guards after next season. How did you get to this point without any this season? Was it a lack of planning and recruiting or did you overestimate what you had?
Rose: We got
whitewashed in
Last year we thought we had Brett Kingma, another
And this season could have been much worse if Matt Carlino hadn’t fallen into our laps.
Interviewer: Will the guards be better next year?
Rose: They will if I have anything to say about it. I already went and got a juco shooter in Raul Delgado. And if Damarcus Harrison decides to serve an LDS mission, look for me and my staff to be seriously searching for another juco guard to bring in.
Interviewer: What is your worst nightmare about the NCAA tournament?
Rose: Seeing West Coast Conference officials walk on the court.
Interviewer: Will your team feel any stress knowing that President Obama and
Rose: We would prefer that they actually suited up and played against us. We think those are two guys that we could actually defend beyond the arc.
NOW FOR THE REAL ROSE
Here are actual quotes from Dave Rose after being selected as a No. 14
seed and being pitted against
"I'm really excited to be in the tournament and excited to keep playing," BYU coach Dave Rose said. "I'm really happy for our players. It's a really good feeling when you know that the committee thinks you're one of the best teams in the country."
"This is pretty stressful. It was a long wait. A long time since our last game," said coach Dave Rose. "But it turned out great. We're really excited to be in the tournament, excited to keep playing. I'm really happy for our players."
"What everybody says and what everybody believes and what they all want to figure out mathematically isn't how you get in this tournament," Rose said. "You get in this tournament with that selection committee actually voting you in. It's a really good feeling when you know the committee thinks you're one of the best teams in the country."
"There won't be a lot of sleep (Sunday night)," Rose said. "We've got to gather a lot of film so we can watch ... But it's a great feeling, I can promise you that."
"Everything feels exactly the same, except it's going to be sped up a little bit. Instead of playing a Thursday game, we'll be playing a Tuesday game. If we win, we get to keep playing and if don't win, we've got to come home. It's exactly the same."
"They like to score the ball and have a point guard in 'MoMo'
Jones who some of our players played against when he was at
"We didn't play our best game the last time out and you always want another chance. We got another chance," said Rose.
BRONCO NOT A GOOD BAROMETER
After one week of spring football, Bronco Mendenhall is bubbling with excitement, praise and good things to say about the Cougars.
That’s not a good sign.
The last time he was so bubbly was before the start of last season. He emphatically announced that his team was ready to play and further along than any team he had at BYU.
He intimated that last year was his best team ever.
That didn’t exactly turn out to be true.
There is no question that Bronco’s bubbles are real. He likes what he sees.
What we see, however, is what we have seen for every spring practice for decades.
Everybody is all world, especially in spring when the world of BYU football is comprised of mostly second and third unit players.
We bought Bronco’s bubbles last fall and he was wrong. He thought he had an all world quarterback and he didn’t.
He still thinks he has an all world quarterback in Riley Nelson. We will give him that one. We agree that he has a gamer and a playmaker in the senior lefthander.
He is bubbling over about the running backs he sees this spring. He
would be better served to see how they perform against
The last good running back BYU had was Harvey Unga. He isn’t here this spring.
His best offensive linemen aren’t practicing. Neither is his best linebacker. He has questions at safety. Those won’t be answered until fall.
Let’s cut to the chase. BYU will be a good football team…in the fall. They have players.
Spring football at BYU and elsewhere is like a movie trailer. You highlight the good parts, but you never know how good the actual movie will be until you see it in the theatre.
Same with BYU football. There are some moments in spring ball when excitement is warranted, but we will never know if this is a good football team until they actually play somebody decent in the fall.
Spring football is entertainment and a chance for Bronco to see if his players will buy into his mode of operation.
Fall, when real games are played, is what really counts.
Meantime, here are some spring bubbles to float before you.
Manoa Pikula…The redshirt freshman linebacker will play and play soon for BYU this fall. We thought he was the best player BYU signed a year ago, and he is proving it.
Taysom Hill…Athletically, he is the best qb BYU has had in decades. BYU coaches are going the politically correct course and saying that James Lark is the backup.
Politically correct is nice, but productively correct is better. Hill will see playing time this fall.
Cody Hoffman…If
he had real breakaway speed and more explosion off the line of scrimmage, this
would be his last year at BYU. He would be a sure fire early NFL entry. He will
still be in the NFL, but good news for BYU fans, it won’t be until he
finishes two more seasons in
Next to Austin Collie, Hoffman is the best receiver BYU has had in years.
Joe Sampson…We stick by what we said when the Cougars were recruiting the juco defensive back. He is NFL material. He will be an impact player for the Cougars this fall.
Riley Nelson…The best thing about Nelson is how hard he plays and how many plays he makes. The worst thing about Nelson is how hard he plays and how many plays he makes.
It took its toll last year on his health and it will take a toll this
coming season. Look for
That said, exit polls taken among Cougar football fans show Nelson polling positive among all demographic groups, except opposing defensive coordinators.
SPRING SPORTS
BYU men’s and women’s track teams had a very nice showing last weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships held in Nampa, Idaho.
It was highlighted by a national championship in the women’s 800 meters by Nachelle Mackie and a gutsy and gritty performance by BYU’s nationally recognized Miles Batty.
Here is the report from BYU:
“I took the lead early and although it wasn't necessarily the position I wanted to be in initially, I just kind of realized no one else was going to take it so I needed to take," Mackie said. "Once I was in the lead I told myself that I wasn't going to let anyone take it from me. It's so exciting to be able to fulfill a dream."
Senior Katie Palmer also finished third in the same race, with a time of 2:04.56. Both Palmer and Mackie earned All-America honors from the race.
Christen Gunther, the sole competitor in the field events for the women's team, also competed the second day and finished tenth in the pole vault finals, clearing 4.20m (13' 9.25").
With the amazing performance in the 800m, the women tied for 11th as a team with 19 points. Over the past four years, the BYU women’s track team has had three national champions in the 800m and on the off year BYU still came in second.
After running a 4:03.85 in the mile preliminaries and a 3:57.90 anchor split in the distance medley relay on the first day of competition, senior finished third in the mile finals, with an impressive time of 4:01.86.
Batty was the only competitor for the men on the second day of competition. Overall, the men finished 14th with 12 points.
TELEVISION TIMETABLE
BYU Women NCAA Selection Special
Monday, March 12, 2012
Start Time: 5:00
TV: ESPN
BYU vs.
Tuesday, March 13 at
Tipoff: 7:10 pm Mountain Time
TV: truTV (Cable and Satellite)
Channel 246 on Direct TV
Channel 204 on Dish Network
Can also be seen on the internet at:
BYU vs.
Thursday, March 15 at
(If BYU beats
Tipoff: 12:35 p.m Mountain Time (approximately)
BYU Women Basketball vs. TBA
Saturday, March 17 at TBA
Tipoff: TBA
TV: TBA
BYU vs. Seattle (Double Header)
Saturday, March 17 at
First Pitch: 1:00