BYU, Tavernari benefits from France trip

Dave Rose could only expect a few developmental things to come his way when he took BYU's basketball team trotting around France last month.

It wasn't like he had his entire squad at his disposal as they motored around Paris on their way south toward Monaco.

But he did learn some things even by taking just eight players. They might not have played the defense as hard as he'd liked, but they ran, shot and scored a ton of points.

French nationalists familiar with the teams BYU faced on the trip told him they'd get killed by the team in Saint Etienne — lose by 20 or so to their third opponent. But Trent Plaisted went off on that team, dunking with his right and left hand and made 8-of-10 free throws in a respectable 92-73 blowout.

Rose got a chance to see Lee Cummard's conditioning and improvement over the summer, and Sam Burgess netted a 10-of-12 shooting night against Monaco for 22 points.

With MWC player of the year Keena Young gone, Rose is looking to rebuild certain aspects of his team: finding go-to guys, a starting point guard and role players from among his French Eight, as well as a recruiting class that includes versatile 6-foot-8 Provo freshman Chris Collinsworth.

One thing Rose did do that may pay off dividends this season as the Cougars prepare to defend their conference title, is ask freshman of the year Jonathan Tavernari to sacrifice his own interests as a native of Brazil and invest in his career at BYU.

Rose asked Tavernari to forgo trying out for several Brazilian teams this summer. That meant turning aside invitations that could have brought him some Olympic development experience and a role on some of his country's top amateur summer teams.

His thinking was that Tavernari's game could best be helped with the structure of BYU's off-season conditioning under coach Justin McClure, as he rubbed shoulders with the French Eight on this trip and played in pickup games with the incoming freshmen and transfers, including a pair of point guards.

"Coach Rose is my man, and I believe he's my man. I listen to what he says and I believe in him," Tavernari said.

"It was the right decision for me. I could have gone and played for Brazil, but I think this experience I had this summer will prepare me for what I will do this coming year with this BYU team."