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BYU basketball: Poor ending left a bitter taste for a good year
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I don't see any dropoff in the quality of the players for next year and there is a lot of potential. Hopefully next year's Cougars can be much more aggressive and perform better in the big games (that includes the MWC and NCAA tournaments.)
The guy should have stayed at BYU for another year, but when you have someone that see's the "LOOT" its forever tempting to flee. Shawn Bradley didn't pan out so well either, nor Hansen.......Ainge, Kite and Roberts are really the only good things to come out of Provo and they completed their 10 years at BYU.
Rose has done an outstanding job. The Cougars have performed well. Yes, they need to overcome that dismal NCAA Tournament record. Eventually they will break through.
But BYU relies on and recruits top LDS kids. The best of that group are unlikely to go to BYU -- just as in football. The great basketball stars in the country don't see Utah as an attractive setting to live in or to attend school.
I am a long time Cougar fan. I enjoy the effort the team puts forth. I am disappointed when BYU gets outrecruited by Stew Morrill in Logan for LDS talent, but I have no delusions about BYU's athletic future. I enjoy victories, and am amazed that BYU has done so well. . .
Next year's team should be solid but unspectacular. I expect another run at a conference championship and hope that the Cougars can win a couple of games at the big dance. But BYU will never be in the same category as Duke or North Carolina.
This isn't just a case of a poor school who always gets the short end of the stick. We don't step it up or get super stoked for the post season - EVER. The other teams use the season as a warm up. We see it as the end.
I wonder if we suffer that syndrome in other areas of life - happy just to show up at our jobs, service projects, family outings. Are we really known for excelling at anything?? I know alot of non LDS that live the same kinds of values - but with more passion and excellence. Why is that??
The anonymity of the blog allows you to say ridiculous things without any accountability--that's OK. By your very immature attitude of "final four or bust" I suppose you feel the same about your personal life. After saying what you did, please write back and describe your life of success--you finishing in the top 2% of everything you attempt. Did you finish school in the top 2% of your class nationally? Is your salary today in the top 2% of Americans nationally? If you participated in any individual or team sports, did you or your team make it to the championship game each year? If not, what a waste you are.
GO COUGS!
So lets enjoy what we have. They are very entertaining and our rilvaries are a lot of fun. The players should work hard and every once in a while they will rise up and knock off a big boy. But they are never going to be a top tier team, and the same is true of Utah and every other Mountain West team. We are in a smaller pond.
BYU had a good record at 25-8, but what good does that do them when they look like schlubs in the post-season? It doesn't help recruiting, I'll guarantee you that.
25-8 may speak well to Dave Rose's regular-season coaching, but two straight post-season losses speak volumes about the quality of his post-season coaching techniques.
When has that ever happened? Never, and it never will happen as long as BYU keeps Rose around.
BYU is and will always be at a disadvantage in recruiting as compared to the elites in football/basketball and, therefore, will always have a difficult time breaking through to the elite level in post-season play.
Two main facts play into this:
BYU is a Mormon school and, therefore, is simply too much of a cultural/social/religious obstacle for most elite athletes to overcome.
BYU receives precious little national media coverage -- something elite athletes crave.
Neither of these is likely to change. And that's not a bad thing, it's just the way it is.
As stated above, BYU probably does more with what it has than any other university in the country. That's at least one definition of excellence.
That is the impression I got right here in the Des. News Sports comment section.
As a program, the BYU fans take way to much emotion in the wins, and either over react to a loss or apologize it away.
Rose is an average coach.
The program is a below average program that gets sometimes better than average results.
Recruiting is awful, facilities support and marketing is awful, and the entire program relies on being a "member" and rooting for the "church" team as it's foundation for support.
Only when Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Neptune and Kolob line up in a straight line will they win any kind of national championship.
I totally support BYU basketball and football. I like the coaches, I like the young men, and I appreciate that the emphasis is where it ought to be--on character and living a productive life.
Sports is such a tempest in a teapot! So few athletes make a living at it, and among those who do, character seems to be the exception rather than the rule. Chris Miles is a good athlete--not great. That's OK. I care more about what he does for his autistic brothers than on how many points he scores--as long as he is giving his all on the basketball court.
By the way, BYU does get elite athletes from time to time. Tyler Haws, Fredette. Probably Abuo. And there is not a team in the country who wouldn't have a significant role for Jackson Emery. He is an amazing athlete and a better human being. We also have some elite athletes among our football players. They come because they share BYU's priorities. If they don't, let them go elsewhere.
In both sports, BYU will break through from time to time, and they will do it the right way.
2nd question- BYU has 3 kids from Utah County on their roster. Is Utah County really that much better than the rest of the State? Also all their recruiting seems to be in Utah County with Davies, Collinsworth and Haws. I understand that they are very excited about these three, with good reason, they appear to have alot of potential, But are there not kids from other places in Utah who can play. Provo and Lone Peak both made it to the championship game, but lost.
But, you won't. You'll accept that fact that everything is the same everywhere.
It's NOT!
As a Utah fan, they have many of the same short comings. The difference is they've figured out how to win the occasional post season game, and, we love them if the win OR lose. Makes no difference.
Some things are just going to happen every year - The Jazz will buckle under pressure and do nothing in the playoffs, the Cougars will lose in the 1st round of the NCAAs, and Ute fans will be ignorant, annoying, childish online commenters no matter the state of the Ute sports programs.
We are talking about losing in the first round of the tournament after winning 3 straight conference titles(hasn't been done since the 30's). Amazing.
BYU is not able to recruit the top athlete, such as a Blake Griffin. But they do get good quality college athletes. Cummard was recruited by UCLA and ASU. Fredette was recruited by Syracuse and Wake Forest, JT was recruited by Pitt and Wash. And Chris Miles was recruited by Kansas, UCONN, and UCLA.
BYU did end another year in disappointment. And unfortunately that is what we will remember. BYU is not going to replicate programs like UNC, Kansas, UCONN, UCLA etc. But they do recruit and get some of the same athletes. And they can very likely have a post season run similar to teams like George Mason, Davidson, Xavier, or Gonzaga.
So to all the fans who want to be down on BYU BBALL. Remember where the program was 10 years ago, and where it is now. BYU has won or shared the MWC regular season title 6 times.
Go Cougars!
BYU doesn't have a non-conference like this.
"We love them win or lose" How about Ute attendance during "Giac's" years? It was the worst atttendance since the Hunstman Center was built. Who are you trying to kid? (but you love them win or lose, right?) In the sports world people love winners. No one wants to pay to watch a loser, including the fans at your beloved U.
I am going to need some time...
...please, leave me alone for a moment.
I am a BYU alum. I enjoy watching the Cougs but I do not ever expect more than what mediocre athletes can do. In this day, SPEED is what it's all about. SPEED is what the Cougs will never be able to recruit. Once you accept that fact, you can still enjoy watching Cougar Sports.
Go Rebels, Utes, Aggies, etc.
Want to know why you are never taken seriously???
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