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PROVO, Utah — After last season’s stroll through Hollywood with basketball celebrity Jimmer Fredette, the BYU Cougars are moving from coast-to-coast and applying the Big Apple fast-paced style with their quick plays and hard drives.
On Thursday in the WCC men’s basketball tip-off, coach Dave Rose spoke about the potential increase of pace with this year’s team.
“We might play a little faster without Jimmer, because Jimmer was a guy who really liked to keep that ball in his hands,” Rose said. “We may race that thing up on a pass and try to initiate our offense a lot quicker.”
We might play a little faster without Jimmer, because Jimmer (Fredette) was a guy who really liked to keep that ball in his hands. We may race that thing up on a pass and try to initiate our offense a lot quicker.
–Dave Rose
Rose’s statement of a possible change in pace became a reality at BYU’s first exhibition game against Midwestern State on Saturday, with a Cougar win of 91-74.
Because of the team’s rapid passing around the perimeter, aggressive ball movement down to the post and Midwestern State’s 13 turnovers set the beat well above the time clock’s rhythm.
BYU junior guard Brock Zylstra recognizes that although the Cougars are now successfully reaching higher speeds, they still need to learn how to successfully control themselves.
“[Our] pace [is] our identity this year,” Zylstra said. “[We’re] going to be pushing the ball. Getting comfortable with making plays while you’re going 100percent ...[it’s] kind of tough. [Making] plays on the go and on the run and ... to see the lanes, that’s just something that will come in time.”
With BYU stacking up 20 turnovers in the game, some of the negative effects of uncontrolled speeds can be blunt. Sophomore forward Chris Collinsworth, however, is confident that the team’s speed and turnovers will not always have a strong correlation.
“Our pace is fast. As we try to learn to play at that pace we’re going to limit those turnovers,” Collinsworth said. “This week ... we’ll continue to practice at this pace, continue practicing getting the ball up and down the court without turning it over. I don’t think it will be a problem, just something that we really need to focus on.”
The speed of the game wasn’t the only increase seen from the players. The number of significant contributors to the scoreboard has also increased from last season.
Once again, Rose’s predictions at the WCC tip-off were displayed at Saturday’s game. Rose spoke about the unique point distribution that occurred on last year’s team and how the point allocation would probably transform.
“In the six years that [I’ve been at BYU] that [was] the first year that we only had two players averaging double figures, Jimmer 27 and then Emery at 13, so you loose those 40 points,” Rose said. “But what we usually have is a group of five or six guys [scoring] somewhere between 9 and 16, 17 points a game. I believe that’s what we’ll go back to.”
A lot of guys can score, so we can just get the rebound. Get up and down the floor and whoever happens to have an open shot can shoot.
–Brock Zylstra
Saturday night those exact points were put up by five players: Collinsworth at 9 points, Brandon Davies 10, Charles Abouo 14, Noah Hartsock 15 and Stephen Rogers leading the pack with 16 points.
Zylstra points out that by having so many lead scorers, brakes will rarely need to be applied.
“A lot of guys can score, so we can just get the rebound,” Zylstra said. “Get up and down the floor and whoever happens to have an open shot can shoot.”
Moving to the fast lane and adding more drivers, the Cougars are taking new roads to win this season. As they continue to practice clearly reading their plays among the blurry speeds they seek to maintain, the Cougars could continue hailing rides to game wins through the season.
