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BYU head coach Dave Rose wants his team to play with "no fear" in its Sweet 16 matchup with Florida Thursday in New Orleans.
Rose and players Jimmer Fredette, Jackson Emery and Noah Hartsock met the local and national media in a Monday afternoon Marriott Center press conference; you can hear the individual media sessions by clicking on the respective "play" buttons in the "Cougar Cuts" box to the right.
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"They're excited," said Rose, when talking about his players' approach to Thursday's game. "I don't know if you can be over-excited. What you hope is that they play with no fear, that they're in a position where they understand that a couple more wins, and that's the ultimate goal, to try to get to the Final Four and see what happens there."
"This team has done a great job of taking one game at a time. You just feel so pleased when your players can play their best on a big stage, and you hope that happens again on Thursday."
"Your mindset going into a game can really determine how you execute," Rose said. "If you believe that all the pressure is on you then sometimes that can cause you to tie up a little bit. I hope that our players understand this challenge, I think they understand it and they respect the challenge, but I also hope that they believe in themselves, and in the team, and in the ability to win games."
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About the Gators, Rose said Billy Donovan's squad is "a real up-tempo team...they space the floor really well, they have great individual players who are hard to guard. Individually you have to give help, and when you give help, it's a very unselfish team that... makes extra passes. It's a very well-coached team that has a great front line and very good guards."
The Gators' starting five is the exact same group that started against BYU in last season's NCAA Tournament meeting--a game won by BYU, 99-92 in double overtime.
"You're basically looking at the same team--one year older, one year more experienced, a lot more wins," Rose says. "I think consistently throughout this year they have found ways to close out games and win games. They've played a lot of close games...this year they feel really confident in their ability to close games out."
"We had a very difficult time late in (last year's) game of trying to get stops," said Rose of the 2010 tourney encounter. "That will be a real focus of ours is defensively trying to figure out a way to handle all that talent, all that size, and then to handle they way that they share the ball and play with each other. It's very impressive how they move the ball and then make an extra pass for wide open shots."
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The first player to address the media, Emery said today's practice "went really well. I thought last Monday we were a little tired, a little sore from the Mountain West Conference Tournament, but I felt today we really got after it; we played really hard and I was really impressed with the guys."
"We know we're in the Sweet 16, and I think guys are just giving a little more than usual."
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On matching up with a Florida team that goes 6-8, 6-9, 6-10 across the front, Emery acknowledged that "we are undersized, but I think we've proven that we can compete with bigger teams. It takes a lot more effort on all of our parts, not just one or two guys."
"We might have a disadvantage because they're bigger than us," says Emery, "but at the same time we have an advantage because we're quicker on the outside and can penetrate more and get more space for shots. When we're shooting well, we can be really dangerous."
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I asked Emery if BYU had perhaps lost some of its swagger after losing Brandon Davies to suspension, and if he felt the team regained that swagger in the win over Gonzaga. His response:
"I guess you could say we lost some of our swagger, or you could say in a sense we had to re-identify ourselves and find who we were with this bunch of guys."
"You lose one guy and it shouldn't affect the whole team, but I think it did a little bit mentally for us, and we just had to figure out how we were going to implement the other guys and different strategies and different lineups. We went through different phases...and the finally last game, I felt like everyone was comfortable playing basketball, and I felt that today in practice was the same thing...I hope we continue this all week."
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Fredette was asked about the game with Florida and where the Gators are better, over last season.
"They're just better because they're more experienced; they've played together for two years, they've won two games in the NCAA Tournament, together as a team, and they're used to winning. They're a very good team in the SEC, playing against good competition all year...they know how to win close games, and their guards are all improved and their big guys are tough down low. They're just a very good team."
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Fredette said he and Florida forward Chandler Parsons continued a previous association in 2010's summer camps, adding that "he's a good guy; I like Chandler a lot. He's a hard worker, he won SEC Player of the Year, he's a very, very talented player...versatile guy, and he's going to be ready to go. He's a senior, so he knows that it's his last chance as well. He's a very cool kid, he's funny, he's energetic...he's a good guy."
Parsons scored 20 points with 10 rebounds and six assists in the Gators' 2010 NCAA Tournament loss to BYU.
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The Cougars will be on a Tuesday morning flight to New Orleans, with an evening practice planned at a local facility. The team will take the floor at New Orleans Arena Wednesday from 12:00-12:50pm CT for a practice that will be open to the public and media.
BYU's media obligations will follow from 1:00-1:30pm. Florida's media session will be from 1:30-2:00pm, with the Gators' open practice scheduled from 2:10-3:00pm.
BYU and Florida will tip it off at 6:27pm CT/5:27pm MT on Thursday, with pregame coverage on KSL Radio beginning at 5:30pm CT/4:30pm MT.
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