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With the 2013-14 BYU basketball team a little more than two weeks away from suiting up for the first time (the intra-squad Cougar Tipoff is Oct. 23), head coach Dave Rose says he and his staff are dealing with an unfamiliar challenge.
"It's the first time in a long time that I have more new players (than returning players)," Rose said during his annual Media Day address on Tuesday in Provo. "That is going to take a lot of patience on our part."
"We rely on those experienced guys to help bring those (new) guys along, and now we're looking at six or seven (newcomers)."
Only five players are back from the 2012-13, with Matt Carlino, Tyler Haws, Anson Winder, Josh Sharp and Nate Austin joined by returned missionary Kyle Collinsworth to form a six-man core of experienced players. The other seven roster players (Freshmen Eric Mika, Luke Worthington and Frank Bartley IV, sophomores Skyler Halford and Chase Fischer, and walk-ons Graham Pingree and Andrew Johnston) are all new to the BYU program.
"We have good talent," says Rose. "I think we have a good balance to our roster. We'll see how the chemistry works, and what type of leadership we get and see what type of season we can actually have."
"I think you realize with this year's team that there's a lot of personality with this group. They're extremely energetic, passionate...they're very young. Sometimes that excitement can show especially early in the season and I think that with this group it really has."
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Formal practices started on Monday, and while Rose said the first practice "was very good," Worthington suffered an ankle sprain that will keep him out for a few days. Worthington attended Media Day with his right ankle wrapped and wheeling himself about on a medical scooter.
Rose says a primary focus of preseason practices will be to establish a defensive identity different from that exhibited by last season's team.
"We really need to get back to where we can play man-to-man defense as our core defense," Rose said Tuesday, "then mix in the zone."
Rose said the 2012-13 team "played a lot of zone last year for a lot of reasons," noting that the plan helped keep Brandon Davies on the floor and out of foul trouble.
"Down the stretch," said Rose, "we became a little bit too predictable defensively, so I know our staff and our players are extremely focused on that end of the floor, and I think that will be a major emphasis in the next three or four weeks."
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Rose on--
Kyle Collinsworth's return from his two-year church mission to Russia and subsequent re-integration into the basketball program:
"If you take all the returned missionaries that we've had in our program over the 17 years that I've actually been here, and try to chart each one, I think Tyler (Haws) was the abnormal return. He was terrific his first year (back), in every category--defensively, offensively, being able to rebound the ball, staying healthy...all of those things are real issues for returned missionaries.
"I think that it will be a challenge for Kyle because the expectation will be for him to be like the most abnormal (player) ever, but he's been terrific. The best thing about Kyle since the day he's been home is he's always had a terrific work ethic, but he has had no setbacks--he has continued every week to get better, get stronger, get in a little better shape.
"Kyle is kind of a hybrid player; capable of scoring 30 points in a game (or) getting 20 rebounds, at a guard position--which is a little bit different. We'll continue to hope that he progresses and each week continues to get better. He's going to cause some real match-up problems for other teams because of how versatile he is."
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Relying on so many newcomers to play important roles:
"I've had quite a few direct, frank conversations with these guys, because sometimes new guys come in and they're in a position to help, or to play a secondary role to somebody who's returning or has experience, but we need a group of these guys to step forward and really contribute.
"They need to learn our system, they need to feel comfortable in our system, they need to play comfortably at the pace that we play at, and they can't just go though the motions and hope that when we get to games that they can then go back to how they've always played and they'll be fine.
"That's probably the biggest challenge for young players in our program, is to convince themselves to learn the system and then become comfortable in it as quickly as possible--especially our big guys. We're going to need Luke and Eric and Graham and those guys to really pick this up quick so we can use them in game situations early."
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The offseason improvement observed in point guard Matt Carlino:
"Matt's biggest improvement has been his conditioning. He has been so consistent in all of our workouts in summer semester, and to this point in fall semester, every day.
"You see signs of just brilliance with him at times and then there are other times where maybe he is just kind of there, but the most impressive thing to us as a staff is how consistent he has been.
"He has really made a commitment to become a better defender, which will really help our guard line. And then he is a real versatile scorer; he's a guy who is really capable of knocking down a three-point shot but he is really good at getting to the basket and creating a mid-range shot, and finishing around the rim. He's improved all those parts of his game."
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Junior big man Nate Austin:
"Hopefully we can have Nate pick up right where he left off his last three or four games for us last year, when he became just a relentless rebounder, and a second-possession guy for us.
"He really helped us in our run in the NIT, and I think that Nate will have real match-up advantages in that position because he can stretch the defense. I think at times people get frustrated with Nate because he's not a great inside scorer and he's on of the tallest guys we have, but we can use Nate as a match-up problem."
"I think that we'll play him mostly at the 'four' but he'll see some minutes at the 'five.' Nate's biggest issue for us as a staff as we see it right now is to be able to play with the energy level that he wants to play at, consistently and then stay out of foul trouble. If he can do that, then he's going to be a real surprise and a real asset to this year's team."
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Freshman center Eric Mika and comparisons to past rookie post players at BYU:
"You've gotta go way, way back a long ways, because I've thought about it a lot, and been through all the names, and the expectation for Eric is huge.
"He has come in with quite a reputation as far as his high school career and his recruiting ranking, but it reminds me (of) Mekeli Wesley, when Mekeli came in as a freshman, in that we're going to throw him the ball and we're going to expect him to make positive plays.
"He spends a lot of time in the film room with Coach (Mark) Pope trying to right now just learn the nuances of our offense. His ability to be able to make a play for himself one on one... he needs to become really comfortable with those things as soon as possible, because we just all project that he's going to end up with the ball in his hands in the post a lot.
"He's a great runner, one of the best we've had at getting from end to end, and being able to catch and finish. With those experience guards always looking to make that play to that big guy getting down the floor, I think there will be a lot of opportunity for him, for quick baskets in transition."
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The experienced players on this season's roster:
"I really rely on Tyler's experience...the fact that he's a junior, got a lot of experience this summer with Team USA, so those are things you lean toward.
"Skyler Halford has played a lot of college basketball. He's a fourth-year guy, red-shirted a year at Division I, then played two years of junior college; played 70 games. Hopefully he'll be able to pick up the system and be able to show some leadership.
"Kyle Collinsworth is a guy who started 27 games his freshman year on a really good basketball team and never really played his natural position. He played all four spots for us to help us, but he's a natural born leader. He's got the respect of his teammates because of his talent level, his work ethic, his determination, and even though we're only talking about one year, that was a pretty special year that he played, and has played in big games.
"Matt practiced with us the second half of that season when we went to the Sweet 16, then started the last two years, so I think our core group of leaders has a lot of experience, and I think we'll rely on those guys to really help these young guys."
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A 1-8 record against traditional West Coast Conference powers Gonzaga and Saint Mary's over the last two WCC seasons:
"We need to win those games. Quite a few of them have been close, down to the wire games, and there have been a couple that have gotten away from us.
"We all really understand now, and I knew from the very beginning, that it was going to be a dogfight. Trying to win any league is a real challenge--especially a conference championship over the course of a two-and-a-half month period.
"You have to be consistent--from the first day, you have to stay away from injuries, you need depth in your roster, so you can play a lot of guys, and the one thing about the West Coast Conference that has really impressed us is the diversity of how the teams play. There's a group of teams that are just huge up front guys, that kind of pound the ball. Other guys really race it up and run it, there guys that play four guards, and it seems like a lot last year, that we would continually try to sub and match up to other teams.
"What we need to do is cause more match-up problems ourselves. I think we can do that as we play a little bit more diverse in our game. I think you'll see us play four guards at times to try and make other teams match up with what we're doing, and then give us an opportunity with some of the teams in the league to be able to match up with what they're doing."
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Constructing the non-conference schedule with the postseason in mind:
"I want our guys to have the opportunity to play a schedule that allows them to get to the NCAA tournament. As much as we're focused on winning conference championships and want them to win the conference tournament championship, what fans want is for their team to play in the NCAA tournament, and I don't think that you can trick the (selection) committee.
"I would like to set this up a little bit differently if I could have, as far as home and away, but there's a very challenging road schedule for us. We'll get a couple of these games back (in Provo) next year, and I think that will really help us, but our guys are excited because the opportunity is there.
"I think last year we had a few games that would considered to be real chances to get a win and really make some headway as far as the NCAA tournament (selection) committee, and I don't think we had enough. I think there was too much pressure on those few opportunities. I think we've got enough this year; we'll have plenty of opportunities to see if we can be successful in these games."
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The future of the series with Utah State (this season's game will be played Nov. 30 at Energy Solutions Arena):
"I think that it will be a three-game series, where we'll play home and home and then play the odd year at ESA. That's at least how it's set up right now, and from the conversations that I had with (USU head coach) Stew (Morrill), I would assume that's what we'll continue to do."
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You can hear the entire media session with Rose, and interviews with Tyler Haws, Matt Carlino, Kyle Collinsworth, Nate Austin, Eric Mika, Skyler Halford, Frank Bartley IV and Luke Worthington, in "Cougar Cuts," top left.
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