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Coming off the program's first consecutive regular season losses since January of 2009, BYU head basketball coach Dave Rose has his team preparing for a WAC foe on a bit of roll, with UTSA visiting the Cougars on Wednesday night.
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The Roadrunners are in the midst of a three-leagues-in-three-years transition, having left the Southland Conference for the WAC, with a move to Conference USA on tap for next season. Head coach Brooks Thompson's team has won three straight games after losing its season opener, and included in the victories was a nine-point decision at Old Dominion, which Rose called "a great win; that's a hard place to play and a hard place to get a win, and they won pretty handily there."
"Brooks has got himself a nice team," said Rose after Tuesday afternoon's Marriott Center practice. "We'll have to play well and see what we can do."
Rose said UTSA is "not as long as (last Friday's opponent) Florida State, but they play basically the same way, where they get up and really pressure you...make it difficult to for you to run your stuff, so we'll have to respond to that."
You can hear Rose's post-practice media session in "Cougar Cuts," above left.
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Rose's team returned Sunday from New York City, where his team lost games to the Seminoles and Notre Dame in the championship round of the "Coaches vs. Cancer Classic." He says after a long trip back, his players "were a little bit tired yesterday, and I thought practice kind of dragged a little bit...today was a little bit better, and we're going to have to really be ready for this team tomorrow, so hopefully we get a great effort from our guys."
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Rose was asked if he anticipated any changes in his starting lineup, and he said "that's probably the least of our problems right now."
"Who's going to finish the game is a problem," said Rose, "and that's what we'll continue to work on. The preparation is a real issue. The more experienced guys understand what we do and how we do it, and they'll continue to have the edge, as far as starting the game."
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BYU's bench players are struggling to start the season, with only one of the seven reserves shooting better than 35% from the field, and junior college transfers Agustin Ambrosino and Raul Delgado having combined for only three points in 50 minutes of play (28 minutes in four games for Ambrosino; 22 minutes in three games for Delgado).
Of Delgado, Rose said "Raul's confidence is an issue."
"He is is practicing really hard," says Rose, "and he's trying to learn a lot of things...but right now, he doesn't feel real comfortable out there."
About Ambrosino, who has made one of six shot attempts--all beyond the three-point line, the coach said "his minutes are pretty spotty, but the thing we really like with Aguie is having him screen and pop into a shot, and that's kind of what he's gotten most of, and a couple of shots in transition."
"I think it will take a while for those newer guys to actually get to the point to where they can kind of digest everything that we do in a game plan, and then feel comfortable on the offensive end of the floor."
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It was announced on Tuesday that BYU will participate in the 2014 Maui Invitational, marking the Cougars' third appearance in the annual Thanksgiving Week tournament.
Rose said "we're excited, but it's a long ways away." The coach also confirmed that BYU's 2013-14 November tournament is already set up, although not yet announced by tourney organizers. He says in lining up early-season events, "we pursue as many tournaments as we're eligible to play in, as far as Sunday play is concerned."
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In off-the-floor news, Chicago high school sensation Jabari Parker is scheduled to make his official visit to BYU this Friday and Saturday, and is expected to be in attendance at Saturday's home game against Cal State Northridge.
Parker is making BYU the last of his five official visits, after having traveled to the campuses at Florida, Duke, Michigan State and Stanford.
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