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LAS VEGAS -- The push and pull of the marathon basketball season, which starts in October and ends in March, can wear any team down. The demands on your schedule can be rough, with school and family also pulling a major portion of your time. When your team makes it to No. 3 in the nation and a little bit of off the court drama is added in there, everything is magnified.
Before all the national attention arrived, before the wins piled up, before the doors to the Marriott Center opened to the fans, the No. 8 BYU Cougars were sweating, pushing and challenging each other behind closed doors.
"It starts in the summer," senior forward Logan Magnusson said. "You get new guys that come in and you start playing together, we're together all summer long."
...we have great guys on this team and everybody really likes one another, and that's a big key.
–Jimmer Fredette
They forged their bonds many months before the season started, in the weight room and the gym.
"When you work hard and go through those hard times together, like our workouts, our conditioning, all those hard times that we're pulling together for each other to push each other to be better, that's when you pull together as a team," Magnusson said. "We've all been pushing each other to get better in the summer, as basketball players, as individuals, whatever it may be. I think it started from day one when the season ended last year."
As the team has grown together, the Cougars have learned that they can depend on each other when the pressure is on.
Cougar Tracks:
Starting the March Through March
Following a morning charter flight to Las Vegas, the 8th-ranked BYU Cougars held a Cox Pavilion practice before walking downstairs to meet the media."We have a very good team, and everybody likes each other," senior guard Jimmer Fredette said. "We have great chemistry on this team and every single night it's a different guy that really steps up and helps us win games. Whether it is off the bench or the guy that's starting that helps us. It doesn't really matter, we have great guys on this team and everybody really likes one another, and that's a big key."
It is a big key that the Cougars will depend on to carry them through the Mountain West Conference Tournament. The Cougars will need to come together and continue to find different ways to win. The Mountain West Conference Co-Coach of the Year Dave Rose is confident they can be successful, and points to the team captains as the reason why.
"I think that the chemistry on this year's team is terrific," Rose said. "We have great leadership. It is kind of unique. We have two great senior starters who are great leaders and lead by example. Our third captain, in Logan Magnusson, is a senior and he's been on the second team and scout team most of the time in practice. We've got both bases covered. We've got great leaders on the starting five, and the reserves have a great leader and someone to look up to."
I think that the chemistry on this year's team is terrific. We have great leadership. It is kind of unique.
–Dave Rose
That leadership appears to be more important now than anyone could have originally thought. With sophomore forward Brandon Davies off of the roster more reserves are seeing time on the court. The good news for the Cougars is that the team is healthier than they have been in a while.
In the first round of the tournament, the Cougars will face the TCU Horned Frogs, who beat Wyoming by nine points Wednesday afternoon. The Cougars should be able to take care of the Horned Frogs without too much difficulty. They have beaten the Horned Frogs by an average of 19.5 points this season. The Cougars will need to take care of business down low and prevent TCU from establishing a presence in the post.
Tipoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. inside the Thomas and Mack center. You can listen to the game on ksl.com and KSL Newsradio 102.7FM/1160AM beginning with the pregame at 11 a.m.
