Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
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BYU head hoops coach Dave Rose and three of his players reflected on a just-completed trip to Greece and the return of Brandon Davies, when they gave interviews to a group of local reporters Monday afternoon at the Marriott Center.
You can hear interviews with Rose, Brock Zylstra, Noah Hartsock and Charles Abouo (along with the football-related interviews from earlier in the day) by going to "Cougar Cuts," at left.
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Of the five-game playing tour overseas, Rose said "it was terrific...we all learned a lot. We learned a lot about each other, and I think the coaching staff learned a lot about our players. It was fun coaching together as a group, first time doing that with Mark (Pope) being new on the staff...it was a great trip."
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Quick hits from Rose--
On the emergence of tour leading scorer Brock Zylstra: "You have players in your program get opportunities, and it's fun to see which guys take advantage of those opportunities. Brock had a great trip; it's a good start for him, and hopefully he can continue to build on that."
On newcomers Josh Sharp and Damarcus Harrison: "Coming home off his mission, and trying to compete in such a short period of time, it's probably a little more difficult for (Sharp). Damarcus was really comfortable...he's had a wonderful summer as far as working out. Both of them had times during games where you could really see a lot of potential...of where they could help us. Their game--both of them--naturally fits in to our style and how we play...I think both of them will have a big part in this year's team."
On his team's size disadvantage against the Greek and Italian National Teams: "We could have really used the three guys we have working out here in an hour: Brandon (Davies), Ian (Harward) and Nate (Austin)...we sure could have used that size."
On Davies' readmission and return to the program: "I know he's really excited and so are we. Very difficult situation that he handled with honor and integrity and we're happy to have him back."
"It's what he wanted from the very beginning; he wanted to make things right, get back to BYU and help his team."
On Davies as a person: "From what I see in Brandon... I see much more serious student...I just think that he has kind of turned a corner as far as his ability to focus and achieve things that are really important to him."
Q: Are you proud of Brandon?
A: "Very proud. A lot of things happen in your life that you don't expect, and how you handle those things is probably a pretty good definition of your character and I think that the way he handled this was as good as it could have been."
On the balance of this year's team: "We don't really have a guard that wants to dominate the ball...but we have a lot of guys who can score from different spots."
On Jimmer Fredette's engagement: "I'm really happy for Jimmer, but I'm surprised that it took him this long, because (fiance) Whitney (Wonnacott) is a terrific girl...glad he finally came to his senses."
On the point guard position: "I think Matt (Carlino) will give us a great addition when he comes in December, but we played three guys at the point (in Greece): Brock, Craig Cusick and Nick Martineau. All three of them showed really good signs of being able to run our team."
"I think we have guys who can really play that position well in certain situations. What we need to do is find the guy who can do it consistently in every situation so that we can build some confidence in that spot and then move on."
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