Cougar Tracks: Rose-y Outlook

BYU head basketball coach Dave Rose says six straight 25+ win seasons and six consecutive NCAA Tournament bids have created "a real expectation level here," and to meet that expectation, "our number one priority...(is) to increase the talent depth of our team."

"We need more players at every position," said Rose in a season-ending sit-down interview I conducted at his office Thursday morning. In a wide-ranging discussion, Rose assessed the latest additions to his roster and personnel plans moving forward, while also reflecting on the just-completed 26-9 season and offering thoughts on life in the West Coast Conference and the 2012-13 campaign.

You can hear the entire interview in "Cougar Cuts," left; Rose begins by talking about the signing of Raul Delgado and Agustin Ambrosino, who committed to BYU on Wednesday, the first day of the spring signing period.

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About his two international signees, Rose said "I'm really excited about them both."

Rose called Delgado "extremely athletic; he's a guy we think can guard multiple positions, which is really good for how we play. He's an explosive guy; he's a guy who can rise up on his jump shot, make a play in traffic, over guys...turned into a really consistent three-point shooter...will bring some real depth to our guard line, give us a lot of options."

Of Ambrosino, Rose said "he's a really skilled 6'8" kid who I think will really flourish in our program. Great three-point shooter, great free throw shooter...inside on the block (he's) creative, likes to turn and face, great passer...and I think he's going to fit really well, because he likes to run the floor."

"He can bring us kind of a feel to that position, kind of like Noah (Hartsock) did in his junior year, when he was spacing the floor on pick-and-rolls, kind of like JT (Jonathan Tavernari) has done for us in the past playing that "4" position with a guy who can really pick-and-pop into perimeter shots."

Asked if either player reminds him of BYU players he has seen in the past, Rose said Delgado reminds him of Trent Whiting. "He's kind of the same guy; really explosive, athletic, great lateral quickness, and he can just rise up over a guy, and make a shot."

"For Raul, it will be a matter of how quickly he can learn our system--how comfortable will he feel with how fast we play."

Rose said Ambrosino brings to mind "a more physical Fernando Malaman...kind of reminds me of a guy who can play like Fernando but is probably a little bit tougher in the low post; little bit tougher with his back to the basket scoring the ball."

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The signing of Delgado and Ambrosino, and the return of Tyler Haws from his LDS mission (arrived stateside today) currently leaves Rose with a single 2012-13 scholarship available, and the spring signing period continues until May 16th.

"We (coaches) were were pretty convinced that we needed to increase the talent depth of our entire roster; that's our challenge, and we're still involved in that. Our players know what. It's a responsibility for our coaching staff to go out and find guys that can help us increase the talent level."

While some are speculating that the open scholarship could go to backup point guard Craig Cusick, winner of the team's Sixth Man of the Year Award, Rose hinted that such an accommodation should not be considered automatic.

"Craig had a tremendous year...and helped us as much as any non-scholarship player probably since Brock Reichner, my first year here (in 2005-06). Non-scholarship players always have a huge part in the success of our team, but not many of them get on the floor and play a lot, and Craig's role (as a significant contributor) just happened to be that this year."

Suggesting that non-scholarship players earning scholarships should be considered the exception and not the rule, Rose said "there's a lot of things that you plan for, and we do...we plan for kids coming in here that say they're going on missions and then they don't...we plan for guys than come in here and say they're not going on missions and then they end up going on missions. We can plan for guys that might have a challenge here and may leave a year or two early, but the plan for a walk-on to get a scholarship...it's not in the mix."

"If there's an opportunity for that to happen, then that's a great thing," said Rose. "If it works out where it doesn't happen, I know that those guys (non-scholarship players) are really committed to just continuing to help the program however they can."

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BYU last week announced that Nick Martineau (a former non-scholarship player who later was awarded a grant-in-aid) would not be returning to the team in 2012-13, creating a scholarship vacancy and some hard feelings from Martineau, who expressed public displeasure with the decision not to renew his scholarship for a final season of eligibility.

Like James Anderson, who left the program with a year of eligibility remaining last season, Martineau is graduating early, following his junior year. Unlike Anderson, who essentially suggested to Rose that it might be time to move on, Martineau was clearly less understanding of BYU's current personnel situation and Rose's preference to move forward after Martineau's matriculation.

Rose today said "Nick was a really good teammate; he was a guy who helped us win a couple of conference championships, and we got to the NCAA Tournament every year. Most of his contributions to the team were in preparation, in practice and outside of the game situations, but I'm really happy for Nick that he was able to get his degree; he'd got a really bright future ahead of him, he's a smart guy, and I think he'll be extremely successful."

Martineu's frustration is somewhat understandable, yet the public expression of disappointment and subsequent no-show at the team's season-ending banquet (during which he was given two individual awards) created a sour ending to his BYU playing tenure. Asked if he wished it could have ended differently for Martineau, from a public perception standpoint, Rose said: "Every player, once they leave the program, can handle that however they feel fit."

Summing up the situation, Rose acknowledged that "this was a really tough decision by our staff, because he did have a year of eligibility left, but we did feel that his role was going to pretty similar to what it had been the last three years. The fact that (Martineau) had his degree didn't make the decision easier, but did allow us to move forward in a real positive way."

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More highlights from Rose on--

Program goals:

"There are a lot of things that we really take pride in as a coaching staff, and I think our players take a real pride in. Winning games is a very high priority. Right next to that is graduating our players. We've graduated every player. I'm so happy Travis Hansen is finally going to get his degree--I think he actually finished a class last week, so he'll be getting his degree--and then now, we just have one left, and that's Jimmer. We'll work on him the next couple of years."

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His players:

"These guys, for the most part, they put themselves behind the team when they come here. They all have unbelievable individual aspirations in this game...these guys all love to be in the gym, and they love to work on their game, and they want to get better, and they all want to be professional players, but when we come in September and start the fall, they understand that the team is way more important than their individual career."

"We've been able to get through some really tough years with some guys no playing as much as they want--then they break through to their junior year or their senior year and have unbelievable careers."

Rose cited Noah Hartsock and Jimmer Fredette as examples, and said "those are kind of the stories we can tell for the last four or five years, and I think that's the number one key to the success of the program: that these guys are really talented, but they put the team first."

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The 2011-12 team:

"These guys gave us everything that they had. These guys were banged up, they were hurt, but they just kept playing. We found ways to win games. I'm sure our guys would like to have a couple of games back, because we could have made this a lot more special than it already was, and improved our seed in the NCAA Tournament, but we were able to change leagues, win 26 games, get invited to the NCAA Tournament and then win a game in the tournament. We walked out of that locker room in Louisville (after the season-ending loss to Marquette), and as coaches we said 'we didn't go as far, but no team has given as much, from inside, than this group right here.'"

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Desired improvements for 2012-13:

"Consistency, especially offensive consistency. I think our defensive game plans were good, and we executed them well. We didn't have the depth to be as physical as we wanted to be, because of foul issues, so we changed a lot of our games plans, to stay out of foul trouble. We turned the ball over at times...but a lot of that comes from youth and inexperience, and hopefully, the time we spend between now and next season and the experience that we gained this year will (make us) a little more fine-tuned group next year."

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Health status of Stephen Rogers and Chris Collinsworth:

"Stephen will actually have a second (meniscus repair) surgery, the day after his last final exam. Chris is actually improving day-to-day...this is a good point for him. He's recovering a lot quicker, as far as (consecutive) hard workouts. Last week of April, he'll jump in with the team, doing strength and conditioning, open gym...(May) will be a really important month for Chris, to see how he responds, not as his own pace, but at the pace of the group. If he can do that, then June, July, August should be great months for him to get him ready for September."

Asked if he was surprised how arduous a recovery process Collinsworth's micro-fracture surgery rehab has been, Rose said "very surprised, and I really feel for Chris. Basically it's been four years since he's been able to play. I'm really impressed that he still has the desire, the will; he's determined this is going to work for him."

About Rogers' availability, Rose said "I'm thinking maybe by the first of June. We'll give him two weeks of April to heal, then four weeks in May, and then get him out there a little bit in June and press that. The plan for Stephen is to enroll in the summer semester...then get him ready for September."

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Anticipation for next season:

"I'm really excited; I'm probably as excited if not more excited than our players, but we all know we've got a real challenge. And we had a really good season; we had a great season. You get to the NCAA Tournament and win a game, that's a great season, but our day-to-day routine was different this year because we were limited with a lot of our player options. I think our guys are excited to get back to that (regular) routine."

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BYU's winning tradition:

"There's a real expectation level here. You lose Jackson Emery and Jimmer Fredette and people are wondering, like 'let's wait a few more years and then we'll be good again.' Our coaching staff was excited about (the 2011-12) team going into it because we know what these returning players expect; we know what they expect out of themselves, we know what they expect out of the players coming in, and that's a good start."

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BYU's first season in the West Coast Conference:

"It was a really interesting process to go through, because it was almost like you kept waiting for the (conference) season to start, and you were right in the middle of the (conference) season. I've coached here for 15 years, and for 14 of them, we've been basically in the same league. So, that was a little bit different for me, but the league itself is tremendous. I think that the national recognition of the league, our ability to come in in finish in the top half of that league, get an NCAA Tournament berth and have three of our teams (in the NCAA Tourney...I think the WCC is a great place for us, and hopefully we can make a better push next season to win the regular season championship and see if we can get a conference tournament championship."

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The final word:

"I'm so excited for next season. One thing in this transition (from MWC to WCC) that made us all really nervous is 'how would the fans respond with a new league?' I'm so happy for our players that after a huge year of the Sweet 16 and a National Player of the Year that this next year's team, we come in and the fans are all there. You go into a new league without the same name recognition, not the same rivalries and history and tradition, and we still averaged close to 18,000 fans in our (WCC) games. I'm really thankful for the support that we have--I know the players are--and we look forward to a great year next season."

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I was honored to last night serve as the MC for the BYU Basketball team's annual awards banquet.

The award winners were as follows:

Academic Excellence: Nick Martineau

Best Conditioned Perimeter Player: Charles Abouo

Best Conditioned Post Player: Noah Hartsock

Most Improved Player: Brock Zylstra

Sixth Man: Craig Cusick

Competitive Spirit: Charles Abouo

Coaches Award: Nick Martineau

Outstanding Player: Noah Hartsock and Brandon Davies

Senior Awards: Charles Abouo and Noah Hartsock

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