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I have to drop in a few words about my boys on the basketball team, who led wire-to-wire in lighting up Long Beach State Saturday afternoon.
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As I re-listened to the game on the flight home, I was struck by a few things...
number one: how many players contributed (10 guys played at least 10 minutes, and 10 of 12 players scored).
number two: playing three true freshmen together is going to make perfect sense and work out quite nicely at times.
number three: as well as BYU played, the Cougars could have won by 50 taking just a little better care of the ball, and selecting shots just a little more judiciously.
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That last one is nitpicking, and to be fair to the guys, while there were times that the youngsters in particular struggled Saturday, they need to be cut some slack. To get players like Jimmer Fredette, Chris Collinsworth, Michael Loyd, Jr., and Nick Martineau into a competitive D1 atmosphere on the road and let them learn on the fly is a great opportunity for the players and Coach Rose, and will greatly benefit the team in the weeks to come.
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This week: BYU is home to Idaho State on Wednesday night, then home to Jackson State on Friday night. Rod Zundel will pinch-hit for me on Friday, while I tune in on the other side of the Rockies--getting ready for BYU and Wyoming on the gridiron the next day.
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Speaking of football (and Wyoming), there is never, ever, ever a justifiable excuse for kicking onside with a 40+ point lead. Not if you're a coach who cares about the arcane notion of sportsmanship, that is. Utah got the right guy for its program, and so did BYU. Simply put, both coaches will lead their teams to levels commensurate with the coaches' commitment to the values they deem important.
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