In the Deseret News last week, an article explained how the BYU men’s basketball team has grown in skills and in team chemistry because of the attention that the superstar, Jimmer Fredette has been getting. The papers, TV, and BYU’s opponents have been paying so much attention to Fredette that it actually gives the other players a chance to shine while being neglected by defenders that leave to help guard Jimmer, or not having to deal with the expectations of being the superstar. The outside talk about the amazing senior is a great thing for his teammates and, not to mention, this hype has barely phased Jimmer himself!
In tonight’s game against the UNLV Rebels, however, we did see someone affected by this season’s BYU fame.
It wasn’t Jimmer, that’s for sure. In the mid-second half, Fredette fired a LONG three and, surprise!… nailed it--my personal favorite play for tonight. He also scored over thirty points and dished a beautiful fast break to Jackson Emery for the play of the game.
And, it definitely wasn’t Jackson Emery. He scored his career-high of 23 points tonight; and, along with finishing the play of the game, played huge defense and with great hustle. Coach Dave Rose proudly (and with a big smile) stated that “[Jackson was] shooting with a lot of confidence,”--confidence that most certainly oozed through in his performance tonight.
Ok, it’s obviously not a Cougar who was troubled by the Jimmer chatter.
The frustrated Quintrell Thomas of UNLV undeniably showed his anger when he faced the team from Provo tonight. In the second half, there was a messy rebound by Thomas, but when a cougar attempted to steal it, and fouled him, Thomas threw a feisty elbow that resulted in a flagrant foul.
With the cougars never really phased by the tight, full-court defense that the Rebels played, and winning for the first time in five years in Las Vegas, Quintrell Thomas was probably not the only heated Rebel this evening.
And, aside the raging Rebels, there was plenty of happy Cougs. As expected from BYU, Jackson and Jimmer were not the only guys working hard.
As Jimmer said, it was “a great, all-around effort for all of [them].”
(BYU-89, UNLV-77)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
True Highlights (1-1-11)
Just as you would expect a coach of a Rose Bowl Champion team to say, Coach Gary Patterson of TCU praised his quarterback, thanked the ecstatic fans, and spoke of his wild emotions during the most intense play of the game.
In this season’s Rose Bowl, the undefeated Horned Frogs battled the Badgers of Wisconsin down to the last minutes of the game. After the Badgers got into the end zone to cut the TCU lead to just 21-19, they had no other choice than to go for the conversion; however, as the ball was headed toward a wide-open receiver, Tank Carder denied the pass and forced the Badgers to try an on-side kick… which was recovered by TCU--the play that basically locked in a victory for the mighty team from Texas.
So, of course, in his interviews, Coach Patterson was asked about Carder’s amazing play, his team’s great quarterback, and what this win meant to him. But something definitely stuck out in the questions that were asked by the reporters.
As anyone who knows the slightest bit about TCU and their history could tell you, the Horned Frogs are a “little guys” program. Yes, their linemen are far from “little” and their record far more than a “big” deal, but coming from the Mountain West Conference, not many college football groupies outside of the Mountain knew of this incredible team until recently when it has become nearly impossible for this fighting, purple football team to go unnoticed.
With this in mind, the surprising question that was prevalent in the interviews was if this TCU win was for “all the little guys,” (meaning all the other teams that don‘t get their turn to shine in the BCS spotlight because of the BCS rules that most college football fans know as terribly bogus). Both Gary Patterson and his 42-7 quarterback answered the same way: they won, first, for TCU, and next, for all the little guys; Coach also said something to the effect of “it was for all those guys that didn’t get their chance.”
In a sport that focuses more and more everyday on individual superstars and teams that win based on one player’s actions, you can see a lot of teams and teammates that let so much get to their heads. You would think that if anyone in college football had the right to be conceited, it would be this unstoppable Texas program; but they just won an incredibly well-fought game and gave the win to the “little guys everywhere who didn’t get their chance.”
TCU is just what football needs. Not only do they pull off game-changing highlights, and defy all possibilities with their remarkable players; but they pull off true highlights and change the focus from individual superstars to teams that win for something so much bigger than themselves.
In this season’s Rose Bowl, the undefeated Horned Frogs battled the Badgers of Wisconsin down to the last minutes of the game. After the Badgers got into the end zone to cut the TCU lead to just 21-19, they had no other choice than to go for the conversion; however, as the ball was headed toward a wide-open receiver, Tank Carder denied the pass and forced the Badgers to try an on-side kick… which was recovered by TCU--the play that basically locked in a victory for the mighty team from Texas.
So, of course, in his interviews, Coach Patterson was asked about Carder’s amazing play, his team’s great quarterback, and what this win meant to him. But something definitely stuck out in the questions that were asked by the reporters.
As anyone who knows the slightest bit about TCU and their history could tell you, the Horned Frogs are a “little guys” program. Yes, their linemen are far from “little” and their record far more than a “big” deal, but coming from the Mountain West Conference, not many college football groupies outside of the Mountain knew of this incredible team until recently when it has become nearly impossible for this fighting, purple football team to go unnoticed.
With this in mind, the surprising question that was prevalent in the interviews was if this TCU win was for “all the little guys,” (meaning all the other teams that don‘t get their turn to shine in the BCS spotlight because of the BCS rules that most college football fans know as terribly bogus). Both Gary Patterson and his 42-7 quarterback answered the same way: they won, first, for TCU, and next, for all the little guys; Coach also said something to the effect of “it was for all those guys that didn’t get their chance.”
In a sport that focuses more and more everyday on individual superstars and teams that win based on one player’s actions, you can see a lot of teams and teammates that let so much get to their heads. You would think that if anyone in college football had the right to be conceited, it would be this unstoppable Texas program; but they just won an incredibly well-fought game and gave the win to the “little guys everywhere who didn’t get their chance.”
TCU is just what football needs. Not only do they pull off game-changing highlights, and defy all possibilities with their remarkable players; but they pull off true highlights and change the focus from individual superstars to teams that win for something so much bigger than themselves.
About The Sports Paige
This blog will be pieces that I write about games, players and sports in general. I'm no professional though, so I won't have anything too juicy. I will try to make it kind of like the sports section in the news, and I will also have a frequent post about true highlights in sports, once you read one or two you will get why I call it "True Highlights". I hope you enjoy reading and thanks for visiting The Sports Paige!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)