Thoughts on BYU's NIT Run, 3/28/2013

I had a couple of posts I MEANT to do during this little run.  I'll briefly recap what you could have expected from me over the past week and a half:

Prior to Washington game: for those of you not planning on watching or attending this game, I give you one reason why you should.  Brandon Davies.  This was potentially his final game as a Cougar and after what he went through his sophomore year, for him to return to BYU shows a lot of character and you should have watched this game, if for no other reason than to thank him for coming back when it would have been easier for him to leave.

After the Washington game: with Mercer up next, BYU could actually make a push here.  They seem to be playing a lot more as a team.  Carlino sure got his act together in the second half and looks like the player many expected him to be all year.  If he can play like that in the coming game or games, BYU has a shot to make noise (if you can call an NIT run "noise").

Prior to Southern Miss game: this was a nice little run.  Now BYU has to prove they can do it on the road against a good team.  I think this was a great experience, especially for the young guys who will be expected to contribute next season.  They needed an opportunity to play more than a one-and-done situation and they got it.  With that said, I assumed they would lose by double digits and would have advised everyone to just watch with lower stress levels.

Now: TOUGH matchup ahead.  But BYU has a lot of confidence now, a lot more than they had in the first meeting against Baylor.  If they can deal with the increased athleticism and find a way to keep Heslip from hitting a schwack of threes, maybe they can keep it close enough to make the Final.

Still, I am proud of what the team has done.  They could have mailed it in like other teams in the NIT (and like it looked like they did in February) but they banded together and made the most of their opportunity.  They clearly were not an NCAA Tournament team, as I pointed out over and over again this season, but they were an NIT team and I like that they put in the effort, got the wins, and even did it on the road against a team that many thought got snubbed in the NCAA Tournament.

With the experience for the younger players and some hope with a reasonably good crop of incoming players, there is a chance for them to succeed on a slightly higher level next year.  They'll have to figure out how to rebound, particularly if Kaufusi does not rejoin the team and/or if Collinsworth doesn't come home in great shape, but they should be able to play their way onto the NCAA Tournament bubble.  Go Cougars!