Last night I went to the Cougar Tip-Off (with a girl mom... yes it was sort of a date... aren't you proud of me?) And I just wanted to share some of my thoughts about what I saw. First and foremost it was great to see Coach Rose on the sideline. He got a huge standing ovation from the crowd. It was weird though because his hair was white white and lost all of its color. For those who don't know during the off season he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He had surgery that got rid of the cancer but it definitely took a toll on his body. He is something like one out of 5 million who have beat this type of cancer. He was also super skinny, but seemed energetic.
Now on to what I saw. The Cougs this year are DEEP. They have a lot of talent and could easily run the table in the MWC if they play their game. As a team they were pushing the ball up the court on every possession. This is the style that Dave Rose likes to play, but the hard things in years past was that by the end of the game our guys would get tired i.e. Lee Cummard never could finish off a game. However with this team Rose can go to his bench without having a huge dropoff in production to rest his star players for the end of the game.
Jimmer looked, as many expected, freaking awesome. He had 22 points including the buzzer beater game winner. He was getting into the lane and creating havoc on the floor. His shot looks dead on. I can't see any reason why he want win MWC player of the year.
Emery was a stud as well. He was hitting the three ball and playing stellar defense. His play of the game came when Jimmer had a fast break and he picked him clean on the dribble. He was everywhere on defense though getting five steals during the srimmage.
JT started off really hot. It seemed like he couldn't miss. In the second hald it looked like he was trying to score as much and really just playing his role. He had a sweet baseline drive at the end of the game though to tie it up before Jimmer hit the game winner.
Chris Miles looks really improved. He was hitting everything that he generally missed last year and he seemed to fit into the offense better.
For the rest of the guys i was really impressed with Charles Abouo. He is super athletic and was playing shutdown defense. He is going to be key for the cougars with teams trying to key in on Jimmer and JT. Davies the true freshman looked awkward at times, but had probably the best play of the game when he dunked over Miles and was fouled. Other than that most of the players look improved from last year. One thing that was frustrating was free throws. I know it is the college level, but they missed a lot. We can't win if we don't hit our free throws. Hopefully they get a lot of practice in.
Overall I was pleased with what i saw and i think it is going to be another MWC Championship for the Cougs, and another invite to the dance. Just please oh please win one game!
