The men's basketball team at BYU has great expectations for this season, and rightly so.
The Cougars return four starters from last year's NCAA tournament team, including Jimmer Fredette, the preseason MWC Player of the Year and an All-Conference Team selection, and Jonathan Tavernari, who joins Fredette on the All-Conference Team. BYU was picked to finish first in the MWC, garnering nearly every first-place vote in the preseason poll, and just brought in a freshman class that includes Tyler Haws, a two-time Mr. Basketball Award winner as a high-school standout in Utah.
Still, the Cougars have a black cloud hanging over a season filled with so many expectations. BYU has made three consecutive NCAA Tournaments, no small task for most schools, but was bounced in the first round in all three appearances.
Although the losses to Xavier in 2007 and to Texas A&M in 2008 and 2009 were different games with different comparisons, one aspect in each of the games was similar: BYU was dominated by an athletic big man. In three separate yet superb performances, Xavier's Justin Doellman (6' 9") and Texas A&M's Josh Carter (6' 7") and Bryan Davis (6' 9") took it to the Cougars, each scoring more than 20 points and grabbing at least 5 rebounds. In each case, a big man scored well above his career average. In each case, a superior interior athlete made BYU pay for its lack thereof.
But this year, BYU has Brandon Davies.
The 6' 9" freshman from Provo, Utah played his first game in a BYU uniform on Friday night. The numbers weren't spectacular (3 points, 3 rebounds, 1 block). In fact, if you take into account the two turnovers, four personal fouls and the paltry 1 for 4 shooting from the charity stripe the numbers look downright awful. That's why, to really see how Davies can change the Cougars' fortunes against big, athletic teams, you had to have actually seen him play.
His lone field goal came with about 14:00 left in the first half, a put back from a Fredette miss. This wasn't an ordinary put back; you just had to see the freshman watch the ball in the air for a split second then suddenly break towards the basket, making three quick strides before elevating and laying the ball in -- all in one smooth motion. It's the first play in KSL's highlight:
Video Courtesy of KSL.com
The block came just over a minute later; an emphatic, athletic block of a Bradley player driving toward the basket. I can't think of another big man BYU has had in the past five years that can make either of those plays. Add in the fact that all three of those rebounds were offensive, and you get the picture: Brandon Davies has talent.
If BYU hopes to compete against Arizona, SDSU, UNLV and whatever gets thrown at them in the Tournament this year, they need that athleticism in the post. They need the big put backs, blocks and offensive rebounds. They need Davies.
