Jared Cowley
Apparently, some of the BYU Cougars just don't care anymore. Couldn't give a hoot. And that's a good thing.
Oh, they care about some things. Like winning. And playing tough defense. And executing their offense. You know, the important things.
But the things BYU used to care about, the things that were tearing them apart earlier in the MWC season, they aren't so important anymore. Things like, "Am I getting my minutes?" or "If I shoot this and miss, will coach yank me?"
Last week, after Kevin Woodberry made Wyoming point guard Jay Straight look like Jay Leno in a BYU win, he responded to inquiries about his shooting touch (he missed 2-of-9 shot attempts in the game), and displayed his all-new don't-care attitude.
"Coach ? his thinking of it is he wants to play me at the two so I can shoot more, but then he doesn?t let me shoot," Woodberry told The Daily Herald. "As of late, I?m just going to go out and play and take the shots that I feel are good shots. If I get yanked, I get yanked. If I don?t, I don?t."
What a welcome change. I'm not saying that BYU's players should just go out and throw up whatever shot they want wherever they find themselves on the court, but at the same time, you've got to play your game. And earlier in the season, BYU wasn't doing that. They were worrying about their misses and whether they should still be shooting (Mark Bigelow) or fussing about their minutes and why they can't shoot more (Woodberry). But finally, a welcome change. And it couldn't have come at a better time.
The important thing to note here is that Woodberry is still playing within the context of BYU's offense. The difference between earlier in the season and in recent games is when within that offense, Woodberry finds himself open for a 3, he's not hesitating anymore. He's firing it up with confidence. Sometimes it doesn't work, like on Saturday when he missed seven times. But more often, it is working, like on Monday night.
After the win on Saturday, Woodberry made a pointed guarantee.
"Hey, I was gunning (Saturday)," he said. "I had some good looks ... I?ll make those at Colorado State."
And he did.
Woodberry took his shots within the flow of the offense and nailed some big shots, including a huge 3 with about four minutes left that all but sealed the deal for BYU. He finished 2-of-5, including 2-for-4 on 3s against Colorado State.
It's all about confidence. And deciding you don't really care anymore about all the little mind games. I love Woodberry's attitude. "I'm going to play my game, and if I get yanked, I get yanked."
Speaking of confidence and a newfound, improved attitude, senior Mark Bigelow has finally broken free of the doldrums he was mired in earlier in the season. He's finally the senior leader this team desperately needs. Rafael Araujo may be BYU's best player, but Bigelow's leadership, and ability to hit the 3, are invaluable.
Not that Bigelow has been shooting really well. He's still struggling. But he's taking those shots with confidence now. They'll start falling soon. And if you've noticed, in the past several games, whenever BYU needed a big bucket, Bigelow stepped up, whether it was getting to the free-throw line late against UNLV at home, or hitting the big jumper late against San Diego State. Bigelow has been clutch.
Bigelow doesn't seem to be worrying anymore about his mantle as senior leader or the shoes of Travis Hansen that he struggles to fill. He's accepted what he can contribute to this team and he's doing that.
He stopped caring about the trivial things.
The best side-effect of these changes are the results on the court. BYU is winning again and playing as well as they have all season. The Cougars' win in Colorado State was huge. Colorado State was healthy and complete, and so they were a very good team. And BYU handled them on the road.
That's got to make any BYU fan happy.
So, now it's all in BYU's hands. This team can win its last four MWC games. Three more games at home, that despite being against quality opponents (New Mexico, Air Force and Utah) are all winnable. And one tough road game against UNLV.
With an RPI in the low 40s, and sure to creep higher if BYU keeps winning, BYU has a pretty good chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament if they can reach 20 wins. A second consecutive trip to the NCAA's? Now that's something to play for.
