Y. takes a day to recharge

I saw it last night, you probably did also. The Cougars, especially the starters, looked a bit fatigued against the Utah Utes at the Huntsman Center. It was BYU’s bench that helped the Cougars get through it. With high-energy games last week against San Diego State and New Mexico, and with the illness of Jimmer Fredette, the late-season grind is starting to take its toll. That’s why coach Dave Rose gave the Cougars the day off today in preparation for Saturday’s game at TCU and next week’s Mountain West Conference tournament in Las Vegas.
“We went through a really tough stretch, not only physically but mentally,” Rose said.
“I thought today, to give them a day off, mentally would really help them. But we’ve got issues. We’ve got guys who are tired. We’ve got guys that are not feeling well . . . I just want to give them a day off and then we’ll go after it tomorrow.”
Also on Thursday, Rose ran Fredette through a gamut of questions to gage exactly how his star guard is feeling -how he feels compared to when he came back at Air Force and how he felt when he didn’t play at UTEP. In media interviews this afternoon, Rose emphasized that the coaching staff and the players still have a lot of confidence in Fredette’s ability to get back to 100 percent and return to the team’s leading scorer. Here are a few things that Rose had to say on the matter.
“He thinks that last night he felt good, he didn’t have any type of stomach issues or any type of pain. He said it felt different that he feels he hadn’t played in three or four days.”
“The last couple of days he’s just been trying to get through practice so he can get to the game. He needs to get back and he needs to get back into game shape and feel confident and comfortable.”
“I’m just expecting him to continue to feel better every day, and hopefully that’s what happens.”