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BYU Basketball: Is Tipoff marathon a Good call?

By Jacob Sorenson


I as many of you stayed up late to watch BYU lose the other night to Long Beach State. As the 11:45pm hour rolled around I was beyond giddy to see the cougars high powered offense do what it often does, and I got nothing but the opposite.

The first 5 minutes looked promising. Jumping out to a 10-2 lead the cougars werent about to fail us. Oh, were we wrong. The cougars began their turnover filled night early in the first half. The count had reached more than 22 by the final buzzer and as a fan, I was outraged. "Why in the world would a game like this intrigue me to watch?" I wondered.

The other overwhelming factor that led to the Cougars demise were free throws. No team in our modern basketball world can expect to miss 13 free throws and still win the game, let alone a come from behind victory. The cougars had more front iron, back iron, and air balled free throws than any other team I recall previously watching, that includes the BYU vs. UVU game from friday where the Wolverines shot a measly 26.8% from the field for the game and 11-17 free throws, while the cougars shot 18-27 from the line.

BYU's Jordan Chatman pushes the ball up the court against Long Beach.

Opportunities at the foul line were undoubtedly more numerous for Long Beach. The referee's in the game seemed to call any form of contact and chase fischer fouled out near the end of the second half from his aggressive play.

All in all the loss doesnt cost the cougars much, being that it is the second game of the season and we know this BYU team has talent. The cougars will regroup and lay the wood to any opponent they can shoot greater than 40% against. With a few calls and free throws made, this team could be unbeatable later on.

My greatest issue from the games Monday night turns back to why a game is played until 2 in the morning. As we know, athletes require rest and training just as much as they are asked to perform. A student athlete even more so. Course work throughout the week call for direct attention. These students, while on scholarship from the school, still have an education to obtain and also homework to be done.

My mother used to tell me in high school that going to bed late would affect my grades. That was certainly true, based on the results. I am led to wonder, how can that be any different than an athlete trying to perform at their highest level.

BYU's Nick Emery is blocked.
While I cannot show statistical data of fatigue from the game on monday, I can give you my personal eye test from games like BYU and LBSU, Hawaii and Nevada, and those that followed the midnight and later routine of play. Yes, the game in Hawaii was played at a similar time to BYU and Long Beach based on time zones, and I'm sure they gave Nevada plenty of time to acclimate to the time change, but seriously, how great can the basketball be at 2 in the morning?

It is time that the NCAA returns to a more structured schedule for basketball. While evening games are okay, there should be a time, after which, the players are not allowed to play for personal safety. Just as we ask drivers to get off the road when its late and things look drowsy, we should tell our student athletes to get off the court, or field, in order to protect them from injury, or even embarrassment.

Subtle changes within the NCAA will allow such things to take place, and we know, this is my strictly opinion based writing, but it would do us well. Without changes, we may not have high level college basketball anymore, injuries will rule the game we love, or low quality, same thing right?

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