I get that the majority of posters on this board are down on BYU basketball. I get that winning just over 20 games last year was considered a bad year by most (especially given the way that the team finished the year). I obviously didn't like the way the year ended either.

I also realize that I'm considered by many on this board to be overly optimistic. Nevertheless, I am not nearly as pessimistic about this year's team as this board appears to be.

We actually played Alabama fairly tough. Alabama is a very talented team with a good coach. They are fairly disciplined. This game was at a neutral site. We were within seven points with under 10 minutes to go and there were many times that we were a shot away from making it closer. Alabama could not pull away. This despite another really bad shooting effort by BYU. this Byu team needs time to become more proficient at running this NEW offense. I believe that as the year goes along they will get better as the players get to a level where they are thinking less and reacting more. Hopefully this will occur before WCC play begins. I think this team has the potential to be a much more consistent shooting team.

I also think that both offensively and defensively these players need time to adjust to new roles given the unanticipated absence of Nick Emery (most thought he was going to be playing this year -- even a week or so before the start of the season).

I believe that this team already is playing much better defense than they did last year. There seems to be more energy on that side of the ball.

I'm excited to see where this team will be a month or two from now. I really believe that they will get better with time and this could be a much better year than many on this board anticipate.