VIEWPOINT

The beginning of the BYU men’s basketball season reminds me of a story my father once told me.

An Indian boy had come to the point at which it was time to be a man. Among his people, the ritual was for a boy to climb to the top of a nearby mountain, and when he returned he would return a man.

The boy started his journey up the mountain, and encountered a rattlesnake on the way. The boy was frightened at first, but was put at ease when the rattlesnake asked him for help.

“Please take me with you to the top of the mountain,” the rattlesnake pleaded.

The boy declined, saying he knew the rattlesnake would bite him. The rattlesnake assured the boy that if he was kind enough to carry him to the top of the mountain, he would not bite him.

Finally, the boy was convinced, and agreed to help the snake.
 

When they arrived at the top of the mountain, the snake immediately bit the boy.
 

“You said you weren’t going to bite me,” the bewildered boy exclaimed.

As he slithered away, the serpent calmly replied: “You knew what I was when you picked me up.”
 

And so it is with the Cougars’ returning senior starter, Jonathan Tavernari. After watching him for three years, fans know what they’re going to get. The “Brazilian Bomber” has been the same since he arrived on campus — a streaky shooter who never met a shot he didn’t like. Some nights, his ability to put the ball in the basket is electrifying. It seems like he can shoot from wherever he wants, against whomever he wants, and it goes in. These nights, the Cougars are extremely difficult to defeat.
 

Other nights, the result is the opposite. It almost feels like he tries to shoot more to make up for missed shots, which takes the BYU offense completely out of rhythm. These nights, the Cougars are dangerously vulnerable. When he’s hitting his shots, even the ones he shouldn’t take, the fans love him. When he’s not, he’s public enemy number one. We all know we’ll see a lot of both this season; why are some people still surprised? We knew what he was when we picked him up his freshman year. He tells us he’s not going to be the rattlesnake, then goes right back to taking the same careless shots. Sometimes he makes them, sometimes he doesn’t.
 

Tavernari was in typical form during the season opener last Friday against Bradley. He missed some very questionable shots and made some impressive ones. The problem is that he missed more than he made. Tavernari made only five of 18 shots, scoring 13 points against the Braves.

In contrast, junior guard Jimmer Fredette scored 25 points on only 14 attempts in the same game.
 

Tavernari’s uninhibited willingness to shoot has threatened the sanity of many a BYU fan. It has driven some that I have spoken with to say they would like to see him come off the bench. The question is, how effective would that solution really be?
 

On one hand, confidence is key for shooters. They have to be able to shoot without hesitation, and believe it’s going in. Head coach Dave Rose said this season he plans on keeping Tavernari at the power forward position instead of moving him to small forward, because he knows his senior is most comfortable and confident in the power forward position.
 

If Rose is concerned that a position change would affect Tavernari’s confidence, what would it do to him if Rose forced him to come off the bench? I imagine it would be pretty devastating to a senior player with aspirations to play professional basketball when the season is done. I have a hard time believing “JT the bench player” would be a more effective player than “JT the starter.”
 

Because having Tavernari come off the bench doesn’t seem to be a viable option, the only other question is, would this team be better without him? Let’s look at it strictly from a scoring perspective. Suppose the senior wasn’t on the team this year. Where do the Cougars find the 16 points per game he chipped in last year? (As a side note, this number is bound to increase this year.) Keep in mind they also have to replace Lee Cummard’s 17 points per game.
 

Guard Jackson Emery is a very hard worker who plays excellent defense, but hasn’t yet proven to be a consistent scorer. Fredette will already have to score more by default to make up for the loss of Cummard, but can’t be expected to score 30 points per game. The Cougars already need more production out of the post from Chris Miles, who hasn’t shown himself to be an effective scorer either. I can continue, but you get my point. Tavernari’s scoring alone is something this team desperately needs.
 

Although many view Tavernari strictly as a scorer, he has worked hard to expand his game. Last year he led the team in rebounds with 7.2 per game, and was second on the team in steals, with 49 total. Tavernari is also a vocal leader for this team, both in practice and in games.
 

Last year, in the games BYU won, he shot 44 percent. In the losses, he shot only 37 percent. It appears that as Tavernari goes, so go the Cougars.
 

With these kinds of contributions, is there any question this team needs this guy? It’s time for the fans to embrace the fact that with Tavernari, like working with Dwight Schrute (for all you “Office” fans out there), you have to take the good with the bad. It’s time for Tavernari to show us he can make the decisions to produce more good than bad this year. If he does, the sky is the limit for the Cougars.