Cougar Tipoff

[craigoscarson]

Between watching the hometown Royals come within one base of tying up the world series I watched the Cougar Tipoff and was pleasantly surprised.

Austin and Collinsworth didn't play as precautions and Aytes had ankle surgery apparently... which makes you wonder about how effective he'll be when he's eligible...

suprises:
Luke Worthington has an offensive game (take that word anyway you want) but he actually put up points, ran the floor, had some good putbacks and had a hook shot with both hands... it was either a career game for him or a sign we might have found a decent garbage man in the post.. or another way to say it, was that his performance was good enough last night to keep his scholarship.. who knew?

Jordan Ellis will be a servicable backup to the backup point guard... the guy can handle the ball, doesn't force things too much and can play a little D (not bad for one of your 5 free players)

Nielsen, Nixon, and Andrus all fired up threes... and none of them looked terrible.. in fact Nielsen looked very nice.. Nielsen is a better freshman than Austin was... that's a good sign. He can certainly defend most 5s on our schedule... the question is can anyone help out on thestrong and quick 4s out there.

Kafusi is still an oaf on offense but he can protect the glass

Fischer is a better 2nd option than Carlino in scoring because he will work better with Tyler...

Toolson is really really good and really really looked like a true freshman out there... he is going to be solid though.. he can rebound, defend, and score (his shot wasn't on yesterday but you can see his ceiling is very high). The guy knows how to play without the ball too, he runs off screens incredibly well, he always expects the ball and knows how to get in a crease; he simply moves exceptionally well like someone that lives and breaths hoops.

[Qman]

I noticed Ellis too. He looked like the only PG on the team. When he handled the ball I wasn't waiting for him to lose it.

Nielsen looks like a keeper. Made jumpers, played aggressively, finished around the hoop and attempted to protect the rim.

Kaufusi has real talent but he just makes some many mistakes right now. He got beat back door several times. He also takes poor angle to cut off drivers.

Worthington looked like a passable big man. At his size he really needs figure out a 15 foot jumper.

Halford looked a little stronger but otherwise the same.

Haws looked thinner and really tan.

Fischer surprised me. He is a little taller and much stronger than I knew. He isn't a great ball handler but he managed to drive the hoop a few times.

Too bad Davis can't play this year.

Bartley and Winder looked the same.

[Wolverine]

Did Jordan Chatman play?

[Gunk]

So, I take it Fischer and Ellis ran point?

Not surprised about Kaufusi. Might be smart to redshirt him this year.

Had no idea about Aytes' surgery. That doesn't bode well at all. Hopefully he'll be back to full strength come January. But that's two guys who are supposed to be key players running around on bum wheels.

Nice to hear Worthington is putting in the effort. If he can come in and protect the paint while chipping in a few each night that would great.

[SpiffCoug]

If BYUtv has it available, I'll watch it tonight and share my observations as well.

[Qman]

Chatman looked really tentative. He has size and quickness. But he looked like he should be slashing but he didn't really attack that I saw.

[Wolverine]

Chatman looked really tentative. He has size and quickness. But he looked like he should be slashing but he didn't really attack that I saw.

Possible redshirt?

[superchargedcougar]

Kaufusi was looking out of it for sure last night. Apparently he has been sick and it has been making it hard to breath. Like through a coffee straw hard. also he had his knee all wrapped up last night afterward. I think the whole put on tons of weight for football thing may have also messed him up a little. Whatever happens I expect him to be a big time part of BYU's future even if not this year. He seems to have decent instincts though. give him some good training and he could become dominant with a few more pounds of lean muscle on him

[rblack]

Overall, I was impressed.
Worthington looked a lot better. He impressed me with his improved court awareness.
Fischer looked good overall, based solely on his performance Wednesday, I don't see him as a starter. Maybe I'm missing something, but I thought Halford handled the ball better.
Ellis looked like a decent backup point guard.
Haws looked like he might be able to play defense.
Winder had some very good moments.
Davis made me wish he was eligible this year.
Halford distributed the ball very well, especially in the second half. I bet he sees a lot of minutes at the point, especially if Collingsworth doesn't come back immediately.
Neilson looked good, unpolished but, good. I could see him starting at some point this season.
Kafusi played well in the first half. In the second, he didn't play as well. He went to the locker room for a few minutes in the second half; I don't know if that was related. Overall, he looked like he would be good as a backup.
Nate Austin did not play; however, I noticed that he was always talking to the guys as they came off the floor. I could see him being a coach somewhere in a few years.
Given only the players that played and based solely on Wednesday's scrimmage, my starting lineup would be:
Halford
Winder
Haws
Worthington
Neilson

I would start Davis over Worthington except he isn't eligible this year.

If everybody is healthy, I could see the following lineup.
Collingsworth
Winder
Haws
Austin
Neilson

The most promising thing I saw was that we have legitimate options at the 4 and 5 when Nate Austin and company get into foul trouble.
We have two (or more) legitimate options at every position.

[stuckinbig10country]

I wouldn't look for many players to get red shirted, especially since Aytes is now likely out for the year. BYU is already over the scholarship limit for the next 2 years, and Aytes will take up the last one in 3 years now.

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