Basketball Media Day

[BlueK]

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/five-minut ... 48523.html

They pick us 3rd in WCC

The WCC is going to have three really good teams. This is a good thing. But I'm not convinced we finish third, although I know SMC was good last year and brings everyone back.

Would you agree that there's no way the WCC gets 3 teams in the tourney? Even if we go undefeated in our OOC games, I think we need to finish #1 or #2 in the conference or then it comes down to winning the conference tourney. Otherwise we're out.

No, I wouldn't agree with that. They'll take as many teams as have the resume that deserves to get in. They are very consistent on this point over the years across all leagues.

Now there are reasons why it may be unlikely to happen, but I guarantee you if you have the situation this year where all three teams are really good and therefore totally beat up their non-conference schedules, pick up a few key wins from that, and then none of them lose to any of the other WCC teams, they will all get in .

[Mars]

IMO, BYU will be better this year than last year, but not "for sure in the Tourny" good. More likely "probably in the Tourny" good, with a smaller chance of being solidly on the bubble.

[BlueK]

Let's look at the players from last year compared to this year. These six are on both teams:
Nick Emery (espn top 100)
Kyle Davis
Corbin Kaufusi
Jamal Aytes
Braiden Shaw
Davin Guinn

So then here are the rest from last year from most important to least, IMO:
Kyle Collinsworth
Chase Fischer
Zac Seljaas
Nate Austin (after this it's hard to pull more names that had much, if any impact)
Jordan Chatman
Jakob Hartsock
Jake Toolson

The rest of the players this year:
Eric Mika (espn top 100)
TJ Haws (espn top 100)
Payton Dastrup (espn top 100)
Elijah Bryant
Yoeli Childs (espn top 100)
LJ Rose (espn top 100)
Steven Beo
Zach Frampton
Colby Leifson

The difference between lists 1 and 2 is pretty vast. Will it take some time for them to get the most out of their chemistry? Yes. Fortunately the non-conference schedule has a good mix of quality teams that are good enough to give us a resume building win while still being beatable by this team. Because of the vastly improved overall talent, I don't see that much of a problem for us getting to the tournament again. I really don't. St. Mary's actually has a more difficult road, IMO, by virtue of the fact that their non-conference schedule is terrible. They have Dayton on the road and Stanford on the road along with all the rest being really bad teams at home. If they don't get a win over Dayton they're going to struggle to have anything on their resume other than whatever they can get against Gonzaga and BYU.

[nuk13]

[quote="BlueK"]Let's look at the players from last year compared to this year. These six are on both teams:
Nick Emery (espn top 100)
Kyle Davis
Corbin Kaufusi
Jamal Aytes
Braiden Shaw
Davin Guinn

So then here are the rest from last year from most important to least, IMO:
Kyle Collinsworth
Chase Fischer
Zac Seljaas
Nate Austin (after this it's hard to pull more names that had much, if any impact)
Jordan Chatman
Jakob Hartsock
Jake Toolson

The rest of the players this year:
Eric Mika (espn top 100)
TJ Haws (espn top 100)
Payton Dastrup (espn top 100)
Elijah Bryant
Yoeli Childs (espn top 100)
LJ Rose (espn top 100)
Steven Beo
Zach Frampton
Colby Leifson

The difference between lists 1 and 2 is pretty vast.

Time will tell but I am optimistic about this statement.

[Gunk]

It will come down to defense, particularly perimeter defense. If you go back and look at Rose's best teams, they ranked well defensively. Rose knows how to score. It's defense.

I'm not worried so much about post defense. We have plenty of big bodies there that can guard the paint. I'm worried about covering the perimeter.

[scott715]

Boom Shakalaka Report http://www.cougarboard.com/board/messag ... d=16786469

The team was broken up into three 5 man teams that round robin scrimmaged, so we saw about 10 mins of each player. I will break down what I saw from each player:

Emery - Acted like the number one scoring option. Hit a couple of threes, ran the offense. Pretty much what you expect from him, just with more confidence (is that possible?).

Davis - Played within himself more than last year. Had a nice tip in for a bucket, had a couple of post sequences where he got a decent shot, rather than forcing something up. Solid defense/rebounding.

Mika - Besides making me want to yell "I must break you!!!" every time I see him (don't worry, didn't say it out loud), he looks great. Best big man athlete since Plaisted? In his second scrimmage he had several nice plays near the basket. Big key for him will be playing smart and avoiding foul trouble.

Davin Guinn - active, doesn't dominate the ball, had a nice bucket on a little leaner in the lane. Will get reserve minutes but he's a good athlete.

Frampton/Lefison/Beo - All three freshman guards had nice moments. Not sure any of them will be a complete replacement for Seljaas. None have Zach's height, but all seems slightly more athletic. But can they shoot like Zach? Maybe not, but both Leifson and Beo looked promising.

TJ Haws - By the end of the year, he might be our best player. I have never seen him play in person, and I know he will struggle a bit by being so slender. But man, he is a ballplayer. Smart, cool, skilled, and has a killer instinct. Whereas Emery is a gunslinger, Haws is an assassin. Jumped passing lanes and created a few deflections. Can handle the ball too, was able to penetrate several times. I am trying to temper my expectations for him because of his post-mission status and his inexperience, but I'm having a hard time not being really excited about him.

Yoeli Childs - Better athlete than I expected (maybe my fault for the expectation?). Very confident taking medium range jumpers and jump hooks. Nice blend of athleticism and skill, and he played hard. He will be excellent coming off the bench as a #3/4 big. He will have to overcome a learning curve, and I wonder how he will fare against the improved athleticism of college basketball. But he is not a stiff, he will be a nice player.

Dastrup - Love this guy, bigger than I expected but also more athletic than reputed. He is a big man, very strong. Had no problem banging down low but also was clearly comfortable stepping out and shooting corner 3s in rhythm. Played hard too. And he has a good personality, shook a ton of the fans hands, played around with people, just looked like a really likable kid. Learning curve will be his issue too. I'm guessing that he will be the 1st big off the bench when Mika gets in foul trouble or the opposition has a good 5, I think Yoeli looks a little bit more like the guy who will get PT when we need a 4 on the court.

Braiden Shaw - more athletic than I appreciated. Played good defense, fronted the opposing bigs well and denied entry passes. Missed an easy layup. He will see minimal time unless there are injuries.

Aytes - First off, he is huge. Could play tackle on the football team. Pretty defined too. Not the most explosive leaper, but actually looked healthy. Had a few nifty moves and decent jumpers. I can see him getting time as the 5th big. Better than I thought he would be.

Bryant - Did not dress. Taller than TJ and Nick. Hopefully he gets well soon.

LJ Rose - Also did not dress.

Corbin Kaufusi - Obviously, did not dress. He's a big, big man.

Walkons - I don't know any of their names. As a group they took a ton more warm up shots than anyone else. Can't knock the hustle.

If I had to guess about the eventual rotation:

Guards: Emery, Bryant, Rose, Haws get the bulk of the minutes. Davin Guinn will play defense when needed. Whichever of the 3 freshmen shoot/defend the best may get some spot time.

Forwards: Mika and Davis will start. Disturb and Childs will each get minutes, probably matchup dependent. Aytes is the 5th big, Shaw is probably the last man to get time, especially when Corbin joins the team.

I don't know how we'll fare in the WCC as Gonzaga and St. Mary's are both supposed to be really good. But I feel like this will eventually be a very good team. Losing KC leaves huge shoes to fill, but I think we have the talent to eventually get there. I do think we'll be more balanced than last year's team.

[SpiffCoug]

Great report!

[nuk13]

Thanks Scott for this "great report"! There will be a learning curve but I remain optimistic especially after your report.