BYU Basketball 2016-2017

[San Juan Sun]

Notes from Boom Shakalaka:

- Aytes not suited up, walks with a limp
- Bryant not suited up. Maybe rumors of knee injury were true?
- Lots of high fives and hand slaps. Looks like they all like each other.

[Pelado]

Notes from Boom Shakalaka:

- Aytes not suited up, walks with a limp
- Bryant not suited up. Maybe rumors of knee injury were true?
- Lots of high fives and hand slaps. Looks like they all like each other.

Not on BYUtv?

[San Juan Sun]

Not on BYUtv?

Don't know.

Correction: Aytes is suited up. LJ Rose not dressed.

[San Juan Sun]

Ready for my totally unprofessional opinion/breakdown/forecast of a BYU team that I gleaned from a glorified scrimmage at Boom Shakalaka? Here goes:

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.

[jay santos]

Thanks SJS. I'm really looking forward to seeing TJ.

[KillerDog]

Notes from Boom Shakalaka:

- Aytes not suited up, walks with a limp
- Bryant not suited up. Maybe rumors of knee injury were true?
- Lots of high fives and hand slaps. Looks like they all like each other.

Aytes and LJ both practiced this week. Bryant didn't. Aytes is trying to keep working through an injured hamstring. He starts out good then declines over the course of a day or week. LJ is rehabbing his ankle on many drills but is looking good on the drills he participates in. Bryant's knee got scoped and he should be back by the season.

[Blueintheface]

Not sure if that was on purpose or not but if not, I like the autocorrect nickname: Dastrup -->Disturb.

[KillerDog]

Dastrup has improved more in the last month than anyone on the team. Mission fat is melting off of him and revealing a big man with good hands, great touch in the paint, shoots corner and elbow 3s with confidence and loves physical contact. He lacks Mika's lift, personality and confidence but he has post moves that are very solid, great range on his jumper, and can pass like a champ. He's easily the strongest big man.

Mika isn't the leader of the team in every way but I expect Dastrup to start seeing lots of court time early as a sub for Davis or Mika. Right now, Mika's clearly the best big but Dastrup, Davis and Childs are all very close to each other with Dastrup surging the most. Childs is the most interesting at the 4 because he can handle and guard so well. I saw him run the fast break 2 on 1 with Davis and he was fast with the ball. Davis ran his lane too close to the ball handler but they scored anyway.

[smokymountainrain]

My thoughts - probably not much different than SJS, but what the heck.

Mika looked really good. appears to be in great shape. oozing talent at 6'10".

Childs and Haws were up and down, but more than anybody besides perhaps Mika, showed potential and skills you don't see often at BYU. Childs is probably the best rebounder on the team and Haws looked athletic and quick - my biggest question regarding Haws, that he didn't show Friday night, was the lights out shooting and range from his senior year in HS. If he has regained his shooting or can do so, he could be special.

Emery should lead the team in scoring. He's the one guy i won't worry about - Nick will do what Nick does.

A healthy Aytes may be able to contribute to this team. he looked surprisingly good. nice little midrange shot and so big and strong.

Dastrup still needs to lose weight. seemed like the jolly fat guy, dancing when introduced, etc. But athletic for how pudgy he is. Seemed to have a nice feel - best passing big on the team and may not be close. Not really sure where is bread is buttered though. seems to do some things well, nothing really stood out about him, though other than perhaps passing. K-dog is more impressed with Dastrup than i was, but he's seen the improvement, so there's that.

Beo looked pretty good. drilled a nice corner three to begin the first scrimmage. Leifson can clearly shoot it. Didn't know Frampton was on the team and he probably shouldn't be - Lone Peak, i guess. wasn't even that good in HS and not really sure what he can do to contribute at the D1 level. oh well - hope he proves me wrong and i'll be rooting for him.

[Goatnapper'96]

Thanks for the reports from those of you who went to BoomShakaLaka. It sounds like TJ Haws has the skill set to be BYU's PG. My guess is he and LJ Rose share the position this year, if LJ gets healthy, and TJ will also probably play some wing as well. Then starting next year it will be TJ's position for the next 3 years. Nick will primarily play off the ball as will Elijah Bryant is my guess. I have nothing to go with concerning Elijah but I think it better for the team if Nick's role is not to dominate the ball. He is a gunner but I am skeptical if he is *that* good of a gunner that the team is better with him dominating the ball like Jimmer did. Davin Guinn will come off the bench as a sub along with either Leifson or Beo as the offensive shooter similar to the role Seljaas played last year.

My hope is still for the starters to be LJ, Emery, Bryant, Davis and Mika. Then bring TJ off the bench for any perimeter player and he will see starter level minutes with the rest of the perimeter minutes picked up by Guinn and Leifson/Beo. But with the injuries that is looking increasingly less likely and BYU might have no choice but to start TJ. Time will tell. For the post positions bring Dastrup and Childs off the bench for the bigs with a little Aytes and Shaw when needed. Personally, with Dastrup not redshirting this year I think Kaufusi is best served to focus on football but whatevers he will be good for some banging when needed.

I am more excited for BYU hoops than I have been since Jimmer's senior year.

[kccougar]

[Katy Lied]

Upside Down world where SJS produces the detailed bball reports, KillerDog just augments SJS posts, and kccougar posts broken pic links.

[Lost Student]

Let me help you with that:

133c4a8e6fc65a4ffc65c4affe916ff6.jpg

[smokymountainrain]

Thanks for the reports from those of you who went to BoomShakaLaka. It sounds like TJ Haws has the skill set to be BYU's PG. My guess is he and LJ Rose share the position this year, if LJ gets healthy, and TJ will also probably play some wing as well. Then starting next year it will be TJ's position for the next 3 years. Nick will primarily play off the ball as will Elijah Bryant is my guess. I have nothing to go with concerning Elijah but I think it better for the team if Nick's role is not to dominate the ball. He is a gunner but I am skeptical if he is *that* good of a gunner that the team is better with him dominating the ball like Jimmer did. Davin Guinn will come off the bench as a sub along with either Leifson or Beo as the offensive shooter similar to the role Seljaas played last year.

My hope is still for the starters to be LJ, Emery, Bryant, Davis and Mika. Then bring TJ off the bench for any perimeter player and he will see starter level minutes with the rest of the perimeter minutes picked up by Guinn and Leifson/Beo. But with the injuries that is looking increasingly less likely and BYU might have no choice but to start TJ. Time will tell. For the post positions bring Dastrup and Childs off the bench for the bigs with a little Aytes and Shaw when needed. Personally, with Dastrup not redshirting this year I think Kaufusi is best served to focus on football but whatevers he will be good for some banging when needed.

I am more excited for BYU hoops than I have been since Jimmer's senior year.

As of today, I would start Haws, Emery, Childs, Mika and Davis.

My hope would be that either Childs or Dastrup can be good enough that they supplant Davis at some point and/or Bryant is good enough to force his way in to the starting lineup. so, you have a starting lineup of either Haws, Emery, Childs, Dastrup, Mika... or Haws, Emery, Bryant, Childs, Mika... or Haws, Emery, Bryant, Dastrup, Mika.

[Crockett]

Thank you for the reports. Every morsel matters!