Well, I had the opportunity to attend an open to the public practice for BYU. It wasn't much, more of a glorified shoot-around. But I did take a paper and pen to jot a few things down. Here are some thoughts.
Who Is A Big?
There was a particular shooting drill where the guards went to one side and the forwards to the others. Kyle Collinsworth and Brock Zylstra went with the bigs. Stephen Rogers went with the guards. Kyle plays the 4 now, so I suppose that makes same sense. He needs more work on his inside game (which he actually uses) than his outside (which he never uses, lacks confidence, he can shoot though). I imagine Zylstra just went to even the numbers out? Rogers going with the guards makes sense. Despite being the 3rd tallest man on the active roster, he does most of his scoring from the outside, so that is where he needs to be. Maybe a useless observation, but one that I made.
The Looks For Next Season
Redshirt PG Anson Winder looks chubby. His shot looks as flat as Zylstra's. Neither of them could blame fatigue for that. Nick Martineau has a very sweet, smooth shot. He definitely doesn't have Jimmer's range, but once he got warmed up, he was hitting more threes than anyone not named Jimmer.
The Role Players
The recent shooting woes of Stephen Rogers and Jackson Emery have been much discussed by Cougar Nation. Everybody knows they are struggling of late. What caught me by surprise: they know it too. Rogers' body language after missing a shot was not good. It was easy to tell he was not confident when he put the ball up and shrugged his shoulders a bit, looking disgusted, as he saw it clang. Jackson Emery wasn't quite as obvious with his frustration. Anyone who has spent significant time in a gym shooting hoops knows the drill: when you aren't shooting well, you grab a rebound, dribble it around for a minute, talking to yourself. Then you gather yourself, take your time, and shoot again. If you miss that you grab the rebound, move in a couple of steps and repeat. Jackson did that several times. He knows he's struggling. So does Rogers. If they miss shots early in the game, they might be done for the duration. Judging by what I saw, people should proceed picking BYU with caution.
Other Observations
Zylstra loves to play to the crowd: he kept trying to find ways to get the "biggest" cheers, even while Jimmer was effortlessly chucking in 27 footers. He threw down a couple of nice dunks, which was about the only time he put the ball in the hoop: he is a terrible shooter. Jimmer seriously does not look like he puts any effort in. He shoots the ball from 25 feet away like it's a 10-foot jump shot. Abouo is just as inconsistent shooting in practice as he is in games. He had 5 or 6 in a row that were just beautiful: good rotation, good arc, straight, and swished. Then he had 5 or 6 that clanged off the side of the rim, wobbling through the air, with the brightest spot being it would be easy to get an offensive rebound off of it bouncing so awkwardly. Noah Hartsock is a lot more agile than I thought he would be in person. Also, he doesn't dunk when he is wide open in practice, so do not expect him to do it in games. James Anderson has no body control. It just amazes me. Zero control. When he tries to change direction it looks like his bones turn into jelly and his body just kind of flubs around.
Who Else Was There?
Brandon Davies was there on the bench. Matt Carlino was not. BYU sports guys Greg Wrubell, Dick Harmon, Darnell Dickson, and Jason Franchuk were all there courtside: Franchuk is skinnier than I thought, Harmon was fatter than I remember. Diamond Leung of ESPN.com was there: he is as short as you think he is! Marius Payton of the Mtn. Network was there. Craig "The Hair" Thompson was taking in the sights as well. What a doofus!
So, I have my concerns about Jackson and Stephen. Their heads aren't right and if they miss some shots, they might lose all confidence. But as far as not looking the part, which is everyone's criticism of BYU: St. John's came out right after BYU finished. They look more athletic, but they don't look like basketball players. It looked like a bunch of dudes I wouldn't want to play football with, but wouldn't mind stepping out on the court with. So BYU definitely shouldn't be intimidated by them! They had a big, black giant come out with tats looking like a bad dude, must have been 6'10" and 250 pounds and cut. Just a very thick dude. He has having more trouble walking without tripping than Anderson does. He had to do every drill twice until he was excused from it while everyone else was one and done in getting it right. Nobody else on the team looked any bigger than Hartsock. I hope they can get past Gonzaga because BYU could wipe the floor with them! (I have Gonzaga picked in my bracket and felt justified after watching them warm up)
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