HB Arnett's 801 372 - 0819 <mailto:hbarnett@fiber.net> hbarnett@fiber.net 1391 West 800 South - Orem, Utah 84058 Vol. 35, Issue 24 - January 5, 2015 Click Here To Order or Renew Your Subscriptions <http://cougarclicks.com/product/Order-Cougar-Sportsline?ID=3173> BYU 99 USF 68 Eighteen Years Later, Shoot the Three and Play Some "D" Prediction Finally Comes True Steve Cleveland was finally right. It took 18 years but when Cleveland took the BYU basketball helm coming out of Fresno City College, he promised that BYU would shoot the three and play some "D". That is exactly what the Cougars did against San Francisco last Saturday night in War Memorial Gym in the City by the Bay. When it mattered, in the first half of play against the Dons, BYU blistered the net from beyond the arc. The Cougars hoisted up 15 shots from distance and made 11 of those attempts. For the math wizards, that is shooting lights out at a .733 clip. The dazzling display from distance cooled dramatically in the second half for BYU as the Cougars only shot 4 of 13 from beyond the arc for a very cool (literally) .303 percentage. The cool down can be attributed to the blow out and sit down in the second half of guys who had the hot hands in the first 20 minutes of play. Chase Fischer led all Cougars in scoring from distance where he went 6 for 9 from beyond the arc. Tyler Haws and Jake Toolson both hit 3 of 4 each and Anson Winder was 3 of 6. Retraction.Kinda Last week in the letter I was probably a little too hard on Fischer saying that he needed to apply Icy Hot to his shoulder for taking 40 more three-point shots than any other Cougar and not giving him credit for his ten makes against Chaminade. I take it all back. He is definitely a contributor to this team and their current 13-4 record. He is also BYU's Sonar for the season. With the season now half over, fairly or not, how Fischer shoots it from beyond the arc is a very good barometer of BYU's wins and losses. In the four losses this season, he shot just .225 in those contests. He was 3-9 against SDSU, 2-11 against Purdue, 1-5 versus Utah and 1-6 against Gonzaga. The good news for BYU basketball fans, based on this past weekend's showing against Santa Clara (81-46 win) and San Francisco, Fischer appears to be finding his stroke. When he is on so is BYU. I call him the MCWH (Matt Carlino with Hair) factor for the Cougars. When Carlino and Fischer were and are hot from the arc, so was and is BYU. The TFGr (Take for Granted) factor for BYU is Tyler Haws. Several paragraphs have been written so far without mentioning that he led BYU in scoring in both wins this past weekend. What's new? Haws, who is still not 100 percent recovered from his ankle issue, was the Cougars' leading scorer in both contests. He hit for 14 against Santa Clara in limited action and had 22 facing USF. While we BYU basketball fans may take Haws for granted, opposing teams definitely don't. They still game plan for him. The fact that he plays through all those defensive schemes and still gets his points makes him one of BYU's all-time greats. Love the Alphabet The RTDOSRK (Recurring Triple-Doubles on surgically repaired knee) factor this season is Kyle Collinsworth. He chalked up his third triple-double of the season against San Francisco. His first was against Hawaii in early December. He followed that up later in the year with another against Gonzaga and hit for the Trifecta against USF. He had 12 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists in the contest. Collinsworth is the only player in the nation this season to put up more than one triple-double this season. According to NCAA stats, the record for most triple-doubles in a season is four. That record is shared by Michael Anderson (Drexel), Brian Shaw (UCSB), Jason Kidd (Cal) and Stephane Lasme (UMass). For BYU, only four triple-doubles have been accomplished before Collinsworth's feats of this season. Those belonged to Kresimir Cosic, Danny Ainge, Fred Roberts and Michael Smith. So what about the MVP Factor for this team? If you had to vote today, would you choose Tyler Haws or Kyle Collinsworth? If scoring is the sole criterion for selecting the Cougar's most valuable player or most visible player, hands down it would be Haws. You can't win if you can't score and Haws has proven that he can indeed score the ball. There are those, however, and I include myself in that category, depending on the game, that say Collinsworth is the MVP of this team. That isn't based on scoring because the 6-6 point guard is fourth on the team in that category. He is, however, first on the team by a wide margin in assists dished out, rebounding and steals. And yes, he also leads the team by a wide margin in turnovers. It would be interesting to see how the turnovers versus time the ball is in his hand would compare to other team members. That would require 5 or more stop watches and the patience to actually time how long the ball is in each player's hands during a game. And it would also require somebody who actually has time on their hands to do the task. This would be a different stat than turnovers per minutes played. Lost Interest Actually, this is a project I might take on after the season concludes. Of course that would mean that I would have to watch 30 games at least 13 times to clock how many minutes each player on the roster had the ball in their hands and then divide those minutes by turnovers made. On second thought, I've suddenly lost interest in deciding just who the MVP of BYU basketball is. But if I still cared, I think a case can be built for Collinsworth on reverse rationale. If you have watched BYU basketball long enough, you know that there is one thing that Dave Rose and BYU defenders absolutely hate. That is a quick point guard that can penetrate and get to the rim whenever he wants. The most recent example of that problem was last week against Portland and their little guard that BYU couldn't Collinsworth isn't little and he isn't necessarily super quick, but he can get to the basket and rim almost at will. It is that ability that is making Haws and all others on the team better offensively. Next up for BYU will be Pepperdine and LMU this coming week. The Cougars will face the Waves on Thursday and the Lions on Saturday. Both teams are not having what you would call spectacular seasons so far this year. Pepperdine is currently 9-5 on the season and 2-1 in WCC play with wins over LMU on the road and Pacific at home. Loyola is 4-11 on the year and 0-3 in conference play. The Cougars are now 13-4 on the season and 3-1 in WCC play. A Rose Retraction and Other Retro Reflections A few weeks back I described Dave Rose as a "Roll it Out" coach. That was not a positive comment on his coaching abilities. This is: Three games ago Rose made a major lineup adjustment and began playing a four guard lineup of Haws, Collinsworth, Winder and Fischer. It allowed him to get his best four offensive players on the floor at the same time. The initial results are positive with wins against Portland, Santa Clara and San Francisco. The same positive results should be expected this week against Pepperdine and LMU. If the four guard lineup works against St. Mary's on the road in two weeks, then Rose should be the WCC coach of the year, hands down. Another description of Rose is that he is a "Plug and Play" coach. That is a positive. No matter what players he loses from the roster, he always seems to be able to find new players to plug into his system that can play. Next season will be a prime example of "Plug and Play" for Rose. He will lose Tyler Haws and if he continues his current pace of play, he will also lose Kyle Collinsworth to the play for pay ranks in either the NBA or Europe. There will be no four guard offense next season. Rose prefers to have a low post scoring presence and he will plug in redshirts Kyle Davis and Jamal Aytes next season. He also will plug in Jake Toolson to pick up part of the scoring load from Haws. Where the "Plug and Play" equation gets sticky is at the point if indeed Collinsworth goes pro. Collinsworth as a senior returning point would be exhilarating, but costly this season. For him to return, it would mean that he has a very average last half of this season. At his age, if possible, it's time for him to start earning a paycheck. That leaves the point options for next season between Cory Calvert, Jordan Chatman and Nick Emery. Calvert and Emery are both returning from LDS missions. Emery returns this week <http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865618602/BYU-basketball-signee-and-form er-Lone-Peak-star-Nick-Emery-to-return-home-early-from-mission.html?pg=all> (click for details) because of ongoing medical issues. The word from his family is that he will be good to go for the coming season health wise. Chatman is currently redshirting this season after returning from his mission last spring. Not only will Rose "Plug and Play" next season, he will also have to pare, as in shed some players from the roster and scholarships. The Cougars lose Tyler Haws, Nate Austin, Anson Winder, Skyler Halford and Josh Sharp to graduation. Leaving for LDS mission should also take Dalton Nixon and Ryan Andrus off the 13 man NCAA allowed scholarship roster next season, but Rose is going to have to do something because he still has too many scholarship players for too few roster spots. Here is a list of those that will be back next season and their class: Jamal Aytes, Jr. Frank Bartley, Jr. Jordan Chatman, Fr. Kyle Davis, Jr. Chase Fischer, Sr. Corbin Kaufusi, So. Isaac Neilson, So. Jake Toolson, So. Luke Worthington, Jr. Nick Emery, Fr. Jakob Hartsock, Fr. Cory Calvert, So. Braiden Shaw, Fr. That's 13 scholarships. If Kyle Collinsworth does come back for his senior season, you can be sure that Rose will find a grant in aid for him. Zac Seljaas, the 6-7 wing from Bountiful HS also signed in November and if Rose is planning on him for next season's roster, something or somebody has to give. ICING KICKERS AND FAN BASES We saw a good example of icing a kicker exhibited by Bronco Mendenhall during the Miami Beach Bowl game against Memphis. It didn't work. It hardly ever does. Click here <http://freakonomics.com/2011/11/13/football-freakonomics-why-even-ice-a-kic ker/> for an interesting and intriguing study done on icing kickers. There isn't any scientific or empirical evidence available on icing a fan base. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence, however, to indicate that is exactly what Bronco Mendenhall and Kyle Whittingham are currently doing to their football fan bases. Both BYU and Utah fan bases are anxiously awaiting for some sort of resolution on just who will be their football coaches for next season. Just when rumors suggest that there will be big changes at both schools, another timeout is called and the waiting for resolution continues. There have been plenty of rumblings and rumors indicating that both coaches will not be coaching at their respective schools next season. All of those rumblers putting out the rumors insist that they have good to impeccable sources saying that change is imminent. Bronco leaving BYU and Whittingham leaving Utah is just a chip shot field goal away if we could just get the icing of the kicker done with. You can't have as much smoke as has been blowing in the wind about coaching changes without have a little fire somewhere in the background. There is no doubt that there is leverage, loyalty and mostly money involved in all the smoke filled rooms that are mentioned in the rumors. Here's my bottom line: Whether you are Mendenhall or Whittingham, you aren't going to go coach anywhere else unless you have an actual job offer from another school on the table. Neither does, according to my sources. They may have thought they did or wish they did, but head coaching jobs at decent programs are all filled. What isn't filled is the recruiting classes for both schools. All the posturing and posing to date really doesn't mean anything because the recruiting dead period has been in effect during the last couple of weeks. Recruiting will bust open again this week. That will bring immediate resolution and definitive answers as to who will be the head coaches at Utah and BYU next season. TV Timetable BYU vs. Pepperdine Thursday, January 8 at Provo Tipoff: 9:00 pm MST TV: ESPNU BYU vs. Loyola Marymount Saturday, January 10 at Provo Tipoff: 7:00 pm MST TV: BYUtv BYU vs. Pacific Thursday, January 15 at Stockton Tipoff: 9:00 pm MST TV: ESPNU BYU vs. St. Mary's Saturday, January 17 at Moraga Tipoff: 9:00 pm MST TV: ESPN2 BYU vs. San Diego Saturday, January 24 at San Diego Tipoff: 2:00 pm MST TV: Root Sports, CSN and Time Warner Cable If you also want a PDF copy of this issue, email and request it.
