It's my favorite time of the year!!! The BYU Basketball Cougar Tipoff last night was AWESOME. And I must begin my commentary by admitting that I take back what I said about Josh Sharp being boring and not contributing much to the team. He definitely proved me wrong by providing the most exciting moment of the evening. Check out this sick dunk:
Well played, Josh. Well played. As Davies said about the dunk: "He catches you sleeping. He'll put one on your head." True dat.
Matt Carlino from downtown
Unfortunately, it looks likeStephen Rogers is officially done with his basketball career. I'm really sad about that, but not too surprised, considering all the injuries he has had. But the thing that made me saddest of all is that he wasn't even at the Tipoff last night. So on my autographed poster that I got after the game, the picture of Stephen is the only one without a signature to go with it. :(
The thing that scared me the most about last night was how many injuries appear to already be plaguing the team, and the season hasn't even started yet. Is Brandon Doman calling their plays? Just kidding . . . But they've completely lost Chris and Stephen, and Anson Winder didn't play last night because of an ankle injury. After the game, Nate Austin had two gigantic ice packs strapped to his shoulders, and Ian Harward put a big brace on his leg. Heck, even one of the cheerleaders left the court in tears, cradling her arm after a fall. I also had two heart-stopping moments when Matt Carlino and Brandon Davies hit the court hard and didn't pop right back up. It looked like Carlino smacked his left elbow really hard because he was rubbing it for a few minutes, but thankfully, he kept on playing and seemed fine. Brandon, however, sat out the entire second half after falling on a hard foul. He claims he's fine, though, and it was just a precaution. It seemed really rough for an exhibition game-- I hope they were just full of too much adrenaline and can play safer now that it's out of their systems.
Tyler & Brock
Tyler Haws was definitely the overall standout of the evening. He led the winning blue team with 26 points and made all his free throws, of course. :) He now dons jersey #3, which totally threw me off . . . although maybe that means he's just planning to channel his inner Kyle Van Noy. haha. Tyler looked good. Really good. He has even been named one of the team captains (along with Brandon and Brock), despite being only a sophomore and fresh off the mish. Mark my words: He is going to have a really special year this year. He may even have Jimmer-like potential. I'm stoked!
Raul Delgado & Craig Cusick
Matt Carlino still seems a little bit rushed and frantic on the court, but he has improved. I think his play is a little bit more controlled, which is really good. He had 19 points and 8 assists last night. If he can keep up those kind of numbers consistently throughout the season, he (and the team) will be in really good shape.
Our two new JC transfers, Auggie Ambrosino and Raul Delgado, both looked really good, too. They seem to fit in with the team well and both had some great moments on the court. They are definitely fun to watch.
My other highlight of the evening came when I was in line getting an autographed poster. Craig Cusick was first at the table. He thanked my niece and I for coming and asked me if I am a BYU student. I said, "No, I'm an alum." He seemed surprised and said, "Really?" I said, "Yeah, I graduated a long time ago" (Looking back, that probably made it sound like I'm about 50 . . . but in my defense, it has been a really long 4 years!) He said, "Well, you definitely don't look like it!" I just laughed and said, "Thanks." So thank you, Craig, for making me feel like I'm not an old maid for at least one brief moment. We should be friends. :)
First exhibition game is tomorrow! Can't wait!
Brandon for two!
Tyler takes it in while Brock imitates an alligator.
Very intimidating.
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