Cougar Fans, It's Time... BYU Basketball 2014-2015 Begins!

Tyler Haws puts up a shot against SPU

T-minus 2 hours til tipoff!

Before the season officially begins, I'll throw out a few quick thoughts on the pre-season. First, I really like some of the new guys. Dalton Nixon especially impresses me. He's very versatile at both ends of the court. At one point in the Colorado School of Mines exhibition game (I'm still disappointed that the ROC didn't show up dressed as mimes, by the way), Dalton blocked a shot, went down court and hit a 3 pointer, and then headed back to the other end and blocked yet another shot. And at one point in the Seattle Pacific game, he stole the ball, went down and hit a 3-pointer, then came back to the other end of the court and tapped the ball out for an offensive rebound. I predict Nixon will get lots of minutes this year as a freshman. He seems to be adapting very well. I also like the looks of Jake Toolson and Isaac Nielson and think they could really contribute off the bench for the Cougs this year.

Second, our defense is definitely better, although there are still some kinks to work out. Sometimes it just seems sloppy and frantic (and there's no Matty Carlino around to blame anymore). Yes, SPU is a division 2 team, but they're a good division 2 team, and the numbers don't lie-- we held them to 22% shooting (only 14 points total) in the in second half and only 6 points in the last 14 minutes of the game. I'd say that's definitely an improvement over last year. We've gotta clean things up on both ends of the floor-- there's still lots to work on, but hopefully the sloppy basketball that has ensued so far is just jitters that they'll get rid of starting tonight.

Third, Tyler's even better than before. This is truly gonna be a #Hawsome year . . . I predict that he breaks Jimmer's scoring record and a whole bunch of others before the season is through. He won't get the accolades that Jimmer got because Tyler is a much quieter scorer and doesn't quite have the swag that Jimmer did, but he's still freaking amazing, and I'm going to enjoy every single second of this season until he graduates, at which point I will begin to cry uncontrollably. I really really hope he makes it to the NBA! First things first, though. Let's go beat LBSU! Go Cougs!