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PROVO — Coming off a busy December full of victory and defeat, the BYU Cougar basketball team prepares to enter not only a new year but a full slate of West Coast Conference games.
As the Cougars enter league play with a 1-1 start, head coach Dave Rose reflected on the progress his team has made through a tough December schedule and is proud of the place his team currently sits despite some challenges.
“This has been a challenging season because of some of the injuries we’ve had,” said Rose. “We’re in a period where we have to find a way to be really successful with a different group of guy than we had planned.”
The change in strategy has often come this season in the form of playing a small lineup full of what at times has been a four-guard lineup on the floor mainly due to the lack of consistent production from big men inside. Despite adjustments, Rose is confident the small lineup can serve as a benefit for his team, especially when the bigs are able to catch up in production and be implemented into the strategy, leaving many lineup options to throw at and confuse opponents.
“I would like to continue to kind of use it as maybe a variation of how we play, but right now I think it’s something that we’ll see a lot of,” Rose said. “Hopefully as guys get a little more experience and as we get a little more healthy, we’ll be able to use it a little more sparingly than we are right now.”
Rose enjoys his small attacking lineup but also pointed out that his team is so often on attack mode that a switch in mindset can be hard to accomplish at times, leading to some closer finishes than otherwise needed.
“We’re in a situation right now where we’re always on attack, and we need to manage the last three or four minutes of a game where we have that mix of being able to attack but still being able to manage the clock,” he said.
One of the main reasons the Cougars are able to run such a small lineup is due to the dynamic play of guard Kyle Collinsworth, who Rose says is one of the best rebounding guards in the country.
Collinsworth, who was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week, was only the fourth player in BYU history to record a triple double and has been a big asset rebounding the ball for a team often running out a small lineup.
Heading into a stretch of conference road games after not leaving the state of Utah the entire month of December, Rose knows he’s got a confident group looking forward to the challenge and is anticipating seeing how the younger players react to these new situations.
One of these new players was this week’s player guest, freshman forward Isaac Neilson. Neilson, who returned from an LDS mission and joined the team a year ago, is seeing his first action this season, bringing what Rose describes as a needed ability to score the ball from the forward position.
“I think his skill level for a big guy is really good. He’s a good passer, he’s a good shooter, plays with a lot of confidence, and the biggest thing with Isaac right now is for him to find a comfortable fit somewhere in that four and five spot,” Rose said of Neilson.
Neilson discussed how his confidence has grown and how he has started to recognize the elements to playing well on the road as he has experienced road games in Maui, Logan and Ogden. Neilson pointed out in particular the chemistry and confidence he and the team will need heading into WCC road play and the need to especially not worry about the crowd.
“Don’t worry about the crowd, embrace it, enjoy it, and just play your heart out,” he said.
Neilson talked about his transition from high school to college and how he enjoys preparing for teams that have more depth in college compared to high school.
“College is a lot different because we’re able to scout the team, we have specific coaches that scout the team, and it’s really nice to be able to get an actual feel for who we’re going against,” he said.
