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COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- It's up to the coaches now.
The 15 players trying out for USA Basketball's World University Games squad scrimmaged tonight in Colorado Springs, leaving one last impression before the bench bosses were scheduled to congregate and make final cuts, making official the team's 12-man roster.
A decision on which three players to cut is expected late tonight, with BYU's Tyler Haws joining his tryout teammates in hoping for the best. To perhaps take their minds off the anxiety, the team headed out to see a movie on Friday night. It could be that upon their return to the U.S. Olympic Training Center campus, they'll get the news that will set the roster.
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Tonight's scrimmage featured the Team USA hopefuls in a four-quarter game against a collection of local Division II/NAIA-caliber players. The cumulative total score was 114-61, with play divided into four ten-minute periods.
Team USA's best quarter was the second, when Haws entered off the bench and stayed in the rest of the way. Team USA won the quarter 36-9, with Haws scoring four points (1-for-3 FG, 2-for-2 FT), while dishing out out three assists, grabbing two rebounds and accounting for two steals. Point guard Chasson Randle scored every time Haws got him the ball.
Unofficially, Haws finished the night with five points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals in approximately 11 minutes of play.
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Asked what anyone could read into a particular player's minutes-played total tonight, Team USA Assistant Coach Frank Martin said "nothing."
"We set up four quarters," said Martin after the scrimmage. "We set up a separate team for every quarter; in odd-numbered quarters we wanted to play an eight-man rotation, and in even-numbered quarters, a seven-man rotation, and that's what we tried to stick with."
As the numbers indicated, Haws was active in his limited time on the floor, and he was content with his contributions.
"I felt really good about the scrimmage," Haws said afterward. "I wasn't perfect, but I rebounded the ball well and I had a few good assists. I made a few shots, got to the foul line. Hopefully I've shown what I can do and how I can help this team."
"I tried to prepare myself mentally and just leave it all on the floor, and I feel like I did that. Hopefully I can be here tomorrow, and keep doing it...but I'll feel good, no matter what happens."
Head Coach Bob McKillop says in making the roster call, he has a specific set of criteria he is looking to fill.
"We're looking for guys who can fight through the adversity of fatigue," said McKillop on Friday night. "We're looking for guys who are unselfish, who want to be part of a team. We're looking for guys who are tough, who are going to get loose balls, and long rebounds and 50-50 balls--and of course we're looking for skill, but they're all here because of their skill."
Haws looked very comfortable in his time on the floor, but McKillop said that wasn't the case for everyone; he noted that "there were butterflies, clearly, tonight, because of the pressure of the cut, and also because of the pressure of playing in front of a number of people and playing a different opponent."
"You're trying to find out who can help us win games," said McKillop, "who is going to fight through the temptation of being selfish, or the temptation of being tired, or the temptation of making a mistake. I think we got exposed from the standpoint of (making) a lot of mistakes, but I also like the way we responded to the mistakes."
McKillop said that coming into tonight's scrimmage, "there were maybe nine or ten guys that were clear guys who were going to make it. Those other two or three spots--it was up for grabs. I think we're close...we're going to discuss more as a staff, and we'll come up with an answer later tonight."
Of Haws, McKillop said that "he continued to get better and better, tough as nails, gets those loose balls, helps you win games."
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To a man, the coaches with whom we spoke tonight said making final cuts is among the hardest things they will ever have to do, but McKillop said there is a flip side to an agonizing night.
"The great joy about this is you wake up tomorrow," said McKillop, "and those (12) guys are going to be there, and you've got a great coaching staff, and it's 'USA Basketball.'"
"To wear this (logo) across your chest is the greatest thing in the world."
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You can hear post-scrimmage interviews with Haws, McKillop, Martin and assistant coach John Beilein in "Cougar Cuts," above left.
Beilein was absent from training camp on Thursday and early Friday after leaving to be with two of his Michigan players on NBA Draft night. One of those players, Trey Burke, ended up with the Utah Jazz, and Beilein talked about Burke in his post-scrimmage interview.
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