10 Predictions for BYU Basketball in the 2014-15 Season

BYU Basketball tips off their season this Friday against Long Beach in the Marriott Center. As we get closer to Friday, here are 10 predictions from Lawless Republic’s Robby McCombs & Mitch Harper.

What are your predictions for the Cougar Cagers? Share them in the comments section, or tweet us @LawlessRepublic.

Robby McCombs’ Predictions (Follow him on Twitter)

1. Kyle Collinsworth records at least 2 triple-doubles

Collinsworth is one of the best players in the country at filling up the stat sheet. With his 6’6” stature and ability to play the one through four positions, KC does a little bit of everything for this Cougar squad. He came close a couple of times last year to getting a triple-double, and it’s not out of the question for him to hit that feat this year. No one in the country last season had more than one triple-double, so Collinsworth could feasibly lead the nation in that category when this prediction comes to fruition.

2. Dalton Nixon averages double digit points

BYU has six freshmen that are on the roster this season, and Nixon seems like the most likely contributor from the group. Nixon has good size at 6’7” and his ability to knock down three-pointers, expect Nixon to see a lot of time at the three and four positions as the season moves along. With the lack of scoring punch in the interior, Nixon seems like a good fit as a stretch-4 type this season.

3. Tyler Haws has a 50 point game

Anyone ready for Jimmermania 2.0? While Haws has a different offensive game and repertoire than the aforementioned Jimmer Fredette, Haws can light it up with the best of them. He put up 48 points in a triple-overtime loss last year at Portland, and will be the focal point of the Cougar offense once again this season.

Expect Haws to hoist up more threes this year as he shows off his improved range to the NBA scouts. Haws will need to carry much of the offensive load once again this season, especially when you consider the lack of an offensive threat in the middle. Those elements, combined with a hot hand on a given night, could put Haws on his way to cracking the 50-point barrier this year.

4. Kyle Collinsworth bolts early to the NBA after this season

Feb 20, 2014; Provo, UT, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Kyle Collinsworth (5) moves towards the basket during the second half against the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Marriott Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports

While he does have his weaknesses, namely shooting and defense, Collinsworth is an NBA talent. He mentioned in the off-season that if he has a shot of becoming a first round pick in next year’s draft, he would likely bolt Provo to pursue the opportunity. Colinsworth is already 23 years old, making him 3-4 years older than most high-level NBA prospects. After seeing 76ers point guard Michael Carter-Williams, whose game is very similar to Collinworth’s, win rookie of the year honors, BYU fans may be witnessing the last year of Kyle in a Cougars uniform.

5. BYU wins WCC Tournament in Vegas

The Cougars have never won a conference tournament in the Dave Rose era. The last tournament title came in 2001 under Steve Cleveland when the Cougars were in the Mountain West Conference. BYU has won regular season titles during that span, but have continually come up short in the title that hands out an automatic NCAA Tournament bid.

It won’t be an easy task this year for BYU with a potential Final Four team in the WCC in Gonzaga, and an improving league as a whole, but with six seniors on this squad, I see this as the year that the Cougars turn the corner and grab that elusive automatic bid.

******

Mitch Harper’s Predictions

1. This years squad will remind us of old Heath Schroyer defenses

Last year, BYU was a terrible team defensively. The Cougars were just fortunate they had an explosive offense that was able to win them ball games, because there were times last year where you wondered when the next defensive stop would take place.

This season, BYU isn’t as explosive on the offensive end, in large part due to lack of firepower in the frontcourt, but they will make it up for it being a stingier defense this season.

Guys like Nate Austin, Anson Winder, Kyle Collinsworth, and others will be anchors to leading a much improved BYU defense that at times will give us glimpses of old tough Heath Schroyer defenses during the early days of the Steve Cleveland era, minus the screaming from the bench.

2. BYU goes 1-3 against Gonzaga and St. Mary’s this year

More from BYU Basketball

Everyone knew when BYU entered the West Coast Conference that Gonzaga and St. Mary’s would be the two programs that stood in the Cougars way to bringing home conference titles.

Since the Cougars joined the WCC in 2011, the Cougars haven’t won any league titles in the regular season or in the post-season, and that’s in large part to the lack of success against the leagues top two programs.

Last year, BYU went 3-1 against the Zags and Gaels, but still came up short in a year where both programs were down. Gonzaga on paper looks primed to have arguably their best team under Mark Few, and Randy Bennett’s Gaels are weathering the probation on the program well enough to be a team that’s in contention for an at-large NCAA bid again.

BYU’s lone win against these two teams will come in Provo against the Gaels this year. The Cougars will remain winless in The Kennel and be shutout by the Zags altogether.

3. Dave Rose identifies his rotation before December 15^th

The past two seasons Rose has trotted out a good number of different lineups due to the lack of consistency from players he was expecting significant returns from. This has led to strange minute distribution every game the past few years. One game Josh Sharp plays 15 minutes and the next night he gets a DNP, this team can’t have that. Obviously each opponent poses different matchups that play a big factor into the way Rose handles his lineup from game to game, but their needs to be established roles for this team from every night.

Nov 26, 2013; Kansas City, MO, USA; Brigham Young Cougars guard Tyler Haws (3) dribbles the ball as Wichita State Shockers guard Nick Wiggins (15) defends during the second half of the game at Sprint Center. Wichita won 75-62. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports

This year, I expect Rose to know the roles of players on this team early and carve out a rotation before the middle of December. That gives Rose one month, and a trip to Maui, to establish whom his top eight to nine players will be before a difficult stretch at the end of December starting with in-state rival, Utah on December 15th.

4. Tyler Haws becomes all-time leading scorer in BYU Basketball history

Haws enter his senior season 655 points behind Jimmer Fredette’s 2,599 career points for the all-time in mark in BYU Basketball history. Haws will break that with ease barring an injury this season. With the increased workload Haws is going to take on this season, he is going to have some big nights scoring the rock. A quiet leader who sets the tone each day for the program, folks should enjoy the swan song for one of BYU’s best to ever don the blue & white.

5. BYU will not make the NCAA Tournament

When Steve Cleveland left the program to take the Fresno State head coaching job in 2005, the consensus feeling was that Cleveland restored much needed respectability back to a program that was left for dead when he took over, but the newly hired Dave Rose was going to take the Cougar Cagers to new heights. Rose has definitely done that in his first nine years at BYU leading the Cougars to 205 wins, seven NCAA Tournament appearances, three of which BYU advanced in, an NIT Final Four, a player of the year in college basketball, and has turned basketball into a bigger priority within BYU’s athletic department.

With all that said, it’s hard looking at this years roster and expecting this team delivering on the high bar that has been set under Rose since he took over.

This team has a lot of talent, young talent that is unproven. This team is so unproven right now that you can make a legitimate argument that Tyler Haws is the only player on this team that is a consistent contributor night in, and night out. Every one else at this point is up in the air.

One night Kyle Collinsworth can go off for 25 points and 10 rebounds, and then the next night he has six points and eight turnovers. Players on this team will have to contribute early and often for this team to make a run at getting an at-large bid. The non-conference schedule is very difficult, but it’ll help this team if they can find some wins as it did last year landing a surprising 10-seed.

But right now, I’m saying this is a 20-win team that goes to the NIT. It would be tough to swallow for a program that has built themselves up as a yearly NCAA Tournament team, but the future of the program is very bright with the young talent coming in. You just would hate to see your program’s all-time leading scorer go out and not have an opportunity to make an even bigger name for himself on college basketball’s biggest stage in March.

Home/BYU Basketball