BYU basketball: Cougars will need to go small this season

After watching BYU basketball’s Cougar Tipoff event, one thing is abundantly clear: BYU will be most successful when it goes small.

We got our first look at BYU basketball on Wednesday, when the Cougars took to the Marriott Center for a scrimmage. The team’s first game action – albeit in exhibition fashion – will come on Friday against New Mexico.

For a complete rundown on the Cougar Tipoff, check out our running diary here and our biggest takeaways here.

BYU basketball has been pretty vocal about its goals for this season. The team wants to be dancing in March. But if the Cougars want to make the NCAA Tournament, they’ll have to make sure their best players are getting the most minutes.

And that means abandoning the two-big lineups. BYU basketball needs to go small.

I’ve mentioned this lineup before, but I was never sold that Dave Rose would actually use it. Too often I think Rose is forced to try to match what opponents are doing. So if a team uses two bigs, he’ll use two bigs.

This season, that may change.

At the Cougar Tipoff, the blue team had most of the team’s returning players and all of the starters on it. The lineup that was most effective?

Yoeli Childs at center, flanked by Nick Emery, TJ Haws, Elijah Bryant and Zac Seljaas.

With those five on the floor, BYU basketball has excellent spacing. Four of them can shoot 3-pointers, and Childs has a nice mid-range jumper. Childs also patrols the paint, grabbing rebounds and contesting shots.

Plus, Emery, Haws and Bryant are all really solid passers who can also get into the lane. The drive and kick, pick and roll and high screen options the Cougars have with this lineup makes them versatile and dangerous.

Last season, the offense would occasionally go fast just for the sake of going fast. There was a lot of hero ball. At the Cougar Tipoff we saw a much more patient team, focused on taking good shots and making the extra pass.

The results were impressive.

We’ll know even more after the Cougars take on New Mexico, but don’t be surprised if BYU opts to go small this season.