BYU Basketball: Three burning questions as practices begin
By Shaun Gordon
Who will the Starting Five be?
For the most part, last year’s starting lineup consisted of:
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- Jashire Hardnett
- TJ Haws
- Elijah Bryant
- Yoeli Childs
- Luke Worthington
Four of those five are back for 2018-19, but that doesn’t mean that all four will be back in starting spots.
Childs and Worthington didn’t play particularly well together offensively, although they made a good one-two defensive punch down low.
Hardnett was a solid floor general and good defender, but his inconsistent shooting (32 percent from deep) allowed defenders to play off him and clog the lanes.
It’s almost a guarantee that Haws and Childs will be in the starting lineup, but the other three spots will be up for grabs. Along with Hardnett and Worthington, you could see Zac Seljaas or Dalton Nixon crack the Starting Five.
Any of the freshman trio of Harding, Baxter, and Lee could also find themselves starting.
And of course there’s Emery. There’s a strong chance that he’ll enter the starting rotation when he returns in December, although if a good lineup has already formed he could come off the bench as the sixth man.
There are so many possibilities. The key will be finding the five players that play the best together, not necessarily the five best players.
Although if they’re one and the same, that’s even better.