BYU Basketball’s Nick Emery and TJ Haws shine in ‘Boom’ event

BYU held their BYU Basketball Showcase this evening. The event known as the BYU Boom (formerly the Boom Shakalaka) gave fans a first glimpse of the 2016-17 men and women’s basketball teams.

The men held a “tournament” and divided the players into three teams. Check out how they divided the teams below.

Team #1

• Nick Emery
• Colby Leifson
• Davin Guinn
• Kyle Davis
• Eric Mika

Team #2

• Steven Beo
• TJ Haws
• Zach Frampton
• Yoeli Childs
• Payton Dastrup

Team #3

• Jamal Aytes
• Braiden Shaw
• Evan Troy (Walk-on)
• Austin Clyde (Walk-on)
• Hunter Kent (Walk-on)

Jamal Aytes and Braiden Shaw drew the short straw getting teamed up with three walk-ons. Corbin Kaufusi was in attendance but didn’t participate as he focuses on finishing the season strong with the football team. Elijah Bryant was also in attendance but did not play as he works his way back from his minor knee procedure. Also, new graduate transfer LJ Rose was in attendance, but did not play.

Team one, featured BYU’s most experienced players with Kyle Davis, Nick Emery and Eric Mika all on one team. Team two featured five true freshman and showed flashes of brilliant play but also looked sloppy at times. But, in their defense, it can’t be easy to develop a rhythm in five short minutes.

Game 1 (Team 1 vs. Team 2)

Nick Emery got the action started by threading a smooth pass to Kyle Davis for an easy lay-up. Emery also hit a pair of three pointers to lead his team to a 15-9 victory in the first scrimmage. TJ haws had seven points for team two and showed off his silky smooth jumper.

Game 2 (Team 2 vs. Team 3)

In the third game TJ Haws showed some nice handles. On one play, he got around his defender with a lightning quick crossover which lead to a Yoeli Childs dunk and the crowd went crazy. Team two held off Team three, 9-8 despite six points from junior Jamal Aytes.

Game 3 (Team 1 vs. Team 2)

In the “championship” game Eric Mika proved he hasn’t lost a step, scoring nine points and leading his team to an 18-11 victory. Nick Emery added five points. For Team two, only three players got into the scoring column. Led once again by TJ Haws with five points. Dastrup had four and Childs added two.

The women’s team also scrimmaged. They played two 5-minute games. After a plethora of missed three-pointers both teams settled down and started executing their offense. Senior guard Makenzi Pulsipher showed her range hitting a couple of long jumpers. Senior forward Kalani Purcell also impressed in the short scrimmage.

After the scrimmages, BYU’s dunk team entertained the family-friendly crowd with some acrobatic slam-dunks.

Fans were slightly disappointed to not see a three-point contest or a dunk contest. Both are crowd-pleasers and were once staples in the annual preseason events.

Key Takeaways:

• It’s tough to gain insights from a few short scrimmages, but at first glance BYU is a very young team. The team includes just two seniors and is stocked with first-year players. There could be some sloppy play, especially early in the season.
• BYU is going to rely on the “Lone Peak Three” (Emery, Haws & Mika) a lot this year. All three players stood out from the crowd during the scrimmages.
• BYU is loaded in the frontcourt. The days of struggling to find a reliable post-presence seem to be over. Between Kyle Davis, Eric Mika, Yoeli Childs, Payton Dastrup, Jamal Aytes and Braiden Shaw; the Cougars biggest problem could be finding a way to give everyone minutes.