Only six rotation guys played 7 pick-up games. Davin Guinn, Nick Emery, T.J. Haws, Yoeli Childs, Steven Beo, and Kyle Davis. Opponents were JT, KC, Plaisted, and some unidentified decent fill in guards. They either won or lost 4-3. Sorry don't recall who won game 7, but i think the current roster guys won. In either case, it was a close match up.

Guinn continues to look stronger every time out. Must have drained 8-10 treys, missing not more than 3. Davin also finished at the rim a few times. He was by far the leading scorer on the court. We've had guys shoot beautifully during the summer but couldn't translate it into games. Those guys have moved on.

Then we have seen unexpected performers do it in summer who were tough enough to bring it to prime time such as Halford before his senior year, and Seljaas as a freshman. Guinn looks plenty tough enough and otherwise has the goods to fill that badly needed 10 minute role at the SG/SF and hit the open 3. Four guys (Bryant, Emery, Haws, and LJ Rose) are projected to fill three guard positions, and Guinn looks the most ready to provide necessary depth. Need more data on his defense. Assuming forthcoming RM Frampton won't be in shape to compete for minutes until the second half of the season.

Emery, somewhat surprisingly, looked in excellent condition. Man, his spin moves in the lane look good.

Haws was pretty quiet and played in 3 or 4 of the contests. He's coming along and is obviously executing a plan to take it slowly; not doing anything explosive at all. i think it was BYUheaven that countered my complaint about TJ's thinness last month with his note that TJ's shoulders looked pretty strong. i checked that out and props to BYUheaven who was right, as usual; TJ's shoulders are disproportionately powerful. He is still down to about 165lbs and has a long way to go.

Childs was the leading dunker aside from Collinsworth, hit two 3s out of maybe 5 or 6 tries, had two nice blocks, and hustles at both ends.

Beo was pretty quiet and will no doubt gain more confidence over time.

Davis continues to look somewhere between good to special to me on both ends of the court, but i know there is much i don't understand about the game that doesn't show up in the box score as KD has more than his share of knowledgable critics. Whether they are right or steeped in Moneyball type traditions, i don't know enough to conclude. Usually the experts are right but i saw how the heralded experts in baseball were way off base for 100 years on which statistical contributions mattered most and who was relatively more valuable so i do wonder what the reality is on Davis.

FWIW, if Davis does lose his starting job, my guess is it will be deep into the season and only in the event that true greatness becomes apparent from either freshmen Payton Dastrup or Childs. KD is still missing a few at the rim which may contribute to the disproportionate fan frustration. But what i see is KD's shrewdness at the post creating those easy lay-in opportunities. i also see KD as very smart, and a tough, big play guy.

This team is destined to be loved among BYU fans and beyond! The roster is full of mentally tough extra smart guys who are inherently wired to win. If not for the time lag grind to conditioning caused by the returned missionaries' 2 year lay-offs, a big year (30 wins) would be more than plausible. The central question is the timely recovery, to both physical fitness and mental sharpness, of the RMs who are reconditioning, especially for the two bigs.

TGIF