Decisions. Decisions.

Cougar coach Dave Rose and assistants John Wardenburg, Dave Rice, Terry Nashif and Tim LaComb have some big decisions to make over the next two weeks. Rose made it clear Monday that returning stars Lee Cummard and Jonathan Tavernari are going to play a lot of minutes, which probably means no more than those eight to 10 players are going to see much playing time.
Currently, Rose has not decided on a starting five. In Thursday’s exhibition game against Concordia and next Tuesday’s game against Georgetown College we’re probably going to see two different starting lineups. Rose said he’s not really concerned as much with his starting five as he is deciding on a rotation, and he’s anxious to see how the players perform in game situations and how they mix with Cummard and Tavernari getting most of the shots, and how they respond with Cummard and Tavernari on the bench.
“It’s good to be able to define some roles a little bit, throw guys out there in different combinations and see how they play,” Rose said.
There’s really three big decisions facing the Cougar coaching staff. First, who to play at point guard and shooting guard. I think Chris Miles will see the most minutes at center. Second, which players to use to spell Cummard and Tavernari at the No. 3 and No. 4 spots. Third, which, if any players to redshirt. I think the redshirt decision is going to be influenced by the decision on who will backup Tavernari and Cummard because the leading candidates right now – Jackson Emery, Noah Hartsock and Charles Abouo – are also all redshirt candidates.
“If there’s only a handful of minutes available in those two spots you want to make sure that you do what’s best for your program as far as personnel is concerned,” Rose said.
Emery is also in the running for the starting No. 2 guard spot, but he has more versatility than the others and can play at least three positions. He’d be a fantastic Sixth Man off the bench. Right now, however, he’s being slowed by a bad case of the flu and hasn’t really practiced since last week. We’ll know whether Emery is going to redshirt by Thursday because unlike Abouo and Hartsock, Emery can’t play in exhibition games and redshirt because he’s played for the Cougars before.
Even though these first two exhibition games don’t count, they will give us a good feel of what Rose and staff are thinking.
“You can’t really make final decisions until you see guys play in game situations,” Rose said.

Update: On Tuesday, in no surprise to anyone, Rose named Cummard and Tavernari as team captains. Here’s some information on both from BYU’s press release:

Cummard is a three-year starter and the reigning Mountain West Conference Player of the Year. He earned Associated Press All-America honorable mention last year after helping the Cougars win their second straight outright MWC title and a 27-8 overall record. A 6-foot-7 swingman from Mesa, Ariz., Cummard is a do-everything player who led the Cougars in scoring (15.8), field-goal percentage (.569), three-point percentage (.472) and blocked shots (1.0) last year while ranking second in rebounds (6.3), assists (3.5), steals (0.9) and free-throw percentage (.857).’

Tavernari followed his MWC Freshman of the Year season in 2006-07 with a record-setting sophomore campaign last year. The 6-foot-6 forward from Sao Bernardo, Brazil, earned All-MWC Third Team honors and set the BYU single-season and sophomore MWC three-point record with 88 treys last season. He was third on the team in scoring (13.1 ppg) and rebounding (5.3 rpg) while averaging 1.5 assists and a team-best 1.4 steals per game. This summer he was the lone nonprofessional player to make the Brazilian Senior National Team that competed at the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Athens, Greece.’