Boy, where to start? That was sensory-overload if I ever saw it.

Guinn: Instant energy. Holy cow, that kid's a spark plug. Good news is, he doesn't stray too far out of control even when playing like that. Honestly, if he brings that to the defensive side of the ball, Coach we'll have to find playing time for him.

Dastrup: There are the obvious downsides at this point - he's still working on knocking off the mission rust and getting into basketball shape, but you'd expect that with his sheer size and body type, even moreso than a Mika. But even if that problem were absent, he still appears to be catching up to the speed of D-1 ball. That's a mentality, I think, and not a real deficiency in his game, and the good news is, both of those issues will self-heal concurrently. I expect him to be a "real" contributor by January. On to his positives though. Holy YEWT he's got a quick release! He knows his way around the rim, and once he gets there, he wastes no time getting the ball in the hoop. TREMENDOUS skill to have, and it's hard to teach. Good footwork, looks for where he can be useful. I'm psyched to see how high this kid's ceiling is.

Leifson: Okay, it's like this. My favorite part of last season was Zac. Sounds ridiculous with the triple-doubles and everything, but it's true. That's why I don't want this kid to crush my hopes that he can do for this team what Zac did for us last year, but he certainly looks like he can pick right up where Zac left off. Wow!

Childs: Umm, that kid is a BEAST! He's the only thing that will be able to keep him off the court. He's got great spacial awareness, and especially as a freshman, he is great at anticipating where he should be both to spread the defense and to open himself up for the pass. Great moves, great presence. Can't believe how lucky we are to have him.

Aytes: I really feel bad for the kid (and I've really tried forgiving him by now for the UNLV debacle, when those two years we needed him (needed ANYTHING in the post, really) the most). He looks like he's finally healthy, looks strong...aaaand...Childs can do everything he can, better. Ouch. I hope it all comes together for Aytes and that he can make solid contributions, but wow, as of right now, he's behind a lot of people. It looked like he knew that and was pushing as well. If he calms down, he has a much better chance of doing good things for the team.

Haws: Wow, is he going to get beaten on, just like his brother. The good news for him is that he creates with the ball in his hands, so more of it should be called. But he's sure skinny. Played as advertised. Fiery, bit of bravado, it'll be fun to see him develop. I'm SO glad he enjoys making the sweet pass as much as the sweet shot. That would be one thing having so much fire would worry me about a player like that, but if the unselfishness in passing is part of the "show," there's a lot less to worry about. He won't hurt the team by forcing shots, and it looks like he realizes he's got scoring options all around him.

Davis: Known quantity. Will be useful for what he does serviceably. Doubt he'll grow to be anything more than we saw out of him previously, but anything's possible.

Beo: Great glue guy! When people wonder how you got 20 points, you're doing something very right. Solid distributor, played within himself. Great off-the-bench guard option.

Shaw: Won't get many minutes, but I like his work ethic, and it looks like this off-season has been good for him getting better at being in position where he can help the team. He could develop into a solid option in the next couple years.

Emery: Saw nothing drastically different from last year. He'll be a leader on the floor. My biggest hope for him is that he doesn't get too big a head about anything. I was a bit concerned how he shot every trip down the court after Leifson hit. All indications say he'll continue to be a great player though.


Hard to say much about team chemistry / lineups etc, especially when 3 guys from our expected rotation didn't play. We've got opens, though. I'd LOVE it if we surprised some people and developed a defense that REALLY made our offense pop.

Cautiously optimistic.