I was there, the team overall looked good. It was tough to gauge as you could tell the guys were not going as hard as they could at each other. But here are my thoughts on some of the players.
Taylor: Looked great, really controlled the offense and the tempo while he was in, ball handling was superb and court vision was excellent, did not force things.
Loveridge: he looks a little bigger to me this year, not as lean as last year but his shot was falling, his pull-up looked a little slow and was blocked a few times. I think his production will be similar to last year.
Isaiah Wright: much improved on running the offense and even looking for his own shot. Got to the rim quite a few times and had some beautiful penetration in the lane and nice dump offs for some easy baskets, he will be a great leader for the team in the next few years, should not see much drop off when he replaces Taylor in the game.
Tucker: this guy is in shape, never looks gassed or even tired, shot was silky smooth as always and his defense looked good. I expect to see him assert himself a little more on offense this year but see his overall production similar to last year.
Poeltl: dude is a beast. I know it has been reported he put on 30 LBs but you really cannot see it just from looking at him but he is definitely stronger. His touch around the rim looked ok last night but had some unlucky bounces of the rim. His free throw shooting looked much improved. During the warm up session and the scrimmage he only missed 1 or 2 that I can recall. He will dominate this year.
Chapman: wish I would have seen more out of him but he looked good overall. He definitely was not shy about taking or looking for his own shot. The major thing that concerned me with him is he gets a lot of unnecessary fouls. If they actually kept track last night he may have fouled out in the first half. Looks much more athletic this year.
Kuzma: has some great plays but overall had a quiet night. Freak athlete that can jump out of the gym. Looked a little lost in the offense at times but looks much improved from last year.
Lorenzo Bonham: this was the biggest surprise for me as I had not seen him play at all. This guy is a huge get for us. Very athletic and got to the rim with ease. Played the point quite a bit and had Taylor play the 2 and he also ran the offense well. He seems to have great chemistry with others on the team already. I hope I don’t jinx him at all but had a lot of Delon Wright qualities, but is an overall better athlete than Delon. I hope he plays every game like he played last night.
Gabe Bealer: I was most anxious to see him play as I used to live in Antelope, CA and have heard about this kid. He had a quiet not from a scoring standpoint but did a lot of things well. Did not force things and did not turn the ball over, got to the rim with ease when he tried, another phenomenal athlete that was a great pick up for us. I think he will be similar to Princeton Onwas was for us a few years back.
Mawein, Mongtgomery: both look really raw but with some potential, looked a little nervous at times, I attribute a lot of that to being freshman.
Reyes, Ogbe, Miller: they did not suit up, I am guessing due to injury but have not heard anything about the injuries. Miller was in a walking boot, not sure what happened, maybe some can shed some light on these 3.
If anyone else was there last night feel free to correct or add to any of this. Overall I liked what I saw and I can’t wait to see this team in action this year.
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