1. Elias Harris was the most impressive player on the floor. Very athletic (dunks and a come out of nowhere block) and seemed to just have a good flow for things.

2. Grant Gibbs was the second most impressive. Good stroke from outside (2 of 3, though the miss was bad), hustled, passed well, and had a ridiculous and one finger-roll falling out of bounds thing.

3. I still hate Robert Sacre. He does nothing well. Doesn’t keep the ball high, so he can’t do anything on offense. Doesn’t play strong post D. Just a dreadful player who will surely get WAY, WAY too much PT.

4. To paraphrase Denny Green, “WILL FOSTER IS WHO WE THOUGHT HE WAS!” Basically, he’s not very good at basketball. Whatever, he’s still at least disruptive on D based solely on size.

5. Stockton was not afraid to shoot and miss. I think he started of 0-6 or 7 before making a breakaway layup with about a minute left.

6. Bouldin and Gray were clearly just going through the motions. Gray looked like he was in a total malaise.

7. Dower has a man’s body.

8.

GJ Vilarino looked like, dare I say, a speedier version of Meech.

I have no idea what you were watching. Really. No clue. There was absolutely nothing to suggest that. Meech is faster than GJ in his sleep and showed it on court. GJ clearly has some Pargo in him, but in the “I could tell after watching him 10 minutes exactly when he was gonna drive and not pass” kind of way.

Not sure how bright in March 2010. My impressions from last night:

Positives
1. Meech is developing an outside shot and is stronger
2. Harris is awesome
3. Gibbs was a pleasant surprise
4. GJ and Arop will be contributors this year.

Negatives
1. If it wasn’t for the hairdo I wouldn’t have noticed Gray
2. Sacre and Poling were not impressive
3. Bol Kong??

Looking forward to 11/2 to see them after more practice together.

All I’m hearing is that we have top-flight guard play and below-average big men. Those ingredients mixed with the fact that we don’t have a bunch of NBA “hopefuls” trying to up their PPG like last year with Heytvelt, Pargo, Downs, and Daye. Looks like we will have an actual team mentality with an established pecking order, both of those aspects were non-existant last year. Last year was a bunch of guys looking for their shot, Raivio’s SR year was all Derek, year before that was all Morrison. It’s looking like this team will fit the old Zag mold but a little more talented and deep.

First, in regards to Sam shooting threes and the other freshman shooting poorly and looking a bit rushed…what did you expect? We must remember that they are freshman and extraordinarily inexperienced and they were definitely amped up being that they were playing in front of 6,000 + standing room only fans. GJ missing three free throws and trying to make the “big” play, Sam shooting threes, Manny missing some shots, Kelly looking a big tentative, and Elias well I haven’t heard anything bad about him yet, is all a direct result of these kids being a bit overexcited about there first experience in K2 and doing a little too much. The reports about Sam shooting from the outside and GJ making plays actually make me happy because I’d rather have them overextend themselves early on than pull a P-MAC and completely go into a shell and waste god-given ability. Let’s let them develop and get comfortable in their own skin before making sweeping comments.

Secondly, I’ll admit that the reports regarding the returning players are a bit scary. I’ll wait until the start of the season before really pushing the panic button but hearing about Steven’s lax attitude and Rob’s overall inefficiency is what I was hoping to avoid. Rob has the ability to play and I think we saw that his freshman year when he played very well against Connecticut and was a key reason for that victory. He may have been a bit overexcited as well as he hasn’t played in front of the K2 crowd in nearly a year. Steven is a bit more concerning but I’m not going to act surprised by this because we saw it all last year. He’ll have some great games but I’m waiting for him to prove me wrong and show some consistency. Will seems like he’ll be able to eat up some minutes. Andy and Grant are the last of my worries. They’ll be the glue guys and dependable contributors.

Lastly basically a kudos to SethGrandpa. I love the idea of a four guard lineup and I expect that with our depth at the guard positions you’ll be seeing that this season. The only thing, and this is something that EDZ brought up to me, is that there is no real way to have Steven, Matt, and Grant on the floor at the same time. Those three do not have the athleticism to defend well enough on the perimeter. Those ’Nova guards were very crafty and a majority of them were very athletic defenders that could hit big shots. I would love to have Meech, Gray/Grant, Matt, Manny, and Elias/Rob/Andy out there. Or, if he is ready, even have Bol out there in the backcourt to add a little more size. Obviously, there is a lot you can do with this backcourt and that is very exciting.

Okay…as you all know (and by all, i mean edz, zb, and dk) I am a very critical and opinionated about my basketball team.

My thoughts on the scrimmage:
1) I am really going to like Manny, Elias, Grant, Mike Hart, and G.J. – Manny and Elias have great athletic ability and have a feel for the game that will translate well to the college game and quickly. Both seem to have a strong work ethic as well. Grant seems be have used his redshirt in a promising way and looked extremely ready to be on the court and contributing and his shooting was spot on. Mike Hart looks like he has worked very hard and is ready to fight for time. G.J. was quick and athletic, as a freshman point guard he has a lot to learn, and I’m afraid that wasting him behind Meech (whom he could pass) will not be the best option for 3 years.

2) Rob has not shown a great deal of improvement on the offensive end. – We keep hearing about how much he has improved and was waiting to show us….and we are still waiting. He looked very similar to what we saw freshman year and that was a lack of offensive skills, but a lot of energy on the defensive end.

3) Andy reminds me of Sean Mallon. – Andy seems very skilled and knowledgeable about the game, but lacks the athleticism that could lead to major success and contribution at this level.

4) Sam and Kelly will be fine, but need more time – They both have size and skill, but need some more time to fully develop. I am not saying this as an idea to redshirt either player, but they just need to get up to speed and learn the system before they are ready to contribute, but I think both will eventually be successful here.

5) Matt is ready to be the star of this team – Obviously he is ready after the MVP season he put together last year, and we are ready for him to show the nation on the big stages Gonzaga attends this year.

6) Steven needs to care – He seems more worried with his picked-out hair-do than the game itself, but there is no denying his skill set and hopefully he can pull a UCONN stat-line most nights.

7) Meech seems to be playing with more energy and desire, but I think he is taking his role in the wrong direction – I figured my thoughts on Meech would change just like they changed with Pargo from his freshman to sophomore year, but Meech seems to be marching to his own beat. He doesnt seem to be playing within the game plan and constantly is doing things his own way. That is a scary thought, but G.J. is there to take over if need be, which I might prefer at this point.

8) Will is still proving that we have wasted 4 years of scholarship – enough said.

Feel free to critique, but its just my opinions and thoughts from my 4th row seat on Saturday.