Obviously yes:

Demin - incredible passing, can he shoot?
Catchings - incredible shooting, can he defend?
Saunders - incredible motor, can he be a high volume scorer in the Big 12?
Keita - incredible athleticism, can he defend the key on his own?
Hall - great floor general, can he hit 38% from 3?

Likely top 9:

Fous - We all know he brings toughness, rebounding, and inside scoring. He lacks a little height and he might cause this offense to stagnate a bit. It's that enough to open the door for Boskovic? My guess is no.

Knell - First, he's an incredible shooter. If the offense and surrounding talent generate open looks for him, he'll be deadly. IMO, a lot of his so-called "streakiness" last year came from him having to take difficult 3s because the talent around him didn't draw quite enough attention. Second, he knows his role on both ends of the floor and plays with a lot of intelligence. Third, he brings good experience and leadership. He could be overtaken by Baker, but my guess is he'll keep his place in the top 9.

Surprise of the night:

Crawford - He was easily the surprise of the night for me. He has excellent ball handling skills-- maybe the best on the team. His passing is good, his quickness is great, he plays with intensity, and he translates quickness and intensity to above average defense. It looks like he can pair well with Demin on the floor at the same time. It wouldn't surprise me to eventually see either Crawford or Hall on the floor at nearly all times.


1 out of these 3 make the top 9, or maybe they form a platoon for the 9th spot depending on game conditions and matchups:

Baker - We all know he can shoot and he can drive. However, he has several weaknesses. First, he looks to me like a defensive liability with lack of height and athleticism. BYU began giving up a lot of points when he came in at the 5 minute mark of the second half. That wasn't all on him, but i think he played a part. Second, he doesn't create for others when he drives, and he looks to me like he has a tendency to create low percentage opportunities for himself sometimes with his drives. Third, the ball gets sticky when it reaches him. Multiple times last night the opposing defense was scrambling until the ball reached him. Instead of making the extra pass, he would catch, pause (allowing the d to reset), and then drive with no real opportunity. I had Baker in the top 9 until I saw Crawford. Now I'm not so sure.

Mag - He has good athleticism and a known skill set on defense. He didn't show much offensively last night. I wonder if it is going to be tough to see his defensive value until there is some stiffer competition on the other side. It's possible his D and length will be important enough to crack the top 9.

Boskovic - He has great length and a really smooth shot. However, he does not have good lateral quickness and he didn't seem to play with a lot of physicality (though he did earn a bloody nose). He would be in my top 9 for sure if he could play the 4. From what i saw last night, I'm not sure his height makes up for his lack of quickness to play the 4, and he'll probably have a tough time passing Fous on the depth chart at the 5.


Time will probably prove me very incorrect on a few points. It will be fun to watch how things unfold this year.