First game, first thoughts

Posted on: November 13, 2016 at 22:14:15 CT

First of all, not a big crowd and rather disappointed with the turnout. I am sure that they will have to prove worthy of everyone else's time, but it was an enjoyable first game.
Hughes was by far the most valuable player tonight. His first few shots were off, but once he got going, the kid was on fire; couldn't miss. He is going to be a great player for us and has automatic chemistry with Jackson when they are on the floor together. Good defender, not a great free throw shooter for a guard...at least not tonight.
Jackson is definitely a garbage guy who likes to go after offensive rebounds with easy put backs. Very quick off his feet and fun in transition. Fans will love watching him.
I was alittle impressed with Mitchell Smith tonight bc he hasn't played that much until tonight. He isn't ready for the SEC, but the kid is really good in transition and took some contact on one fast break and scored. He has speed and can handle the ball for a big guy. He gets the rebound out quickly and runs the floor like a guard. Once he puts on some weight and muscle that doesn't slow him down, he will be very good, imo.
Nikko's body is more ready and hopefully will be able to give some minutes against some teams this year.
KJ played okay tonight, but he has lost his minutes to Hughes. Hopefully, the two can both be effective bc we will need them both.
Puryear and Woods didn't play much, but looked pretty decent when they did play. Woods looked like our best free throw shooter, scary.
I'm still not feeling it with Geist...not sure if I'm on board with him or not. His defense did not impress me and the offense tends to slow down and out of sync when he is running the pg position.
All in all, I was glad to see them put up 99 points even though it was against a much lesser opponent. A win is a win, especially since this team has been through a lot.