For those of you that weren't in the thread and didn't get to watch online.

There were some good and bad.

The good:

Scoring - In Pearl's first two seasons we relied heavily on 1 maybe 2 guys to produce for us. In 2015 it was KT Harrell with other guys chipping in like Mason, Canada, and Ross-Miller. Last year it Canty until he got the boot. Then it was Harris with other guys chipping in like Dunans, Brown, Bowers etc. ..

This year we have 3-4 guys that could all go for 20+ on any given night. Purifoy, Herron, Brown, and Dunans can be enough on offense to beat a lot of teams. Anything we get from the point guards and centers will be icing on the cake. TJ Lang is kind of an X factor. If he comes off the bench and scores 12 points that's great. If he doesn't score I don't think it hurts us.

About last night:

Harper - Wow is he fast. The team is much faster up and down the court when he's in. He was getting to the bucket with ease when he chose to penetrate. The problem for him is finishing once he gets in the "trees". He drew a lot of fouls taking it to the basket. I hope that continues all season. It wasn't all good for Harper though. He played a bit wreckless at times but that's definitely to be expected from a true frosh in his first game.

Johnson - Not much to go off of but we he looked a lot more under control and seemed to run our half court offense just fine. He hit a nice floater in the first half. Harper's speed and defense give him the edge over Johnson.

Brown - Looked great last night. I think he can do that all season as long as he stays healthy. He doesn't do much on defense or rebounding but he more than makes up for it knocking down shots. He does enough on defense to not be a liability. I would like to see him develop a midrange game. There was one shot he hit where he pump faked around the 3 point line drove in a step or 2 then knocked down a jumper just above the free throw line. IMO if he can develop that mindset he can go from scoring 19 a game to 26 a game. He can knock down the jumpers he just needs to realize he can put it on the floor and create for himself rather then just spotting up and then passing if the 3 isn't there.

Heron - The knock on Herron coming out of High School was his shot. I didn't see any issues with it last night. His specialty though is getting to the rim. He made some great drives and drew some fouls early. You kind of got the feeling that he could take a game over if he wanted to. If we needed a bucket with seconds remaining I'm putting the ball in Herron's hand and telling everyone else to clear out.

Purifoy - I expected our offense to flow through him last night and that wasn't the case. You saw glempses of it when he would flash to the high post then turn and drive or dish it off. Overall he played well on offense and like Herron you get the sense that he can turn it on at anytime. He can run the floor be physical inside and knock down shots from the outside. The bad was his defense. He looked lost and lazy at times (He wasn't the only one). We need more from him on the glass and defensively.

Specer - He struggled last night. He was out of position several times on defense losing his man. He needs to demand the ball more on the inside if nothing else to draw attention to the middle and away from our guards. The good thing is we don't need our centers to score to win. He has to get tougher on the boards and defense though.

Smith - I thought Laron Smith played great. he's very active on the glass and he altered a lot shots just by being in the lane. He showed a nice post move on his made field goal but if he's more than a few feet away from the rim he's no threat. When he came in the game early in the first half I think he grabbed 3 rebounds in consecutive possessions. He did get chewed out by Pearl late in the game for not rebounding off a missed free throw (He wasn't the only one).

Lang - Lang's stroke looks as smooth as ever. Just like Brown though I'd like to see him take his game to the next level by developing the mid-range game. He too can hit the shots he just needs to learn he can put it on the floor and create rather than passing it off it the 3 isn't there.

In short:

We're going to struggle on defense and get outrebound by everyone. It won't matter though if we're making shots. Herron, Brown, and Purifoy will lead the way. Anything we get from the Centers and PGs will help. Lang and Dunans coming off the bench don't need to do a lot but have that capability. On nights were our big 3 perform well and Lang and Dunans can add 8 or so each we will be competitive.

As far as season projections go it's way to early to tell. I haven't seen any other SEC teams play. We should know more after the TTech and UAB games.