Knee Jerk Reactions / First thoughts after night one :
1. Leech looks the part. He's long, his ball handling is very nice, and his shot is pretty dang smooth. Obviously he needs to put on weight but that will come. His length will help cover up some of the weight issues.
2. Tre Jackson looks like he could come in right away and play. He was an efficient player in high school, he's big enough weight wise to make up for his shorter stature, and he has an extremely quick release.
3. Rasir Bolton looks impressive. His shot reminds me of Tre Young's. Quick, doesn't drop the ball at all, and has great arch. (no I'm not saying he's as good as him)
4. Zion Griffin looked to be very aggressive and under control. He was the least ready to play last year out of all of the other freshman and it showed, I think that he's made strides in his game and if he can use his body when driving, and can shoot a consistent three that will be huge for us.
5. Mike looked to be right where he was at last year. Good and consistent. I'm happy to see Solomon back out there and hope that he can stay healthy because he was needed last year against big men. George Conditt looks like he's stretching his game out a bit, which I like. Having our bigs hit threes every now and then will help stretch that floor out.
6. Prentiss Nixon was hitting some nice shots. Him, Halliburton, and hopefully Bolton will be 3 solid starting guards for us this year. If what Coach Prohm said is true about him being an elite lock down perimeter defender, I cannot wait to get to watch him do that, which has been a liability for us the past few years. We've been solid at guarding the wings, but guarding the PG or combo guard, especially on a pick n roll has been tough for us (see Baylor and TCU this past year).
7. Another year of Terrence Lewis showing his potential and ability. Let's hope with some playing time opening up, he can gain confidence in himself and be the player he was recruited here to be. There were plenty of reasons for him to not see the floor the last two years, but this year there shouldn't be an excuse if he doesn't step up.
There were other guys that had nice games too, I thought I'd discuss those who I believe might / will see the floor next year and those who had big nights. It's always exciting to watch new faces and evaluate, but as we all know, just because someone is dominating in these games, doesn't mean they'll be dominating come November. I do think though that some of these new guys Prohm got are going to be pretty good. I think there is a lot of talent on that roster.. most of it being young talent. It looks like Prohm and his staff have put Iowa State in a pretty good position for years to come.