For those who know me, you know I'm a basketball-first kind of Hokie; been that way since I was a kid. I suppose rooting for a program where (at the time) wins were gifts and losses were more of the expectation, compared to an elite (again, at the time) football program where wins were the norm, I gravitated toward basketball. That being said...

Mike Young and staff did a fantastic job preparing for Maine. They finished 329th in the country last year in scoring, due to two reasons: poor shooting and turnovers. Because of this, the game plan from the tip was to get our guards pressuring their players on ball and especially in the passing lanes. We saw lots of traps, steal attempts, double teams; our staff knocked it out of the park from a preparation standpoint.
Some thoughts on individual players:
- Justyn Mutts was electric. I listened to a podcast that featured him recently and he said his biggest improvement this off-season was confidence; I agree--he looked like the game was easy to him. He drove to the basket, gambled (effectively) on some passes, and took chances on the boards. I loved how calm, and at the same time, aggressive, he seemed to be all night. He led the team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals. I have some small concerns about Aluma, which I'll get to momentarily, so we need Mutts to stay healthy and continue playing at this rate.
- Storm Murphy is so steady. Yes, he pressed a bit, but you can't blame him for wanting to ball out last night. I have to imagine being at Wofford for your entire career til now will create some sort of "grass is greener" mentality and once he's finally arrived in the ACC, in his last hoorah year, it shouldn't surprise anyone he wanted to do as much as he possibly could. Once he gets his groove and settles down a bit, he will be the biggest difference between last year's team and this year. Having a starting point guard who is a scoring threat has been sorely missed, and I'm pumped for his game.
- Darius Maddox is a creator. I was impressed with his game probably more than anyone I saw last night, from a developmental and aggression standpoint. He took players off the dribble, shot some contested yet wise shots, distributed the ball effectively, and was really good in the fast break. He's the first guard we have coming off the bench and I think our second unit, with Maddox and N'Guessan, will be just as effective as our first unit at times this year. Also, he's WAY taller than I thought. He stood next to Jaylen Haynes last night and probably only surrendered two inches at the most. I know they're listed at 3 inches apart, but Maddox looks every bit of 6'5" and more. He's going to compete for starter minutes this year, and don't be surprised if he takes them from Alleyne.
- Nahiem Alleyne is a bit of a wildcard. I thought he played good, but not great, which is probably a nitpicky statement considering he had 13, 7 and 4. He shot 50% too. He's one of our veterans, and some NBA mock draft have him going late in the second round. I'm not sure if I'd see him that high, but the point is I really thought last night's game lent itself to Alleyne as the perfect game to go off. While 14 points certainly isn't a bad effort, he could've easily been in the 20s. I really like his aggression on the boards and his defense is really stout. We need him to be a consistent 15 PPG kind of guy this year and certainly not hit cold streaks like last year.
- David N'Guessan. Everyone saw him last night. Coaches raved about him all off-season. He's only going to get better. There will be nights where he's our best player on the court. Nuff said.
- Aluma seems to have a lingering back issue. He's had it before. This is my biggest current concern for the season. He might have played three minutes in the second half last night, if that, and wore a back brace for the rest of the game (an electronic stimulator). Young says it's more precautionary than anything, and he doesn't have structural damage, but we all know how coach talk goes. I trust Young, but you never know. Keep an eye on Aluma.
- John Ojiako. I realize at this point I may as well add a little note for every player who got in the game, but I'll leave out Cattoor, Kidd, and Haynes, because they all played exactly the way I expected they would, in their own rights respectively. Man, what a difference Ojiako made in the game last night. I can't imagine what his presence last year, if it looked like it did last night, would've done for our postseason chances but I can confidently say we'd be an Elite-8 team...he played that well last night. 9 points, 4 rebounds, and he clogged the lanes really effectively--he didn't record any blocks but I saw at least 3 shots Maine had to alter at the last second, resulting in misses, because of his defense. We need him to give big minutes this year, especially as Aluma eases back into things.

I understand it's Maine. They are, with all due respect, not a good team at all. But you know how first games go. Nerves, rust, adjusting to speed...some teams struggle out of the gate (look at UVA, Houston, Ohio State--all ranked teams who looked poor last night). The biggest advantage we will have over teams this year is depth. We played every player on the roster last night. There are 8 guys who will contribute starter or near-starter minutes and a 9th who will get double digit minutes too. If I'm an opponent, preparing for the Hokies is an extremely difficult task.

Really pleased with the start to the season. Let's go beat Navy!