Observations from the opener

[PonyPride]

I'll keep it short, because it's one game and the opposition was beyond overmatched, so I'm not sure you can get a whole lot from it. That said:

• G Boopie Miller is incredibly quick — insanely quick. Not sure if he'd go step for step with Kendric Davis, but it would be close. There will be times he absolutely blazes past defenders, and he looks like he can defend, at least against smaller guards.

• I'm assuming head coach Andy Enfield and the staff held their collective breath when Miller stole the ball, split two defenders and finished an acrobatic layup ... only to land awkwardly and ask out of the game, limping off with a trainer with about 9 minutes left in the second half. It looked like he had landed on an opponent's foot and maybe rolled an ankle, but Enfield said after the game that Miller had suffered a cramp ... and Miller returned to the court a few minutes later.

• Miller can shoot (8/15 from the floor in the opener, 3/7 from three-point range, 2/3 from the line). But there were a couple of times when he rushed a shot and let fly with kind of a corkscrew motion, with a sideways spin on the ball instead of the traditional backward rotation. Obviously, that's not the way it's taught, but to be fair, one of them did go in.

• It's difficult to watch G Kario Oquendo play and not think you're looking at the second coming of Sterling Brown. At 6-4, 220, he has a similar build that makes him look as much like an outside linebacker as a shooting guard. He's quick and explosive — his poster-style dunk was something to behold — and Enfield talked after the game about Oquendo's athleticism. The Oregon transfer showed that he knows how to use his bulk to his advantage: twice he absorbed significant impact on his way to the rim and still finished the shots, and he sent a couple of opponents flying when he ran through them while going after loose balls.

• Speaking of which: this year's team appears to be significantly more athletic than last year's version, and that was very evident on the defensive end, with players moving quickly to stay in front of defenders and flying all over the place after loose balls. They also collected 13 steals (last year's team averaged 8.4 per game). Again, it's one game against a bad opponent that was missing four starters, so take this with a major grain of salt, but the increased athleticism is evident.

• F Yohan Traore is a really interesting player — he has good size, at 6-11 and 235, but he also moves pretty well for a big guy. His first bucket was a 3-pointer from well behind the line, he showed some comfort in the low post with his back to the basket, and even put the ball on the floor a few times, once driving to his left for an awkward-but-successful layup, the other time blowing through the Tarleton State defense on a drive from the top of the key. He wasn't tested much on the defensive end, so it's too early to assess anything there, but on the offensive end and in transition, he showed promise.

• I'm no shooting coach (no, seriously ... watch me shoot sometime — it's not pretty), but G B.J. Edwards looks better when shooting. He looked like he had good balance and set his feet well, and the results — at least for a single game — reflected the improvement. Edwards shot 4/8 from the floor and 2/3 from long range. Last year, he shot .430 on field goals and .385 on 3-pointers, but he reportedly worked [deleted] his shot over the offseason.

[BleedingRed+Blue]

We all should be thrilled if Oquendo is another Sterling Brown

[Charleston Pony]

Really loved seeing what Miller and Oquendo give us and I think our backcourt has been upgraded significantly. Chuck Harris is the same guy we relied on so much last year and he didn't even start this game so that tells you a lot. Miller, Oquendo, Edwards and Harris all played about the same number of minutes and all played really well so our backcourt looks really deep.

Cross (I thought) was going to be our Samuel Williamson replacement and unfortunately he got hurt early. Hopefully he's back in the lineup soon so we can see what he's going to give this team. With AJ George contributing 15 minutes we were able to play 3 guards a lot in this game but that's a matchup issue we enjoyed in this game but not sure how well that will play against ACC opponents.

I thought Keon and Traore played well but we really need Samet to gain his eligibility and give us another rim protector against better competition. Colbert picked up 5 fouls in just 7 minutes and Gorener picked up 4 fouls in 17 minutes. Those two had 2 boards and 1 blocked shot between them so our low post play is going to be something to watch going forward.

Don't know whether Enfield is hoping to RS both Puryear and Holmes or whether either of those guys is good enough to crack the rotation. That's another question I have after watching this opener but I am encouraged that this team appears to have a more talented roster than what we've had in recent years.

[Charleston Pony]

B.J. Edwards looks better when shooting. He looked like he had good balance and set his feet well, and the results — at least for a single game — reflected the improvement. Edwards shot 4/8 from the floor and 2/3 from long range. Last year, he shot .430 on field goals and .385 on 3-pointers, but he reportedly worked on his shot over the offseason.

The broadcast team mentioned that Enfield has a reputation as a "shooting coach" and had served in that capacity in the NBA. Edwards shot a decent percentage last year as you mentioned (also hit 74% of his FTs) but didn't take a lot of shots playing alongside Phelps & Harris. He looked a lot more comfortable taking open shots when he had them so that was very encouraging. Last year's team deferred to Phelps far too often and Zhuric was one of the worst perimeter shooters among our guards

[geezerdonk]

Was Cross injured?

[Charleston Pony]

Was Cross injured?

Developed back spasms in the game's 1st minute after taking some contact in the low post. Went to locker room and returned in street clothes