Yes. It was a fun day at Mackey Arena today. The highlight for me was the hour and twenty minutes of nearly nonstop action of the men's team scrimmage. I entered with some thoughts and opinions as most of us have. Some of those changed today.
Teams were switched at least three times and everyone played against and with everyone else, so I wouldn't read too much(maybe a little bit) into the starting lineups.
Black - Smith, Loyer, Renn, Harris, Furst
Gold/White - Cox, Berg, Waddell, Colvin, Heide
Jacobsen, Benter, and Burgess came off the bench, but all 13 played pretty much equally for the full scrimmage.
Guard play - Smith, Harris, Cox, and Colvin went at each other tooth and nail all day. Braden was shooting and passing very well. Cox was probably the leading scorer for the day and very impressive. He had the ball stolen twice but he stole it from others as well. Harris is very good defender. Colvin is an all-around player now and not just a shooter. Defender, rebounder, passer. Loyer shot well and made very good decisions. He mostly guarded Benter and Waddell and occasionally Harris.
Forward/Center Play - Renn will play the most, so I will analyze the other 4.
Best shot blocker - Jacobsen
Best Passer - Furst
Best Shooter - Burgess
Always in the right place and positioning - Berg
Best Running the Floor - Furst and Burgess
Jacobsen seemed frustrated with the veteran savvy and physicality of Furst and Berg. He will contribute, but I don't see him starting from what I saw today. I see Furst or Berg starting, depending on matchups. I know Burgess could red-shirt but he showed me a lot today. He will be a Boiler favorite someday, maybe sooner than later.
I think the crowd was very encouraged by what we saw today. Those of you thinking that if the rotation gets shortened to 8 or 9 in Jan/ Feb that Caleb is the odd man out, from what I saw today that ain't happening. I overheard several fans saying "Caleb looks really good". I didn't have high expectations for Furst, Burgess, or Waddell and they all changed my opinion today. I'm glad Painter has these tough decisions to make and not me.