Random thoughts:

1) Any chance of seeing Whitman and Knight on the court at the same time this year disappeared when Seacat transferred. We are perilously thin at the post, with Whitman's fragility and the tendency of both he and Knight to pick up cheap fouls. I think we all saw our season disappearing for those minutes when Whitman was on the floor yesterday. Prediction: we will finish a game this year with Rowley or Prewitt at the post.
2) I expect Pierce to consistently increase his minutes during the year, mostly at Rowley's expense. I expect Pierce to be the starter next year at what is currently Prewitt's spot.
3) The best case scenario for this team is that it mirrors the 2013-2014. That team struggled with ups and downs all seasons and was a disappointment until the run at the tournament. (The best thing about that tournament was the run we made in the second half of the Delaware game. That run was triggered by two freshmen: Prewitt and Dixon. Wouldn't mind a similar run in Charleston this year, triggered by two freshmen: Knight and Pierce.)
4) We did some good flashing to the high post with Prewitt and Dixon yesterday. I think that works well for us. Whitman or Knight drop to the low post and Prewitt or Dixon flash to the high post to either dump it to the big down low, take the shot or drive to the hole. I do NOT like Whitman or Knight camping down low since it clogs up our offense.
5) Was not sure why Whitman was in the game for the final play until I saw the replay. He set picks for both Prewitt and Dixon. If we had asked Knight to do that the odds are the game would have ended with an illegal scream. An alternative would have been to put Knight, Pierce or Rowley at the foul line. Knight or Pierce could have cut to the basket for an alley-oop from Cohn and Pierce or Rowley could have cut to the three-point line for a turnaround 3.

Combination of Whitman and Knight averaging 18.5 pts, 11.5 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game. Nathan needs to improve defensive positioning and footwork, but he's providing great minutes as a freshmen and has huge upside.

Individual and team play has been sporadic, but the only bad/surprising loss was to Hampton. We played pretty well for 5 of 6 halves on a tough road swing, which is somewhat encouraging. Need to continue to improve team defense. Still slow to help on drives too often, better close outs on 3-point shooters, some bad fouls, etc., but nothing that is not correctable with consistency of effort.

Offense will be fine as long as we play within the system. I really think one of the keys is for us to consciously look to score in the paint (drives, post entry, back doors, etc) at the start of each game and work back out to the three point line. Don't fall in love with jacking up contested 3-point shots.

Dixon - Playing really well the last three games. Has erased early offensive woes. His driving to the rim gives the offense a whole other dimension. Please keep that up the rest of the way! Probably best man-to-man perimeter defender, but need to see consistent defensive effort.

Prewitt - Not playing poorly thus far, but we all know he's capable of more offensively. Three-point percentage is down. Defense and rebounding noticeably improved in recent games. I suspect Omar will have a breakout offensive performance soon. If he and Daniel are both on their game, we will be hard to beat.

Whitman - Probably most improved and mostly because he's stayed healthy in the offseason. Gets fouled a lot, so would love to see him improve his FT percentage.

Knight - Love his ability to hit those 10-15-foot jumpers. Doing a lot right as a frosh. Work on protecting rim even more without fouling and post defense (feet and positioning). This will come with experience.

Pierce - Hofstra could be his breakout game. Scoring is nice, but I like having him on the floor for hustle, defense, and rebounding. Lot of similarities to a young Omar.

Rowley - Hitting great percentages from floor, three, and foul line. Quality minutes off the bench. Love the enthusiasm. Focus improvement on defense.

Burchfield - One of my favorite players because he's not happy being just a spot-up three ball shooter and he gets better and rounds out his game a little every year. Heady and scrappy player. Has improved his defense. Playing time largely dictated by matchups, but I have no doubt his shooting will win us an extra game or two this year.

Cohn - Too often maligned by some. He came on strong at the start of conference play last year and if Hofstra game is any indication, he's poised to do the same this year. Great assist to TO ratio. Only guard that can consistently/easily break press off the dribble. Best true PG of Shaver era, hands down. Good effort on defense, though size/strength can be a liability. Love the passion.

Tot - Love his passion for game as well. Good PG in the half court. Can struggle some against pressure. Can disappear on offense, but then again, he's not needed to be a scorer for us to win. Solid back-up PG. Suspect he'll figure big in at least one win this year off the bench.

For us to hit 20 wins for a 4th yr, we need to hold serve at home and go 500 on the road the rest of the way. To do that will require intensity and consistency of effort. There's enough raw talent.