You're right about our bigs. I wonder if Les takes this opportunity to try and get a couple of them some quality minutes, or does he go small and hope that our "non-big" guys are better than their "non-big" guys. I was a little surprised that Russell didn't see any playing time on Monday, based solely on how early he came in against Bethesda. Maybe it was a matchup deal. We'll know more over the next few games.

Big West is off to a good start. Even Poly, who was picked to finish near/at the bottom, pushed Cal. Of course, maybe that's more a statement about how bad Cal is, but still, Pac-12 talent is Pac-12 talent.

Stanford lost last night at home to Eastern Washington 67-61, which makes the UOP come against the Cardinal seem a little less impressive. And UOP is not very big, with only two guys listed over 6'6". It'll be an interesting contest.

Go Ags!

It's funny you mentioned Goode's FT stroke. My son and I (we were facetiming while we were both streaming the game...yes, we have a problem) have a running joke that whenever Goode goes to the line, it's the "Most entertaining part of the game". But, he's gone back to the right handed free throw (righty the first year, lefty last year) and it looked pretty solid. And, as you pointed out, he looked a lot more comfortable on the offensive side of the ball.

Michael has definitely earned playing time. I really admire the guy for continually working on his game, even though he went through long long stretches without even sniffing game time. He's stepped into the "defending the best perimeter player" slot now, and I hope, like Lawrence White, he can start to hit a few jumpers.

Yeah, for some reason, Pluto didn't have it...but the stream from the bigsky was fine...go figure.

To me, Shorts was the huge revelation. He consistently beat his man off the dribble, which created some easy buckets for Chima (and Goode to a certain extent). But, Shorts' defense was really what stood out. On several occasions, he just took the ball right away from his man. I don't know how many steals he ended up with, but it had to be a couple at least. The other guy that stood out was Mooney. I expect him to knock down a good percentage of 3's, but he showed some toughness, also, by faking the 3 and driving. And he also played some good smart team defense (one steal that I can remember). A couple of new guys, Jackson and John, looked a little over matched, as did Printup. Hopefully that's just first game jitters.

Looking forward to UOP tomorrow. Go Ags!

Good win from the Ags. Chima was unstoppable (28pts, 8 boards), but it was Shorts and Mooney who really provided the extra oomph. Only 5 players scored, so we'll need to work on the depth, but 1-0 sounds pretty good.

Go Ags!

looks like the Ags are 7 point underdogs, not that that means anything this early in the season.

Go Ags!

I liked that our 3's were in rhythm, not rushed or desperation. And they came from a variety of players.

Pretty dominating performance. Lots of talent, experience and effort. Going to be a great year!

Go Ags

We’ll get a good gauge tomorrow against wsu. Should be a good revenge match.

Go Ags!

Les seemed pleased with the effort and work that the boys put in, just judging by the number of foot stomps. As for individual stats, I'd say that Siler probably led them in scoring. I want to say he hit 4 of his first 5 3's, and at least 3 ft's. Most of the starters, outside of Shorts, only played a few minutes in the second half. I'm sure Chima scored in double digits and probably got 5-8 rebounds. I know Mooney hit a few 3's and looked pretty confident. Jackson hit his first 3 but missed several after that. Same with John. I think everyone who suited up scored.

Looking forward to the games that count.

if you have any questions let me know. I tried to give just general comments

First off the bench was Aj John, Delveon Jackson, and Joe Mooney. Jackson is a very intriguing player. He's basically the size of Chima, but has a good looking outside shot (I think he only hit one), and looks like he can really drive. He'll have to get better on the defensive end, but he'll get a ton of minutes, whether off the bench or as a starter (I'm guessing he'll start over Michael at some point this season). John took quite a few 3's, only made one I think, but he seemed to really look for his outside shot. Mooney is a poor man's Tyler Les, good outside shot (a little funky), so I could see him getting some significant minutes, especially when we need a spot up shooter to take pressure off of Chima.

Hennings came in for Shorts at point, Colin Russell got some run at post (good size, he'll set screens and rebound). Strom, Printup and Underwood didn't play until well into the 2nd half. Strom looks very smooth around the basket, and nailed his only 3. Printup hit one three, but I'm not sure he's going to be more than a few minutes a game player. Underwood was interesting...he's only guy that didn't have his name on his jersey, not sure what that was all about. He looked a little stiff, but he's got good size and made a couple of nice moves. It wouldn't surprise me if either Strom or Underwood or both red shirt.

Overall, it's always hard to evaluate a team when they are playing a lower level opponent. But there is definitely a lot of talent. Chima will get his, Siler will be solid, it'll be up to Jackson, Mooney, Shorts to be able to hit shots when they crash down on Chima.

Good to back in the Pavillon...Oh, decent crowd for an exhibition.

Go Ags.

Ags win 111-56. Game was never in doubt, but as someone who sat through the Academy of the Arts debacle, no game is a gimme. Some random thoughts:

Starting five was Chima, Goode, Siler, Michael O. and Shorts. Chima delivered what you would expect, plus he hit one three. It wasn't the greatest shot in the world, but it bounced in. If he can do that on occasion, that should really help open the lanes. Goode made a few nice offensive moves, but don't expect too many points from him (rebounds and defense). Shorts is very quick and made good decisions. He didn't take any outside shots...definitely looked to pass or drive. Siler hit quite a few threes, mostly uncontested. He'll need to be consistent with his shots. Michael plays good defense, but we need a better shooter at that position.

More to come...

That's great for Chima and the program. It's funny that a year ago, Chima didn't even start the first few games for the Ags. JT and Goode started the Cable Car Classic games in Santa Clara, and it wasn't until one of them had a slight injury that Chima stepped into the starting role and never looked back.

I’m definitely going to check out the exhibition game. Looking forward to seeing what the new guys bring to the table

I spent 7 hours with a Weber football alum driving through the first snow storm of the year yesterday (in Washington - long story) . He is definitely an Aggie fan this week. Go Ags!

I'm sure the band does this to a certain extent, but they are just a part of a larger, coordinated effort, that needs to take place.

My son, who was raised a true blue Aggie, is in his first year at a Pac-12 school. I know it's a bit easier to get students out to games when your team is 6-0 and ranked in the top 10, but he was blasted from every angle with Cougar Spirit long before he even stepped foot on campus. As soon as he accepted, his social media was inundated with football related articles/tweets/posts. "Get to know the players", here's the scheduled (again and again), game day activities, etc. Then the very first night he was on campus, all the freshman met at the FOOTBALL stadium for the official welcome to campus. The band was there, cheerleaders, mascot, and they learned the fight song, the cheers, and what it means to support your school. On game day, the band (or parts of the band) goes around to every dorm (and a lot of greek houses) to fire everyone up. Obviously they don't get everyone to go, but I guarantee that most everyone at least knows there's a game going on. I'm positive the same can't be said at UCD.

Again, I know Pac-12 football is a lot easier of a sell than Big Sky, and that the student demographics is different at UCD. But we can, an must, learn from other schools successful techniques for engaging students.

Probably women's lacrosse.

Just voted (again) and Doss' is up by exactly 1 vote (4,231 to 4,230).