Coug fan here,
Nice job on the write-up, but I will share my thoughts.
Back court: Thompson is the only lock to start right now, and there will be a lot of competition for the other two spots.
Reggie Moore is actually the true freshman who is making the most noise thus far, and I have been told by a player on the team that Reggie is pretty much a lock to start at PG. He is a very explosive athlete, who has the talent to be an all Pac-10 player at some point. Moore is a good shooter when he is open, but is known to take some bad shots. The big question will be how he handles the step up in competition mentally, and can he take care of the basketball?
Michael Harthun is another player who has impressed this off season. Harthun did not get a lot of PT last year as a true freshman, although many of us, and even Ken Bone don’t understand why. Harthun is a good all around player, but will need to translate the impressive play at practice to gamedays, which is easier said than done. Harthun will start at the wing in my opinion with Thompson.
Other guys who will compete for PT at the wing are Capers, Koprivica, Thames, and Lodwick.
Capers is going to get a lot of minutes, even if he comes off the bench. Capers is very good defender, who can cause real problems for smaller guards. On offense, Capers can contribute if he plays within his talents. He seems to want to be a shooter sometimes, which is his biggest weakness, and ultimatley could hold him back as a player.
Koprivica has had a brutal last two years, ever since his knee injury. However, he is a good defender against slower guards, and can bring some toughness to the court. Hopefully, Nik will turn it around, but I am pretty doubtful that he will see a lot of minutes this year. Koprivica will probably see some time at the 4, depending on match-ups, and that might be where he can contribute the most.
Thames is a very talented true freshman PG, who will be in the rotation this year. It appears that it will take him some time to get used to the college game, and I think it will be a year of ups-and-downs for Thames. Thames is also 6ft. 3in., which is great size for a PG. He should be effective in the open court, but might struggle in the half court.
Front court: I don’t think any of us know what to expect here. All I can say is the lack of meat on our bigs is a big worry for me.
Casto has a chance to explode under Bone’s system. He showed this summer on the U-19 team that he is a very good player in an uptempo system. It will be interesting to see how he handles becoming one of the go-to guys as a true soph.
Enquist is a former walk-on, who will be our back-up center. He is a guy who can rebound, run the floor, and play some physical defense. Enquist has surprised a lot of people by how much he has improved over the last two years.
Watson and Motum will probably be competing for the starting spot at the 4. Watson is a high flying redshirt freshman, who’s game is very raw. Watson has suffered some health set backs that have hurt his development quite a bit, and so we don’t really know what to expect from him. Watson also is one of those guys who wants to be a wing, and I am not sure how this mentality will work out.
Motum is a talented true freshman from Australia, who needs to put on about 30 lbs. I think he will be similar to Thames this year, and show some flashes of good things to come, but also make a lot of mistakes. Motum seems to handle the ball well, but his shot needs some work if he is going to be an outside threat.
Overall, I think this team could end up anywhere from 4th place, to 9th place. We need somebody other than Klay Thompson to step up as a real outside scoring threat. And, we will need somebody besides Casto to provide some inside scoring. The future is bright for this group, but I don’t think their time has come yet.
