Thoughts, highlights from Aggie Basketball's Maroon & White scrimmage

• Tonny Trocha impressed me a lot. Do I think he's going to be an all-conference player? Maybe not this year, but he will give the team a boost. He is 1,000 times more aggressive than last year and with the added weight, he showed confidence in the post with his back to the basket.

• Danuel House has the explosiveness the NBA loves. Not sure if our video team got it on highlight, but House drove left and jumped off his right leg and dunked it with his left hand — as if he were truly left-handed — with authority. That doesn't sound all that impressive, but it is hard for an athlete to jump off his opposite leg just as easily as his dominant leg. He is strong when driving to the basket and rarely gets knocked off balance.

• The team started out very sloppy, but that was to be expected. The defense knows exactly what the offense is trying to do and it resulted in a lot of turnovers. I'm sure these guys can't wait to play someone else besides each other.

• The team has been practicing very hard and it showed. I could tell that the majority of the team didn't have any legs. The scrimmage was actually after a full practice in the Cox-McFerrin Center.

• The freshmen still have some work to do and a lot of learning, but I'm still excited to what they bring to the table against real competition. D.J. Hogg can flat out shoot. Admon Gilder can certainly score when given the opportunity and he plays D. Tyler Davis is big and probably the most physical player on the team.

• Elijah Thomas didn't play because of a foot injury. He was wearing a boot but the team expects him back in a couple of weeks. I spoke to him before the game and he's in good spirits and didn't seemed worried about the injury at all. He just wants to get back in action.

• Another guy I don't want to forget to mention is Tavario Miller. He is a workhorse. Played well because his motor never stops and is always aggressive. He has gained a lot of good weight but because the team's overall size has increased so much, he looks small — but he doesn't play small on the court.

• Ball movement on offense was better than I've seen in a long time. It was hard to tell how well they ran an offense because the defense was always playing the play that was called. But, I actually thought there were a number of times where the offense over passed the ball and gave up good shot attempts.

• The defense showed zone and a full court press, which is something Coach Kennedy said they will do more of throughout the year. This team is big and long and switching into a zone would change things up and cover a lot of space in the paint.

• My only concern is that this team looked a little tired. They've basically been going at it since the end of July and it's a long season. The foreign trip definitely helped and gave them a chance to learn and grow quicker into the season, but it also makes for a much longer season. The staff is going to have to find that fine line between pushing them hard enough to make this team tough versus overworking them throughout the season.

First period lineups
Maroon

• Caruso
• Collins
• House
• Jones
• Davis

White

• Robinson
• Gilder
• Miller
• Trocha
• Hogg

Second period lineups
Maroon

• Caruso
• House
• Robinson
• Trocha
• Davis

White

• Collins
• Gilder
• Hogg
• Jones
• Miller