Especially this year, after having two utterly forgettable years in a row and getting our second really good recruiting class in a row, we are anxious to get into the season.  We are also anxious to find out how Gillispie is going to do.

I'm sure you guys felt the same way when Urban Meyer came on board.

It is certainly a possibility that Jasper will beat Meeks out for the starting spot, or that Jasper will start in place of Stevenson.  My figuring is that Meeks will provide a little more offensive firepower than Jasper will.

But Jasper could wind up the choice because of his defense, so just because Meeks got my nod doesn't mean Gillispie will agree.

If these numbers are "poor", you and I are from different planets. I think all three are capable of significantly better, and if that's what you're saying, then we are in agreement.

I really think the big difference is that last year, we were forced, as much by Morris' inability to run the floor and the need to keep him from getting too tired as anything else, to play to a bit of a rigid, half-court style. We had to keep Morris in there for rebounding and a low post threat, because without him, we had no low post threat at all.

Defensively, we weren't nearly as good against quality competition as we needed to be.

Patterson doesn't have 260# to chug around with him, so that shouldn't be as much of an issue with him. Not only that, Patterson has a totally different mentality from Morris. Where Morris seemed passive and somewhat remote, and would pout when he didn't get a pass after working for position, Patterson is tireless and relentless.

Plus, we have much more bench depth this year and people who can get their own shot if need be, even if it is considerably smaller.

The major problem was not having a power forward, in my opinion, although that was a problem.  The problem was, in order to keep Morris from falling down from fatigue, we had to play a half-court style.  

Because he was so critical to the offense and to our rebounding, and we had virtually zero depth at his position, he had to play 28 minutes per game.  We actually needed him more like 35 out of Randy, but his tendency to grab when he got tired forced us to take him out before he fouled out.

We are much better this year.  Even though we still have no appreciable depth in the front court, we have lots more in the back court, which gives us some nice options when it comes to a fast, 4-guard lineup that we didn't have last year.