Dunkin' 'Dogs tip off

Did you go to Fresno State's open basketball practice tonight at the Save Mart Center? What were your takeaways?

While the men didn't actually scrimmage, they went through 30 minutes of drills and introductions, and here's a sentence on each guy and what first comes to mind...

Jerry Brown Jr., G/F, 6-7, 195, Fr
A brave prediction -- Brown will be All-WAC before his career is over at Fresno State with his smooth, fluid motions and physical development well beyond a typical freshman.

Paul George, G/F, 6-8, 210, So
Do we really need to say much about a guy who is slated as a possible NBA lottery pick heading into his second year of college?

Ned Golubovic, F, 6-8, 245, Jr
Super Golu is getting second-team reps right now, and will be pushed for playiing time, but likely the first big man off the bench; needs to improve rebounding and be more aggressive defensively now that foul trouble isn't as big a concern.

Garrett Johnson, G/F, 6-5, 190, Fr
Good slashing speed for his height, and the look of a defensive stopper if he uses his build to his advantage.

Taylor Kelly, G, 6-2, 200, R-Fr
Doubtful he'll see many minutes based on what he showed in last year's Red-White scrimmage, but can shoot the 3 if he's open.

Mychal Ladd, G, 6-5, 190, So
Most improved player candidate who could really take it up a notch after a nice freshman season with lots of experience.

Sylvester Seay, F, 6-10, 235
Seay's talent has never been in question and the attitude he showed by going 100% through defensive footwork and positioning drills was refreshing.

Steven Shepp, G, 6-2, 170, R-So
Getting second-team reps right now and has a constantly determined, man-on-a-mission look every time he has the ball; quickness not quite ideal for a point guard, but transition speed is nice for the team's most intriguing player.

Greg Smith, C, 6-10, 250, Fr
Eye-popping strength and upper body bulk for a freshman; will help him deliver some of the most emphatic dunks in school history and probably a shattered backboard or two this year.

Brandon Sperling, G, 6-4, 180, So
Surprise, surprise, Sperling works with the starting rotation, but still looks a bit awkward handling the rock.

Brandon Webster, C, 6-10, 275, Jr
Not sure what scale B-Web is using, but it's a kind one; the way he throws it down in practice sure gets frustrating when he hasn't figured out how to apply that tenacity in games consistently -- play angry!

High praise for incoming hoops recruits

Ran across some nice nuggets of info on the Parsing the WAC blog, which I must say is a very active and informative one. Kevin McCarthy talks Fresno State quite a bit in it, which is cool with me.

So let's get to the point...McCarthy talked 'Dogs recruiting with Carl Foster, who's been around a few of the soon-to-be Fresno State players, and he had some pretty impressive things to say.

Should be encouraging to Fresno State fans who witnessed one of the program's all-time most embarrassing losses last night at Hawaii, a game in which Fresno State had just 10 points at halftime. Bryce Cartwright had one of his most error-prone games, Ned Golubovic (despite being named Academic All-America for his region) was never in the right place at the right time, Sylvester Seay reverted to his old attitude problem and drew a technical foul before fouling out with 12 minutes left and Brandon Sperling got absolutely overpowered by bigger, stronger Rainbows.

But rest assured, help is on the way in the form of Greg Smith (as long as this suspension doesn't mean any bad news), Jerry Brown, Garrett Johnson and Chris Jones.