So it's basketball season.  Mac Court is still loud and faintly smelling of Aaron Brooks.  Don Essig is still drunk and in front of a microphone.  The Pit Crew is still raucos, borderline inappropriate, and upset that the band isn't playing DuckTales over and over again.  But the men's hoops team looks nothing like last year's team.  Bryce, Malik, and Maarty are all off getting cut by NBA teams and finding jobs in Turkey and Italy.  Ray-Ray is huge in Japan.  What is left could be a serviceable basketball team, if the chips fall right.  Personally, things I'm excited for:

TP being TP: Tajuan doesn't have to be the #1 point guard and gets to going back to shooting the lights out.

Stretching those wings: Dunigan, Humphrey, Teondre, Crittle, Sim, Wiley(Luke Jackson 2.0) finally get some minutes in big games, and we get to see what they're made of.

Proof Years for the Vets: Is Kamyron Brown no longer allergic to shooting the ball?  Will Franz turn into more than just a black canadian Adam Zahn?  Has LeKendric finally found a finish, instead of getting to the hoop and missing half his layups? 

Couple of predictions:

Team MVP: TP, with Longmire making a nice run at it.

Most pleasant surprise: Purely a hunch, but I think Teondre Williams is gonna be good, if he can find minutes in a backcourt with Brown, TP, Sim, Humphrey, and Longmire.

Biggest Concerns: Kamyron Brown and Joevon Catron.  Can Kamyron shoot the ball enough to actually warrant a defender, and can Catron become a leading scorer?

Prediction: 18-14, 9-11 Pac-10 (1-1 tourney)

NIT bid, win a game or two, maybe make a Final Four run if we can get hot.