What to Watch For Tonight at Maroon Madness

The Cougar-faithful will finally get their first look at Doug Wojcik's team tonight at TD Arena as Maroon Madness officially kicks off the college basketball season here in Chucktown. In addition to the contests and team dance skits, there will be a little bit of 5-on-5 basketball being played on Kresse Court for the first time in months. Don't expect the coaching staff to ride players hard in these loose scrimmages, but you can anticipate the game to be competitive and visually entertaining. Here's what I'll be looking for:

• How do Trent, Willis and Anthony Stitt look coming off of injury? Reports are that Wiedeman has some quickness and explosiveness back following ankle surgery this past spring. Stitt should be recovered from that broken hand and Willis Hall gets to show us how he's doing after that nasty ACL tear that caused him to redshirt his entire junior year. 

• The newcomers. We'll get a look at not only freshmen Theo Johnson and Canyon Barry, but also transfers Anthony Thomas and David Wishon. Barry and Wishon are both redshirting this year so this might be our only chance to see them play on the court with the rest of the team. Thomas meanwhile will likely be the starting small forward on opening day. Will be interesting to see what kind of role he plays for the team stepping right into the spot Antwaine Wiggins occupied for so long.

• What the hell is this offense and defense gonna look like? Pick-and-roll? Man-to-man or zone D? High post and low post between Baru and Wiedeman? Where does the talented backcourt of Lawrence and Stitt fit into Wojcik's big man friendly system? I'm not expecting any complex play calling tonight but we may see a few hints as to what style this team will employ.

• The dunk contest and three point shootout. Say what you will about Jordan Scott and James Carlton, but they were the two best pre-game dunkers at CofC before transferring this summer. My money is on freshman Theo Johnson to win out but Adjehi or even Trevonte Dixon might have a shot. As for the three point contest, Lawrence and Sundberg should be the favorites but I don't think anyone will be rivaling Goudelock's scores in that event any time soon.