(Photo Courtesy @JodyDemling)

In the first Red and White Scrimmage the offense was the highlight of the day and it was obvious after watching this group for the first time that scoring points wasn’t going to be an issue during 2013-14 season. After watching the second scrimmage today it is obvious that the young guys on this team are going to be really special. It was the Red team that was victorious over the White squad today 70-65 in a scrimmage that came down to the wire.

-RED TEAM

In the last scrimmage Chris Jones looked as though he was battling nerves and didn’t look very comfortable under the lights of the Yum Center. Today it was a different Chris Jones. Today we got to see the Chris Jones that was touted as the best Juco player in the country. He looked very comfortable leading the Red team to victory scoring a game high 24 points. He really showcased his skills today. He is a guard that can hit from deep, has that sweet stop and pop, great at the drive/dish, aggressive rebounder and he took over the game today in the final ten minutes of play. Welcome to the Ville Mr. jones…

Terry Rozier wasn’t shy in his debut last weekend and today he showed out again scoring 14 points to help lead the Red team over the White. There’s not going to be another first year player have as big a impact on his team this year than Terry. This kid can flat out get it done. I am in my zone when I’m on the couch at home watching sports. Rozier is in his zone when he has a basketball in his hands and is on a basketball court. He does it all. Rebounds, passes, plays defense, and is clutch. He had a steal and a dunk in the closing seconds today to seal his team the victory that would have been on Sportscenter had it been a real game. I have a video of the play below:

“The Mango” came out today and played a hard and aggressive game. He was able to score 9 points and had 7 boards in his teams winning effort. He has some pretty big shoes to fill replacing Gorgui, but I am very confident in what I have seen of his game so far.

The new and improved Wayne Blackshear came out hungry and energetic again this afternoon scoring 14 points in his teams winning effort. He was going all out again on both ends of the floor. I just love seeing this guy come into his own. Wayne is going to be really fun to watch all year.

Stephan Van Treese is a work horse plain and simple. He had another blue collar performance today as he grabbed a team high and game high 11 rebounds.

-WHITE TEAM

Russ Smith went head to head with Chris Jones today in what was a great battle between a duo that is gonna cause college basketball to have a lot of headaches this season. They really needed shoulder pads and a helmet the way they were going at it down the stretch. Russ had a good effort with 22 points and more importantly for him had a team high and game high 8 assist. We are really seeing a different Russ so far.

Chane Behanan was playing some inspired basketball again today and had the second highest rebound total with 9. He looks very good early on and seems like he is gonna be ready to go when the season officially starts.

“The Beast” Montrezl Harrell had somewhat of a quite day for him and didn’t stand out as much as he did in the first scrimmage. But he still had 14 points.

Anton Gill was on this team of veterans and he hit some clutch three point shots down the stretch of this game to help bring the White team within one point in the closing minutes. He has a beautiful shooting stroke and even manages to keep his form when his legs get tired at the end of the game. He’s one of the best shooters on this team. He was 2-5 from three point land with 8 points.

The nations number one role player Tim “Hendo” Henderson played another good game and had 8 points. Tim seems to have a little extra moxy about him this season.

Some good quotes from Coach Pitino today during the scrimmage saying before the scrimmage how he felt like this team was “going to be really special” and again talking about how well his young guards rebound the ball. He seems really excited about that as he mentioned it last week in his press conference after the game. He also mentioned how he thought there were going to be a lot of hand check fouls called early this season by the officials. Says that it will make the team better and that they will have to learn how to play defense more effectively.

Another good scrimmage and a lot of things starting to shape up with this group. They are going to be special. I can’t think of the last time I was this excited about the young guys. They are going to have an immediate impact. They really impressed me today with how they took it to the veteran white group. It’s gonna be another fun one Cardinal fans.