First impressions on MT Hoops

Okay, it was just an exhibition game - but Middle Tennessee basketball is offically back! I had a chance to take in the action of MT's 85-55 win over Arkansas Fort Smith on Thursday. And while there wasn't much meaning behind the game, there was still plenty of tidbits to walk away with.

Here are mine:

The last time we saw MT shooting guard Giddy Potts on the basketball court, he went 0-for-8 from the field in the second round of the big dance, posting zero points against the Butler Bulldogs in a loss. I knew even then that that was an aberration and something that wasn't likely to happen again, but it was still intriguing to see how he would come out against AFSU.

Long story short, Giddy looked good. Really good.

Potts seemed to be in mid season form shooting the lights out. He dominated with a very efficient and effective performance. He logged in 19 minutes of playing time but still managed to drop 25 points. Potts was a scorching 7-of-9 from three point land and 4-of-5 from the free throw line.

Potts wasn't just a scoring machine, though. He accumulated three steals. When you consider how many minutes he played, he was getting one steal every six minutes or so.

Sometimes players in the early games of the season struggle out of the gate to get things rolling, but not Potts. He put his talents on full display, showing he is a scoring dynamo and a force to be reckoned with going forward.

Right from the get-go, it struck me. I thought "Man, there are a lot of new pieces to the puzzle this season." There was post man transfer Nick King, slasher James Hawthorne, point guard Donovan Sims, sharp shooter, Therren Shelton Szmidt, shooting guard David Simmons and post man T.J Massenburg.

Hawthorne got a good chunk of playing time in this contest, logging 17 minutes of action. He reached the double digit mark in points with 10; impressive for a guy making his debut. Hawthorne was 3-3 from the field and 1-1 from three point range.

Each and every one of the newcomers saw time on the court. Simmons saw 17 minutes, Sims saw nine minutes, Shelton-Szmidt saw 9 minutes and Massenburg was on the court for five minutes.

Being an exhibition contest, the minutes for the new guys on campus may be a tad skewed. Essentially every member of the team was in the game at some point. That likely won't happen during the regular season, but these guys who logged more minutes have garnered my attention moving forward.

It was easy and quite apparent to see that head man Kermit Davis will call upon big man Nick King to be a main cog in the machine this season. Last season at Alabama he only scored three points a game with three rebounds per outing. While at Memphis prior to that transfer, King notched seven points and five rebounds a game.

With JaCorey Williams and Reggie Upshaw gone, King will be asked to perform at a high clip. Don't let his stats from previous years deceive you, though, King has the potential to put up gaudy numbers as a Blue Raider. Trust Kermit Davis here, folks.

King just has that look to him. You don't want to read to much into an exhibition game, but it is clear that the tools are there for King. His size and athleticism jumps out at you. You could tell that he was chomping at the bit to make a splash and a huge impact. At times he seemed a little too amped up, but I liked the aggression. I noticed that he consistently hits the glass whether it is on the offensive or defensive end - that's something that'll pay dividends throughout the year.

Another variable to King's progression will be Brandon Walters. Walters was suspended for the game and will be back for the Murray State game, but he brings another dimension and will garner attention, freeing up King to just do his thing and ball out.

You do not want to make drastic knee-jerk reactions to one game, especially an exhibition. That said, it won't take a rocket scientist to think that Kermit Davis has a deep, talented team on his hands.

It will be intriguing to see how playing time is dished out going forward. I expect practices to be competitive and intense with guys jockeying for playing time.

MT strikes me as a multi faceted team that can hit shots from deep but also bludgeon you down low in the paint and on the block. Kermit will have to work out the kinks with his rotation but it is a good problem to have a bevy of talented pieces.