As we are currently mired in a 1-8 football season with basketball season mere days away, I have a question for the readers of Cougcenter:  What is your favorite Cougar sport?  How many of us prefer football (even Cougar football) to basketball, or vice versa?  How many of us like another sport the best?  If you like a sport more or less than another, does the performance of the school in recent years have some bearing on that?  Does your participation in certain sports during your life affect what you like?  Vote away, and please elaborate in the comments!

Who would it be?  Here are some choices:

Derrick Low

Pros:  Excellent shooter, especially from 3.  Great at coming off screens looking to shoot, became better at driving to the hoop.  Decent quickness, decent perimeter defender.  Solid ball-handler.  Good FT shooter.  Was the number one scorer on a team with several options.

Cons:  Much less of a PG than a SG, relied a lot on screens to set up shot opportunities.  Not an elite athelete.

Kyle Weaver

Pros:  Athletic, long, tall for a guard.  Could fill the stat sheet in multiple ways.  Very smart player, did a lot of little things.  Lockdown defender.  Good at attacking the rim, good enough perimeter shooter to keep defenders honest.  Solid FT shooter.  Could guard multiple positions.  High bball IQ.

Cons:  Not a great 3pt shooter.  Not exceptionally quick or strong.  Rarely a dominant scorer.

Taylor Rochestie

Pros:  Excellent PG with the ability to score as well.  Nice 3pt stroke, could attack the rim with a running floater.  Excellent leadership qualities, always wanted to take the big shots.  Crafty, intelligent player.  Great passer and manager of the offense.  Excellent FT shooter.  Can play effectively with high minutes.

Cons:  Listed at 6-1, probably not that tall.  Not an elite athlete. Sometimes tried to do too much.  Could get overly emotional at times.

Aron Baynes

Pros:  Dominant low-post presence. Incredibly strong, tough, physical player who made large improvements every season.  Good rebounder, nice 6-8 foot hook shot.  Great option for penetrating guards to pass to.  Great size for college.  Ambidextrous.  Good FT shooter, especially for his position.  Generally commanded a double team from opposing defenses.  Good low-post defender. Shot 100 percent from three this season.

Cons: Fairly slow, even for position.  Not an explosive jumper.  Somewhat limited arsenal of low-post moves.  Lacked a 15 foot jump-shot.  Not the best passer out of the post.  Picked up a lot of fouls, struggled against NBA-caliber centers, overly emotional at times.

Klay Thompson

Pros:  Good size for position.  Great shooter both from 3pt and 15 ft.  Very even-keeled.  Decently athletic, can guard multiple positions.  Can score in bunches, has a scorer's mentality.  Excellent FT shooter.  Decent rebounder.  Has three more years to develop his game.

Cons:  Limited in attacking the basket.  Does not draw fouls well.  Not overly quick nor an exceptional ball-handler.  Could use more strength.  Leadership qualities unproven, as well as ability to be the primary scorer.  Could possibly stand to play with more emotion.

Other

If you've got another cougar player in mind, please mention them and why.

That since SMC is a WCC team, by then end of the night we'll have not only learned who Klay Thompson's dad is, but who his brother is as well.  Also, bonus points if they mention that his dad and bro spell it differently.

If this game was on FSN, I'd add another five on a Craig Robinson -> Barack Obama reference as well, even though Oregon state has nothing to do with this game.

Who do you think should be the Cougs' starters?  Obviously, Taylor, Klay, and Aron's names are written in stone at this point, but those other two spots seem to be up for debate (at least here on the interwebs, anyways).  So, based on performance, potential, season outlook, seniority (or lack thereof), or whatever you like, choose the combination of players you'd start if you were Tony Bennett.  Feel encouraged to elaborate as to why you chose who you did.

Side note:  I only made options based on who has started this year, and where they are positioned.  So no, no option for Enquist/Bailey.

Has anyone ever seen a FT display like that in their lives?  I know a lot of them were by Taylor (30 and 7 by the way, in case you missed it) who is pretty much automatic, but still, pretty awesome, huh?  Also of note, Klay hasn't missed a FT all season long, although he's shooting far less of them.  And did Baynes miss a single FT on this road trip?  I'm not sure but I'll check, anyways there's a poll.