They're both point guards, but they couldn't be much different. Besides Nedeljko Golubovic, from Serbia, Shepp comes to Fresno State from the farthest away, the East Coast, where he played mostly zone defense at a junior college. Sperling comes from the closest, Buchanan High, a 10-minute drive from campus, and even though he's the skinniest guy on the team, he plays tough defense. It's like trying to drive past an alley cat to get to a piece of bacon. Maybe I exaggerate slightly for the fun cat/bacon analogy.

Not only that, if you do get by Sperling, he's tall and has long arms and can block your shot. He also rebounds pretty well. The problem with guys like Sperling is they're a great size for a college point guard, but they didn't grow up playing point guard and don't have the ball-handling ability that a guy like Shepp has. Shepp's been playing point guard since the cradle. You can just picture him walking into his first organized basketball practice as a fourth-grader and the coach looking at a short, white kid and thinking, "There's my point guard."

Shepp has really never had to worry about defense because he's fast, he can shoot from about anywhere and he sees everyone on the court. Up to this level, that's all coaches really need in a point guard. Get it to the open guy. Get back on defense. Don't turn it over. No worries. The Bulldogs need a lot more on defense. They need to make stops to get their transition game going. You can't take advantage of those three young, talented big guys up front -- who can all run the floor -- if you're always having to pull the ball out of the basket after a make.

Having watched the first exhibition, which point guard impressed you? Who do you see being the starter by February? Which is more likely, Shepp getting better at defense, or Sperling improving his ball-handling? How many questions is the appropriate amount to end a blog?