Looking forward to tipping off the 2016-17 basketball season this week, longtime Ignacio head coach Chris Valdez indicated Monday afternoon that though the Bobcats' pre-Christmas schedule may be "a little bit light," it will give a developing roster more time to find their shine.

"Absolutely," he said. "When you have players who are already All-State, you know, it's not a lot of coaching you can do - they already know your program, first of all, and when they make a mistake they know it!"

"These guys, when they make mistakes we're constantly coaching, constantly correcting, and sometimes changing things or personnel. We're going to be quick, but we've also got some really great shooting. We're young though. One senior on the roster - Joaquin King - and several good juniors and several good sophomores."

Used primarily as a spot-up three-point specialist - incomplete statistics reported to MaxPreps.com showed him sinking a smoking 54 percent (13-of-24) of his attempts - off the bench last season, King will head a core group a lot less vertical and less tested than fans have come to expect from IHS.

"We don't have a Nick Herrera who can jump out of the gym, we don't have those big kids like we used to," said Valdez. "Now we've got to figure out a better way to rebound, get down the floor, better way to defend the post because we don't have great, huge post defenders! Little things like that, we have to adjust to our new team."

"Other than Kruz (Pardo, a junior), Johnny (Valdez, a junior) and Cole (McCaw, a junior), and maybe Kai (Roubideaux, a junior) just a little bit, we've got very little varsity on-the-floor experience. And it's going to take a while before they jell."

"They're as talented as anybody we've ever had; it's just them coming together."

Sophomores Lawrence Valdez and Calvin Levato figure to also see more and more action as the season progresses, as Ignacio looks to replace graduated pillars Wyatt Hayes (now at NCAA Division II Fort Lewis College), Anthony Manzanares, Herrera, Tucker Ward and Austin McCaw, as well as reserve Chase Sanchez off a roster which went 22-4 overall in '15-16.

And after losing by five points to Paonia in the Class 2A state Championships' fifth-place - their best possible finish after a stunning one-point overtime loss to Holyoke on the tournament's first day, hopes for the Bobcats will again be high.

But despite a visibly-lower profile, Valdez expressed confidence his team can rise to the challenges.

"Right now it's just getting them to understand some of the basic offenses, some of the basic stuff we do," he said. "Five days after we started practice, we had a scrimmage with Durango. So we had to have something new, you know? Then we added a little bit more last week, then we had another scrimmage over in Pagosa! So now what we've got to do is go back, fill in those holes, and tell them why 'You're going to this spot,' all those little things."

Ignacio will open with a 2A/1A San Juan Basin League contest Thursday night at Dove Creek. The physical Bulldogs finished 11-10 overall last winter, but due to graduation will be without the services of their most versatile weapon, and frequently Coach Ty Gray's only go-to option.

"They lost that (Jordan) Ernst kid - that All-State kid who was their guard, scored 23, 24 a game, kind of did everything for them - so they're going to be without that great ball-handling," Valdez noted. "So we'll try to attack them in a different way than we have before."

"We'll probably press a little, try to keep their posts out. Our speed's definitely going to be a big thing."

CHSAANOW.COM CLASS 2A BOYS' PRESEASON POLL: 1.Sanford, 2.Paonia, 3.Holyoke, 4.Julesburg-Ovid Revere Sedgwick County, 5.Ault Highland, 6.Ellicott, 7.IGNACIO, 8.Byers, 9.Ordway Crowley County, 10.Burlington.