Saturday, March 22, 2008

Look out for Nevada

Reading up in the Reno papers recently, it appears as if the University of Nevada will be trotting out a particularly strong basketball team in the future - at least on paper.

The Wolf Pack recently signed guard Joey Shaw from the College of Southern Idaho. The team is also prepared to suit up talented forward Luke Babbitt to go along with other pieces to the Wolf Pack roster.

Center JaVale McGee could test the NBA as he is long and rangy with nice ability. But lets say hypothetically that he comes back. We're talking about a center that has player of the year potential. The team already has Brandon Fields and Armon Johnson in the backcourt.

The key will be the possible return of McGee and the development of one, maybe two of their players. They could also use a plugger in the middle to rebound and be a presence inside. While McGee does impress, he doesn't board as well as he should.

Regardless, the Wolf Pack look like a dangerous team in the future for the WAC.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Reno is genno be a load.
They had a down year and still won a share of the WAC title.

As much as I dislike Fox, he's a good coach..top two (Stew Morrill) in the WAC.

Let's see what Menzies does in his sophomore year.

Anonymous said...

I do not know too much about Joey Shaw. Luke Babbitt is the real thing. He was recruited by the likes of UCLA and USC. Javale Mcgee is tall, slow and not very tough. During the semi-final game against the Aggies he was ineffective. I don't see Mcgee as playing in the NBA. Nick Fazekas was a good college player. He was picked in the 2nd round by the Dallas Mavericks and is currently playing in the Development league at Tulsa. Mcgee will be no more than a big guy plugging the middle at the college level.

Anonymous said...

It was impressive how good Nevada's young talent was during this "rebuilding" year. Agree McGee is key to their success next year. And Reno will have home court advantage for the WAC tourney too. Also saw where Idaho hired Stew Morrill's long-time assistant. Things look to be getting tougher in the WAC. While we have some impressive youngsters ourselves, their off-court lifestyles are certainly suspect (ie, I hope they don't get in any more trouble). Plus, Menzies has already proved he can't deliver a WAC championship with the best talent AND home court advantage. Sure hope he makes changes and learns from his mistakes.
-Aggie Glare

Anonymous said...

The pack is loading up and Fox can flay out coach...he's still a big baby but, he can coach!

I feel bad for Menzies. He's a real nice guy and want him to do well but....

I agree w/ Aggie Glare.
He couldn't deliver a championship with the best roster in the WAC and home court advantage! ouch!

He needs to learn from his mistakes and be a head coach and quit acting like an assistant, he also needs to quit being being Mr. Goodie two shoes and show some intesity...a pulse would be nice.

Anonymous said...

Since I'm an idiot and can't get my stuff to post on JG's blog, I'll post here regarding how long Menzies should have.

Antics or no antics is irrelevant, but intensity is VERY relevant. Menzies followed Theus, and fair or unfair, he will be compared to RT. RT did wonders with inferior talent his first year; Menzies disappointed with superior talent his first year. And I keep hearing all this talk about his recruiting prowess. Time will tell if Menzies can bring in talent the likes of Peete, Hawkins, Passos, Pope, JY, and Gibson. I for one am suspect that he can match RT in recruiting. It's one thing to recruit for yourself at NMSU, and another to recruit for Louisville, where the kid will be playing for a legend like Pitino. Menzies no longer has that ace in the hole. RT could get kids to come to NMSU by using his NBA experience as a recruiting edge.

Recruiting aside, the WAC definitely has HCs who can coach. AFter year one, Menzies coaching skills are suspect, as is his judgement in picking a staff. But I do agree he needs more time and should have at least three years. I see where Boston gave Menzies an A-. Let's hope that's just puplic consumption speak, and internally he's made it clear he expects better. With the best talent in a weak WAC and home court advantage, "disapointing" is how I describe the season; therefore a grade of C- is more appropriate.
-Aggie Glare

Anonymous said...

Joey Shaw redshirted at Indiana and played there his freshman year before transferring to CSI to get away from a coach that hadn't recruited him. He was a top 100 recruit out of high school and almost chose Nevada then.

As for Fazekas, he's playing for the Clippers (they signed him after Dallas was forced to cut him to make the Kidd trade work) not the Developmental league. He played 9 minutes just last night. Dallas still has to pay him for next year, plus he'll sign with another team (I hope he stays with the Clips since they seem to need him) and be making 2 salaries next season. I'm just trying to set the record straight.

Anonymous said...

Patrick thanks for correction on the info on Fazekas. I should have checked further before I posted. Thanks.