For those of you that care, not counting my parents and dear old Uncle Fenster, I have a new site up for WAC men's basketball.

It can be found at:

http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com/[/url]

Being upfront, I root for SJSU but please don't hold that against me. My intention is to be equal-handed in my praise and criticism. I'm suuuurrrreee someone will let me know if I cross the line.

I have pre-season reviews up for all the WAC teams, plus some additional posts.

As me mum use to say as I approached the dinner table, have at it.

You don't have all the WAC teams yet. You have nothing on Tech. I would say you are saving the best for last...but then I noticed no Idaho either.

Au contraire, here's the link for LA TECH and Idaho:

http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com/2007_1...chive.html

They were published earlier on October 19.

wacster Wrote:Au contraire, here's the link for LA TECH and Idaho:

http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com/2007_1...chive.html

They were published earlier on October 19.

Hmm...not sure how I missed that. To add a little Kyle Gibson. I would say he is clearly in line to start being our best shooter. DJ still has to take his SAT before he can get qualified at Tech (for some reason he is waiting until November) meaning the 2 guard spot is wide open. Kyle was a Pac 10 recruit who was sent Tech's way by former player and current coach at USC Tim Floyd. He actually played 2 of his better games last year against Texas Tech and Southern Illinois.

That said, Drew Washington may move over to the 2 instead and let JC and Loe handle our point guard need most the time.

Thanks for the update. It definitely sounds like you have the 411 on LA TECH hoops.

I had not heard or read that about DJ -- good scoop on that one.

What's up with Clark, the jc transfer, at the point? I would expect him to be ahead of Loe.

In practice, the players Rupp has sitting out should be beating the starters on a daily basis.

wacster Wrote:For those of you that care, not counting my parents and dear old Uncle Fenster, I have a new site up for WAC men's basketball.

It can be found at:

http://parsingthewac.blogspot.com/[/url]

Being upfront, I root for SJSU but please don't hold that against me. My intention is to be equal-handed in my praise and criticism. I'm suuuurrrreee someone will let me know if I cross the line.

I have pre-season reviews up for all the WAC teams, plus some additional posts.

As me mum use to say as I approached the dinner table, have at it.

nice site, but I hate registering to comment. I'll try to get off my lazy butt and register in time for hoops season.

wacster Wrote:Thanks for the update. It definitely sounds like you have the 411 on LA TECH hoops.

I had not heard or read that about DJ -- good scoop on that one.

What's up with Clark, the jc transfer, at the point? I would expect him to be ahead of Loe.

In practice, the players Rupp has sitting out should be beating the starters on a daily basis.

Not sure if I have the 411. I just hear things on our message board and from some of the players (luxury of being in a student group that works for that pretty much athletic department).

Talked to Olu tonight and he said point guard is up for grabs. JC, Drew Washington, and Loe all can handle the position. He didn't have much to add about who was leading. Found out Olu looks to be the starter at the 2. Gibson may start at the 3 (not that the name of the position really matters) if DJ doesn't qualify.

Nice job on the site, overall. It'll be really nice to have something new to read.

I just got home from Nevada's exhibition game against Seattle Pacific. Nevada held on, but it was a fairly close game. Kemp and Fields sat out, while everyone but Carp got a lot of PT. The score may make people think the prediction of Nevada's demise may be true, but don't believe it. Replace Lynch and Kraemer with Fields and Kemp today, and it would have been a totally different game.

I've refrained from posting anything about Nevada for a while, but now having a first look, here are a few comments:

1) McGee could end up being WAC player of the year*, and that's not a homer statement. A lot of people were expecting big things from him, but all I can say is, WOW! Close to 30 pts, and far and away the best player on the court today.

2) Unless Pope lives up to expectations, Armon Johnson will likely be WAC freshman of the year. The PG job is his, and he's legit. He played very solid, finishing w/~20 pts.

3) Kraemer started today, but I don't see him playing much right away. He's a good example of someone that needs to adjust to the speed of D1 ball.

4) Demarshay Johnson will be solid, but I just don't see him living up to the 2nd team all-WAC coaches prediction.

5) Ellis and Lagrone both showed improvement, but both will still be role players.

6) Cooke showed a lot of promise, but it's hard to see him getting a lot of time right away.

7) I don't know who will win the WAC this year, but Nevada will be in the mix.

Trivia for the day: Burleson would have led the WAC in assist-to-turnover ratio last year (>2.5), but didn't have enough assists to qualify.

*edit: McGee's emergence likely increases Carroll's chances of winning POY, because Kemp shouldn't be shouldering the scoring load to the degree most people expect.

clpack Wrote:Nice job on the site, overall. It'll be really nice to have something new to read.

I just got home from Nevada's exhibition game against Seattle Pacific. Nevada held on, but it was a fairly close game. Kemp and Fields sat out, while everyone but Carp got a lot of PT. The score may make people think the prediction of Nevada's demise may be true, but don't believe it. Replace Lynch and Kraemer with Fields and Kemp today, and it would have been a totally different game.

I've refrained from posting anything about Nevada for a while, but now having a first look, here are a few comments:

1) McGee could end up being WAC player of the year*, and that's not a homer statement. A lot of people were expecting big things from him, but all I can say is, WOW! Close to 30 pts, and far and away the best player on the court today.

2) Unless Pope lives up to expectations, Armon Johnson will likely be WAC freshman of the year. The PG job is his, and he's legit. He played very solid, finishing w/~20 pts.

3) Kraemer started today, but I don't see him playing much right away. He's a good example of someone that needs to adjust to the speed of D1 ball.

4) Demarshay Johnson will be solid, but I just don't see him living up to the 2nd team all-WAC coaches prediction.

5) Ellis and Lagrone both showed improvement, but both will still be role players.

6) Cooke showed a lot of promise, but it's hard to see him getting a lot of time right away.

7) I don't know who will win the WAC this year, but Nevada will be in the mix.

Trivia for the day: Burleson would have led the WAC in assist-to-turnover ratio last year (>2.5), but didn't have enough assists to qualify.

*edit: McGee's emergence likely increases Carroll's chances of winning POY, because Kemp shouldn't be shouldering the scoring load to the degree most people expect.

Of course I wasn't in Reno to see the game, but I'd suggest that Fox wants to keep Kemp at the 2. if he does, then Kraemer and Cooke will pick up a lot of minutes. I also think McGee will be a stud, but inconsistent. That's a total guess based on how he played last year. It's going to be fun to watch and I hope he's everything Pack fans think he is.

WolfInSeattle Wrote:Of course I wasn't in Reno to see the game, but I'd suggest that Fox wants to keep Kemp at the 2. if he does, then Kraemer and Cooke will pick up a lot of minutes. I also think McGee will be a stud, but inconsistent. That's a total guess based on how he played last year. It's going to be fun to watch and I hope he's everything Pack fans think he is.

Ahh, I wish you could've been there. It wasn't the stats that McGee and Armon put up so much as the way they did it. McGee was playing like he was on a mission...he wanted the ball, everyone knew he was going to get it, and still SP couldn't do anything about it. I don't know how many times he dunked from under the basket. Overall, SP was smaller than many teams the Pack will face -- although their center, Wills?, was a load (listed at 6-10 275, I think, but looked closer to 300) -- and McGee won't always repeat that performance, of course. But as much as most of us expected of him, I was blown away (as was everyone else around me). It's natural to compare him to Fazekas, but that's like apples to oranges. McGee doesn't have some of the skills that NF developed (not yet, anyway), but he's on another planet athletically. I keep thinking the best comparison to a former Nevada player is Edgar Jones...in any case, it was the first time I saw someone dunk from the free throw line at a Pack game since EJ did it.

Armon Johnson was so composed. I was similarly impressed the way Sessions stepped right in as a freshman, but Johnson is way ahead offensively. The one thing I'm not wild about is the way he holds the ball up while driving, then kind of pushing it toward the basket (the best way I can describe it is holding the ball like a drink tray)...I just wonder if he'll tend to get it swatted away by the quicker players he'll face. Maybe I'm out to lunch on that, because it worked.

I agree about Kemp getting time at G. For his draft stock, he needs to demonstrate better ballhandling, and reportedly he's worked hard on that, but he'll have to play the 3 at times. Kraemer and Cooke could get significant time, but neither really seemed to be there defensively or adjusting to the speed of the game yet. Kraemer looks very strong, and I really liked his scrappy play (I thought he had kind of a funny release on his shot -- I guess I'd call it “wristy” -- but it obviously works for him). Cooke looked very athletic...it's hard to believe he's still only 18. Hopefully one or both of them develop quickly.