Is Nevada a doughnut?

Coach Mark Fox has in a way been 'victimized' by the success of both the Nevada men's basketball program's record the last 5-6 years and also by the level of talent his recruiting has brought to Reno -- two factors intertwined with each other. First, Ramon Sessions unexpectedly -- at least to some degree -- leaves early and now JaVale McGee, far from any semblance of a finished product, is gone after two seasons. A high level of talent cuts both ways: more wins but a greater chance of losing players prior to their senior seasons.

Coming into 2008-2009 and minus some quality players and their accompanying production would usually consign a team to .500 at the very best or possibly something much worse. We don't see the latter happening with Nevada but ending with a record split down the middle is a possibility.

METAPHORICALLY ROLLED THEIR LAST PAIR OF DICE

Look at the players who have seen the last of The Biggest Little City In The World, plus the roles they played:

Demarshay Johnson - he never reached the zenith predicted but certainly helped the Pack upfront

JaVale McGee - a highlight reel type, both good and...sometimes not so good

Marcelus Kemp - carried his team as a sixth year senior

Matt LaGrone - provided muscle if not much else, something that will be missed in 2008-2009

David Ellis - his lack of weight/strength always held him back but he was a smart player who possessed some scoring ability


RETURNEES

Brandon Fields G 6-4 185 Junior - Fields was an extremely pleasant surprise, going from 2.1 ppg. as a frosh to 12.4 ppg and starting 32 games 12 months later. He also was lauded as the team co-Defensive Player of the Year.

Lyndale Burleson G 6-3 190 Senior - An All-WAC Defensive honoree, Burleson gives Armon Johnson a breather at the point.

Malik Cooke F 6-5 205 Sophomore - He shot and rebounded well although albeit sparingly but showed enough to demonstrate he is a WAC-caliber player and this as just a sophomore.

Ray Kraemer G 6-4 200 Junior - We thought he would show more but he seems destined to play the role as a long-range, catch-and-shoot backcourter who fills in when foul trouble occurs.

Armon Johnson G 6-3 195 Sophomore - Johnson moved right in as a starter and produced numbers all across the board: 11.5 poimnts and 4.0 rebounds a game. He led the Pack with over three assists a game and managed an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.42, as a freshman.

Richie Phillips F 6-7 220 Junior - After two straight seasons of injuries with a redshirt year at the beginning, it's hard to count on Phillips contributing. That, plus his development has obviously been hindered due to his being sidelined (playing in just 16 games and for 67 minutes total). He could really help with some beef upfront but anything he provides to the Wolf Pack will be a bonus.


NEWCOMERS

Joey Shaw F 6-6 205 Junior - He has a rep as a shooter/scorer but will certainly have competition for playing time.

Luke Babbitt F 6-9 225 Freshman - Babbitt starts from day one.

Mark McLaughlin G 6-5 180 Freshman - Another scorer type with fine promise but he'll need some time to adjust.

London Giles G 6-3 180 Freshman - Although Armon Johnson can easily move over to scoring guard when appropriate, Giles won't play a lot this season with Johnson and Burleson ahead of him.

Ahyaro Phillips F 6-8 210 Freshman - He seems to be an athletic type who does his best work on the boards right now.

Dario Hunt F 6-8 230 Freshman - Seemingly the only other player on the roster who can physically handle playing in the paint, Hunt is a rebounder-shot blocker foremost at this point.


THE WOLF PACK BY POSITION

Center

Dario Hunt - One of the keys to Nevada's season will be how quickly Hunt adjusts to holding his own defensively without piling up the fouls. He has some shotblocking talent but defensive play is obviously so much more than that. Any scoring from him will come from alley-oops and putbacks -- he is that raw. A bouncy, athletic kid who will compete.

Strong Forward

Luke Babbitt - If there is an Achilles heel for Babbitt, it's that he's not tremendously athletic. But he can shoot from long, longer and longest and is very canny inside with positioning and footwork. We see Babbitt as the WAC Newcomer of the Year and also an all-league selection. He'll score near 20 ppg but it will be interesting what his rebounding numbers are.

Richie Phillips - Nobody knows what to expect from Phillips but hopefully he will enjoy a healthy season and finally enjoy the opportunity to display his wares.

Ahyaro Phillips - Another athletic, raw type, he needs to gain bulk and strength to play effectively inside.

Wing/Shooting guard

Brandon Fields - As a soph, Fields shot adequately, successfully got to the foul line and had a positive number of assists to turnovers (79 to 58). Fox would like to see better boardplay from him though. Look for Fields to be no worse than the third scorer on the team and possibly even second.

Joey Shaw - He's already tasted D-1 ball as a freshman redshirt and then a season playing at Indiana. He'll be another shooter Fox can employ although he'll probably want more dribble-drive play from Shaw than has been shown to date.

Malik Cooke - Brandon Fields played close to two and a half times more per game than Cooke yet Cooke put up far better rebounding numbers. But where he plays is indeterminable at this moment.

Ray Kraemer - If there is a need for a catch-and-shoot backcourter than Kraemer will see time.

Mark McLaughlin - Give this kid a year to adjust. He has nice size for the backcourt and intriguing skills. He first committed to Washington State but changed his mind.

Point

Armon Johnson - He played just over 31 minutes a game last season and will probably be close to that figure in 2008-2009.

Lyndale Burleson - Burleson was right around 18 minutes a game and will probably remain around that figure. His assist-to-turnovers was 54 to 26 and he came close to leading the team in steals last season.

London Giles - Call this season an apprenticeship for him.

SUMMARY

We can't see Luke Babbitt at the center position, at least not for any lengthy period of time and we nase this on one simple reason: Fox cannot afford to have his star player get anywhere near foul trouble. Babbitt could handle playing in the paint offensively and his shooting range would force his opposite at center out defensively to territory heretofore unexplored but Nevada would suffer too much if Babbitt was forced to the sidelines due to the whistles of the referees.

Therefore, freshman Dario Hunt has to be ready to play 20 minutes or so a game from the beginning.

It won't be as simplistic or black-and-white as this but Nevada will try to counter the in-the-paint scoring of opponents with three-pointers.

Fox apparently still has a scholarship available but it seems unlikely he will use it at this late date unless a 'big' somehow becomes available.

Nevada has some very good players -- how much the lack of a presence in the middle is felt will be season determining.