A few Monday morning notes and opinions

Here we go:

It's national exposure and being seen on the television screen is better than no appearance but 11 p.m.? Yes, Fresno State travels to St. Mary's tonight for an ESPN-televised game scheduled to begin oh let's say a little before midnight. We will catch some of it for sure but let's hope the WAC enjoys an 'up' year and carries more clout in future negotiations. As for the primary questions of the game: can the Bulldogs hang with the Gaels? Dwight O'Neill will have his hands full with Patty Mills but who will step up for Fresno State and balance out Diamon Simpson and Omar Samhan?

From Brian McInnis' article today in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin comes thiese two paragraphs:

"...Hawaii couldn't get an inside-outside game going to break the zone and went just 3-for-17 on 3-pointers (17.6 percent), while Fullerton was 11-for-27 (40.7 percent).

"We gotta find somebody on the perimeter who can knock down shots, spread the floor, so we can get the ball in to those (post) guys," Hawaii coach Bob Nash said. "We gotta be able to pass and catch and not be impatient and shoot bad shots..."

This may be a season-long search for Coach Nash. Junior college transfer Lasha Parghalava was successful shooting the trey the last two seasons but in his initial two D-1 games he went 2-6 from long range against USF and 0-5 against Fullerton.

Two very interesting games will be road-tripping Boise State versus a very tough Sienna squad on Monday night and Nevada's Tuesday matchup against San Diego. The Toreros are coming off a 65-60 shorthanded road loss to UNLV but will have big man Gyno Pomare back from suspension even if two teammates remain on ths sidelines. On the other hand, it appears the Wolf Pack will still be understaffed with three players, including starter Brandon Fields, still playing the penalty for behavior inconsistent with Coach Mark Fox's wishes.

Finally, did Idaho Coach Don Verlin have anything to do with his 2008-2009 schedule or was it mostly inherited? The Vandals began with Walla Walla University and then Evergreen but just tackled Michigan State on the road and now face Gonzaga in Spokane on Tuesday.

As expected, Mac Hopson is leading the way for Idaho but two items don't bode well:

1) Luis Augusto and Trevor Morris started for the Vandals against MSU. Now we do not wish to toss any kid under the proverbial bus but neither should be starters.

2) Plus, newcomer big man Marvin Jefferson played 16 minutes off the bench against the Spartans, compiling no rebounds but garnering four fouls.

Granted, Tom Izzo's squad is a national championship contender so it's worthwhile to monitor Jefferson in the next few games to see if some progress is being made. Verlin needs him as a 30 minute a night, contributing player and quickly.