About last night

Gosh I loved that movie in my younger, more idealistic and less battle-scarred days ("About Last Night" was a relationship film loosely based on a David Mamet play. If you know Mamet at all -- check out Alec Baldwin's tour de force scene in "GlenGarry Glen Ross" on Youtube -- you know Mamet does not do love stories as we come to expect them so yes, liberties were definitely taken by whoever was the screenwriter to make the film box office-palatable. "About Last Night" also featured Demi Moore, pre implants, another piece of trivia critical to know if you ever bump into Alex Trebek.

Where was I? Oh yes.

Let's see if we can MSNBC Rachel Maddow-like talk certain fans down, away from slipping out on the ledges of tall buildings. Were the scores last night in the WAC truly indicative of something or primarily happenstance? Well, nobody really knows but let's give it a shot.

Hawaii

Do not forsake your team Hawaii fans. Yes, the shooting woes continue but getting 14 more shots than Boise State is a positive. Shooting but 10 free throws is the anomaly -- we'll conveniently ignore the making just five -- as the Rainbow Warriors were previously wearing out the pathway to the charity stripe with 118 more attempts than opponents prior to playing Boise. 18 offensive boards against the Broncos also continued a solid trend. It's apparent that Hawaii isn't going to be proficient with backcourt outside-shooting so successfully pounding the ball inside will need to happen for Bob Nash's squad to succeed.

Nevada

Mark Fox's rep is getting a degree of tarnishment but fret not Wolf Packers. Yes, the 2008-2009 version of Nevada men's basketball isn't on a par with previous editions but look at some numbers from last night's game:

*** Luke Babbitt shooting 2-12 and nabbing just three rebounds will not be a repeatable offense.

*** Armon Johnson's 2-8 shooting plus no boards in 30 minutes will not be re-run anytime soon.

*** 7 three-points attempts by Brandon Fields (one made) will not happen again.

*** On the flip side, 17 Wolf Pack offensive boards is a major plus.

Breathe into a paper bag. This is a young-ish squad with some missing pieces but Fox's team have the pattern of getting better as the season rolls along.

Fresno State

How many Fresno State games will feature Dwight O'Neill shooting 3-13 and Bryce Cartwirght putting up an 0-6? An 8-31 first half and 7-30 for the game three-point shooting also isn't going to be a Bulldog mainstay. On the flip side, 19 offensive boards will light up the countenance of any coach. Three freshman in the primarily six-man rotation and no true 'big' means an up-and-down season. Can Paul George keep you wearing red?

San Jose State

Spartan-ites, -- let me check my tattoo...oh yes, I'm in the club -- Kenneth Cooper and Magnum Rolle with and defending the ball respectively just proved too much last night for the Spartans but there usually isn't this kind of tandem to face elsewhere in the WAC. 4-17 three-point shooting -- too many attempts -- won't likely happen again. Neither will a 12/29 unfavorable free throw ratio. 19 assists on 25 baskets is a superlative buried in the defeat.

From Sam Wasson at BleedCrimson.net, "we chronicled the road struggles of the league's bottom three teams (record wise) heading into conference play, NMSU, Idaho and La. Tech were a combined 3-17 on the road in the non-conference, those three teams doubled that win total to six with their wins last night."

If you ask Boise State, Idaho, New Mexico State and Louisiana Tech about delayed flights, lost luggage and strip search security procedures, the response -- at least from last night -- will be a hearty "who cares."