An early look at the Wolf Pack

Jordan Burns meet Deonte Burton meet Derrell Conner meet Jerry Evans meet Jordan Finn meet Illiwa Baldwin meet Devonte Burton meet Kevin Panzer . All of you meet Keith Fuetsch and Patrick Nyeko and Malik Story and Adam Carp and Marko Cukic and Olek Czyz and Dario Hunt and Keith Olson.

That takes care of the introduction of new to old. This Wolf Pack situation continues the theme in our WAC preview series with "greet the bevy of newcomers" an appropriate slogan for most every squad this coming season.

What is also noteworthy about Nevada hoops in 2010-2011 is that this is Coach David Carter's team, what with any personnel traces connected to Mark Fox next to non existent. Armon Johnson and Luke Babbitt are in The Shining City as well as Brandon Fields, Joey Shaw and Ray Kraemer off pursuing their personal endeavors. That's a powerful quintet of departed talent and experience and it equals 84% of Nevada's scoring last season..

But Carter isn't bereft of skill and potential on his roster -- it's simply that there are a myriad of unanswered questions at the moment.

Smalls

Jordan Burris 6-foot-6 205 CA HS freshman

The young man can shoot and produce points -- college-level ball skills and more attention to the defensive side will be his primary objectives this coming season.

Deonte Burton 6-foot-1 185 CA HS freshman

It's difficult to call any one person the best athlete on his team -- when that squad is loaded with runners and jumpers -- but we'll go with Burton because he also has the strength and body that makes him ready to roll. He's a PAC-10-er physically who needs to upgrade his shooting mechanics in order to consistently shoot accurately.

Derrell Connor 6-foot-0 165 Kankakee JC, IL junior

He'll battle with Jordan Finn for the most minutes at the point and his experience should put him in the lead. He's not that proficient as a shooter/points producer but did hit 80% of his foul shots as a sophomore which is a good number for someone playing the position that handles the ball the most at the end of games.

Jerry Evans 6-foot-8 188 CA HS redshirt freshman

Athletic, a good shooter and with the height that will make covering him a challenge. Let's see how much rust he has and how quickly he can shake that off.

Jordan Finn 6-foot-4 190 Air Force Prep freshman

He was brought in as the Wolf Pack point of the future and his size should make him a power point. We're curious to see how well he shoots this season. He'll certainly be a rotation player as a Wolf Packer -- watch to see if a starting spot at some point is within his grasp.

Keith Fuetsch 6-foot-0 170 sophomore

There just won't be much of an opportunity this coming season for this walk-on.

Patrick Nyeko  6-foot-6 180 sophomore

Sort of designated as the most promising defender of the smalls, his question is one of offensive generation. It's way, way too early and not based on anything heard or read (it's just a feeling) but the possibility of his being crowded out by the so many others makes Nyeko the likeliest of Wolf Packers to move on at some point.

Malik Story 6-foot-5 225 redshirt sophomore

He should be either a starter at the wing or two guard spot but we want to see if he is a shooter or a scorer or a combo of the two? .

Bigs

Illiwa Baldwin 6-foot-11 260 Pratt JC, KS junior

Still on the raw side, it will be very interesting to follow his development. PTW sees him having better offensive potential than junior Dario Hunt but the latter is better defensively and on the boards.

Adam Carp 6-foot-7 215 senior.

He saw 41 minutes of action in 2009-2010 and that will be reduced by the personnel additions.

Marko Cukic 6-foot-9 250 sophomore

He can score inside (61% on his shooting) but can he stay ahead, especially in the coming seasons, of this Pack plethora of frontline newcomers?

Olek Czyz 6-foot-8 240 Duke transfer sophomore

Available some time in December, he's more athletic than basketball skilled and that makes the WAC a much better level of competition for him than the Atlantic Coast Conference. We can see him earning a starting spot once he's available.

Devonte Elliott 6-foot-10 220 CA HS freshman

Another guy who is a big time athlete nededing work on his offensive skills plus additional strength.

Dario Hunt 6-foot-8 230 junior

The returnee at center, it doesn't appear he will ever generate much offense since he has yet to display development in this area. Hunt's best as a shotblocker and offensive rebounder who will score on putbacks and such.

Keith Olson 6-foot-10 270 junior. (walkon)

There will be less use of him in the coming season due to the signing of Baldwin but he is a solid walk-on.

Kevin Panzer 6-foot-9 205 CA HS freshman

Known mostly as a shooter and points producer, his playing time will be dictated on his rebounding and defensive advancement. That and additional weight and strength. PTW sees him as a redshirt possibility.


Like with a number of the other WAC teams, who emerges as the team leader or leaders here? Is it the newcomer Connor at the point? How about Burton, the most heralded recruit? Could it be Story? A combo?

Nevada will be much easier -- which is not to say easy -- to defend minus the creative talents of Babbitt and Johnson. However, this is the top team in the WAC in having players with high potential on its roster.

If the game of basketball solely depending on the blocking of shots, the Wolf Pack would have a tremendous edge as Baldwin, Cukic, Czyz, Elliott, Hunt and Panzer all possess the ability to send basketballs into the opposite direction.

Crystalballin' the Nevada starting five:

* Dario Hunt
* your guess is as good as ours
* Malik Story
* Deonte Burton
* Derrell Connor