Monday, August 8, 2011

A few words about Wendell McKines

 here's Wendell as a Richmond Oiler back in high school

Wendell McKines, a fifth-year New Mexico State senior, is the top pre-season candidate for the most valuable player honor in the Western Athletic Conference in 2011-2012. That positioning is because he will definitely score in double figures (likely close to 20 points a game) and also rebound in double figures. It will be fascinating to see how high the latter average reaches.

It's true that Nevada's Dario Hunt will also likely achieve such a status but his scoring won't be close to that of McKines, who ruled the San Francisco Pro-Am this summer, earning most valuable player honors. Granted, there are no actual systems of play employed in the Pro-Am and team defensive effort is nowhere near as intense as in conference play but an honor is an honor and McKines earned such by putting up some wild figures.

He has the spectacular down, probably blessed with such from the initial time he picked up a basketball. That's a given. But what about the other elements of the game?

Two seasons ago (McKines sat out last year), he displayed an accurate set shot from long distance and some dribble-drive prowess but that generally finishing with a kickout to Jahmar Young or Jonathan Gibson for a jumper. Both of these aspects of his game have likely improved -- that's another given.

Plus, it's McKines' team in 2011-12 and Coach Marvin Menzies needs a creator on offense, with the 6-foot-5 forward being the Aggie best suited for such a role. 

What will be even more fascinating though is to watch to see if McKines can he set a tone defensively. The Aggies have never demonstrated a persistent attention towards defending but New Mexico State won't have tremendous firepower in the coming season so a consistent defensive tenacity will be critical in order to succeed.

Can McKines get his teammates to focus on reaching the 39% defensive field goal percentage Utah State achieved or even the 41% earned by Hawaii and Idaho last season?

Watch for that.

Such would go a long ways towards McKines easily wearing the MVP crown as well as the Aggies fighting for the top spot in the conference.

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