Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Wednesday's world of WAC hoops

It was Arizona 83, New Mexico State 76 last night despite a 28/10 double/double from Wendell McKines. 

Sam Wasson and Jason Groves provide game reports and Jason offers a blog entry too. 

Sam also provides four pages of action photos.

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Tony Jones offers a look at tonight's USU - Denver matchup. So do Kraig Williams, Matt Sonnenberg and Shawn Harrison.

From USU athletics in the Denver pre-game writeup:  

Stew Morrill on Kyisean Reed:

"I don't think that he will play. He is just starting to move around a little bit in practice and do some skeleton stuff, so it is unlikely that he will play. There was nothing structurally wrong with his knee. He just got wacked on the knee and there is lots of swelling and it is painful, but the good thing is that there was nothing structural like an ACL or any of that stuff. We are trying to get the swelling down and back to where he can function."
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Robert Kuwada previews what Fresno State is concentrating on prior to tonight's matchup with Academy of Art University.

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Idaho entertains a surprisingly tough Eastern Washington squad.

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San Jose State welcomes Texas San Antonio.

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Louisiana Tech roads it to in-state opponent Southeastern Louisiana.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Aggies fall short against Arizona

It was close but Arizona just had more in its tank for an 83-76 victory over host New Mexico State.

Wendell McKines lived quite large posting 28 points and 10 rebounds while Hamidu Rahman finished with 18 and 8.

The Wildcats shot 52% overall, 43% on 21 trey attempts while the Aggies went in the other direction -- 38% from the floor and 19% on 21 three-point attempts.

The good, the bad, the ugly so far

Taking a look at the early surprises, positive and negative, around the Western Athletic Conference:

* What's up with LT's Brandon Gibson (20 minutes a game, averaging 2.0 points on 18% overall shooting, 18% from long distance and just four free throws this season? PTW thought he would break out this season, being perfect for Coach Mike White's fast and furious style.

* LT is defensive aces from long distance -- the Bulldogs are holding opponents to 20% shooting from trey land.

* Idaho's Deremy Geiger is certainly doing it so far -- 46% overall shooting, 43% from beyond the stripe versus 32% and 31% last season.

* Utah State with six assists on 57 shooting attempts versus Texas A&M Corpus Christi then 21 in 45 shots against Idaho State. Go figure.

* Yes, it's still early but will Devonte Elliott make this his transformational season? He's playing 9.4 minutes each time out, averaging 2 points per game on 29% shooting and with just six makes in 15 foul line attempts.

* How is it that Zane Johnson is shooting 39% on treys but 37% overall?

* Is Daniel Mullings of New Mexico State hiding a pogo stick in his uniform?

* Deonte Burton, where art thou shooting touch? He's not in the Top 15 in scoring and his percentages are astounding, 32% overall, 30% from long distance.

* Can Brockeith Pane evolve into a point first and a shooting guard second? Keep in mind that this duality is a tough one to master especially in a situation where points need producing and his method of operation has always been penetrate and shoot.

* Nobody else in the WAC has New Mexico State's athletic ability but Remi Barry has hopefully been practicing his outside jumper

* Zane Johnson's 37 minutes a game needs to be reduced but that also means another shooter has to step up.

* Christian Kabongo, given a steady 18-foot jump shot, is an MVP candidate.

* Kyle Barone is doing it on the boards (10.0) but his 12.8 scoring average needs upping (just 39 shots in five games).

* Maybe he is still in recovery mode from injuries but Fresno State can't win if Kevin Foster is grabbing 4.7 rebounds a contest.

* Anyone see Jonathan Wills (plus 5.7 rebounds) or Bandja Sy at 11.3 points per game this season? PTW didn't and that's one of the reasons why the games are played.

* Tshilidzi Nephawei is eighth in minutes per game for the Aggies and shooting just 33% -- another of our predictions is eating dust, at least so far.

* The good news is that Olek Czyz has attempted a team-leading 42 free throws. The bad news is that he has connected on just 23 of them.

Tuesday's WAC Roundup

Montana State came to Silicon Valley and held off San Jose State 77-70 last night. Backcourter James Kinney led the Spartans with 24 points, his season/career high.

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Dayton Morinaga reports that Hawaii's defensive numbers are an anomaly as field goal percentage defense is working out but it appears dribble-drive penetration is the culprit in allowing too many points.

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Brian McInnis is all over the Rainbow Warrior recruiting/roster situation and PTW thanks him for that informational update.

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Sam Wasson writes about the New Mexico State season so far as the highlight revolves around the concept of gratis.

Jason Groves has a feature up primarily centered on aspects of the Aggies matchup with Arizona tonight.

Jason also serves up a pair of blog entries here and here.

This one is winnable, especially if NMSU guards can match the Wildcat backcourt production. If so, it would be the top WAC victory to date.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Malik Story named WAC POW

Nevada's Malik Story has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 21-27. The honor marks the second career WAC Player of the Week award for Story.

Story, a junior guard from Pasadena, Calif. (Artesia HS/Indiana), led the Wolf Pack to a pair of wins as Nevada went 2-1 in the Chicago Invitational Challenge last week. Story began the week with a game-high 28 points as the Wolf Pack defeated Longwood 80-78. He made a career-high seven three-pointers in the win over Longwood. In the loss to Brigham Young, Story tied for team-high honors with 11 points. He concluded the week with his second 20-point game of the week in the Pack's 64-59 victory over Bradley. The 20 points marked a game high and he made 6-of-10 field goals including 4-of-6 from behind the arc. For his play at the Chicago Invitational, Story was named to the all-tournament team.

On the week, Story averaged 19.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 0.7 steals per game. He shot 48.7 percent (19-of-39) from the field and 53.8 percent (14-of-26) from three-point range.

Other nominees:  

* Fresno State senior forward Jonathan Wills
* Idaho senior guard Deremy Geiger
* New Mexico State sophomore guard Christian Kabongo
* Utah State senior forward Morgan Grim

Ballin' Is A Habit isn't hearting Hawaii

From the BIAH site:

"... Maybe this was my fault. I was pretty sure Hawaii had the talent, skill, and experience to become the best team in the WAC. But through the first four games, they have looked more like a middling mid-major than the conference powerhouse I expected them to be. Not many teams in the country allow their opponents to shoot more foul shots than the Warriors. Their opponents are currently shooting 79% against them. The 19-point loss to Gonzaga on a "neutral court" in Canada is one thing, but losing to Eastern Washington by 15 at home isn't ..."
The free throw differential is a -3 (102-105) and 67% to 79%.

Plus, UH is holding opponents to 39% shooting, 27% from long distance and those are winning numbers.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Eastern Washington is turning out to be much tougher than expected, with a new head coach and a handful of new players. EW also played Gonzaga in Spokane and lost by just eight points. 

The development of a consistent outside shooter to pair with Zane Johnson is need though.

Another Fresno State Canadian recruiting target

Alex Kline/The Recruit Scoop recently tweeted this:

"2012 Christian Faith (NC) SF Jalyn Pennie lists Marshall, Manhattan, Miami, Tulane, Fresno State & Louisiana-Lafayette"
Like Braeden Anderson, the 6-foot-7 Pennie is out of Canada.

Ali Ahmed describes Pennie in an August 1 article:
Jalyn Pennie – One of the highly touted names to attend the camp this weekend was 6’7 forward Jayln Pennie. As soon as I walked in the gym I could see that Jayln was already putting in heavy work in the mini team games with overpowering dunks and strong finishes. I was just astonished at how much hops Jayln had as he soared for put backs and rebounds. In the Top 20 game Jayln showed no mercy as he compiled 4-5 highlight worthy dunks right in front of the panel of college coaches who were watching off to the side. With Iowa being one of the latest colleges to follow Jalyn, I could see that list becoming greater and greater.
Here's a 45 second video.

Here's another.

A Jerry West autobiography -- a recommendation

Jerry West always seemed injured, whether it be a pulled hamstring or a broken nose, but also always gutted it out and still outplayed opponents. The player whose likeness became the NBA logo, West also proved his mettle as an NBA general manager. But the one thing he never could beat was his upbringing -- the psychological damage inflicted on him while growing up.

West is out with a book -- "My Charmed, Tormented Life" -- and it is compelling. An article in The Bleacher Report gives a flavor of it, as does this one.

The book can be purchased at your local bookstore but, failing that, is available here.

Sports Illustrated's Gary Smith has an article on West in the October 24 edition and it is a tremendous read as all of Smith's works are. Unfortunately, no link is available to it.

Monastery basketball

Greg Crawford captures my sentiment exactly with an article headlined "Enough of These "Turkey" Tournaments"

It's disconcerting to watch a game on television where the crowd noise is non-existent because the attendance is also. In watching, PTW keeps thinking that two teams broke into a monastery (granted one with a basketball court) and are trying to get a game in without rousing the inhabitants.

Monday morning's WAC hoops opener








offered this in his latest Fresno Bee weekend column:

  • Fresno State better not look past Wednesday night's game against Academy of Art.
We hear Academy of Art is really strong in the paint. Budump-bump.
Hey, it made PTW laugh.

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aggies1 at the USUFans Stew Morrill MB has posted that USU frontcourter Kyisean Reed is out for 1-2 weeks. Paging Tai Wesley...

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Dayton Morinaga offers Brandon Flores' photos of the UH-Pacific game.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

More Utah State basketballing reincarnations

Thanks to the last dogman for these items:

"Tyrone White is at Cal State Bakersfield averaging 7.8 ppg so far"
"Anthony DiLoreto is at Crown College in Saint Bonifacius, MN."

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Not sure what Stew Morrill and crew originally saw in White (great size for the wing? athletic ability?) but his numbers so far are lacking: 28 minutes a game, 7.8 points per contest, shooting 30% overall, 45% from the foul line but he has a 9/3 assist-to-turnover ratio.

DiLoreto has yet to play for Crown College.

A Denzel Douglas update

Casper College topped Cloud County 91-88 buttressed by Idaho signee Denzel Douglas' 12 points, nine assists, four steals and four rebounds. Jack Nowlin has the game report.

Sunday's WAC hoops-apalooza

Saturday was a 4-2 evening for the Western Athletic Conference.

Fargo-based and host North Dakota State jumped out to a 38-21 halftime lead on the way to beating Fresno State 78-65. Kevin Olekaibe scored 24 points but shot just 9-24 while Jonathan Wills added a 10/10 double-double. The Bulldogs totaled just five assists on 24 baskets. Contrary to popular opinion, NDS's nickname is not the Woodchippers.

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Back in Illinois, Nevada topped Bradley 64-59 powered by 20 points, five assists and four rebounds from Malik Story plus 18 points from Olek Czyz.

Bobby Narang reports.

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Utah State won both halves, topping host Idaho State 75-62. Soph Preston Medlin scored a career high 26 points, including 8-11 from three-point range. Adam Thoseby added 16 points, nailing a quartet of treys.

Kraig Williams, Shawn Harrison, Tony Jones and Matt Sonnenberg all supply takes on the contest.

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Idaho hosted Montana State and emerged a 77-59 winner behind 21 points from Deremy Geiger and 11 apiece from Kyle Barone and Landon Tatum.

Josh Wright checks in.

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Way up in Laramie, Louisiana Tech lost 66-48 to Portland State. The Bulldogs shot 2-22 from long distance and just 26% overall.

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Way, way up in Anchorage, New Mexico State and San Francisco were tied 35 up at the half but the Aggies outscored the Dons by 10 to win 81-71. Soph Christian Kabongo paced NMSU with 23 points and Wendell McKines contributed 17 points and seven boards.

Sam Wasson serves up his game report and 23 photos, plus 24 photos from the  Southern Mississippi matchup.

Jason Groves blogs that the Aggies are foul, to their benefit.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Strollin' down memory lane -- James Walker

Former Utah State backcourter James Walker is a sophomore at Citrus College in southern California. His numbers to date: five games, 21.8 points per contest, shooting 46% from the floor, 95% at the foul line. He already has 40 free throw attempts, an average of eight per game.

Strollin' down memory lane II -- Malik Cooke

Former Nevada wing Malik Cooke has started every game so far this season for South Carolina -- his numbers so far in his senior season: a team-leading 11.8 points per game on 38% overall shooting, 29% on trey attempts and 73% at the foul line. Cooke is grabbing 5.4 rebounds a contest.

Saturday's WAC basketball briefing

Outscoring Maryland Eastern Shore by 23 points in the second half propelled Louisiana Tech to a 73-54 victory. Trevor Gaskins paced the Bulldogs with 15 points and eight rebounds plus J.L. Lewis totaled 13 and nine in just 21 minutes of action.

Here's the report from LA TECH athletics.

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Dayton Morinaga fills readers in on Hawaii's takedown of visiting Pacific. This despite an off night (4-17 shooting) from Zane Johnson.

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Bleed Crimson supplies the background on New Mexico State's loss to Southern Miss. Jason Groves also checks in.

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BYU proved to be too much for Nevada, prevailing 76-55. The Wolf Pack shot 38% overall, 25% on 20 three-point attempts while BYU finished at 54% shooting. Malik Story went 4-14 with Deonte Burton at 2-14.

Bobby Narang serves up his game report.

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Utah State faces Idaho State tonight in Pocatello.

Shawn Harrison and Tony Jones preview.

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It's North Dakota State next for visiting Fresno as Robert Kuwada details.

Friday, November 25, 2011

A feature on Raphael Carter

Raphael Carter has plans. Finish the season and hopefully lead Diablo Valley College to the state championship, then head to Reno to play ball and earn a degree, followed by play-for-pay and eventually employment as a designer of automobiles.

But what he has left out, if he so chooses, is working as a sports or basketball commentator as Carter has the gift of expressing his thoughts in a learned, accomplished and well-spoken manner. Think Len Elmore or simply the antithesis of Dickie V, and this is someone who just turned 19!

The road to basketball-ville began in Ohio for the 6-foot-9 Carter.

"I was dribbling a basketball while in diapers (talk about a real diaper dandy)," Carter explained. "As a kid, we were always watching basketball." He's a Laker fan, particularly of Kobe Bryant but hopefully the Golden State Warrior/Wolf Pack aficionados in and around Reno will overlook this.

But what about other sports?

"I played a little soccer and I was offered a baseball scholarship to a private high school after eighth grade," Carter said.

Hoops won out.

What's funny in retrospect is why Carter isn't out on a football field. "My mom wouldn't let me play football. She was worried about her baby getting hurt."

That's probably not what other parents would have envisioned happening.

Nevada, specifically former Wolf Pack Coach Dennis Gates, first noticed Carter in a Florida nationals tournament. "He liked that I grabbed rebounds and defended the rim well."

But his senior year saw Carter miss a qualifying test score requirement by two points so it was a matter of turning to the junior college ranks.

Plus, there was another bump in the road as Carter explained: "I didn't finish out my senior year. I only played in six games because I got kicked off the team for being at the wrong place at the wrong time on New Year's Eve. But i still got a Top 24 McDonald's All-American award and that's what kept my hopes alive after I didn't pass the NCAA Clearinghouse."

Nevada remained steadfast and told Carter about Diablo Valley College and Coach Steve Coccimiglio, as the latter has enjoyed two of his previous frontcourters in Mo Charlo and Demarshay Johnson contributing well up Reno way.

That was fine with Carter as his grandmother lived in California (Santa Monica) and he had some distant cousins in Oakland. The distance from home and especially being in new surroundings were not new to Carter. "We moved around a lot when I was growing up."

In 2010-11, the Vikings went 26-5, 13-1 and won the Big 8 Conference -- "we had a great run and a great season" per Carter. Individually, he was named as an Honorable Mention to the All-State team as well as being an All-League selection. Diablo Valley advanced to the Final Four in the state tournament before falling.

As for his recent letter-of-intent with Nevada, there was a degree of competition as California and Oregon State entered the picture, showing interest in Carter.

Along with his grandmother, Carter had visited Nevada unofficially when he was a high school senior and then he did a solo sojourn later on an official trip.

But the familiar and the loyal won out.

So why the Wolf Pack?

Unlike with the others, there will be an option for Carter to redshirt in his initial season in Reno but he understands that will depend on the needs of the team.

Plus, "I just fell in love with the school -- it's not too big and not too small -- and the facilities are some of the best in the WAC," Carter offered. The loss of Coach Gates (who is now at Florida State) "made my decision a little tougher but I have a good relationship with Coach [David] Carter."

So it became a matter of Carters sticking together.

He wanted to major in automobile engineering design so as to eventually become a car designer but Carter found out that Nevada doesn't offer that specific program. However, various engineering design programs are available and that was good enough.

Regarding basketball influences Carter named a pair from back home -- Sam Smith and Jermaine Guice. Smith graduated from Dayton and played overseas but helped "me a whole lot with both my game and getting on [AAU] teams." Greer also played overseas and "has been a huge part of my basketball life."

An interesting aspect to Carter's development, this of the physical manner, is that he weighed 190 pounds in high school. His self description: "I was allergic to the weight room. As soon I walked in, I would sneeze."

Now he checks in at 210, with plans to move the needle higher.

"The weight room at Nevada is out of control. I'm going to look like Superman before I'm done, " Carter proclaimed.

Besides the team goals for this season, Carter said, "I'm still blocking shots and rebounding." But he plans on displaying more aggressiveness to the rim, a better jump shot -- just having more offensive skills."

Once the school year concludes at Diablo Valley, Carter will head home to Ohio for a short period before moving to Reno and as he puts it, "getting to work."

A Denzel Douglas feature

Jack Nowlin of the Casper Tribune serves up a feature on Idaho signee Denzel Douglas.

Utah State hearts Antelope Valley College basketball

At Mel Grussing's Antelope Valley College site, his latest makes mention of Utah State eyeing Larry Slaughter. AVC was where Aggie Kyisean Reed played.

It's Friday so why aren't you out shopping? Or in a food-induced lethargic state??

New Mexico State took on Central Michigan way up in Alaska and had no problem in a 78-49 victory. Sam Wasson is all over the contest with a game report and then Sam also provides 27 game photos.

Christian Kabongo's quip to Trey Zeigler after the latter drew air on a free throw attempt was classic: "That's a non-Top 10..."

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Chris Murray writes about Nevada facing BYU in Illinois this afternoon. Then, Chris provides his keys to the contest and his pick to win.

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Dayton Morinaga posts video with some of the UH players giving thanks and he also talks a bit about the Rainbow Warrior's upcoming game with Pacific. Dayton also offers another post on tonight's matchup.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Is this The Last Supper of hoops?

Note that DickieV's mouth is closed, a sight not often witnessed. You're on your own in picking who is Judas.

Olek Czyz with some national pub

The BIAH folks have video of Olek Czyz flushing -- the second video is slo-mo.

It's Gobble Day in more ways than one

Idaho got by Lewis & Clark 80-75 behind Kyle Barone's 19 points and nine rebounds. Played in Boise, L & C led by one at the half. Vandal athletics reports on the game.

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Jason Groves features today's Aggie matchup with Central Michigan and also highlights NMSU's bench play, Bandja Sy in particular.

Jason also talks with Trei Steward, the former New Mexico State frontcourter and now the Aggie strength and conditioning coach.

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Jeff Portnoy looks at Hawaii's play in the loss to Eastern Washington.

The following jumped out from Brian McInnis' latest blog entry:

"... Where Morningside High graduate Gerry Blakes fits into all this will be interesting. He could theoretically still come, but as it stands now, somebody among those four isn't getting a scholarship if he does arrive in Manoa. Of course, that could well change with changes in personnel after this season ..."
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Faf writes that Utah State fans don't need to offer any stinkin' apologies and neither should Aggie officials. Not having been there for what Brandon Davies and BYU experienced, PTW's sense is that USU's post-game action is an attempt to prevent banter and such from escalating into the physical but an apology after the fact doesn't address that issue.

Many years ago, I was sitting three feet from the court and one of the referees was a former baseball bonus baby whose pitching career ended due to arm problems. After one of his 'questionable' calls, I yelled out: "First the arm, now the eyes" -- don't tell me youth is wasted on the young.

I cringe now but thought it was pretty damn good back then.

Here's a wish-we-were-there Duke student fan escapade that was simplistic yet perfect (keep in mind that this was in 1982):
"...But before he became famous for his historic basket, [now the late Lorenzo] Charles was notorious for something else: In the summer of 1982, Charles stole pizzas from a delivery man on campus and spent a weekend in jail. He was totally unaware of the fuss it would cause.

The next time N.C. State played at Duke, the students there threw pizza boxes onto the court. Charles, his naïveté squashed, scored 25 points and destroyed the Blue Devils ..."
Nowadays, the heavens would probably open with pepper spray, followed by a baton massage for tossing something on the court.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Wednesday's WAC digest

It was the tale of two halves but Texas San Antonio won the initial one and it turned out to be four points better than Fresno State's in an 83-79 finish. Kevin Olekaibe had a poor shooting night, going 6-23. Jonathan Wills' 26 points (plus seven rebounds) led the Bulldogs. Plus, it's interesting to note that Daquan Brown played, totaling one minute of action.

Sean Duff reports.

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Host TAM Corpus Christi proved to be three points better than Brady Jardine-less Utah State, 58-55, in a game that went into overtime. Morgan Grim posted a 20-12 double double while Brockeith Pane totaled 15 points but shot just 4-15.

Shawn Harrison, Tony Jones and The Sagebrush all offer game stories. From Shawn's comes Stew Morrill with an honest and direct quote: "This was not a good basketball team we played tonight ..."

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Nevada's matchup with visiting Longwood was much closer than expected as the Wolf Pack won 80-78. Going 7-10 from long distance paced Malik Story's team-topping 28 points.

Chris Murray took in the game as did Joe Santoro.

Someone said the best things in life are free but some on the Wolf Pack roster clearly disagree as Chris explains.

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San Jose State committed blasphemy in routing visiting Holy Names 109-71. James Kinney led the Spartans with both 17 points and nine assists -- SJSU athletics offers the details.

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Hawaii hosted but fell to Eastern Washington 71-57 -- Dayton Morinaga fills in his readers.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Any WAC teams looking at Jason Johnson?

From Mel Grussing comes a feature on Antelope Valley College's top tier backcourters. The reason why we are posting it here is because Jason Johnson was connected earlier with Idaho so it wouldn't be surprising if some of the other WAC teams would now be interested in him. What's a coincidence is that the point Gomez was recruited last year by the Vandals too.

Utah State fans spreading their influence

Thanks to Joel, here's an article on The Spectrum-ites sharing their wealth and knowledge.

As someone wise once said, "You can't stop them, you can only hope to contain them."

Tuesday and the wide world of WAC basketball

Manhattan was two points better than Fresno State, 85-83, in a tourney game back in Fort Collins. Soph backcourter Kevin Olekaibe topped the Bulldogs with 25 points.

Sean Duff has a game report.

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Chanting 'We're #22' actually has validity as New Mexico State's wins have registered with the Top 25 voters -- Jason Groves offers the details.

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Chris Murray supplies his four keys to the Nevada matchup with Longwood on Tuesday night, plus his prediction of the outcome. Chris then supplies more.

Chris also showcases an Olek Czyz dunk, with a link to additional videos.

The Prairie View A&N game photos, plenty of 'em, can be found at Silver and Blue Sports.

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Shawn Harrison provides a medical update and timetable on Brady Jardine. On the bright side, there is now a major opportunity for others on the Aggie roster to step up and earn at least some of Jardine's minutes. Who's will do so?

Tony Jones mines the same territory as USU is in Corpus Christi for a game.

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It's Zane Johnson (but without sidekick Bill Amis) performing the videography duties this season for UH hoops.

Dayton Morinaga has the multi-media news of another international signing by Gib Arnold, this one a frontcourter.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Wendell McKines earns WAC POW

New Mexico State’s Wendell McKines has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 14-20. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for McKines.

McKines, a senior forward from Oakland, Calif. (Richmond HS), led the Aggies to a pair of rivalry wins and a 3-0 start for the first time since the 2003-04 season. Scoring all 14 of his points in the second half, McKines led the Aggies to their first win in Albuquerque since 2002, defeating New Mexico 62-53. McKines had a game-high nine rebounds with two assists, a blocked shot and a steal against the Lobos. In NMSU’s 89-73 home-opening win over UTEP, McKines scored a career-high 23 points along with 13 rebounds for his second double-double of the year and 29th of his career. He was 5-of-13 from the field and a career-best 12-of-15 from the free throw line. He also had two assists and three steals.

On the week, McKines averaged 18.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals and 2.0 assists per game. He shot 37.0 percent (10-of-27) from the field and 75.0 percent (15-of-20) from the free throw line.

Other nominees included:

* Fresno State sophomore guard Kevin Olekaibe
* Hawai‘i senior guard Zane Johnson
* Louisiana Tech senior guard Trevor Gaskins
* Nevada junior guard Malik Story
* Utah State senior forward Morgan Grim

New Mexico State receiving some national press

Here's Justin Young on New Mexico State:

"UPSET COMING?

New Mexico State is off to a 3-0 start and beat in-state rival New Mexico already. The Aggies are a tough team that challenges opponents to out-tough them. In three games, the Aggies are averaging 39 trips to the foul line. Wendell McKines, one of the meanest and most athletic dudes in America, leads the way. Keep an eye on the Nov. 29 game against Arizona. The Aggies are hosting and Sean Miller’s club is shaky inside. Could be a chance here for an upset."

Monday morning coming down

Nevada took care of Prairie View Sunday night as Chris Murray reports.

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So it's torn ligaments for Brady Jardine -- USU should be issuing a return-to-duty prognostication soon. Let's hope it is sooner than later.

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Teddy Feinberg blogs about the New Mexico State win over UTEP.

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Fresno State takes on Manhattan (not the borough) tonight as part of a tourney in Ft. Collins. Here's some Jasper basketball notes via Manhattan athletics.

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Early numbers worth noting:

* Louisiana Tech's freshman Michale Kyser leads the WAC in shotblocking at 4.0 a game

* In three games to date, NMSU's Bandja Sy is 7-12 from three-point range -- overall he is shooting 62% and averaging 13.3 points per game

* Hawaii has two players -- Trevor Wiseman and Vander Joaquim -- in double figures rebounding

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Barring some major U-turn, this tweet from Kevin McNamara/Providence Journal seems to confirm that Fresno State's Daquan Brown isn't long for the San Joaquin:

"Daquan Brown, a JUCO transfer who is enrolled at Fresno, is visiting Providence. The 6-10 Brooklyn native could transfer at mid-semester"

USU's Kyisean Reed dunking

BallinIsAHabit offers video of Utah State's Kyisean Reed flushing.

Looking back on last (Saturday) night

It was a twofold Aggie evening with the New Mexico State version leading off:

Jason Groves serves up his game report as New Mexico State is 'King of the World' in the Southwest. Then Jason provides a blog entry which includes a bit of a Coach Marvin Menzies tweak to UTEP fans regarding Big Wen and prognostication powers. Sam Wasson also checks in plus has quite the number of Tim Barnett-Queen photos of the contest.

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With Brady Jardine out early due to injury, Utah State squeaked by Southern Utah. Kraig Williams, Shawn Harrison and Tony Jones gamed it as did The Sagebrush. Craig Peterson photographed it to the tune of 48 pictures.

Shawn also has an article on Carson Shanks' 2013 verbal to the northern Aggies.

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Dayton Morinaga goes for two here and here about Hawaii falling to Gonzaga. This isn't the first game this season in which Gonzaga owned a bigtime foul line differential -- it was 51-11 versus Eastern Washington.

Jeff Portnoy offers his take on the game.

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Louisiana Tech enjoyed 27 Texas Arlington turnovers and had a lead at the half but TA was too strong inside. Here's another take from LT athletics.

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Ray Hacke reports on SJSU's loss to rival Santa Clara.

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Chris Murray previews Nevada's game today back in Chicago versus Prairie View.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

A late Saturday night game report and it ain't pretty

New Mexico State is owning Rivalry Week in the Southwest as the Aggies battered UTEP 89-73. Wendell McKines posted a 23/13 double-double with Hernst Laroche, Christian Kabongo and Bandja Sy each scoring 15 points.

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Host Utah State just got by Southern Utah 65-62. Redshirt freshman Steve Thornton led the Aggies with 13 points and Brockeith Pane contributd 11 (on 5-16 overall shooting, 0-3 from long distance). USU totaled but 11 assists on the night.

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Host Texas Arlington topped Louisiana Tech 68-61 with Trevor Gaskins' 22 points and seven rebounds pacing LT. TA had a major advantage in foul shot attempts at 42-9 and in boardplay 51-30.

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Host Santa Clara tapped out San Jose State 84-58. Soph guard Keith Shamburger led the Spartans with 15 points but SJSU was out-rebounded 50-29.

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Host Gonzaga took down Hawaii 74-53. Shaquille Stokes scored 17 but on 6-17 shooting

A look at WAC basketball Saturday-style

Hey, it's Rivalry Saturday with New Mexico State hosting UTEP, SJSU going across town to face Santa Clara, Utah State welcoming Southern Utah and, yes, Louisiana Tech trekking to the Lone Star State to face Arlington, a WAC member a year hence.

Plus, Hawaii is in Vancouver to tackle Gonzaga as Dayton Morinaga reports here and here. Plus, Dayton has another article up today.

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The Sagebrush Spot previews the USU - SUU matchup. Tony Jones also checks in. So does Shawn Harrison and Tony Jones.

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Jason Groves features Wendell McKines, an older and wiser Big Wen.

The latest PanAmmunition is out.

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Joe Santoro writes about Thursday evening's Wolf Pack win over Pacific.

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PTW wants the home address of anyone booing this young man -- we will gladly pay a 'recruiting' visit.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Dan Wetzel nails it

Yahoo's Dan Wetzel puts to rest eviscerates the myth of coaching deities, that is for the thinking fan and not the fan-atic.

What's interesting is the vast majority of coaches would agree that they are fallible guys and gals just trying to do their best in what are sometimes unfair situations. Yet there are some wish to be treated as oracles and not just in matters of basketball.

Like any other profession.

A Bracken Funk update

BYU-Hawaii has played a number of exhibition games to date but faced a formidable team in BYU the other night.

Here's the stat line for former Fresno Stater Bracken Funk:

34 minutes, seven points - 3-15 overall shooting, 1-9 from long distance, 0-3 at the foul line, eight rebounds, five steals.

A Tim Johnson update

The go-to person to answer questions related to junior college basketball in southern California is Dave (DR) Rogahn. He contributes to the California Preps site and also runs his own site, the latter specifically related to California Community College men's basketball.

So PTW emailed Dave the other day, asking about the status LA Trade Tech's Tim Johnson, seeing that Johnson had committed to Idaho although no formal announcement happened during the early signing period. Plus, Johnson wasn't listed on the TT roster for 2011-12.

Here is Dave's response:

"The folks at Trade Tech said he is redshirting/finalizing his academics, but is headed to Idaho for 2012-13. He's already played 2 years for LATT" 
Maybe Johnson can't officially sign until his academics are completed.

We thank Dave for sharing his expertise.

Friday and the WAC hoops cosmos

Nevada finally busted out taking down Pacific 78-54 as a hirsuteless Olek Czyz plus Malik Story did the offensive damage. Chris Murray reports on the matchup and then Chris also doubles up with a blog entry.

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Idaho fell 57-52 to host Montana despite Kyle Barone's emphatic line of 11 pints, 10 rebounds and seven blocks. But only Stephen Madison was able to connect from outside, going 3-4 from three-point land.

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Jason Groves recalls the hustle and smarts on display in New Mexico State's takedown of New Mexico.

So how did the 'Bay Area battle go' between friends Wendell McKines and Drew Gordon? We know who got the win but McKines' numbers (14 points, nine boards) also came out on top compared to Gordon's (two points plus eight rebounds) although foul trouble limited the latter to 21 minutes of court time.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

It's still there

Logan, Utah is still standing, as is The Spectrum.

And yes, Utah State still has a men's basketball program.

All this despite mucho speculation that the Aggie loss at Weber State had to mean the end of the world is imminent.

Yes, Stew Morrill's squad lost a road game, one versus the probable Big Sky Conference champion.

USU is an evolving team this season. The number of new talents dictates that. Last season's team was senior dominated and thus primarily static state, with the dominant players at their apex -- Brockeith Pane being the exception.

The Aggies are going to lose some games this season. This may be hard to understand and accept but so it goes. Heck, instead the Spectrum-ites should be doing cartwheels over these particular statistics: Pane is shooting 52% overall, 50% from long distance and is 10-10 from the foul line. Yes, it's early but the comparison is to 44%, 21% and 80% in 2010-11.

A few more Thursday links.

Tony Jones offers a Morgan Grim-discussing-the-Weber-State-game video.

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Check out Jason Groves' last trio of blog entries, all about the Aggie win over New Mexico.

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George Dohrmann did not care for the PTW post here, nor for Chris Murray's take.

Sorry George but you (and Justin Hawkins) are the ones speculating -- aka uninformed banter as you described it -- about Jordan Finn's status with Nevada. Make your tweets private, rather than public, if you don't wish them to be picked up, or banter about such subjects over the phone. A condemnation for re-posting what was offered for public consumption is odd, as is the "requirement" that the subject should have been investigated further prior to or maybe instead of re-posting.

Regardless of the differences of opinion, George still has a very good book out on club team basketball and it would make a great holiday gift.

Thursday's WAC basketball offerings

New Mexico State did the job in putting the Lobos on the endangered species list with a 62-53 victory in the lair called The Pit. Jason Groves has the game report as does Sam Wasson. Bleed Crimson also offers video.

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It was the proverbial close but no cigar as SJSU fell 83-81 to USF on The Hilltop.

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Robert Kuwada talked with Coach Rodney Terry about the trio of signees to Fresno State basketball.

At the Save Mart Center MB, DogEatDawg has posted that Bulldog center Daquan Brown is suspended for the first semester.

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Chris Murray writes about Pacific coming to Reno on Thursday night and his article contains this line about the 2011-12 combined output of Dario Hunt and Olek Czyz: "... 8.5 points on 8.7 percent shooting this year ..." Wow. Hope your floor is carpeted.  

Chris also offers his keys to the contest plus a prediction.

To complete the trifecta, Chris tells us about Coach David Carter's fourth signee -- second big -- of the early period. It sounds like the young man was originally brought here though the connections of Utah State Director of Basketball Operations Lance Beckert.

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Here's a compilation of the Utah State recruiting class.

But what about Casey Oliverson? Is his planning to go on a mission out of high school (from June 2010, Shawn Harrison has that in this article) a factor? Does the young man want to wait on signing until he returns?

Tony Jones breaks the news on Coach Stew Morrill corralling a 2013 7-footer. Tony then fleshes out the young man in a blog post.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

SJSU falls in OT to USF

San Jose State fell 83-81 in overtime to host USF tonight. Sophomore Keith Shamburger led the Spartans with both 23 points and four assists. Both teams shot well but the Dons captured the battle of the boards 45-23.

The Aggies pit-ify the Lobos

New Mexico State repped the WAC quite well tonight in a 62-53 win over rival and host New Mexico as Jason Groves tweeted the game.

Writing about Nevada's Jordan Finn?

George Dohrmann has been exchanging tweets with Justin Hawkins apparently about Jordan Finn, who has played in one games this season, totaling four minutes:

By the way, make sure you read Dohrmann's latest book "Play Their Hearts Out"

"So give me odds that Jordan transfers from Nevada. I'd say 50-50"
and
"Was probably a step too high for him anyway. Should be at Big West school. Maybe join Andrew [Bock] at Pacific"
and
"I go 70-30 he's gone"

Another Utah State - BYU battle?

From Alex Kline/The Recruit Scoop:

"2013 Tesoro (CA) PF Tanner Lancona will be at BYU on Friday & Utah State on Saturday"

Remember Marko Cukic?

Marko Cukic transferred out of Nevada after last season, landing at Hawaii Pacific. In two regular season games so far, Cukic has scored 11 points and then eight.

Wednesday's WAC hoops roundup

Fresno State took down Southern Methodist 54-52 behind 25 points from soph backcourter Kevin Olekaibe who hit a game-winning trey with 26 seconds remaining. Come WAC play, he just may force his way on to the All-WAC First Team.

Robert Kuwada offers a game report. Robert has also posted a blog entry.

By the way, Nevada fans will recall the name London Giles. In three games so far this season for the Mustangs, he is averaging 11 points per game and that's what he scored against the Bulldogs.

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Weber State took down USU 73-63 after jumping to a 42-27 halftime lead.

The Sagebrush gets the lead simply based on the cultural reference in its headline. Randy Hollis, Shawn Harrison and Martin Renzhofer were also present and accounted for in Ogden.

Of course, Craig Peterson has 41 game photos so do check those out.

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It's New Mexico State versus New Mexico in The Pit tonight -- Jason Groves has the preview.

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Jeff Portnoy looks at Hawaii's Monday night win over Cal State Northridge.

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Anthony Ray (a Rivals sub is required) reports that 6-foot-10 Arizona prep Lucas O'Brien has made his choice and it's UT San Antonio. Fresno State was in the mix and what effect, if any, Rodney Terry's signing of 6-foot-9 Tanner Giddings had on O'Brien's decision will remain locked forever in a mayonnaise jar on Funk and Wagnall's front porch.

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Per a Diamond Leung tweet, Deuce Johnson has a new home:

"Cal State Fullerton signs JC transfer James Johnson, a former center at Louisiana Tech"
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Here's a photo of Casper Community College point Denzel Douglas signing his Idaho LOI:

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

The background on Upshaw's K-State choice

Here's the public reasoning on Robert Upshaw's decision to go with Kansas State:

His mother, Ceylon Sherman, told Gopowercat.com he chose K-State over Georgetown, Fresno State and others, because he felt comfortable playing in Manhattan.

    "It was a close run," Sherman said. "He had a lot of great schools, but when it came down to it, him and all of us family just all had Kansas State. For Robert, it was about how much he liked the guys out there. He had chemistry with them."

More WAC basketball tidings for Tuesday

There's a Utah State - Weber State matchup tonight (that's one which  should be nationally televised, hint, hint, to the powers-that-be).

The Sagebrush has a preview, as does Tony Jones and Shawn Harrison.

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Tony Jones reports on a new starter at the wing for USU.

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Fresno State is back at it tonight versus SMU as Robert Kuwada reports.

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Jason Groves writes about two former Oakland Soldiers who will be mixing it up Wednesday night. Jason also preview the New Mexico State - New Mexico matchup.

Tuesday's reports on Monday night's contests

Idaho matched up with Concordia (Oregon) last night and captured a 77-61 victory paced by Deremy Geiger's 19 points (five treys) and five assists. Sophomore Stephen Madison totaled 15 points with Kyle Barone posting a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Vandal Nation has a post-game video.

Theo Lawson talked with Coach Don Verlin about signee Ty Egbert.

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Sophomore Keith Shamburger's pair of free throws with 6.2 seconds remaining proved to be the difference as host San Jose State University got past UC Irvine 51-50.

Ray Hacke offers a game report.

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Deonte Burton scored 28 points and Malik Story contributed 19 but host Nevada fell to in-state rival UNLV 71-67.

Chris Murray presents his game report. Chris also has a feature on the difficulty of the ball reaching the bottom of the net for the Wolf Pack this season.

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Fresno State fell to host Stanford 75-59. Sophomore guard Kevin Olekaibe scored 19 points as the Bulldogs shot 41% and allowed the Cardinal to shoot 56%.

Robert Kuwada serves up his take.

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Hawaii took down visiting Cal State Northridge 88-67 behind Zane Johnson's 24 points and a monster 19/16 double-double from Trevor Wiseman.

Dayton Morinaga reports.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Brockeith Pane named WAC POW

Utah State’s Brockeith Pane has been named the Verizon Western Athletic Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the week of Nov. 7-13. The honor marks the first career WAC Player of the Week award for Pane.

Pane, a senior guard from Dallas, Texas (Oak Ridge HS), led Utah State to a season-opening 69-62 win against in-state rival Brigham Young. Pane scored a game-high 21 points with five assists, four rebounds and three steals. He connected on 6-of-10 field goals and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the free throw line. For Pane, it is his fourth-career 20-point game and 23rd career double-figure scoring game.

Other nominees included:
 

* Fresno State sophomore guard Kevin Olekaibe
* Idaho senior forward Djim Bandoumel
* Louisiana Tech sophomore guard Cordarius Johnson
* Nevada sophomore forward Kevin Panzer 
* New Mexico State sophomore guard Christian Kabongo.

A different big signs with Fresno State

Fresno State athletics has announced the signing of 6-foot-9 Tanner Giddings, out of Windsor High (Sonoma County, CA).

PTW has seen Giddings play a couple of time. He needs to add strength and weight (probably checks in around 200 pounds) but runs the floor very well. His offensive game is a work-in-progress. Might be considered a redshirt candidate but any determination will depend on what his body is come next August.

Upshaw to the midwest

Fresno area big Robert Upshaw has cast his college lot with Coach Frank Martin and Kansas State. We thought it would be Georgetown so toss an egg in PTW's direction. Congrats to Robert.

Idaho still has two commits unannounced

The Ty Egbert signing has been announced by Vandal athletics and newspaper articles confirmed the inking of Denzel Douglas and Marcus Bell but what about backcourt commits Tim Johnson/LA Trade Tech and Darrington Banks/Collin County CC/TX?

In three games so far this season, Banks is averaging 8.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists per game.He is shooting 33% overall, 25% on trey attempts.

Has the Douglas signing spooked them or will one or either be announced soon?

Johnson isn't listed in this 2011-12 Trade Tech preview. Is he redshirting to save a year of eligibility?

Inquiring minds would like to know.

Robert Upshaw 2 p.m. today

Per Dave Telep, Fresno area big Robert Upshaw will announce his college choice at 2 p.m. today. Telep also tweeted that he believes it will be Kansas State but didn't offer as to why.

Known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns ... how about unknown knowns?

So who among the WAC talents is going to come out of the proverbial woodwork and make an impression this season?

This is even trickier than picking the team finish or the WAC First Team because a number of the candidates have yet to be witnessed.

But that's never stopped PTW from venturing into unknown territory, planting a flag and making some guesses.

Which brings to mind (and will be the only time ever Donald Rumsfeld is quoted here):

"... There are known knowns; there are things we know we know. We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don't know we don't know ..."
Such as maybe, possibly:

Jerry Evans 6-foot-8 sophomore Nevada

Evans will be even a better defender this season and also show an upgraded shooting prowess. There won't be a lot of shots to go-around this season but we see a slicer-and-dicer in Evans and a low doubles figure scorer, after this season

Wendell Faines 6-foot-8 junior Idaho/Desmond Starke, 6-foot-5 junior Idaho

Kyle Barone will be up there but either Faines or Stark will lead the Vandals in rebounding this season (although Djim Bandoumel apparently wants in on that action). Coach Don Verlin keeps mentioning the inside game in 2011-12 so Faines and Stark will likely put up some points too

James Kinney 6-foot-2 junior San Jose State

Kinney will be either the top scorer or in second place comes season's end for the Spartans. He's also likely to be the top assist man.

Garrett Jefferson 6-foot-3 sophomore Hawaii

Mr. Lockdown (Lockup?) will probably earn a few cameos on "Hawaii Five-0" this year due to his defensive prowess

Isaiah Massey 6-foot-8 freshman Louisiana Tech/Trevor Gaskins 6-foot-2 senior Louisiana Tech

Massey will be the best big on the squad and press Brandon Gibson for top rebounding honors while Gaskins will be the best all-around backcourter

Preston Medlin 6-foot-4 freshman Utah State

Player comparisons are often like fitting a square peg in a round hole but PTW sees Medlin as Tyler Newbold reincarnated as far as shooting is concerned

Daniel Mullings 6-foot-2 freshman New Mexico State

Like with Evans, there won't be many shot available to Mullings but he will help in the other facets of the game

Monday's world of WAC hoops

Chris Murray leads us into the Wolf Pack Monday night matchup with host UNLV.

Then Chris offer the keys to the game plus a prediction.

UNLV starts two UCLA transfers, which used to mean something (yes, PTW deserves a technical for piling on, if we can utilize a football metaphor).

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Dayton Morinaga has a great preview of the UH - Cal State Northridge matchup, including the news that Shaq Stokes' family back in New York will be up very early to see the game.

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Brian McInnis offers a very informative feature on Vander Joaquim.

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Robert Kuwada provides a Kevin Foster update.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Louisiana Tech downs Mississippi College Sunday afternoon

Coach Mike White had a successful debut as the Bulldogs won 92-70 versus Mississippi College. Cordarius Johnson led LT with 16 points, Lonnie Smith and Michale Kyser each grabbed seven rebounds and Kenneth Smith passed for eight assists.

*** Actually, PTW overlooked that Trevor Gaskins led the Bulldogs with 17 points.

A Robert Upshaw update

Fresno area big Robert Upshaw had decided he will announce his college choice on Monday. It's either Georgetown, K State, Louisville or the hometown team.

Are Fresno State fans occupying the Upshaw frontyard?

Yes, here's a Penn State-related entry

I've hesitated even approaching the subject because seemingly everything that could be intelligently said or written, plus a burgeoning load of self-serving sanctimonious BS, about the Penn State situation has been offered.

But there's still seems to be an angle worth exploring.

That is, what role did the coaching omerta play -- if any -- in football assistant Mike McQueary not going further in reporting the rape he witnessed (which is wholly different from the more critical question asking why McQueary failed to intervene in a rape in progress?)

The same self-censorship applies against Head Coach Joe Paterno with what McQueary told him?

There's the blue code of silence for police officers in which misbehavior, large or small, is NOT to be reported, or accurately explained. Ostracization, or worse, will result (see Frank Serpico's tragic story). It's the same for the military, corporations, heck, even some families, too.

Plus, coaches also, although this generally is associated with recruiting violations by fellow coaches.

I've had more than one coach unequivocally state he would not report wrongdoing by a fellow (opposing) coach, despite feeling disdain for the actions.

Veering a bit away from the subject but still applicable, an additional factor is that assistants are expected to fall upon their respective swords -- form a protective wall and take any blame -- once a head coach is accused of wrongdoing. The beyond disgusting saga of Dave Bliss' tenure at Southern Methodist is living proof with the situation of Assistant Coach Abar Rouse is telling. From Wikipedia:  
On August 16, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Bliss told players to lie to investigators by indicating that Patrick Dennehy had paid for his tuition by dealing drugs. These conversations were taped on microcassette by assistant coach Abar Rouse from July 30 to August 1. On the tapes, Bliss was heard instructing players to fabricate the story of Dennehy being a drug dealer to the University's investigative committee and also said that talking to the McLennan County, Texas Sheriff's Department would give him the opportunity to "practice" his story. The tapes also showed that Bliss and his staff knew that Dennehy had been threatened by two of their teammates when they publicly denied such knowledge.
Rouse taped the conversations after Bliss threatened to fire him if he did not go along with the scheme.[3]

The revelations shocked the school and the college basketball community. However, despite the potential allegations of extortion, obstruction of justice and witness tampering, no criminal charges were filed against Bliss.

After Baylor, Rouse worked as a graduate assistant coach at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas. He left the position in October 2007. Rouse has not had another basketball job since leaving Midwestern State University, and has said that he "has been blackballed, labeled a snitch and a turncoat" for taping Bliss' statements.[4] Despite the near-universal revulsion at Bliss' actions, many leading members of the college basketball coaching fraternity considered Rouse's recordings a serious breach of trust (for example, Mike Krzyzewski said that if he ever found out one of his assistants had been secretly taping him, "there's no way he would be on my staff"[4]). Rouse sued his attorney in 2005 for releasing the tapes, claiming that it breached the attorney-client privilege; the suit is still pending.[4]} Rouse's attorney claims she did not know how the tapes got transcribed, but the journalist who published them said he got it from her.[4] Jeff Ray, the Midwestern coach who hired Rouse, commented: "I'm right in the middle of it, don't get me wrong. But sometimes the things you see are pretty disgusting. Why is there this black cloud hanging over him? He did nothing wrong. To me, this is all a testimony to the sad state of affairs of our profession."
Without tapes, Rouse's side of the story would have fallen into the he said/she said abyss and been dismissed.

Does such a fraternal bond in coaching also apply to knowledge of other unethical or even criminal behavior?

Does reporting such depend on the degree of harm done?

Does the fear of banishment from the coaching ranks play a role in the expected implementation of an iron curtain?

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Yes, so much more still needs to be known about the Penn State situation

Such as:

Penn State athletics is a million dollar business. HR departments typically inform new hires, or refresh the memories of all employees from time to time that being asked by a superior or even fellow employee to commit an illegal act, either by commission or omission, or witnessing such must be reported, with implicit promises that no negative repercussions will result by doing so.

McQueary informed his boss.

Is there the expectation that he should have gone around Paterno or further than Paterno -- a flesh-and-blood god in State College, PA -- once it was apparent that either Paterno or his superiors were not going to take appropriate action.

It's worth asking if you or I would have the fortitude to go beyond Joe Paterno if we witnessed what McQueary did? It's easy to get righteous  from our position in the stands but it's important to remember the history of whistleblowers is not a pretty, let alone a rewarding one.

Regarding the 84-year-old Paterno's lack of followup, was there a generational element at play since generally society failed to take sexual abuse seriously until the last couple of decades? Or was it more Paterno's long friendship with accused predator Jerry Sandusky?

It will be critical to determine what Paterno wanted to have take place once he talked to his athletic director because anyone who becomes a living institution can face the dilemma of having too much to lose by having his or her name attached to any sort of vile actions, committed by himself or those on his/her staff.

Sunday's WAC roundup

New Mexico State was the only WAC winner last night, taking down host Northern Colorado 89-75. Sam Wasson and the Las Cruces Sun-News offer game reports and Jason Groves a blog post. Christian Kabongo totaled 20 points while Wendell McKines enjoyed a double-double of 18 points and 10 boards.

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Idaho traveled out to Southern California, gave Long Beach State (expected to win the Big West Conference) a battle but lost 69-61. Deremy Geiger and Djim Bandoumel each contributed 13 points while Kyle Barone added 11 points and nine boards. The Vandals led 29-27 at the half.

Here's a Spokesman-Review on this season's Vandals.

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Cal Poly's top player David Hanson scored but three points on 1-14 shooting but the host Mustangs still had enough firepower to top San Jose State 79-52.

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USUStats takes another look at the Aggie victory over BYU.

Tony Jones has posted a video interview with Brockeith Pane.

Craig Peterson is more than a prolific photographer -- check this out.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

A note on former LA TECH frontcourter Olu Ashaolu

From CanBallReport:

"Toronto's Olu Ashaolu had 6 pts and 3 rebs in 26 mins in Oregon's 78-64 loss to Vanderbilt"

Brockeith Pane and the NBA

Here's an interesting tweet from Tony Jones:

"NBA scout told me tonight Pane has a chance because of his strength and scoring ability. Says he needs more consistent jumper"

It's Saturday and that means finally some official games to report

The biggest news of last night is Utah State's win over BYU so PTW will lead with that:

Here's Tony Jones, Sir Sonnenberg, Shawn Harrison, Jeff Call and 56 game photos from Craig Peterson.

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Robert Kuwada recaps Fresno State's topping of Illinois State in Coach Rodney Terry's debut.

Robert also updates the status of former Bulldog signee Julius Bilbrew.

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Wow, wow, wow. Missouri State came into Reno and easily took out Nevada as Chris Murray reports.

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Brian McInnis tells us Hawaii struggled but then turned it on to get by Hawaii Pacific. Dayton Morinaga also provides a game report plus video.

Ferd Lewis writes about Shaq Stokes' first official game in a Hawaii uniform.

Friday, November 11, 2011

NCAA sidelines Remi Barry

Jason Groves has tweeted the news. In fact, Jason's last few tweets are Barry-related.

Anyone know what "benefits received by non NMSU staff" actually means?

Bill Sproat, tour guide

Bill has retired but hasn't gone far:

Dario Hunt and the NBA

Matt Kamalsky/Draft Express looks at Nevada's Dario Hunt's NBA prospects.

Friday and the WAC basketball horizon

The Sagebrush leads it off with the USU - BYU player matchups plus a game prediction.

Here's a feature on Riley Bradshaw's signing with Utah State.

The USU signings are up to four.

"Occupy The Spectrum" is in full force.

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Dayton Morinaga previews tonight's UH - HPU contest.

Brian McInnis is all over Warrior basketball 2011-12. 

Then Brian preview the UH guards, wings and bigs.

Brian and Ferd Lewis have the latest on Gib Arnold's contract.

Brian (this man must never sleep!) also offers a series of tweets about the signing of another talent by Arnold. Go here, here and here.

Here's a close to nine minute video of highlights on the newcomer.

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The theme of the Nevada basketball season is "Brickyard Ball."

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Here's how Rodney Terry filled out his Bulldog coaching staff.

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Sam Wasson offers a masterful preview of New Mexico State basketball.

At AggieAlert, Anthony Esparza has posted part two of his look at the Aggies.

Center Chris Gabriel, who transferred from New Mexico State after a season a few years back, was dismissed from the San Diego team.