Checking in on the Sunday World of the WAC

Jason Groves offers more on how the Aggies will cope without Wendell McKines.

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Chris Murray reports that the Trailblazers just made a move that more than solidifies Armon Johnson's role.

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How will announcers handle this Bronco taking of a three-pointer? Tre' for trey? Nick Jezierny features his latest Bronco player.

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Shawn Harrison has the details on Utah State's closed scrimmage.

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Check out The Howl Episode 42 -- you'll get 45 minutes of Coach David Carter talking Wolf Pack basketball. Sit back and enjoy...then subscribe to Silver and Blue Sports to access even more information.

BSU and Fresno State will need to pick up recruiting

Nevada has been quite successful but will still need to pick up recruiting some in preparing for the Mountain West Conference MWC) basketball play. It's Boise State and also Fresno State who need to make major strides in bringing in talent.

Success is the MWC generally requires a player or two who are either NBA caliber or on the edge of being such -- so the Broncos and Coach Leon Rice must make inroads with higher caliber recruits. Let's see what happens come November and also the later signing period.

Similarly, PTW believes it's likely that Fresno State will be minus Greg Smith (dependent on him enjoying a breakout season) come the move to the MWC, so a major infusion of frontcourt talent is a must.

As for the MWC, New Mexico, San Diego State and UNLV are the Big Brothers in hoops, with Texas Christian and Wyoming as possibilities of being contenders down the road. The Big Three can be caught, now it's up to the respective coaching staffs to do so.

Not WAC-related but...

First the snark, then the feel good story.

Scott Wolf of the Daily News is reporting that USC forward Leonard Washington will be sidelined anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks due to a high ankle sprain.

Isn't it about now that Tim Floyd announces Washington is being suspended for a few games for his reprehensible attack on Blake Griffin?

and

Here's a story for the season and all the rest of the days of the year. We have seen Kevin Laue play and D-1 is a possibility if a mid-major or lower coach needs a 'big' who can help out a few minutes a game.

Prospect Provides Inspiration With What He Doesn’t Have
Adam Himmelsbach
New York Times
December 27, 2008

FORK UNION, Va. — Kelli Whitescarver did not see traffic bottle up on Interstate 95 until it was too late. She lost control of her black Ford Explorer, which smashed a guardrail, flipped onto the driver’s side and dragged her left arm on the pavement.

Whitescarver, 21, had been on her way home to Richmond on Nov. 2 after visiting her sister in North Carolina. Instead, she was on her way to the hospital to have her left hand amputated.

During Whitescarver’s three-week stay at the Medical College of Virginia, she was told the amputation would not stop her from maintaining a normal life. But the people who told her that had two hands. Then, through some unusual serendipity, Whitescarver heard about someone who did not.

Kevin Laue, 18, was a 6-foot-10-inch college basketball prospect from California who was born with a left arm that ended at the elbow. He had recently enrolled at Fork Union Military Academy, about 50 miles from Richmond, in hopes of being noticed by an Ivy League team, but not for the reason he was most often noticed...

Go here for the remainder.

Not WAC-related but still worth reading

Even we couldn't figure out a way to work the WAC into this piece but here's some numbers about athlete admissions for Duke versus those of Stanford, with North Carolina also making an appearance.

Stanford vs. Duke basketball: The difference in admissions standards
Jon Wilner
San Joe Mercury News
November 5, 2008

I’ve noticed several Hotline readers have questioned/challenged my comment that Stanford has tougher admissions than Duke in a post about Johnny Dawkins’ slow start in recruiting.

Admissions is always a scalding-hot-button topic, so let me address this before it metastasizes.

First, I was referring to the entry standards for men’s basketball players. It was not a comment on admissions for the students as whole or even student athletes. Both schools are world class.

It was about men’s basketball and men’s basketball only.

It was also accurate...

Go here for the remainder.

Goin' political on ya

Hey, the headline was our very best Sarah Palin imitation as we're trying to balance out the following. The bottom line is that we will be very happy if a basketball court and playing hoops becomes part of the daily routine of the inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Let's say it's long overdue.

Obama's other running mate: a basketball
Shooting hoops has become a key ritual of his campaign. And if he wins? The White House bowling alley may have to go.
Peter Nicholas
Los Angeles Times
October 4, 2008

WASHINGTON — On the morning of the biggest speech of his life, Barack Obama found himself, quite literally, sidelined.

Obama shot baskets by himself at the Denver Athletic Club, talking trash to his friends as they ran the basketball court in what had become a campaign ritual, the pickup hoops game.

Worried that he might get elbowed in the jaw hours before he was to accept the Democratic presidential nomination before 80,000 people, the players convinced Obama he'd better sit this one out.

"There was a particular concern about not wanting him to turn up with a busted lip," said Alan S. King, a Chicago attorney and a regular in Obama's movable basketball games. "That's the only time he's ever done that."

On some of the most momentous days on the election calendar, Obama has defused the tension by hitting the basketball court. The tradition began the day of the Iowa caucuses in January. Obama set up a game while nervously awaiting the results, knowing that a poor showing in the caucuses might kill his campaign...

Go here for the full article.

A very early ALL - WAC first and second team

Okay, the WAC traditionally has five players on the first team and also five on the second. Sorting out who goes on which team is even dicier than selecting the actual 10 players but what makes this exercise even more audacious is that we haven't even seen some of the kids play! How's that for speaking with authority?

So with such a proviso, take the following for what it's worth. We'll save our list and proclaim our genius if we come anywhere close to being correct or issue a mea culpa if we stumble. We fully expect you to start saving up your rotten fruits and vegetables, razzberries included, if we fall short with our selections.

So here they are:

ALL WAC FIRST TEAM (in no particular order)

*** Roderick Flemings 6-7 210 junior Hawaii

We've never seen this kid but he was a national-level junior college recruit last season and looks to be Hawaii's top scorer. The Rainbow Warriors are going to have a tough 2008-2009 as experience and firepower are lacking after the departure of five seniors so there will be a lot of shots available for the taking.

*** Magnum Rolle 6-10 220 junior Louisiana Tech

Ditto in that this kid hasn't been seen by many, including us -- he spent two seasons primarily as a backup at LSU before transferring but court time was hard to come by due to the level of talent in front of him. The LA TECH fans are talking Rolle up big-time and major minutes are certainly available on the Bulldog frontline. There is even mention that he may play some wing -- yes, at 6-10.

*** Luke Babbitt 6-9 225 freshman Nevada

Babbitt will be the go-to shooter and scorer on the Wolf Pack frontline as the remainder of the forwards and centers on the roster are more rebound-and-putback guys. But he also has remarkable shooting range. The key for Babbitt: staying out of foul trouble. If he isn't on the floor then the Nevada backcourt has to carry the offense -- which isn't necessarily a bad thing but not what Coach Mark Fox desires.

*** Gary Wilkinson 6-9 240 senior Utah State

Stew Morrill is going to want more of a consistent physical presence from Wilkinson in the coming season and we expect to see him averaging 17 and 10.

*** Adrian Oliver 6-4 185 sophomore San Jose State

A Washington transfer, he gets to step on the court after six games so he'll have plenty of minutes to shed any rust prior to conference play. He'll be the top scorer for SJSU and his presence should virtually eliminate any Spartan scoring droughts.


ALL WAC SECOND TEAM (in no particular order)

*** Kyle Gibson 6-4 185 junior Louisiana Tech

The Aggies have some other top talents but Gibson has already shown his scoring ability when he was practically the sole real shooter on the squad last season. He will get less shot attempts in 2008-2009 and the adjustment to that bears watching.

*** Jonathan Gibson 6-2 180 junior New Mexico State

His points per game average should rise this coming season and he needs to be the 'rock' on the court for Coach Marvin Menzies in keeping the young Aggies focused. Gibson is no pure point but he's the best returning assist guy for the Aggies.

*** Brandon Fields 6-4 195 junior Nevada He went from 2.1 ppg. as a freshman to 12.4 last season and also became a formidable defender. His numbers will again expand this season as Mark Fox expects and should receive greater consistency from Fields.

*** Tai Wesley 6-7 240 sophomore Utah State

Wesley could well average a double-double for Stew Morrill in the coming season and he's also the best Aggie shotblocker. Wesley is the Aggie who plays the muscle man role upfront.

*** C.J. Webster 6-8 250 junior San Jose State

The best passing big man in the WAC, Webster is a solid inside scorer and is looking to better his rebounding totals in 2008-2009.
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We don't see any of the Boise State players making the cut here although transfer forward Ike Okoye will come close. The same with Fresno State but Sylvester Seay and Dwight O'Neill will carry the Bulldogs. Hawaii is going to have to settle for Flemings but Bill Amis will score in double figures this coming season and get his rebounding average up to 8 or so a contest. Guard Mac Hopson is Idaho's lone hope for post-season honors but another tough season for the Vandals will curtail his chances. Jamel White will be a critical player for Kerry Rupp in the Bulldog backcourt but Tech will have scoring and rebounding numbers fairly spread out this season due to influx of new talent. Olu Ashaolu, a Canadian who redshirted last season, is another LTer worth watching. We chose Brandon Fields as Nevada's second honoree over soph Armon Johnson primarily because of Fields' defensive prowess but Johnson enjoyed a marvelous frosh season and will be even better this go-around. Troy Gillenwater is a New Mexico State newcomer getting good press but we expect him to have the usual freshman ups-and-downs. Jahmar Young will enjoy many more shooting opportunities with a load of NMSU seniors having graduated and Herb Pope now in New Jersey but we see Jonathan Gibson as the more well-rounded Aggie guard. San Jose State's Justin Graham may just play his way into post-season accolades with his well-rounded backcourt game. Chris Oakes, with more physical play, could also make some noise. Utah State's 6-4 Tyler Newbold will score much more than last season.s 5.4 ppg. now that Jaycee Carroll is in Italy but needs to demonstrate greater proficiency at taking the ball to the hoop as he managed but 31 free throw attempts last season.

So there you have it.

Have at it.

Back from hell

How do the residents of Las Vegas do it? At least for six months out of the year? Better yet, why?

Yes, you haven't lived until you exit from a Vegas high school gym at 4 p.m. and it's 110 degrees with a warm, check that, hot, also check that, blistering wind blasting you like a furnace.

You don't dare sprint but you purposefully stride to your rental car, climb in and jam on the AC for that first hint of salvation coming at you from the dashboard.

Then you do it again and again and again...

Ah, the glamorous life college coaches lead!

Anyway, enough of this, we are back home and thoroughly enjoying the fog and 70 degree temps and vowing to get the late July club team basketball tournaments in Las Vegas bug out of our system forever so that we do not repeat such an act of self-punishment in 2009.

Another basketball film

Thankfully this doesn't appear to be along the lines of "The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh" so watch for it at your local theater or Netflix it:

This Is Basketball, Boys; It’s Not Rocket Science
Nathan Leemay
New York Times
May 16, 2008

Well now, if this isn’t just the cutest thing I don’t know what is. “Quantum Hoops,” a documentary by Rick Greenwald, tells the story of the California Institute of Technology’s men’s basketball team — a topic that in the context of college sports is approximately as farcical as the history of aspiring semioticians among the contestants on “America’s Next Top Model.”

Established in 1919, the Caltech Beavers (so named after “nature’s engineer”) cull players from one of the most rigorously selective, academically demanding universities in the world. These boys are quite literally rocket scientists — or, more accurately, double majors in rocket science and applied math.

David Duchovny, who narrates this wry, good-natured picture with affable bemusement, informs us that Caltech lays claim to both the highest ratio of Nobel Prize winners to faculty and a men’s basketball team that at the time of filming was distinguished by a record 243 consecutive conference losses dating to 1985. Mr. Greenwald follows the Beavers’ try at breaking that losing streak during the final week of the 2006 season, while chronicling the handful of ups and many, many downs in the history of a team remembered less for its athletic prowess (or even competence) than for once including the father of modern computational fluid dynamics.

and

Quantum Hoops (documentary)
Reviewed by Elliot V. Kotek
(February 2008)

The documentary follows the Beavers of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) - a school that, despite a rich history, a once-winning team (mostly in the 1950s), 31 Nobel Prize-winners and alumni of the ilk of Linus Pauling, Richard Feynman, the Richter scale's original Richter and It's a Wonderful Life director Frank Capra, hasn't won a conference basketball game in twenty-one years. However, after years of flailing, the Beavers are looking better - not good, just better - and Greenwald catches them at a time when they're being only mildly beaten as opposed to their previous sound humiliations, when hope has replaced hopelessness, and, as Coach Roy Dow so eloquently puts it, it's not impossible that they'd win, only improbable.

Greenwald's mastery of this format is evidenced by not only his mixing of Ken Burns-type techniques, but also his story-telling confidence. Not only does Greenwald tell his tale in the present, featuring the current crop of players both on and off the court, but he presents a comprehensive and compelling backstory. The helmer takes into account the surroundings - the school, its traditions, its policies and its colorful academic and sporting history - and also puts the key seasons into the context of what was happening contemporaneously on the world stage. Greenwald really relates the discipline of these players to both their academic and sporting lives, and draws poignant parallels between the search for a scientific breakthrough and the repetition and resolve that is both inherent and important to a win.

You do not have to be a basketball fan to fall in love with this movie, and fans of Einstein, Stephen Hawking and the San Antonio Spurs are assured equal enjoyment. The movie allows you to root for an underdog who's simultaneously somehow both a nerd and a jock. And it's no leap to suggest that, thanks to Quantum Hoops, the Caltech Beavers may well have a full legion of fans next season.

The NBA and the NCAA circling around AAU/club team basketball

We imagine ESPN will also want a chunk of this. However, we cannot imagine the various corporate shoe companies -- Nike, Adidas, Reebok -- will be sitting idly by if their respective interests aren't represented.

We really don't wish to be cynical because we solidly back anything that aids the development of youngsters as both persons and players but exactly what benefit will the mid-major and lower level NCAA teams get from this?

Our fear is them who have the gold, rule (yet again). Will the NCAA truly represent all of its members or just the elites?

NCAA, NBA forging youth hoops pact
Co-branded leagues, tournaments, training programs could be part of historic agreement
Anthony Schoettle
Indianapolis Journal
March 15 - 2008

Professional and collegiate basketball are on the brink of a landmark agreement that hoops insiders said will change the landscape of the sport in this country. Proponents say it would be good for basketball, but others say it's an attempt to further commercialize the sport.

The agreement between the NBA and the locally headquartered NCAA would be a major departure for both organizations, which have maintained separate agendas and have never had a formal business partnership. Neither organization has ever made a foray into youth basketball, which is a major subject of discussion between the two groups.

The desire to bring structure to youth basketball development and to field improved teams for international competition is the driving force behind the agreement. For two years, the parties have been discussing a pact to develop year-round training programs for high school players and academies for elite players; conduct sanctioned co-branded youth leagues, tournaments and development programs for coaches and officials; and explore corporate partnerships that could pay for such sweeping initiatives.

Sources with knowledge of the discussions said talks have intensified since NCAA President Myles Brand was a guest of the NBA at last month's All-Star weekend in New Orleans. The pact has not been finalized, and NCAA and NBA officials said no time line for an announcement has been set.

Minimizing contact between young players and the shoe companies and apparel makers that often stage summer basketball leagues and tournaments is a central goal of the deal, but there are some self-serving motives, industry experts said, especially on the part of the NBA...

Go here for the remainder.