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Published Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 | 11:36 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2009 | 11:46 a.m.
After four practices and a public scrimmage, it’s a day of rest for the UNLV basketball team.
But not for us.
Here are 10 thoughts, or things we’ve noticed, about the Rebels as the 2009-10 season isn’t even a week old.
10. Senior center Darris Santee, The Quiet One, might not have such a quiet season. At least, that’s what UNLV fans must be hoping after he led everyone with 13 points in Friday night’s scrimmage.
9. The 19 points by walk-ons Mychal Martinez, Tyler Norman, Steve “Chopper” Jones and Todd Hanni showed how serviceable that group will continue to be for sixth-year coach Lon Kruger.
8. This is Kruger’s sixth season!? Yes, kids, it flies. Have fun every day.
7. Martinez had a layup and a put-back off a missed 3-pointer by Matt Shaw, but look closer. Martinez took a charge, from freshman guard Justin Hawkins, in the second half. THAT is what will earn him points with Kruger.
6. Tre’Von Willis might have some critics. Who doesn’t in D-I basketball? But he is a fantastic teammate. That is evident in many ways in every practice.
5. Carlos Lopez, the freshman center from Findlay Prep, has a ways to go to get his strength back after losing 30 pounds from catching that virus in France this summer. He has much to learn, but his moves and shot-blocking ability will keep him in the thick of the low-post battles.
4. Sophomore center Brice Massamba’s off-season work, and some choice words from his hoopster brothers in Sweden, have paid great dividends. We take a closer look at Massamba on Wednesday.
3. Point guard Derrick Jasper, the Kentucky transfer who hasn’t played a game at full speed since high school, looks so smooth and fast at times it almost appears as if he’s skating on ice.
2. The venue switch for practice to Impact Academy, Monday and Wednesday, highlights how the squad needs its own practice facility. That has been talked about for a few years, and Kruger acknowledged that they are ongoing, even in this tough economic climate.
1. We are STILL waiting to see Jasper and Chace Stanback (left ankle sprain) on the court at the same time in a competitive situation. Probably won’t happen until next week. Foes probably hope it wouldn’t happen until next season.
Follow Rob Miech on Twitter at twitter.com/RobMiech.
Isn't that what the court under Cox Pavilion was supposed to be -- the team's official practice gym?
And furthermore, between Cox, sub-Cox, the Mack and the North Gym, this team has trouble finding somewhere to practice?
vegasvegas, ba dum dum ... bravo
rain, er, Nick ... all are tied up. Kruger would have to run late-night practices if he wanted to wait until one of those floors was free, and that would be too disruptive to the lads' skeds ...
do you think if there was any availability on campus that they would have wound up at Impact Academy? cmon
Good stuff, Miech. Keep it coming.
awesome coverage. 3 weeks left.
Really enjoy this site and I especially like all the behind the scenes stories. Thanks!
That's my point, though, Rob. I understand that there's a lot of balls in the air in any athletic department... but it would seem to me that this is an easy one to deal with. Someone in athletics looks at the calendar, sees that Libonati's got the Cox Pavilion booked for something or another this week, and calls the folks at the McDermitt Center and say "We need to book the North Gym for two hours on the afternoon of the 20th."
I'm guessing doing that would be slightly cheaper than building another practice facility for the Rebels, especially seven or eight years after they just built Cox's basement for that purpose.
Better scheduling isn't as sexy for recruiting as a shiny new basketball practice facility, but it beats sending the kids over to the Tark for practice and hitting up the donors for a couple million for construction costs... especially when those donors are going to be asked to help pay for a football coach in a couple of months.
UNLV pimping out all of the basketball facilities is why our athletic department is a joke. There are four courts on campus and not one can be saved for basketball use!!! The new A.D.'s first job, besides finding a new head coach for football, should be that the athletic venues are priority for their respective teams. If they're going to be D-1 they need to act like D-1.
I wonder if teams like Kentucky, UCLA, or Kansas get bumped off their own campus so their athletic departments can whore themselves out to big business?
This makes me look forward to the season Rob. I can't believe it's almost here. Just wish it doesn't turn out like last season, leaving us all a bit disappointed.
With a new baby though, I DO hope the MTN, CBS CS, or Versus picks up a couple more non-conference games. You think the Arizona game will be picked up by Fox sports locally?
Speaking of TV coverage, what's up with only 3 OOC games on TV anywhere right now? Aren't tournaments like the MWC-MVC challenge and the diamond head classic created for TV? Not even Kansas State? This is ridiculous. Even the Louisville game is on Versus which was dropped by directv. Someone must hate me for ever leaving Vegas.
HTownReb:
Dump cable. Dump satellite.
CSTV sells a package through the UNLV Web site, I think for $50 a year, that gives you every Versus/CBSC/Mtn. televised UNLV game on your home Internet. Quality is average.
ESPN360 is included with many Internet subscriptions and is available for a fee on others. That should cover any ESPN televised games. The quality is great on my 37 inch HDTV (which I have connected to my computer).
That leaves Fox Sports, but with all the money you saved dumping DirecTV, you can go to a bar for that game.
Guess what, UNLV is working on a new gym next to Cox Pavillion. It is going to be a nice recruiting tool when it is done. So they will get their wish shortly. The only problem is not having parking for games after that.
BringThe Rain, I think you are wrong about the package. I have the Rebels All Access package that CBS Sports offers. It only gives you access to games televised on CBS College Sports and radio broadcast from ISP. I doubled checked the schedule on the All Access website and there are no video feeds until Jan. 13, 2010 when we play SDSU. If you are talking about a different package please let us know and provide a link. I think a lot of fans would be interested.
Crooks -
I've gotten Versus and The Mtn. games since last December. You have to hunt a little bit to find the games -- it's not easy to navigate -- but I watched UNLV-Oregon State football on my computer, as well as most of the hoops games last year.
Technically there are about 7 decent basketball courts on the UNLV campus that can be scheduled for the rebels to practice on.
T&M main floor
Cox Pavilion Main Court
Cox Pavilion Basement Court
2 courts at McDermott
2 Courts at the New Student Recreation Center.
You mean to tell me the Athletic Department staff could not make a call to one of these offices to schedule 2/3 hours of practice time for the Division I basketball team that we have. That is weak, no excuse!
ryph, guess what ... it is not a barn specifically for the unlv men's basketball team, if it is a "new gym" at all. Don't confuse the two. A place solely for the Rebels has been discussed for three years, but it is no closer to being built for many reasons, not the least of which is this awful economy. New recruiting tool? Don't think so.