Jasper agrees with need to be more selfish on offense

By Ryan Greene

Saturday, Jan. 9, 2010 | 2:30 a.m.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — By nature, a point guard needs to be the most unselfish player on the court.

UNLV junior Derrick Jasper has been a point guard all his life, but in Lon Kruger's guard-heavy rotation filled with potential 20-point-per-game scorers, he sometimes wears a different hat.

But no matter whether he's running the point or playing small forward, on any given possession the Rebels need one thing consistently from the Kentucky transfer.

"We're wanting more production," Kruger said. "That's the thing we're talking about all the time is production. That may be plays for yourself, plays for someone else, just making good basketball plays.

"And not just Derrick. I think (Wednesday at BYU) we had a couple or three guys who stepped up, and we need more guys stepping up and producing offensively."

Enter Jasper.

A rangy 6-foot-6 frame with the ability to play four different positions and score from anywhere, Jasper potentially could be UNLV's most dangerous force on the offensive end.

If that's going to happen consistently, he'll need to break the point-guard code.

"Yeah, I think I do need to be a lot more selfish on offense," he said. "I'm working on it in practice a lot. I'm shooting a lot more. I just need to translate it into the games.

"I think I could contribute a lot more than I am. I need to approach each game being more aggressive and getting a much lower base. Coach (Kruger) says I'm standing up a lot when I'm driving to the hoop, so I need to get a lot lower."

Jasper's knack for swooping down the lane, extending the ball far from his body and then flicking it into the bucket with a soft kiss off of the glass was on display during UNLV's defiant first-half showing in the 77-73 loss in Provo on Wednesday night.

However, in 14 second-half minutes Jasper didn't have the same presence. After the break, he was 0-for-1 from the floor, and passed up a couple opportunities to score late in the contest as the Rebels allowed a six-point lead to slide through their grasp in the final 5:55.

"Typically, Derrick's production has been a layup or driving to the bucket," Kruger said. "(At BYU) he had two of them, and we need a lot more."

To his credit, Jasper filled up the stat sheet elsewhere, finishing with four assists and a career-high four blocks.

UNLV doesn't need Jasper to score 20 points a night, but rather simply avoid lengthy lulls such as his second half drought on Wednesday. If he can be a consistent, regular offensive force, the possibilities are endless for the Paso Robles, Calif., native.

"I'm just playing really inconsistent right now," he said. "I'm having a couple good games and then a couple bad games, and I just need to be able to put it all together."

The inconsistency is in the numbers from UNLV's last few outings.

After going scoreless Dec. 12 in a loss to Kansas State, Jasper slowly got off the ground in a road victory at Southern Utah.

Then, over the Rebels' next four games — all wins — he was 17-of-30 from the floor and averaged 10.3 points per contest. They were highlighted by a season-high 14-point showing Dec. 23 in a 77-53 victory over Hawaii in the Diamond Head Classic. In maybe the team's best start-to-finish performance of the season, Jasper had seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

In UNLV's last two games, though — both losses — he's totaled seven points on 3-of-8 shooting.

A sign pointing toward another potential upswing in his offensive practice is the initiative Jasper showed in practice over the last two days.

Not even 24 hours after the humbling defeat at the Marriott Center — Jasper was scoring left and right during a highly-competitive practice Thursday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

During one three-play stretch in a halfcourt drill, Kruger told Jasper to run the point.

On the first play, he drove the right baseline and scored a layup in traffic off a double-pump in mid-air. On the next rep, he pulled off a spin move in the lane which put a defender on his rear and resulted in a swished floater. With his third attempt, Jasper went left, stalled on the left wing, squared up quickly against Todd Hanni and casually knocked home a 17-foot jumper.

When the duty of setting things up was taken out of his hands moments later, he still produced, including hitting an 18-foot jumper after crossing up Brice Massamba with his nifty handles.

"I just need to translate it to the games," Jasper added. "Be a lot more aggressive and smart. It starts with getting low and strong, being powerful and getting to the rim."

Looking ahead to New Mexico ...

In truth, offensive boosts across the board certainly wouldn't hurt as UNLV gets set for its second major road test this week as its second game in Mountain West Conference play might be its toughest all year.

The Rebels (12-3 overall, 0-1 MWC) square off at The Pit against No. 15 New Mexico (14-2, 0-1) Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m.

The Lobos have yet to lose in 10 tries on their home floor this season.

New Mexico dropped its league opener Tuesday at San Diego State on Tuesday, 74-64.

Kruger is confident in his team's composure as it heads into one of the toughest road atmospheres west of the Mississippi, especially considering how the Rebels responded several times Wednesday in front of a crowd of 15,546 which was loud for almost the entire second half.

"Obviously we didn't do that at the most critical time in the last couple of minutes, but otherwise I thought our guys made good plays, battled that atmosphere very well," Kruger said. "And anytime you do that, hopefully you get a little more capable of battling that home crowd."

Lost in the mix of Wednesday's late-game collapse was the fact that UNLV slowed the game down, somewhat, to the pace it desired.

BYU came in with a reputation of pushing the ball down the floor quickly and efficiently score scoring in transition on scuffling defenses. The Rebels, instead, turned it into a half-court game, which exposed the Cougars when outside of their comfort zone.

BYU finished with just four fast-break points.

New Mexico is capable of being the same kind of team, having scored at least 75 points in 13 of its 14 wins. When held below that mark, the Lobos are 1-2, including a narrow 66-61 victory over Creighton that required a frantic second half comeback.

"We want to take away and limit their transition opportunities, which I thought the guys did a great job of at BYU, and that's hard to do," Kruger said. "The guys did a good job of that. We've got to have similar priorities at New Mexico since they're good in transition, we've got to give (Roman) Martinez and (Darington) Hobson a little extra attention. It's a little easier said than done."

Martinez, a 6-foot-6 senior, averages a conference-best 3.1 3-pointers made per game, and comes in scoring 15.3 points a night.

Hobson, however, is one of the league's most dangerous all-around threats.

The 6-foot-7 juco transfer from College of Eastern Utah made one of his multiple stops as a nomadic prep player in Las Vegas, playing at Western High as a freshman.

In his first — and potentially only — season at New Mexico, he's been a pure force, averaging 16.5 points, 8.1 boards and 4.4 assists a game. His ability to score from in close and beyond the 3-point arc could be just as tough for UNLV to quiet as what promises to be an intimidating capacity crowd.

"He's rangy, can get by you on the dribble, can shoot the three, and anytime a guy has those qualities, it makes him tough to guard, since you have to respect everything," Kruger said. "And he's got good instincts, too."

UNLV is 1-4 at The Pit under Kruger, and has not won there since Feb. 28, 2007, when the Rebels pulled out an 85-83 squeaker.