I’m back
Monday, Jan. 28, 2008 @ 12:56 am
So I’ve been absent for a while. My bad.
My hometown isn’t exactly Mac compatible, so I didn’t spend much time on the Net while I was home over break, and I’ve spent the last few weeks trying to plow through my honors thesis, AKA The Big Freaking Paper.
That’s not much of an excuse for not posting in over a month, but, well, stuff happens.
For the three people that read this site, especially you mom, I’m sorry. Plenty of important sports things have happened since my last blog post. Here’s a rundown of the big ones.
Luke Babbitt breaks state high school scoring record
Sure, Babbitt has a silky smooth jumper, he handles, passes, and rebounds extremely well, and he can probably cure West Nile with his off hand.
But you want to know what my favorite part of his game is?
The kid has phenomenally soft hands. I’m talking Nick Fazekas soft.
After watching half a season of perfectly good passes bounce off the mitts of JaVale McGee and Demarshay Johnson, I’m beginning to understand why Faz was so valuable to Ramon Sessions’ assist total. He caught everything.
Babbitt doesn’t have Fazekas’ size in the post, but he catches everything, too, and knows how to score from everywhere. Put him alongside McGee and all Nevada’s scoring options on the perimeter, and the Wolf Pack will be scary on offense next season.
Seriously, who honestly believes next year’s team isn’t winning the conference?
Armon’s emergence
Nevada star Marcelus Kemp has been much more efficient offensively over the last month after struggling to begin the season.
Why?
Part of Kemp’s improvement comes from him not trying to carry his younger teammates anymore.
An even bigger part is Armon Johnson’s utter studliness of late.
Johnson started going all Tiny Archibald on opponents about a month ago, and Kemp’s numbers have been rising ever since.
After looking uncomfortable and lost at the beginning of the season, Johnson has scored in double figures in seven of the Wolf Pack’s last eight games. He’s averaging almost 17 points per game during that period and shooting better than 60 percent from the field.
His perimeter shooting is getting better, but he’s been unstoppable getting to the rim and finishing everything. Johnson’s production is forcing defenses to gameplan to stop him, which is creating more space for Kemp and Brandon Fields.
When you can score on UNC’s Ty Lawson at will, you can win pretty much any one-on-one situation.
Ault’s genious
I just knew it was coming. I think everybody did.
After the Pack’s previously nonexistent found some semblance of a pulse over the last few weeks of the season, Nevada coach Chris Ault was sure to spare buddy Ken Wilson and give him another shot at defensive coordinator next season despite a pretty strong body of evidence suggesting Wilson is better suited for something else.
So what does Ault do?
He moves Wilson back to more of a positional role and hires a promising young defensive mind to come in and replace him.
Nigel Burton comes to Nevada after coaching cornerbacks at Oregon State. Besides being a bright guy, he’s a tremendous recruiter.
Ault’s move makes sense in every way.
Wilson might not be a great coordinator, but does get things done on the recruiting trail. By keeping him around, Ault only strengthened his recruiting ties while also addressing his program’s biggest deficiency.
So the Ault haters need to quit yapping and give next season a chance.
The offense is absolutely stacked, and that’s before you consider the potential impact of playmakers like receivers Chris Wellington and Brian Fludd and incoming freshman running back Michael Ball.
Colin Kaepernick, or maybe Nick Graziano, will have nearly a full season of starting experience, the leading rusher and top two pass catchers return, and the offensive line will be even deeper. This season the Wolf Pack was one of the best offenses in the country – the unit should be scary next season.
If Burton can find a pair of cornerbacks to cover anyone, the defense should be formidable, too. Expect end Kevin Basped to be a terror coming of the edge and for linebacker Dontay Moch to replace some of the athleticism that Ezra Butler brought to the table.
I’m not going to predict another WAC BCS birth, but I’ve been saying for a few months that the Pack and Fresno State will both have chances in the coming seasons.
And both Ault and Bulldogs coach Pat Hill have tough schedules, so at least either team will deserve a birth if they can pull it off.
Gervasoni’s gals can play
For most of the decade, the Nevada women’s basketball team hasn’t mattered.
The losses stacked up without end, and there really wasn’t much of a reason to follow a team that made a habit of getting bounced in the first round of the conference tournament.
Then the team took a step into the top half of the conference last season with its first winning season since 2001, and now Nevada coach Kim Gervasoni’s program is set to win 20 games for the first time in school history.
The Wolf Pack is 14-5 and 5-1 in the WAC this season and in the hunt for the conference championship. Led by Dellena Criner, Brandi Fitzgerald, and Mikail Price, the Wolf Pack has an explosive backcourt.
Better yet, Gervasoni returns just about everybody again next season.
The day may be quickly approaching when Nevada fans have two NCAA Tournament teams to follow in March.
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on Monday, January 28th, 2008 at 12:56 am and is filed under Basketball, Blogroll, Colin Kaepernick is the man, Fantasy sports, Sports.
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