Kickin’ it at Stew’s place
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2008 @ 11:42 am
Utah State coach Stew Morrill is the most underrated coach in America.
He wins every season despite Logan’s recruiting downfalls. He also owns Nevada.
The Aggies have beaten the Wolf Pack each of the last two seasons, including twice last season. Upset about the Pack getting in Memphis’ pod in the NCAA Tournament last season?
Blame Stew.
Combine the Wolf Pack struggles against the Aggies the last few years with the Dee Glen Smith Spectrum’s status as the toughest place to play in the WAC, and Nevada is going to have to play nearly perfect to win.
On paper, the Wolf Pack is superior to Utah State athletically and size-wise.
Fox should really consider the tape from the New Mexico State game where Utah State lost by 30. Yeah, Stew’s boys were missing some key players, but that doesn’t change Utah State’s lack of athleticism.
The Aggies really have problems dealing with pressure defense, which the Wolf Pack can definitely bring.
Nevada coach Mark Fox needs a big game from center JaVale McGee on both ends. If McGee imposes himself on offense, the Aggies don’t have anyone that can guard him one-on-one.
On defense, McGee’s length in the post is going to allow the perimeter defense to play tighter because the Aggies will struggle to finish over McGee.
The biggest concern for the Wolf Pack has to be containing All-American candidate Jaycee Carroll.
Fox didn’t put much stock into Brandon Fields’ guarding Fresno State’s Eddie Miller as good preparation for Carroll, but there are similarities in how the two shoot the ball very well and run off a lot of screens.
Fields was very good hounding Miller in the first half, but let up a bit over the last 15 minutes or so. He’ll need to be at his best defensively to slow down Carroll.
This game is tough to call. The Wolf Pack is a better team and should give the slower Aggies all kinds of problems - but that should have been the case against Boise State and look what happened there.
The Aggies have the experience edge and are playing at home, so they have to have the advantage.
But the Wolf Pack is capable of winning if they can bring the pressure defense and create some easy baskets while forcing the Aggies to take tough shots.
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© 2008 The Nevada Sagebrush
