Wow! For a small guy he can rebound. I like his aggressiveness
Are we good
- Thread starter rebel5280
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We would be better with a C! Boone us a 4 who may be forced to play 5 because we don’t have anyone else, I hope I’m wrong but it seems like settling to me! Recruiting after the Boone’s and Hill was supposed to lead to a landslide of better PG’s and finally getting a C but now we are fighting for a PG who may be good at something’s but can’t shoot Ft’s or 3pt’s and that spells liability to me. It’s 4 on 5 on offense cause you can sag off him. We will see but I hope Kevin gets a better option at PG and brings in a C so Boone and Cottrell can both play the 4, where they belong!
I don't think there are many point Guards aviable better than Smith. I agree we need to sign him up asap!
I agree, I don't think there are aviable PG's as good as Smith. Sign him up asap!
lobbybuu single handily brought this board back to life lol.
Just hire the dad and put him on the staff.
His dad was Tark’s last PG of the underrated 92 Squad.
Do it Kev.
His dad was Tark’s last PG of the underrated 92 Squad.
Do it Kev.
Certainly that would be ideal but at this point I would get Smith. Not worried about height or 3% since we have other options as long as he can dish and penetrate which he can. I do wonder how he is defensively, hopefully he is at least capable there. The FT% is a legit concern since everyone knows who is getting fouled in tight games which makes him a liability, I would just hope that with practice they can get him at least to something that starts with a 6. My 15 year old son and his freshman teammates mostly shoot in the 60's some even in the 70s. I don't get a how a college player can't do what a 15 year old can.
We if you believe lobbybuu, and I have no reason to doubt him at this point. Moving Kalib to the 5, a position he has played before in the Big 12 no less, was a move to help keep everyone happy.
Truth is we have 11 players on the roster that all probably naturally slot into the 2-4 positions. all of them have a legit claim for minutes, and nearly all of them are upper classmen. Kalib at the 5 definitely opens up several more minutes for everyone.
So some people need to play outside of the 2-4, or we are going to lose a quality players.
Who do you want to lose? Our best shooter in Webster? Our best defender in LuRod? Some promising guards that actually have eligibility after next year in Nowell and JJ? Our only freshman in Hicks?
We need another big for depth, no question. Vice is perfect for that IMO.
Life on this board is rarely an issue in the offseason.
Unfortunately it doesn't track to actual season performance and butts in seats.
It’s quite remarkable. Every year in the off-season, we have complete beasts joining us, we may win the conference, but if not, we will be top 3 or 4 and make the tournament.
And the season begins. And we fail to meet any proclamations. Of course, people will say that’s what being a fan is. I think you can be every bit a fan as a realist as opposed toblind optimist fan. In fact, the former, at least to me, has some credibility. The latter is just lalaland rainbow fluffy kumbaya dreamers with little credibility. Then again, you already know @Rebel_Luv and his “Menzies is a genius to lead us back to the promised land, look at this McCoy dunk! He’s the best in the nation!”
Couldn’t have said it better. Every offseason I watch the endless parade of highlight reels posted in both basketball and football and read the endless posts on how UNLV is going to dominate the MWC. Don’t get me wrong, it’s entertaining to read and I enjoy the excitement as much as the next guy, but I don’t set myself up for disappointment by falling for the off-season hype. I’d rather wait and see what the results are on the field rather than practice or highlight reels and like I’ve said before, if UNLV falls flat on their faces, sure I’m disappointed, but it’s not the end of the world because I have a great life, a great family and I’m no worse off by the end of season results. Being a fan of UNLV is not an easy thing to be, but you can make it less traumatizing by simply changing your thought process. Win or lose, I still remain a fan, temper my expectations and remind myself that it’s not the end of the world and affects my personal life little by the results of a sporting event.
LuRod is here to stay. Seems very locked in right now and already has a great relationship with the trifecta. Webster has also met them and is building a relationship. Him and Keylan get along very well. The most likely to transfer is Nowell.
Cottrell gets all the credit but LuRod was also there on the visits and got some shots up with them.
How is Nowell feeling?
I was excited for him going into the season because I had followed him a bit prior to college. Always loved his game. But then I was disappointed and worried about his mental strength early on in the season. He totally won me over again because he seemed to keep working hard and earned his minutes. He became my favorite guy on the squad despite not being perfect. I’m crossing my fingers he keeps the same trajectory. I don’t know that he will be anything close to what Hamilton was but I feel like there is a parallel. I think that once he figures it out he can be very good. Similar to how Hamilton figured it out halfway through his sophomore season.
I can't speak too much on the specifics.
The difference between Bryce and Shane is that Bryce is an assassin. In todays game, you need to have a specialty. Bucket getter like Harkless and Bryce. Sniper like Webster. Clamp God like LuRod. Nowell is a good three point shooter but the reason why he isn't a specialist is because he's not aggressive enough in hunting or taking shots.
However, he has improved a lot. The thing about him is he works in silence. He's very quiet. Body language was terrible at the beginning of the season though and that's all you "heard" from him.
My personal opinion is he should stay and develop. 2024 season would be his! He would still get a ton of minutes this season. Seems like LuRod is content with his role and I say this because He seemed okay coming off the bench at the end of the season and hasn't voiced any displeasure this offseason. Now if one of them runs away with the job and it's looking like one will play a lot over the other or if one won't get much PT at the three, then things might change.
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This site has existed in some iteration for nearly 25 years.
The end result has hit near expectations once or twice in those 25 years. That’s not saying every one of those seasons has been a failure – even within poor seasons, there have been some worthwhile times – take ’98 for example. As a whole, the season was poor with a first round loss to Princeton. The season was incredibly mediocre and quite underachieving …. Except for those 4 games in 5 days in early March.
But as the internet grew, as video grew, as instant information grew … so much misplaced excitement has been attached to videos of guys scoring 65 points against Ely High School or an impressive dunk over 6 footers or he played for a power school (averaging 8 minutes per game) or he has great height or length (but is uncoordinated as hell), has Curry range (but can’t get his shot off) … great bloodlines, etc. Far more times than not, the knocks on the players are far stronger than his limited assets.
With recruiting, nothing is perfect. Regular watching of whole games vs equal or better competition multiple times is the best way to assess. But people don’t have that time or access. The next best thing is to consider who else has offered (not fake offers). Look at the list. Look at the group that is similar, not the outliers. If the grouping is North Carolina, UNLV, Wyoming, Washington State, Stetson, McNeese State and Montana – the kid is decent at best. Even if the video shows him dropping a 35 footer.
I get it, nobody wants to head into the season thinking you might struggle. It’s not fun. But I don’t think it’s fun expecting a lot and seeing nothing. And then making round the clock excuses why the team failed or actually having the sack to call an obvious failure as a decent season or good season by some lame metric (including win total when you have a weak schedule). Some people don’t like ugly truths. Some people can handle them. We don’t control them so I don’t know why it’s a big deal to admit them. It also comes down to ego – you see it EVERYWHERE with just about every topic. People cannot admit to being wrong. I don’t know what’s wrong about being wrong. It happens. But people would rather disappear from the world or just lie or double down or camouflage or use whatever defense mechanism they like best. Anything but being wrong … it’s quite lame.
Until we round out the roster, until we see our schedule … I don’t think we can get any type of feel for the upcoming season. But be assured, it’ll start the way it always starts – we have great players, we have great coaching, we are better than everyone else in conference if only a) b) c) and d) happen. And it will get better if we can only do a) b) c) and d) outside of the program (conference changes, imaginary trillionaire donors, etc.).
Few fanbases are worse when it comes to UNLV’s reality and the the expectations from fans. We surpassed UNM in that department long ago.
But football is far different than hoops. Football needs a few seasons to see good returns. Basketball can be done in one year with the new rules.
I bring up Webster and LuRod because they can potentially leave as grad transfers without penalty. Hicks too if he hasn't started classes? ( not sure on that one)
JJ and Nowell may at least need some sort of waiver to stay in D1, and those are not so easy to get these days since everyone gets a free transfer.
Good to hear LuRod is good to go. I think he is a good spot up shooter, attacks well in transition and a solid defender. Also I think he will be an even better defender not guarding 4's. I can see him earning a starting spot even.
He seems like he just doesn’t have a ton of confidence. If he could somehow find some and seek out the shots like you say, I think he could turn into a nice scorer. Strong body and pretty athletic even though he didn’t showcase that much.
Nowell has the most potential out of anybody on the roster imo. kalib Boone is the best player in my eyes but Nowell can become an absolute dominant player. Super long, great passing and vision and can shoot the 3 a little bit. Also has a brother in the NBA so the talent is there.
Tbh I'm okay with losing Hicks. He won't get much run this season and with the portal, if he does well, he's gone anyway. The landscape has changed very quickly so we need to adjust.
The confidence thing is interesting to me. In hs, he was very confident. Idk what went on his head when he got to college but maybe he was surprised that college ball was this tough or maybe he underestimated it. Regardless, Shane good player and person and I can really see him turning a corner.
A new offer to a portal C has gone out. Zoom meeting being set up as we speak Not sure about a visit but will give more details as I get them.
If Howard wasn't willing to pay out the NIL that Dickenson wanted to keep him at Michigan, i wonder if Kevin would pay more than he makes to bring Dickenson in?Swooping in at last minute for Hunter Dickenson.. I like the move, lol
What's up with the PG situation? Visit this weekend? Just waiting on a decision?
I've never seen him play, but his size and numbers appear to be legit. It would be weird to going from having almost no size and depth this year, to have a wealth of skilled big men.
Can't speak too much on it because there might be a pivot. another PG offer went out right now.
Not Warren but he's been contacted.
Any word on a timeframe for a decision? They looking to wrap it up this weekend, or will this stretch out for a while?
Of course the staff wants it immediately but the portal is crazy. It doesn't help that there's a new entry everyday and it flips every staffs plan. I hate to not be able to just name everyone lol I apologize. I wish I could!
With that being said, if we don't pivot, probably next weekend tbh. He's still being contacted by a new school everyday. If we do pivot and go with this new target, hypothetically, it should take longer but I think it could get done faster.
What about Trey Woodberry and Aziz from Utah Valley as our PG/C package and call this good!
Can we add Grill for 6th year as well?
As if I needed another reason to dislike him.. He committed to Mizzou... yeah, their fans will definitely love his inconsistency...
Fyi: 7 foot 5 center from W Kentucky, Sharpe, committed to Beard at Ole Miss. I never believed some chatter that we had a chance at him.
Tbh we really did which is crazy to believe.
Sharp's recruitment isn't over yet even though he committed. Bigger bags are coming his way.
