Hicks
- Thread starter TimothyC3
- Start date
I'm loving the hustle from 22 on the play!!! Hope KJ takes full advantage of his opportunities with offensive boards and putt-backs.
Several players on this team are being overlooked. All of the oxygen in the room is being consumed by the Boones, Thomas and a little bit Hill. Hicks Whaley, Nowell could surprise. Even Cottrell and Jones could add a bunch of options if they are ready to play.
I agree. If everyone hits the top of their game and there are zero bumps in the road, UNLV should have a good year.
I’m trying to think when that actually happens, though, for anybody.
I believe we will have more opportunities for surprise than dissappointment. Then again I’ve thought that for the better part of 40 years and most of those years have contained more than enough disappointment.
Yeah, I understand the anticipation, we have it every season and we should. And freshman typically look amped up, especially early … it’s new and very exciting. And everyone gets along tremendously well in the pre-season, it’s family, like brothers, etc, etc, etc.
And then minutes are given out. And then then an unexpected loss. Then finger pointing at some point. Then girl problems, family problems, partying too much. Unexpected injuries, who should get his minutes?
Tight programs handle all these types of things better than most and they have success. And that’s why they have success.
When we took a glancing jab to the chin, we folded like a house of cards last season. And other seasons.
So while I do think this year will be better, I’ll always have those sorts of things in my mind, as well … because history has shown... A university produced hype clip isn’t going to sway me one way or the other.
We don’t know a lot until we see them laced up for real. Almost every single tidbit of news and fan opinion will be falsely elevated until that point.
We will crush Life Insurance University this season! You can quote me on that!
And now if UNLV picks up Hicks, and he turns out to be a good pick there is always a chance now that a more prominent team tempts him to transfer out, or if he is good and improves throughout the season he still might not be satisfied with his minutes and transfer out. It will be hard and rare to keep any player 4 years now with all the transferring.
Don't mind having a game against a life pacific specially if it is early. It does not even count playing a team like that in the rankings. The key is if we have at least 4 quality Out of conferance opponents. It's kind of nice to see players get some playing time that usually don't play.
Need a better balance with local and road games. It seems many teams are trying to get more neutral site games. That is a change to be dealt with also, yet we still need 2, 3 or even 4 true road games against a hostile crowd. There are many facets to SOS and developing a solid tournament ready team.
We are still dealing with the recruiting and coaching part of the formula!
Now recruiting has picked up but next on the list is coaching. We need Kevin to grow in a big way this year, it’s called making adjustments and playing 10 guys instead of just 7. We should wear people out but it’s us that’s worn out by season’s end.
The schedule is they easiest to address but first we need KK to show and prove when the lights are on!
In many ways I think that's the point of the new system. Gone is the guise of amateurism. These athletes are trying to reach the highest levels (NBA, NFL... financial windfalls from NIL deals, etc). ESPN and others have made this an arms race... And unless we win big soon in major sports we'll continue to lose transfers to stronger programs and recruit with one arm tied behind our backs.
He played at a lower level and not against good competition. Hopefully he isn't a taller Dantley.
Washington is not Nevada and 3a ball in Washington can not be equated to Walker playing hs ball in rural Nevada at a high school with 50 students. In Washington they group for statewide rankings for 3a and 4a schools together. Garfield is 3a and considered one of the top programs in the state. Brandon Roy went to Garfield. Also, the Nowell brothers went to Garfield and other Pro’s and high d-1 players. Similarly, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 NBA draft Paolo Banchero played high school ball at O’Dea which is 3a. In 2017 Michael Porter Jr played for Nathan Hale which is 3a in Washington and they were ranked No. 1 in the Country by USA Today. 3a ball in Washington is not low level:
https://usatodayhss.com/2017/nathan...in-super-25-computer-boys-basketball-rankings
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Ranking of hs basketball teams in Washington from earlier in the year. No. 1, 3a Garfield, No. 2, 4a Federal Way, No. 3, 3a O’Dea……
One more point. Hick’s played for a 3a high school in Washington and there is nothing low level about 3a ball in Washington. But IMO a more important indicator of a prospect than where he plays HS ball today is who and where they played AAU ball. Hicks play for Seattle Rotary in the EYBL. Like all freshmen Hicks has areas he needs to improve and he needs to hit the weight room and get stronger. But IMO he has the potential to be a really good high D-1 player based on his length and athleticism. Hicks is fast, very quick and bouncy. The short twitter video showed his speed on the break with the ball. As noted in a scouting report from his EYBL play:
Hicks’s quick-twitch athleticism gives him a lot of advantages on the floor. It helps on the offensive boards, it helps when guarding on or off the ball, and helps when filling the lanes in transition. His explosion is unique in that it is both quick, laterally, and bursty, vertically.
This burst and explosion also allows the 6-foot-3 guard to play bigger.”
On3 has a scouting report on Hick’s game for anyone interested: https://www.on3.com/news/brooklyn-hicks-full-scouting-report-unlv-nevada-rice-washington-state/
The explosion
“We eluded to it before, but Brooklyn Hicks’ calling card is his explosion. It is the takeaway you have, walking away from this game and what you notice from the very start of warm-ups.Hicks’s quick-twitch athleticism gives him a lot of advantages on the floor. It helps on the offensive boards, it helps when guarding on or off the ball, and helps when filling the lanes in transition. His explosion is unique in that it is both quick, laterally, and bursty, vertically.
This burst and explosion also allows the 6-foot-3 guard to play bigger.”
On3 has a scouting report on Hick’s game for anyone interested: https://www.on3.com/news/brooklyn-hicks-full-scouting-report-unlv-nevada-rice-washington-state/
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