Fox faces hardest season
Nevada men’s basketball coach Mark Fox hasn’t had a full head of hair since he took over as coach of the Wolf Pack in 2004, but don’t be surprised if he’s looking even thinner up top by the time this season is over.
While Fox has been named top coach in the Western Athletic Conference three straight seasons for leading the Wolf Pack to conference championships and NCAA Tournament appearances, this season might stand as his best, and most challenging, effort.
From a pure talent standpoint, this team is as gifted as any Nevada has ever had. But flooring two sophomores and a freshman in the starting lineup has left the Wolf Pack prone to the downfalls of youth.
The result of the mixture has been a beautifully ugly muddle of brilliant moments intertwined with just as much struggle and disappointment.
“It’s a lot different (than previous seasons),” Fox said. “There’s so much to learn.”
Last season Fox had five freshmen to teach, but he also had three seniors and two juniors in the starting lineup to carry most of the burden.
This season JaVale McGee and Brandon Fields have had to find spots in the starting lineup while freshman point guard Armon Johnson has adjusted to playing college basketball.
Sophomores Matt LaGrone and Ray Kraemer and freshman Malik Cooke have had to play some key minutes off the bench.
Heading into last weekend’s road trip, there had been impressive road wins against Northern Iowa and Hawaii, but there was also the three-game losing streak toward the beginning of the season and, of course, the road loss to San Jose State, and the home blowout against Boise State.
The Wolf Pack played pretty much even with then-No. 1 North Carolina for more than 16 minutes, but then got outscored by 33 over the final 24 minutes in perhaps the best example of the Wolf Pack’s schizophrenia.
“I have to be patient,” Fox said. “These guys have had to learn a lot on the job. We anticipated some bumps in the road and some losses. We anticipated them, but we’re still driving to play better.”
Through all the struggles, Fox has managed to find a balance between focusing on constant improvement and driving his team too hard after losses.
Following the Boise State loss, the Wolf Pack appears to have finally found its rhythm.
The Wolf Pack dominated New Mexico State in Las Cruces on Thursday, where conference leader Utah State lost by 30 two days later, and then managed Louisiana Tech on a rough trip to Ruston that may have proved tough on the team earlier in the season.
Despite struggling with youth like no other team in the WAC, the Wolf Pack is right in the middle of the race for the WAC championship with a game against Utah State coming up this weekend.
If Fox can continue to fight through the struggles and help his team steadily improve, there’s a good chance he’ll be hanging another banner from the Lawlor rafters in a few months.
He just might not have as much hair as he does now.
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on Tuesday, January 29th, 2008 at 2:03 am and is filed under Men's Basketball, Sports.
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