No. 2: Nevada

Tuesday, March 9, 2010 - 7:36 PM

Scouting the Wolf Pack

By Emerson Marcus

Senior guard Brandon Fields was third on the team in scoring this season with 14.6 points per game. He started all 30 games for the Wolf Pack this season after not starting at all last season. Photo by Marcus Sacchetti / Nevada Sagebrush.

RENO, Nev. — Strengths: Nevada’s strength starts with its offensive firepower, which stems from its starting five’s athleticism.

Forward Luke Babbitt, sophomore; guard Armon Johnson, junior and Brandon Fields, senior, have all exceeded the 29-point mark in a game this season. Such firepower has equaled 79.3 points per game, best in the Western Athletic Conference.

Much of the credit goes to first-year head coach David Carter, who’s established a more up-tempo style for Nevada this season. The Wolf Pack’s shots per game have gone up this year, from 56.8 to 60.4. The shooting percentage has also increased. Nevada made 48 percent of its shots in 2010, compared to 42.8 percent in 2009.

This has caused trouble for opposing teams who find themselves in shootouts with Nevada.

New Mexico State, one of the hottest offensive teams in the WAC this year, couldn’t keep up with the Wolf Pack’s offense in Las Cruces (77-67) or in Reno (100-92).

The Wolf Pack is also excellent at protecting its house. Nevada is 14-1 at Lawlor Events Center, a factor that could play a profound role for the host team of the tournament.
Weaknesses: Nevada’s biggest weakness is its lack of depth.

Sixth-man Ray Kraemer, senior, comes off the bench for about 20 minutes per game, but he’s the only reserve with more than 10.

At the point position, guard London Giles, sophomore, only averages five mpg, leaving Johnson with the bulk of the ball carrying duties.

After the departure of former head coach Mark Fox last season, Nevada lost highly anticipated recruits along with forward Malik Cooke who transferred to South Carolina. These departures left Nevada with a hole in depth and defense. Cooke was a strong presence at the three spot, and Nevada was forced to rely heavily on the softer, more offensive combination of forward Joey Shaw, senior, and Kraemer to fill the void. In consequence of the depth problems, players like Babbitt were forced to play 38.4 mpg in WAC play and the defense struggled. Forward Dario Hunt, sophomore, has added defensive help in the front court, but foul trouble, inexperience and an extreme lack of offensive production continue to hinder his game.

The Wolf Pack allowed 74.8 ppg this season, good for seventh best in the conference. Nevada also struggles to out-rebound teams in WAC play, winning the rebounding battle only six of 16 WAC games in 2010.

Team Style: Shaw, who transferred from Indiana to the College of Southern Idaho before finally landing in Nevada last year, said last week in a press conference that he’s never been a part of a program that’s focused more on conditioning than Nevada.

Wolf Pack players are expected to run a lot during games.

The up-and-down tempo on offense combined with the team’s reliance on man-to-man defense and a lack of depth for appropriate substitutions leaves Nevada with what should be an exhausted team at the end of ball games.

While that should exhaust the Wolf Pack players, it rarely does.

Nevada has struggled late in games this season (its only home loss 79-72 to Utah State Jan. 13 is a good example), but overall it’s maintained its level of success.

Emerson Marcus is the print manager at The Nevada Sagebrush, the school newspaper at the University of Nevada, Reno. He can be reached at sports@nevadasagebrush.com.

Hometown duo guides Pack’s journey

by Emerson Marcus

Nevada forward Luke Babbitt, middle, was named the Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year on Sunday. He averaged 23.7 points per game in conference play this season. File Photo / Nevada Sagebrush.

RENO, Nev — Nevada coaches didn’t travel hundreds of miles to recruit the two biggest reasons the Wolf Pack has a chance to win the Western Athletic Conference Tournament in 2010.
They searched no further than their backyard to grab those diamonds in the rough.

Luke Babbitt and Armon Johnson are those hometown gems making good, and they’ve been doing it since high school.

Johnson, of Hug High School, became Nevada’s all-time high school leading scorer (2,616 points) in 2007. He held that record for one year until Babbitt, of Galena High School, broke it with 2,941 points scored in 2008.

But gone are the days of head-to-head competition in high school.

The tandem now dominates WAC competition with a unique combination of versatility.

Johnson is Nevada’s combo guard, leading the conference in assists per game (5.6) and turning into the go-to closer at the end of games with his deadly penetration dribble drive.
Babbitt also exuded versatility in his rebounding prowess (9.3 rpg) and freakish offensive abilities with a lethal mid-range shot and a knack for stepping back and nailing a deep three.
The combination made up 47 percent of Nevada’s offensive scoring production in 2009-10, shooting a ridiculous 50.4 percent from the floor.

Such impressive numbers led to esteemed recognition.

Babbitt (21.7 ppg) was named 2009-10 WAC Player of the Year, Johnson (16 ppg) took 2007-08 WAC Freshman of the Year and both were members of the conference’s all-first and second teams this season.

But such recognition has some predicting the tandem’s stay at Nevada will end prematurely.

Rumors and media inquiries have many in Reno predicting the duo is heading to the NBA after the WAC Tournament.

The two claim they don’t think about their NBA prospects, even though professional scouts have recently flocked to Wolf Pack games in droves. Nevada has had as many as six scouts at a home game. Former Chicago Bulls player and now Phoenix Suns general manager Steve Kerr even attended a Nevada-San Jose State game last month.

While the two stars remain the bridge connecting the once-proud program’s past to its unknown future, it’s still to be determined whether that bridge collapses in 2010 if they depart.
Such doomsday scenarios aren’t far from the minds of many Nevada fans.

Nevada’s short-term success is reliant on the play of the dynamic tandem, while its future is dependent on their highly anticipated postseason decision.

Emerson Marcus is the print manager at The Nevada Sagebrush, the school newspaper at the University of Nevada, Reno. He can be reached at sports@nevadasagebrush.com.