UNLV Game Thread

[Chicagojayfan]

Mason wins my standout player of the game. Even with Bello playing much better this year, we can't have him as the best backcourt player in games like he was last night. It all starts with Trey and Ash running the show and the curtain seems closed for those 2.
I didn't think Kalk played nearly as bad as some think. He goes 9 for 13 with 22 points, 8 reb. and 5 blocks. Backcourt play was a big reason why we lost the game.

There it is. I was waiting for it.

He got worked.

Not to speak for DrBluejay, but his point seemed to be that Kalkbrenner also worked their D over as well. Even great defensive players have matchup problems and those quick post players give Kalkbrenner trouble (as with Walker last year). But, Kalkbrenner also worked their D over, and it's a problem we didn't get him the ball more

[bluejayfan00]

Kalk got most of his points off of wide open lay ins/dunks. Not taking them away. Points are points.

But for arguments sake, we all watched the same game. He got worked 1v1 in the post. He's supposed to be the most consistent part of our entire operation. His defense. He wasn't good there. If he's not good there, we aren't going to win a lot of games.

Let's not act like he was Hakeem in the post offensively against their bigs, and we just kept giving it to him on the block and letting him go to work.

[JayPak]

Lots of downsides - Bench mostly played poorly,

Other than Fran, I dont think the bench had much of a chance last night and if the starting PG wasnt so ineffective, Fran might not have got a chance either. Trey played the whole game, Baylor played the whole game. Kalk played 35 minutes. Its not like those guys were playing great and they had to be on the floor. Quite the contrary actually. Seemed like we were hemorrhaging points all over but we stayed with the guys that were responsible for it. Trust me, the guys on the bench can miss shots and lack energy just as good as the starters.
King played 4 minutes. What are you going to do in 4 minutes? Traudt 9 minutes and he has been playing well, along with Mason. 0 minutes for the freshman PG and that is a position that is a glaring weakness right now. At this point Dotzler should have redshirted because all the big east games will be tight and Mac just doesnt use the bench in tight games. We had a rotation going that has been working and not sure why we went away from it. If you play a bench guy, maybe he provides a spark, maybe he doesnt. Maybe he gives a breather to a starter and the starter has fresher legs for a late come back.

+1 except for calling Bello “Fran”
Dotzler needs a chance. Don’t waste him. King either.

[RollingfatJayz]

I was dragged over the summer for suggesting that Ashworth was overrated and would be a huge downgrade & a liability on D, Kaluma was a big loss, and Traudt would be a non factor bc he is slow and only shoots 3s.

As others have already stated, the biggest issue is no athleticism & thus no ability at getting to the rim. Too reliant on the 3. Need to mix it up and generate drives (since nobody can do it individually) by running more high pick and rolls.

I like what I am seeing from Miller, I think he has more to his game and wish he would be more aggressive (or wish coaches would allow him to be). Also agree with others that we need to start giving Dotzler/Green/lawson some more opportunities. Surprised by their lack of involvement so far.

Lastly, Farabello is the only bench player to have played 10+ min in both losses (King only played 4 last night?!). We aren't making it past the R of 32 if this is our minutes allocation when the going gets tough. Not with the glaring weaknesses as they currently stand with the starting 5.

[HinkyDinky]

Lots of downsides - Bench mostly played poorly,

Other than Fran, I dont think the bench had much of a chance last night and if the starting PG wasnt so ineffective, Fran might not have got a chance either. Trey played the whole game, Baylor played the whole game. Kalk played 35 minutes. Its not like those guys were playing great and they had to be on the floor. Quite the contrary actually. Seemed like we were hemorrhaging points all over but we stayed with the guys that were responsible for it. Trust me, the guys on the bench can miss shots and lack energy just as good as the starters.
King played 4 minutes. What are you going to do in 4 minutes? Traudt 9 minutes and he has been playing well, along with Mason. 0 minutes for the freshman PG and that is a position that is a glaring weakness right now. At this point Dotzler should have redshirted because all the big east games will be tight and Mac just doesnt use the bench in tight games. We had a rotation going that has been working and not sure why we went away from it. If you play a bench guy, maybe he provides a spark, maybe he doesnt. Maybe he gives a breather to a starter and the starter has fresher legs for a late come back.

+1 except for calling Bello “Fran”
Dotzler needs a chance. Don’t waste him. King either.

What has Dotzler done to deserve a chance? 2 assist and 5 turnovers in 50 minutes isn't screaming difference maker at the PG spot. Nothing against him and I hope he turns out to be a key contributor but he hasn't shown anything to deem him a game changer yet.

[omajay]

From what I have seen, Dotzler isn't ready. People seem to be judging him by how he has looked in mop-up duties during buy games. He may well be fine in time. But, unless we are playing for the future, I don't think he is ready to be a starter or play meaningful minutes. I'd rather give more minutes to Bello. He has been solid.

[section221jay]

Here we are again with no bench. Certainly not at the guard spots anyway.

[cujaysfan]

From what I have seen, Dotzler isn't ready. People seem to be judging him by how he has looked in mop-up duties during buy games. He may well be fine in time. But, unless we are playing for the future, I don't think he is ready to be a starter or play meaningful minutes. I'd rather give more minutes to Bello. He has been solid.

Because we should have been working him in with starters during non con, but Mac once again chose not to.

This is very similar to Mintz having zero PT until handed the keys after Mo's injury.

Dotzler's athleticism and ability to get into the paint and rim are something we need. But he does have issues we need to minimize, fix or at least improve. Hard to do that stapled to bench.

[ictjay]

From what I have seen, Dotzler isn't ready. People seem to be judging him by how he has looked in mop-up duties during buy games. He may well be fine in time. But, unless we are playing for the future, I don't think he is ready to be a starter or play meaningful minutes. I'd rather give more minutes to Bello. He has been solid.

No, Ive seen him in practice, Matt D also made several remarks that he had a good chance to be in the rotation earlier in the fall. Playing mop up minutes show little.

[Chicagojayfan]

Kalk got most of his points off of wide open lay ins/dunks. Not taking them away. Points are points.

But for arguments sake, we all watched the same game. He got worked 1v1 in the post. He's supposed to be the most consistent part of our entire operation. His defense. He wasn't good there. If he's not good there, we aren't going to win a lot of games.

Let's not act like he was Hakeem in the post offensively against their bigs, and we just kept giving it to him on the block and letting him go to work.

What's your point?

Points ARE Points, and if it was so easy for guys to score the way Kalkbrenner does maybe everyone would do it, but few players have the size, hands and balance to do that. Just because he doesn't act like an 80's post up center doesn't make him less effective in his own way, and the fact that we didn't get him the ball more was a big problem last night

And as I've pointed out for a long time (since Walker last year), he struggles with post players who have that kind of quickness. That's no new thing, but in order to counteract that we need to force that quick guy to play D on him as well