Match Up Well With Nevada

[abezontar]

Does anybody remember Tom Nabity....man I miss him.

[mulletmike]

You see, herein lies the problem. A Reno fan is laying down the smack on our forum. Why? B/c their completely mediocre squad beat our collective sorry [deleted] badly. He's got cause and a point. Congrats, we blow and have for many years. Nice win!

What's my point? Why the hell are we losing to these horrid programs from a nuclear hell hole w/no tradition and possibly less talent ?

We are 12-10 in a bad league and everyone thinks its OK. People thought the loss to Appalachian St. was acceptable b/c they started jucos etc. That loss and the showing vs. Wake were jokes. Quit the excuses.

Nacho is right , we should have seen this loss from a mile away if only b/c it happens all the freakin time under Dement. Certainly not b/c the Reno Packers remind anyone of John Woodens UCLA squads. This BS has everything to do w/us, our complacent/defeated mentality, and zero to do w/the competition.

Someone name me 5 BIG wins from Dements tenure? Games we absolutely had to have. Games we needed. Can't, can you. Its truly very sad. How many times in these same games have you seen bad game-planning, a horrid rotation and abyssmal clock management? A bunch.

Basically, some of you need to stop looking for subtle progress and recognize that the collegiate basketball world is passing us by. No reason we shouldn't be a force, especially w/the new admission standards.

Our incoming class is the worst on paper in 4 years. Dement, just like after the Sasser class, didn't parlay that talent into another big time class. We have a consensus Top 35 national recruit, who happens to be our place setter, and we can't get kids to surround him? In a game dominated by guards, who wouldn't want to play opposite of B-Hop for 3 years. He's explosive, drops dimes etc. Yet seemingly, no one does. Tubbs is gone and now so is recruiting the Metroplex.

Robert Brickey was brought on as an assistant. Yes, he was Dooks captain at one point. Have any of you seen the rest of his bench credentials, though? He has basically none. Using Dook as a benchmark for assistants, its not like they've had nearly the success after Brey and gaudet left. Guys like Amaker and Snyder are names and recruiters, but hardly teachers. Same can be said of Johnny Dawkins. Dement needs teachers and strategists on the staff to compensate for what he isn't. Instead, he hires relative inexperience on both the bench and trail.

[Charleston Pony]

Reno is a hell-hole? You need to get out of Dallas more often. My visits to the Lake Tahoe/Reno area left me very impressed. Dallas wishes it was as beautiful a place.

For those who expected to sweep this road trip: well, you haven't been paying very close attention. Although we crept into the conference's top 3 after a nice "local" road trip at Rice & Tulsa followed by reasonably successful home stand, what have you seen in our "long distance" road trips to make you feel we were capable of beating the WAC's top 2 teams at their place? Anyone who has aimed higher than a 10-8 WAC finish just hasn't been paying attention.

As for those who would fire Dement: he's got 2 yrs left on his contract so next year becomes the critical year. We will return 4 starters and 3 will be in their 3rd year in Dement's program. If no improvement is shown, even with the loss of Q, Copeland will have a decision to make. You never want to have your coach out there recruiting when he's in the final year of his contract.

I said it before and I'll say it again: that home win over Hawaii was big because it gives us a chance to remain over .500 in WAC play. I fully expected to go 0-2 on this road trip. After La Tech upset Fresno, I give us very little chance of surprising them tonight.

[50's PONY]

Sorry guys! I find it unbelievable that we we can get excited, after 8 years, that we may finish over 500. in WAC play. How discouraging!

[Big Daddy Scott]

I'm going to break my own policy of not posting on other fans' message boards here. The last time I did this was after we beat BYU in football and the Cougs' just couldn't handle it and resorted to name-calling.

I'd like to point out to those of you who believe Nevada's a "mediocre" team that we beat you by 18 in Reno and took you to overtime in Dallas. We shut down your vaunted backcourt of Ross and Hopkins and minimized your size advantage inside (you didn't outrebound us by much).

I'd also like to point out that we've won 9 of our last 10 games, rank ahead of SMU in the RPI, and are in firm control of 2nd place in the Western Athletic Conference. The only teams in the WAC we haven't beaten this year are Rice and Tulsa, and they have yet to visit Lawlor Events Center.

So if you're going to make comments, make sure that ignorance doesn't precede them.

With more intelligence than the average Nevada fan (or SMU fan, for that matter)...


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Daddy Scott
Eternal Wolf Pack Fan

[Charleston Pony]

Hey there, Big Daddy: before you get all full of yourself and your Wolfpack...remember this...your program IS mediocre and so are we. For that matter, so is the WAC. When your 1st pace team carries an RPI of 55, that tells you all you need to know about the WAC. Never mind the fact that we have two of the worst programs (San Jose - 289 and UTEP - 290) in the country helping to drag everyone's RPI down. Winning 9 of 10 in this league doesn't mean you've reached the upper echelon of college basketball. Nevada's RPI of 98 has you right in there alongside those basketball powerhouses Holy Cross, Austin Peay & Fairfield.

I will give you credit. Your football and basketball programs have improved since joining the WAC. There's no question about that, but the fact is that the WAC has only 4 teams with RPIs under 100 and we are looking at having only one team in the NCAA Tourney this year. That basically means you are the 2nd place team in what is the weakest overall WAC we've seen since SMU joined this conference.

Congrats on beating what has been a very poor road team, but earn a post season invite and win some post season games before you peel that "mediocre" label off your Wolfpack.

[Big Daddy Scott]

Charleston,

Not getting full of myself at all. I know where Nevada stands in terms of the big picture of D-I basketball. Nowhere in my post could you *possibly* extrapolate that I believe we've made the big time. We have a long way to go, but we've come along way.

I'd also like to point out, however, that some of your fans have been decrying Nevada's program as "mediocre". In terms of the NCAA, I'd say we're above-average, fairly good, pretty decent, nothing to shake a stick about. In terms of the WAC, however, we have a VERY GOOD basketball team. I realize that the WAC is down this year, but that doesn't at all diminish the accomplishments of a program that was on the ash heap of the Big West only four years ago.

So the "mediocre" label doesn't stick. Ironically, I would never call SMU "mediocre". I think you guys have a good basketball team, with a real NBA prospect in Quinton Ross and good size down low with Castro and Simpson. I'd say, in terms of the WAC, you have a good basketball team.

I was simply responding to the ignorance of some of your posters who labeled us "mediocre". We very well could win the conference tournament and perhaps sneak out a win in the NCAA tourney (not saying that WILL happen, but it very well could).

By the way, I'd like to point this out -- Nevada is 14-8, but that record does not at all indicate how truly good this team is. We lost a lot of 2- and 3-point games in the non-conference schedule, and, with a few inches either way, could be 16-6 or 17-5. That didn't happen, but now we're playing the caliber of basketball we are capable of playing. And a 16-6 record would place our RPI in the mid-60s.

Anyway, I don't want to ramble. But I also don't want to let ignorance go unchecked either. I wish you guys good luck the rest of the way, and hope you finish strong and place in the top 4 for the conference tournament.

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Daddy Scott
Eternal Wolf Pack Fan

[Pony_Fan]

There is no ignorance here Big Daddy.

Your RPI is 98 behind Hawaii (who is terrible this year). The WAC is MEDIOCRE and SMU and Nevada play in it. You haven't played one Top 25 team have you? Weber State is at RPI 54 which is one ahead of FSU.

I commend the Pack for playing better basketball as of late, but that's not saying much. You may even win the Wac and you may even win the WAC tourney, big deal...whoever wins the tourney will lose in the 1st round. The level of play in this league this year just isn't that good... period. Ok, in terms of the WAC this year, you are decent...so what. To not have a team in the TOP 25 as a conference is weak. Last year, I liked the TU and UH teams and they were decent teams.

[This message has been edited by Pony_Fan (edited 02-15-2003).]

[FloridaMustang]

i like playing with tonka trucks

[mulletmike]

Charleston, I've spent tons of time in Reno as I lived in Vegas for 5 years and made my way to Tahoe frequently. Reno is a nuclear hell-hole much like the entire state of Nevada. Take a drive through it and check out the munitions dumps and all the covert military testing areas.

Ask our friends from Reno about the children of Fallon. Its a nuclear hell-hole, believe me, as I lived pseudo close to the test site and know.

As for the Nevada fans on this thread, did you actually read the posts before spouting off how you aren't mediocre in a CRAPPY conference.

Simply, if you were the best damn thing to ever come from this conference, you'd be painfully mediocre. Thats just the WAC, baby.

My points are directed at the SMU faithful who need to belly up and demand change. Accountability from the top to reposition ourselves for re-alignment. Our hoops program brings nothing. At least in pigskin we've got a good recruiter, a killler facility and tons of tradition in a monster football state. Oh yeah, if we were good, we'd bring a heckuva media market with us.

All that said, basketball is far easier to build and it needs to start soon. Bottonline is that we lost to Nevada and they just aren't quality. That makes us pathetic. We've seen better days and I'm sick of this post-DP nonsense. The admissions have been changed and its time to change our attitudes.

I'm going Philly on Dement next time he screws up. As the Maryland fans say, "Beware of flying Aquafina!" I'm a Pony and damn sick of sucking. Its just not acceptable anymore.

Losing to Nevada by 18, what a joke. BTW, I live very near Austin Peay and they have a similar RPI as Nevada. They are also a far better team. The OVC is better than the WAC, IMO.

[battle.borne]

Gee Mulletmike, why don't you tell us how you really feel about the greater Reno/Sparks community. It's good to see rif-raf like yourself have decided to leave our vibrant and growing community. Now we can go about becoming one of America's fastest growing business relocation destinations. Low taxes, liberal social laws, personal gun rights...This place is forward thinking, everything Texas would hope to be.

How does it make you feel??? Graduating from SMU, a private school, and clawing for position in the lowly WAC behind state schools NEvada and Fresno. The University of Nevada is steeped in a solid tradition of Football, dating back to the 1920's without paying its players. No NCAA sanctions or death penalties around Reno. What does it say about a loyal group of fans, routing against and diminishing accomplishments of schools, who's history you have not the slightest clue...?

Nevada is not a bubble team, not a person in Reno honestly believes that myth. But NEvada fans do know, that if 3 games fall our way, Nevada is in the top 45 of the rpi, with hopes of an at-large berth. Recognize the truth and it shall set you free. Nevada still has plenty to prove and SMU still has 5 games remaining, you beat Fresno and this trip should be considered a success. Be realistic Mr. Mullet!


<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR><font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by mulletmike:
<B>Charleston, I've spent tons of time in Reno as I lived in Vegas for 5 years and made my way to Tahoe frequently. Reno is a nuclear hell-hole much like the entire state of Nevada. Take a drive through it and check out the munitions dumps and all the covert military testing areas.

Ask our friends from Reno about the children of Fallon. Its a nuclear hell-hole, believe me, as I lived pseudo close to the test site and know.

As for the Nevada fans on this thread, did you actually read the posts before spouting off how you aren't mediocre in a CRAPPY conference.

Simply, if you were the best damn thing to ever come from this conference, you'd be painfully mediocre. Thats just the WAC, baby.

My points are directed at the SMU faithful who need to belly up and demand change. Accountability from the top to reposition ourselves for re-alignment. Our hoops program brings nothing. At least in pigskin we've got a good recruiter, a killler facility and tons of tradition in a monster football state. Oh yeah, if we were good, we'd bring a heckuva media market with us.

All that said, basketball is far easier to build and it needs to start soon. Bottonline is that we lost to Nevada and they just aren't quality. That makes us pathetic. We've seen better days and I'm sick of this post-DP nonsense. The admissions have been changed and its time to change our attitudes.

I'm going Philly on Dement next time he screws up. As the Maryland fans say, "Beware of flying Aquafina!" I'm a Pony and damn sick of sucking. Its just not acceptable anymore.

Losing to Nevada by 18, what a joke. BTW, I live very near Austin Peay and they have a similar RPI as Nevada. They are also a far better team. The OVC is better than the WAC, IMO.

</B></font><HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[mulletmike]

Have fun w/your at-large birth, LOL! If you believe that, i got news for ya, the Raelians just cloned a 3rd kid.

Why would companies relocate to Reno? Because its accessible to Northern California , w/no state taxes and doesn't cost a cent to live in. Say what you will, but I lived in Vegas for 5 years( another Nevada hell hole) and UNR couldn't be any larger a second fiddle in that state, if you call it that. I call it Afghanistan or at least thats how it looks aesthetically.

Don't you worry about the ground-water? The whole state is for military testing. If it makes you feel better, I'm not big on Dallas or Texas either.

[battle.borne]

Mr Mullet, refering to Nevada as Afganistan is truly in poor taste. YOu obviously have no appreciation for the desert and its magnificence, that is clear. And yes, companies are relocating but unfortunatley, the cost of living is not as cheap as mya believe. The average single family dwelling, with about 2000sq ft runs for around 230,000 in Reno. I wish it was as cheap as you made it seem.

BTW, in your time in Reno did you ever visit our campus and compare it to UNLV, because honestly, there is no comparison!!!!!

[Waz]

While we are at it, lets wait for his daughter to go through SMU too.

[mulletmike]

I developed quite an appreciation for the desert, actually. That said, it still looks like Tora Bora terrain-wise. Its not classless b/c its true. My point wasn't about its beauty it was about the whole state being a military test zone. Its the most militaristic state i've ever encountered in an eerie way. I notice none of you touched my point about the children of Fallon. Don't think the two are related? Wake up.

As for the UNR campus, I've seen it on multiple occasions and it blows Vegas' away. That wasn't my point either.

I just said that UNLV is the flagship school in that state and UNR, no matter what you say or how you rebut, is considered second tier. Its all perception and thats the perception.