Early league schedule should test Tech...

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Bulldogs face Nevada, Fresno State at home this week.


The good news for the Louisiana Tech men's team is that it finally gets to play at home after playing nine of its first 11 games on the road. The bad news is that two of the WAC's best teams, Nevada and Fresno State, come into Thomas Assembly Center on Thursday and Saturday respectively.

"We survived it and we look at it as our season beginning right now," Tech coach Keith Richard said. "Personally, I'd rather play a lot of games at homes to build confidence, but that's not the way we do things here."

Nevada enters Thursday's 6:30 p.m. tip 2-0 in the league after dropping Hawaii 58-55 on Saturday in a game televised on ESPN2.

"There are two things that scare me about Nevada. They have the best inside package of players in the league and they are a tough team," Richard said. "Their perimeter players have changed but they aren't scared to make plays."

The Bulldogs won their WAC opener at Tulsa but lost 78-57 to Rice on Saturday.

"We played well the first five minutes of the game, but coach Willis (Wilson) brought in several players off the bench and they brought a new energy level that we didn't respond to," Richard said. "It was frustrating, especially the turnovers."


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RUSTON ? Louisiana Tech begins a tough two-game home stand today as the Bulldogs play host to Nevada in a 6:30 p.m. contest at the Thomas Assembly Center.

The game will be aired on ESPN's Full Court Package as well as Cox Sports Channel throughout the state of Louisiana.

Tech enters the game at 6-5 overall and 1-1 in the Western Athletic Conference, while Nevada sits atop the WAC at 9-3 and 2-0.

Things won't get any easier for the Bulldogs on Saturday as Tech plays host to Fresno State, which stands second in the WAC at 8-3 and 2-0.

Nevada is led by its frontcourt duo of fowards Nick Fazekas and Kevinn Pinkney. Fazekas (6-11, 225) leads the Wolf Pack with 19.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game while Pinkney (6-10, 245) is adding 13.3 points and 7.6 boards per contest.

"They're long, tall and athletic, and as good a 1-2 punch in the post as there is in the WAC," Tech coach Keith Richard said. "They're going to be tough."

The Wolf Pack has a pair of new starting guards in sophomore Kyle Shiloh (5.4 ppg) and freshman Ramon Sessions (7.8), and Richard said that duo has helped Nevada off to its strong start.

"Nevada has a new set of perimeter players this season who bring a different style of play than the Wolf Pack had last season," Richard said. "The key is that they've done a good job in complimenting Fazekas and Pinkney and have that team playing well as an entire unit."

Sophomore Paul Millsap leads the Bulldogs with 20.3 points and 12.0 rebounds per game while senior guards Donell Allick and Corey Dean round out Tech's double-digit scorers. Allick is hitting for 10.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per contest while Dean is chipping in with 10.4 points and 3.8 boards.

The 'Dogs will be looking to get back on a winning track after losing its last contest at Rice. Before that the Bulldogs had won three straight and five of their last six contests. The Bulldogs went 5-1 in December.

Nevada leads Louisiana Tech 4-3 in a series that began when the Bulldogs joined the Western Athletic Conference during the 2001-02 season.

Nevada has outscored Tech 551-516, so the Wolf Pack is averaging a 78.7-73.7 win over the Bulldogs.

 

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Neutralizing Millsap key to Pack?s success
Basketball: The La. Tech forward had 41 points and 41 rebounds in two games against Nevada last year.

RUSTON, La. -- As far as the Nevada basketball team is concerned, Paul Millsap is on the Mount Rushmore for rebounders.

The Louisiana Tech forward?s career numbers against the Wolf Pack are like granite as he and the Bulldogs prepare to play host to the Pack at Thomas Assembly Center in Ruston, La., at 4:30 p.m. today.

Millsap, a 6-foot-8, 235-pound sophomore, had 21 points and 21 rebounds and 20 points and 20 rebounds in Tech?s two losses to Nevada last season. This season, Pack coach Mark Fox and his players have focused on doing a better job of containing Millsap. To this point, when the Pack has focused on one area before a game, it has responded well, such as last Saturday when Fox had his players concentrate on rebounding and they responded by outrebounding Hawaii, 50-26.

?We tried everything (against Millsap last season), and all of them failed,? Fox said. ?We better figure something out. We had a good team (last season) and we couldn?t stop him.

?He killed us -- get (41) rebounds on one team. That?s unheard of. We can?t let Paul Millsap get 20 rebounds and win the game because he has a better team around him.?

This time around, the Pack, which has used some zone defense to augment its man-to-man, could throw different defenses at Millsap and Tech.

?We could run a box on him and one on everybody else,? Fox said half kiddingly.

Millsap, from nearby Grambling, La., is averaging 20 points and 12 rebounds, even better than his numbers of a season ago, when he averaged 15 points and a nation?s-best 12 rebounds per game.

Tech coach Keith Richard and Millsap have an idea of what Nevada could throw at them to slow down Millsap.

?I?ve seen people try to take two people and block him out,? Richard said. ?I?ve seen them zone to try to take him out of rebounding. I?ve seen them try to use big guys on him, using strength. He?s pretty much seen it all.

?I?ll give you a great example about Paul Millsap. I didn?t think he had the right intensity at Rice (in a 78-57 loss last Saturday). He had 14 and eight and I?m mad at him. Eight is good for anybody else and we get mad at him.?

This week, at least publicly, Millsap has been silent as the Bulldogs prepared for today?s game. Richard wouldn?t let Millsap do any media interviews leading up to the game.

?It?s not a big to-do,? Richard said. ?He didn?t play hard Saturday. I have to watch it with this kid. He?s done 1,000 interviews. I want him to be hungry.

?There?s a lot of pressure on that kid. His name has gotten big. He?s not the same sneak-up guy anymore.?

Familiarity with Millsap hasn?t helped Tech opponents much in cutting into his rebounding numbers. Richard and opposing coaches are often asked to explain why Millsap is the master rebounder.

?No. 1 is he?s quick to the ball,? Fox said. ?He?s a good jumper. When he touches the ball, it?s his. He?s not playing volleyball with it.?

Richard said he has been asked 1,000 times about what makes Millsap the rebounder he is and it?s easy to see the coach probably isn?t exaggerating.

?Paul does have a unique ability to offensive rebound,? Richard said. ?I don?t believe it?s something I?ve ever seen before. He has a knack for getting into the right spot to rebound. He has long arms. He?s a good jumper in traffic.

?I think it?s something that?s more of a talent, a gift he?s got that he?s been able to show in Division I. It gets tougher every game because everybody else knows it and tries to keep him off the glass. He gets a lot of other rebounds ... tipped balls, he seems to get free-throw rebounds, he gets loose-ball rebounds.?

It?s more than a curiosity that Millsap had two of his better rebounding games against a Nevada team that went to the Sweet 16 last season. Richard said he?s not sure why Millsap had two of his better performances against the Pack, but makes a good guess.

?The team we had last year drove a lot,? Richard said. ?Maybe they (the Pack) had to help out on drives and he got rebounds.

?I remember last year (then Pack coach) Trent (Johnson) wasn?t a gimmick guy. They were straight up solid man-to-man. They would beat you with solid defense, not give up many layups. They played one on one a lot. On the other hand, that solid defense stopped the other guys, and that?s why we lost.?

Millsap was heavily recruited out of Grambling High and was one of the most recruited players in Louisiana. The Bulldogs still didn?t know the kind of Division I rebounder they were getting until they completed the first week of practice last season.

The clue was that hardly anyone else was getting a rebound because it seemed as if Millsap was getting all of them.

This week, Millsap has been as quiet as Mount Rushmore.

Nevada is just hoping his rebounding doesn?t speak volumes today.

 

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The Pack?s 58-55 victory over Hawaii on Saturday was a prototype of what the new Pack is like. It didn?t shoot well and committed 23 turnovers but still won behind Fazekas, Pinkney and freshman point guard Ramon Sessions. Fazekas had 23 points and 17 rebounds and Pinkney 10 points and 11 rebounds, but it was Sessions who had 14 points, scoring the game?s last six points from the free throws in the final 1:26.

Richard said he?s concerned about Nevada and Tech?s Millsap could cause some sleepless nights for Pack coach Mark Fox before Thursday.

?Last year, we had a really nice team and Paul Millsap gave us 20 points and 20 rebounds on two occasions,? Fox said. ?So I think he?s a great player and obviously somebody we have to figure out some way to play. We didn?t do a very good job dealing with him a year ago.

?It?s going to be the first time our young perimeter players have played WAC teams on the road. They?re going to find out how difficult it is. We?re going to go on the road and play two very good basketball teams (Tech and SMU Saturday). I think it?s going to be a challenge for us.?