Nevada set to play San Jose State

SAN JOSE, Ca. - Nevada basketball coach Marl Fox will find out quickly Thursday what kind of affect the 10-day stretch without a game has had on his young team.

After getting its conference home opener postponed last weekend because of inclimate weather, the Wolf Pack (8-5, 0-0) opens its Western Athletic Conference schedule Thursday (7 p.m., KAME) against San Jose State (7-7, 0-2) at the Event Center.

"It's not ideal and I won't know the answer until we play," Fox said at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. "We've touched every part of the game (during our break). The kids are ready to play a game.

"They (San Jose State) are much improved over a year ago. George (Nessman) has done an admirable job of taking that program forward. They are a deeper team. They have a lot more pieces to the puzzle. We'll have to play our best to give ourselves a chance to win the game."

The last time a San Jose State team won seven games was the 2002-03 squad under Phil Johnson (7-21). This gives Nessman & Co. plenty of time to get into double-digits in terms of wins this season. The last time a Spartan team won 10 or more games was Steve Barnes' team in 2001-02.

"We're really young, but we're a lot more talented," Nessman said. "Defensively we're more athletic. Offensively we're better. We're clearly better across the board."

The Spartans have three starters in double figures - sensational freshman point guard Justin Graham (13.0), guard DaShawn Wright (10.3) and 6-7 forward Tim Pierce (10.9). The other starters - 6-9 C.J. Webster and 6-9 Chris Oakes are at 8.6 and 9.1, respectively.

"Oakes is an athletic front-line player," Fox said. "I think he certainly will help their team. He had a year (redshirt) where he had a chance to learn how they play. His length and athleticism are certainly a bonus for them.

"Graham is off to a great start in conference. He's been solid all year and their leading scorer."

San Jose will certainly present a more physical team than in years past.

Pierce is a slender wing player, but Webster is 6-9 and 260, and Oakes goes about 225. Off the bench the Spartans can turn to 6-9 260-pound Oliver Caballero for several minutes a contest.

This will be Nessman's first look at Nevada in the post-Nick Fazekas era, but he thinks the Pack can be just as good.

"They are running a similar system," Nessman said. "I still think they are one of the clear-cut top teams in our conference."

In the past three years, Nessman said Fazekas and Kemp were his top defensive priorities. Now, it appears to be Marcelus Kemp and JaVale McGee. Kemp scored 33 in last year's win in San Jose.

"He (Kemp) clearly is one of the best players in the conference," Nessman said. "He's a phenomenal scorer. He scores a lot of different ways.

"A lot of NBA scouts have talked to me about McGee. He made a big jump from last year to this year. If you look at their program, their players make big strides every year in the off-season. That shows a commitment."

McGee isn't the only player to make strides, though he clearly stands out ahead of the others. In his case, a lot of the improvement can be traced to playing time and knowing he is going to get 25 to 30 minutes a contest.

Brandon Fields has opened some eyes this season with his 3-point shooting ability, and Matt LaGrone has improved immensely at finishing plays and shooting free throws.

Notes: San Jose State has played with a lot of resolve this year. They came back from deficits of 17 and 18 points in wins over Portland State and South Dakota State. Nessman said early deficits plagued San Jose in its first two conference losses, and he's hopeful that the Spartans don't have that problem again ... Before the blowout loss to North Carolina, Nevada's first four losses were by an average of 6.25 points ... Nevada has won 21 of its last 30 games away from the friendly confines of Lawlor Event Center.