Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

UNLV BASKETBALL:

Notebook: Chace Stanback ready to bounce back from injury

Sophomore UCLA transfer missed FirstLook with ankle sprain, expected back soon

UNLV Basketball

UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger instructs his player during practice Monday afternoon at Impact Academy near McCarran International Airport. The Thomas & Mack Center and other on-campus options were busy, forcing the venue change. Launch slideshow »
Chace Stanback (left) and Anthony Marshall sit at Monday's UNLV practice at Impact Academy. A sprained left ankle has sidelined Stanback, and a right hamstring injury has kept Marshall from playing.

Chace Stanback (left) and Anthony Marshall sit at Monday's UNLV practice at Impact Academy. A sprained left ankle has sidelined Stanback, and a right hamstring injury has kept Marshall from playing.

Anyone itching to see Chace Stanback in UNLV’s late-night scrimmage Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center was no doubt disappointed when he didn’t leave the bench.

Stanback, who has been itching to play in a game that matters for more than a year, felt that pain.

The worst ankle sprain of his life has sidelined Stanback. Assistant coach Steve Henson still spotted discoloration high above Stanback’s left ankle after Sunday’s practice.

“It’s getting a lot better though,” Stanback said. “I should be back real soon, probably in a week or so.”

Stanback has been moving gingerly. Saturday and Sunday, he watched practice from a courtside seat with his left leg stretched out on two seats.

Monday afternoon at Impact Academy, Stanback had enough. He picked up a basketball on a side court and took some shots. One of his first launches caromed off the rim and backboard, darting two feet to his right.

He didn’t make the slightest jerk or instinctive move for the ball. No need to aggravate the heavily wrapped left ankle.

“It’s getting better every day,” said Stanback, a 6-foot-8 sophomore who last wore a uniform in a game for UCLA in the Final Four two years ago. “The swelling’s gone down a lot, but it’s cool.

“Guys have been getting better every day and I’m proud to see them progress. There’s a lot of intensity, a lot more than we had last year. Everyone seems a lot more focused.”

UNLV sixth-year coach Lon Kruger is one of the many parties interested in seeing Stanback on the floor.

“You feel for him because when you sit out all season you’re anxious to go, then you can’t go when everyone else is,” Kruger said. “That makes it more difficult.”

The Marshall Plan

Click to enlarge photo

UNLV guard Anthony Marshall drives to the basket during the Rebels FirstLook scrimmage Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center.

Anthony Marshall has joined Stanback and Quintrell Thomas, the 6-8 forward who is redshirting after transferring from Kansas, on the sideline.

Marshall, a 6-3 lefty guard from Mojave High, has a tender right hamstring but he tried to play a bit at Friday’s scrimmage.

“That was my first basketball action in a couple of days and I kind of tweaked it that night,” he said. “It’s a pretty big nuisance, but it’s getting better every day.”

Marshall started the scrimmage for the white squad, and a minute into it he converted a nice feed down low to Brice Massamba, who put in a reverse layup.

He missed a jumper and he committed a turnover the rest of the first 10-minute half. In the second half, he grabbed a defensive rebound.

For both Stanback and Marshall, today is a welcomed day off for the Rebels. They both will undergo treatment and won’t have to endure watching a practice in which they can’t participate.

“I’ll test it (today) and see how it feels,” Marshall said. “Some time this week, I hope it’s 100 percent. A day off to get extra treatment and ice, I think that will help a lot.”

Kruger is hopeful that Marshall will practice Wednesday. “Chace,” Kruger said, “is on a little slower time frame.”

Court for rent?

With U.S. Foods having booked the Thomas & Mack Center and other on-campus venues being used, the Rebels were relegated to the Impact Academy facility Monday afternoon for practice.

They will return Wednesday to Impact, in a shell of a sports complex that has seen better days at Sunset and Las Vegas Boulevard South.

“It’s a nice facility,” Kruger said. “It’s a college-size court, and there aren’t too many of those in town – most are 84 feet, this is 94 feet. It’s regulation size, so it works out.

“It’s great. I really appreciate the folks at Impact. They’ve been very, very helpful.”

Joe Abunassar runs Impact, which has become an offseason training haven for NBA players. Chauncey Billups’s No. 7 and Tayshaun Prince’s No. 22 are two of the 56 player banners that hang around the perimeter of the court.

An on-campus practice facility specifically for his basketball team has been discussed over the past few years, and Kruger said those talks are still taking place.

Like everything else, though, the economy has affected the progress of such a building.

“We continue to have conversation about it,” Kruger said.

Getting defensive

The first four days of practice for the 2009-10 season have gone to Kruger’s script – that is, they’ve mostly been about defense, defense and defense.

Talking, boxing out, talking, switching, talking … and more talking have been the priorities.

That will be the case for the next week and a half, too, but fundamentals and lessons learned over the first two weeks also will be regularly reviewed and revisited throughout the season.

“Certainly, to start with, you want to get the fundamentals and principles in there,” Kruger said. “The first couple of weeks, we’re really pounding away on the habit. It’s definitely every day, then we’ll stay with it. You don’t ever stop doing it.”

For freshmen, like Carlos Lopez and Justin Hawkins, it can be an intense indoctrination.

“There’s usually a transition, but these guys do a good job,” Kruger said. “Carlos has a good feel. He needs strength and weight. Justin has a real good feel and has been well schooled in the fundamentals, defensively. He brings a good set of habits with him.”

After four days of practice, Kruger has been pleased with what he’s seen from his squad.

“The enthusiasm has been great and the energy has been great,” he said. “This group handles the ball well and they’re pretty skilled, offensively. And the effort will be there defensively.”

Dates to remember

(All games at the Thomas & Mack Center)

Nov. 10 (7 p.m.) – Washburn (exhibition).

Nov. 14 (7 p.m.) – Pittsburg State

Nov. 18 (7:30 p.m.) -- UNR

Nov. 21 (7 p.m.) – Southern Illinois, in the Mountain West- Missouri Valley challenge

Nov. 25 (7 p.m.) – Holy Cross

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