Nothing to debate: UNLV needs Wood

It has become a common theme around UNLV’s basketball team, this game-by-game analysis by others of Chris Wood. Of his production and attitude and effort and whether that eating motion he makes after sinking a 3-pointer is really necessary or, well, just another level of self-serving folly.

If the majority opinion emerges as true after the season, Wood will depart the Rebels and make himself eligible for the NBA Draft, where some projections today have him being selected among the top 20 picks.

NBA scouts absolutely adore length, and it’s the feeling of most that those closest to the sophomore Wood long ago convinced him to make the jump.

Whether he is ready to produce at that level isn’t the issue. He isn’t, but few are upon arriving. The draft became more about long-term potential than immediate results years ago.

But the UNLV team that defeated Wyoming 69-57 before an announced crowd of 12,659 at the Thomas &Mack Center on Saturday night needs Wood to continue supplying numbers if there will be any sort of Mountain West tournament magic for the Rebels in two weeks.

They don’t have a chance if Wood doesn’t show up each game.

He had 10 points and 13 rebounds against Wyoming, all but three of the boards coming in the second half, where he began on the bench for apparently not playing as hard as coaches desired.

“Chris had a rough first half,” UNLV coach Dave Rice said. “He told me at halftime he was going to bring it, and that’s what he did. He started playing harder in the second half.”

It’s true. Wood is lazy sometimes. He’s really soft in spots. He’s soft in most spots. He loses focus defensively. He always seems to act hurt immediately after some of his worst plays. He’s a 6-foot-11-inch kid who has never truly embraced the idea of playing around the basket, and you can argue a lot of that has to do with what he believes will best market his game to those NBA scouts.

Everyone wants to be a shooter, man.

But as much as some around UNLV want, for whatever reason, to constantly remind you of all the deficiencies in Wood’s game and his lack of effort at times, he has also produced averages of 15.2 points and 9.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. He is unquestionably UNLV’s leading candidate for all-conference honors and has improved his numbers dramatically from last season.

UNLV at 16-13 overall and 7-9 in a bad conference has much bigger issues than Wood. He is not the central reason the Rebels find themselves preparing for the near-reality of having to win four games in four days at the conference tournament to secure an NCAA Tournament berth.

This is what happens often across the country when teams underachieve in relation to preseason predictions. The mantra becomes about next year, about who might stay and who might depart and who might arrive, about how things will be better when certain faces are gone.

It’s as old a ruse as any.

It’s seemingly always about next year around UNLV.

Wood appears very much one of those talented kids who can be a headache to deal with some days, both for those who coach him and those who coordinate his media obligations, at least when Rice isn’t denying such interview requests made by beat writers after losses.

Which is a whole other area in which the coach needs to improve.

The Rebels who beat Wyoming can certainly contend when the league tournament opens. UNLV has played far better lately, save the second half of a loss at Utah State on Tuesday.

The Rebels have a rising standout in freshman Patrick McCaw (21 points Saturday) and an improving one in Dwayne Morgan (eight points, two rebounds). They also outrebounded Wyoming and had 14 bench points to zero for the Cowboys. It was one of UNLV’s better wins.

I’m just not sure how in the world UNLV held Larry Nance Jr. (nine points, nine rebounds in 35 minutes) in check without injured transfer Ben Carter available to mimic the Wyoming star in practice …

(Enter laugh track here.)

“Our guys need to give it everything they have each possession,” Rice said. “I’m always going to play those who are ready to play. We have to have everybody at 100 percent and playing hard and playing together.”

He was responding to a question about why Morgan started over Wood to begin the second half. Fair enough. Wood is hardly a pleasant type at times when removed from the game or chastised. He can be a handful, I’m sure.

But as much as we have been hearing about all he doesn’t do, and it’s a little disturbing as to where such opinions might originate, know this: UNLV isn’t coming close to winning four games in four days without Wood producing on a daily basis.

Which, for the most part, he has done all season.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on “Gridlock,” ESPN 1100 and 100.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.