Practice takes on slightly different look

The UNLV basketball team was divided a bit differently for Wednesday afternoon's practice at the Thomas & Mack Center.

As has been the case at the first few practices, the squad was broken into three groups to run through many of the drills.

The red team featured Wink Adams, Rene Rougeau, Mareceo Rutledge, Beas Hamga and Oscar Bellfield.

Adams and Rougeau had been joined by Joe Darger, Tre'Von Willis and Darris Santee in the red group for much of the first few practices.

Darger, Willis, Kendall Wallace, Brice Massamba and DeShawn Mitchell constituted the white team as Lon Kruger tried to get a look at how different lineups might work together.

The rest of the team was the black squad, with Matt Shaw and Derrick Jasper not participating.

Much of the practice consisted of a half-court 5-on-5 drill. The longest stretch involved the white team playing offense against the red.

Wallace and Darger each knocked down several jumpers, including back-to-back wide open 3-pointers.

Mitchell then made an acrobatic layup in the lane.

Adams then had some words for his fellow defensive players and essentially said the white team's run of points would be over.

He was right.

Adams and Rougeau got consecutive steals to help the red team to three straight stops to close out the drill.

Up next was another 5-on-5 drill in which the offense would stay on the court if it scored and the defense would rotate out. When the defense got a stop, it would take over on offense and the team that was stopped would rotate out of the drill.

The white team got the best of the action in this session. Wallace hit a nice jumper moving to his left, and Willis drove through the entire defense of the black squad for a layup.

Wallace said he knows what's expected of him this season.

"To come in, play solid defense and knock down open shots," the sophomore said. "I'm a lot more comfortable now. I'm used to the speed of the game."

The players were clearly competing hard as a great deal of banter went on during practice. Wallace said it's part of the process of getting ready for the season.

"We have been pretty intense, and Coach is really stressing that," he said. "We've got people out there playing intense defense, and I think that really helps the offensive players. Even if we may not like it right now, it definitely helps us prepare for what the season is going to be like."

Transfer impressive

UCLA transfer Chace Stanback has been a standout performer at several practices this year.

Wednesday was no different.

Stanback was active on offense and defense and should be an immediate contributor when he becomes eligible next season.

Special Guest

Charlie Spoonhour sat in the front row and took in much of Wednesday's practice.

The always-jovial former UNLV head basketball coach was all smiles as he shook hands and departed the gym about midway through the session.