Freshman Lopez anxious to show his game at Rebels’ FirstLook practice
With his redshirt year in the rearview mirror, Carlos Lopez put on a white jersey Friday night and finally felt like a true UNLV basketball player.
The 6-foot-11-inch freshman from Puerto Rico via Findlay Prep appears to have a promising future with the Rebels. He was eager to show it.
“It’s a great feeling. It has been a long, long year,” he said. “I’m excited I get to play now. I’m feeling really comfortable, and I’m ready for the season to start.
“People really don’t think much about me. I haven’t played for a year, so they don’t really know much about me. People don’t know what to expect. I have that question mark.”
It’s too soon to draw many conclusions, but a few questions about coach Lon Kruger’s seventh UNLV team were answered during a one-hour FirstLook practice at the Thomas & Mack Center attended by more than 4,000 fans.
■ Will the Rebels have a legitimate post presence?
Lopez and 6-8 power forward Quintrell Thomas, a sophomore transfer from Kansas, each will make an impact. Lopez has good ball-handling and shooting skills, and he has gained 32 pounds to beef up to 230. Thomas is a big addition because he can rebound, defend and score inside.
Rebounding was a weakness of Kruger’s teams the past three seasons. Size matters, and Thomas, Lopez and 6-10 junior Brice Massamba make UNLV look more imposing.
“We’ll have quite a bit more inside presence, so we’ll have the ability to throw it inside,” Kruger said. “It’s more size than we’ve had since the Sweet 16 group (in 2007).”
■ How good is Karam Mashour?
The answer: Very good already. The 6-6 freshman from Israel was a star in the Black-White scrimmage. He’s a smooth athlete who can shoot, drive and dunk, and he has impressive court awareness.
Mashour might be too good to redshirt. He scored 14 points to help the Black team to a 59-48 win in a 20-minute scrimmage.
■ Is Derrick Jasper back to full speed?
The 6-6 senior guard showed explosiveness and no limitations. He started 21 games before suffering a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee Jan. 26. The injury ended his season, but he’s healthy again and should be a major contributor.
“We’ve got a lot of pieces to the puzzle. We’ve just got to put them together,” junior point guard Oscar Bellfield said. “This is where it starts.”
Bellfield scored seven points for the White team that included sophomore guard Anthony Marshall (13 points), Chace Stanback (nine) and Lopez (eight).
Jasper scored seven points for the Black team that included Mashour, sophomore guard Justin Hawkins (11) and Thomas (eight). The leading scorer with 15 points was Mike Moser, who is redshirting after transferring from UCLA.
Senior guard Tre’Von Willis, who had minor knee surgery in August, did not play in the scrimmage.
“It’s a new start, a new beginning,” Lopez said. “I think for us as a team, those question marks are already answered. We have a great team, and we have great coaches.
“We’re working so hard. It’s just completely different from last year. We’ve got our mentality on the right path. We know what we want to do, and we know what it takes to get there.”
The Rebels finished 25-9 last season after a buzzer-beating loss to Northern Iowa in the NCAA Tournament first round.
UNLV opens the regular season against UC Riverside on Nov. 12.
“This is a pretty veteran group. They know what it takes,” Kruger said. “They lost a close game in the NCAA Tournament, and they’re disappointed by that and want to do better. I think that’s motivating.”
Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2907.
