Sloppy grinder – Rebels come away from the islands with a 74-69 victory

          VS                      

The Rainbow Warriors only shot at winning would be to ugly things up, throw junk and gimmick defenses at the Rebels, and to make the game sloppy. Hawaii’s coach admitted as much in an interview at halftime. Luckily Anthony Marshall and Mike Moser bullied their way to victory, with a lot of help from their friends.

The game was the antithesis of the Central Arkansas game, where 124 points looked easy. The Rebels only had 2 points in the first four minutes, by way of the free throw line. UNLV looked like the energy was there, but the shots just weren’t falling and a lot of fundamental flaws kept occurring that lead to turnovers. Hawaii was not playing stellar basketball either, and both teams shot the ball poorly in the first half.  Although shooting improved in the second half, not by a whole lot.

Once UNLV overcame the small lead Hawaii had in the first half,  the Rebels never lost it again. That does not go to say that the Rainbow Warriors were pushovers, quite the contrary. Although the run they so desired never materialized in a way that tied up the score, Hawaii came within 2-3 points of UNLV several times throughout the game and kept their fans engaged and rooting on the home team.

Despite the poor shooting, the Rebels had quite a bit of luck on the offensive glass with 18 offensive rebounds. Unfortunately, the Rebels could not keep Hawaii off the glass, as they notched 19 of their own. Part of the reason there was so many offensive rebounds to be had by either team relates to the poor shooting, and multiple attempts on many plays to make a basket.

Shooting wise, this was a game powered in large part by Anthony Marshall and Mike Moser, those two willed their way to victory with a lot of help from the rest of the team. Marshall had 19 points and 13 rebounds – likely his first double-double of the year. Moser had 15 points, 12 rebounds, for another in a long line of double-doubles. Mike Moser seemed to be Mr. Consistency, he hid big shots when the Rebels needed him to, and did so throughout the whole game. Anthony Marshall was an animal when it came to driving the lane. In a bit of a heat check on one of those drives, he picked up an offensive foul – but if he was in any way tentative in this game, we’d likely have lost it.

The Rainbow Warriors were a ‘for real’ home team. They came with a lot of effort and energy, and made up for the lack of pedigree. This is, after all, the same team that less than a week ago beat #14 Xavier in the Diamondhead Classic (although Xavier was shorthanded and in a funk since their fisticuffs). The Rebels struggled to contain Joston Thomas, who finished with 16 points, but more so with Vander Joaquim – the Rainbow Warrior’s big man who physically and figuratively took his toll on the Rebels, especially Brice Massamba. Brice was the recipient of a missed foul call forearm to the head that left Brice being helped off the court. Intentional or not, the punishment was returned in a way, when Reggie Smith drove on Zane Johnson, pulling his neck out of wack and still earning Johnson a blocking foul and shots for Reggie.

Regarding Joaquim, the Rebels need to figure out how to contain a guy like this, because he erupted and became Hawaii’s emotional core. In one sequence, he had a block on a Mike Moser dunk and then dunked the ball on the other end. He finished with 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

Other complementary acts by other players included Quintell Thomas being classic Q. He had a really nice blocked shot on the aforementioned Joaquim to stop one of his dunks. Quintell finished with 5 points and 4 rebounds.

Reggie Smith had 5 points and a steal in 9 minutes. He looked the most confident he has yet, his passes were crisp and accurate, he appeared to know the plays the Rebels were running, and his drive on Johnson was great. Especially good, was he hit his free throws for the most part (3-4).

Chase Stanback was nearly perfect from the field and had a quiet 14 points. The funny thing about Chase, is that you really don’t notice him playing and having a really good game, unless he’s dropping 9 threes, or is sitting at 2 points – some guys are just that way. Needless to say, the Rebels really needed his accuracy and production on a night when the team as a whole shot 44% from the field, improving a great deal in the second half.

Carlos Lopez provided reliable minutes, especially in light of the injury to Massamba. He finished with 5 points, 1 block, and 1 rebound.

Justin Hawkins was also a really important presence for the Rebels, his seven points all came at critical points in the game when the Rebels needed some stability. Justin Hawkins is in the running with Brice Massamba for most improved player this year.

The overall effort for the Rebels was very good, and beating a decently good team on their home floor is still a difficult feat. From what I’ve seen, odds makers usually swing the line 7-10 points to the home team because of home court advantage. Also, Hawaii has some factors that can throw an opponent off of their game besides the basketball they play – it’s a pretty long flight there from Vegas (5 hours), late time zone, tropical destination, lei ceremony at the beginning of the game, and following tradition the coaching staff wear casual clothing rather than their normal suit attire. While most expected a win against Hawaii, it was a tough win, and another quality road win. Listening to the announcing crew of Hawaii throughout the game, the Rainbow Warriors are poised to be one of the favorites in the WAC, beating them in their house is valuable, especially if they make some noise and win their tourney.

It was nice being able to watch the previously non-televised game in high definition in the comfortate of my home, even though a road trip to Hawaii would also have been very nice. Onward to Bakersfield, this year’s Runnin’ Rebels had a fantastic finish to the year, and an extremely bright outlook for 2012.

 Rebel Reign MVPS - Mike Moser and Anthony Marshall

Runnin' into the New Year!

Recruiting news

RunRebs | UNLV in running for highly-touted Pitt transfer Khem Birch | Vegas Seven:

 

According to Ryan Greene the Rebels are talking to the following potential transfers:

Pittsburg - Khem Birch

Kentucky - Stacey Poole

Illinois - Crandall Head

 

Also Coach Anthony Brown of the Las Vegas Prospects AAU team tweeted:

First official Div. I offer in the books for Las Vegas Prospects 2014 soph star Shaq Carr as the hometown UNLV Rebels jump on board courtesy of Dave Rice after the Rebs victory tonight vs. Cal. Prospects strike AGAIN!!!

One Leg In the Pants - Central Arkansas was more than just another “W”.

By Jason Taylor

Rebelgrad95

At UNLV, we used to wear Big Boy pants. 

There was a time and a day when the Dicky V’s and John Thompsons of the world gave automatic credence to UNLV’s Runnin’ Rebels.  If you planned on making it to the end, you’d better have a plan of how you’d make it past the Shark Attack.

With Dave Rice’s promise to put the Runnin’ back into the Runnin’ Rebels, UNLV produced an ad campaign of “Let’s Run” that sent chills down the backs of the Rebel Faithful. 

Click the Pic to see an ad.

The images and sounds of years past…  Stacey Augmon.  Larry Johnson.  Anderson Hunt.  A bloodied Dave Rice.  Could the new era Rebels possibly provide an inkling of the flavor of yore?

With a heightened sense of expectation for the upcoming season, we met Division II Washburn in an exhibition game ready to roll.

Thud.

It was 20-21 at half… Ichabods led. 

Several of the following games concluded with Rice emphasizing that we have a lot of potential, which is kinda like your best friend setting you up on a blind date by saying, “You’ll like her…  She has a great personality.”

Oh, Boy!

The Rebels then trudged through a series of wins, posting a record at 6-0 after narrowly escaping USC’s grind-it-out style of play. 

On November 26, we took a look at a pair of Big Boy pants that hung high in the closet.  We snagged them off the rack and inspected them for size.  Could we possibly fit into them again?

In convincing fashion, UNLV dropped the #1 team in the nation on a “neutral” court at the Orleans.  The Rebels took the lead early and never looked back.  Scoring 90 points and beating North Carolina by 10, the nation had its eyes on Las Vegas basketball, again.

Giving good measure, it looked for the first time in 2 decades like the pants might fit.

UNLV dropped 2 of the next 4 games, though.  One was to Wichita St, who could have beaten any team in the nation that day, and the other was to Wisconsin, which is currently ranked 11th and has only dropped 11 non-conference games at home in 10 years, according to the game commentator.

The Rebels then re-gained merit by going on the road to Illinois to soundly beat the undefeated 19^th ranked team in the country, and followed it up with a solid home win against the California Golden Bears, who were in the pre-season top 25.

At 13-2, the Rebels were similarly positioned to recent years past under Kruger. 

For me, however, Central Arkansas provided that renewed taste.  For the second time this season (the first was the UNC win), I glimpsed a true connection to the Tark Era. 

Back then, you could almost sense that opponents often showed up as spectators in awe of the Great UNLV. 

Last night’s game provided this sense for me, to a degree, for the first time in 20 years. 

40 team assists.  Stanback drills 9 3’s from everywhere on the court.  7 players score in double digits.  15 steals.  Dunks left and right.  124 points.  A 49-point win.

The last time UNLV scored over 120 points - 1991 (vs. Utah St).

The Rebels are actually doing what they are supposed to as a very good team – beating tough opponents, and blowing out weaker opponents.

Of course, nothing is assumed.  There is a long, tough road ahead as the Rebels face a much stronger conference than expected.  The MWC is 11-3 against PAC 12 teams this year, and SDSU is ranked.  New Mexico isn’t far behind, Wyoming is sitting at 12-2, and the worst team in the conference as measured by the RPI is 6-3 (Air Force).  Further, UNLV’s next opponent just beat #14 Xavier last week.  It ain’t easy bein’ us.

But I am taking pause for a quick moment – the first leg just went through and there’s a good chance for a fit.

First impression: “She” has Christy Brinkley looks to go with that great personality!

Thanks, Buddy!

Offense galore: UNLV destroys Central Arkansas by 49

While nobody expected the Bears to win the game, or for it to even be close (betting line was UNLV -30ish), this was a top to bottom clinic. As has been the trend over the last several games, the Rebels and Bears traded points, and the Bears actually led  11-6 early in the first half. From that point forward, UNLV unloaded everything they could and put up a massive 124 points. The Rebels had a high scoring 63 points at the half, and almost tied it with 61 in the second half. As you can see by the game flow and box score the Rebels had domination in every way imaginable.

The usual suspects had monster games, Chace Stanback had 29 points in only 23 minutes of play. Mike Moser had 18 points and 9 rebounds in 25 minutes. An ample lead gave ample playing time opportunities to many players who needed it, Reggie Smith got 11 minutes and made the most of it scoring 13 points and dishing out 5 assists. Karam Mashour had 7 minutes and scored 8 points and had a steal. Wade Norman saw some minutes as well, and had a three pointer.

Team numbers were off the charts, 40 assists, and 15 steals means tons of sharing and active feet and hands. The Bears were pushed into 25 turnovers, which the Rebels scored 36 points off of. If you want Runnin’, the Rebels had 37 fast break points. With what probably is one of, if not the most points scored by a NCAA team this year, and the best offensive outing by the Rebels since 1990-91, it is clear Coach Rice’s system is working – and not just because we beat up on a bad team. This should be a nice confidence booster (as if they needed one) going on the road against Hawaii and Bakersfield.

Rebel Reign MVP: Coach Rice – his Runnin’ has come alive big-time!

Go Rebels!

UNLV beats CAL 85-68

The golden bear falls, Cal is embarrassed by UNLV. When Coach Montgomery and Coach Kruger scheduled this mathup last year, its likely that both figured the Rebels would be ‘pretty good’ this year, and so would Cal. The trouble for Cal, is that this year the Rebels are not only pretty good, but outstanding in nearly every aspect of the game. So, playing UNLV at home has got to be a nerve racking experience for any opponent.

The Rebels had a fantastic start where they got multiple players involved offensively early, and shot a high percentage. Stanback, Marshall, Moser, and Lopez all got points early. The Cal Bears didn’t start off that bad either, but UNLV scored at a much better rate moving through the half. UNLV went on a nice run with about 12 minutes left in the half and created a 7 point cushion. Another nice run came with less than 6 minutes to close the half, where the Rebels pushed the lead to 18 points. That 18 points came by back to back three pointers (Stanback and Moser) and a couple of layups (Marshall and Thomas). In a really cool move to end the first half, with 3 seconds remaining Chace Stanback had a 3 pointer.

In the first half, the Rebels shot a blistering 54% from the field, and 45% from three point range. Equally as important, they only turned the ball over five times. Cal on the other hand, performed like bear cubs rather than bears. They only had 26 points as compared to the Rebels 46 points and shot 32% from the field. Chalk that up to Rebels defense, or bad Bears shooting. Oscar Bellfield was a man on a mission, he had 9 assists at the half .

The second half was about keeping the 20 point lead the Rebels had earned in the first half. On that objective, the Rebels did a great job as well. The lead ballooned to as many as 25 points in the mid-second half, to as few as 14 later. The give-back of points can only be attributed to two things 1) Cal is a good team and they were bound to make some shots, and 2) the Rebels with a sizable lead took the foot off the pedal a bit on defense. The Rebels closed the effort out solidly, finishing with an 17 point win over the Cal Bears.

Based upon Cal’s record and performance, this pre-season poll darling is not the best team in California, but may be the best in the PAC-12. The best team in California is likely the San Diego State Aztecs, a team we’ll likely face 3 times this season (twice and then likely in the MWC championships).

One of the greatest keys to the Rebels success this afternoon, were the 22 assists dished out in large part by Oscar Bellfield (11), as well as major contributors Hawkins, Marshall, Wallace, and Massamba. Mike Moser, Chace Stanback, and Oscar Bellfield all finished in double figures (points wise) but the big scorer was Anthony Marshall with 22 points on 9 of 16 shooting. This game featured quite a few dunks, a lot by Marshall but also some nice ones by Moser, an ally oop by Massamba (from Bellfield) and Lopez.

The Rebel Reign MVPs were Anthony Marshall (for scoring) and Oscar Bellfield (for distributing the ball).

Sights and sounds:

Confession: This was only the second game I’ve attended this season (unfortunately) but I saw some really great things. The energy and turnout was really special, while I don’t know the official figure it seemed as if there were probably 16,000 people in attendance – nearly all of them UNLV fans wearing Rebel Red. The UNLV band did a really nice job, has improved, and has learned two new modern tunes – great job guys! Also, maybe at my suggestion (likely not) the AV people hyped up the student section with some techno high BPM music, rather than the sleepy / campy stuff of last year – didn’t notice anything in the previous game I attended, so good job AV people. In a funny side note, I am 95% sure the T&M announced called Kendall Wallace – Kendall Marshall. I hope someone else heard that too.

Added Bonus: Announced during the game is the added bonus, the Hawaii game which will be played at 5pm on New Year’s Eve will now be televised on Chanel 8.

Great Job Rebels! This should maintain or elevate the Rebels in the rankings!


Video Recap (VIA CBS Sports)

Ridiculous Runnin’ – UNLV beats ULM 81-63

 VS 


Nobody expected a lot from the 1-10 (now 1-11) University of Louisana Monroe Warhawks. Like many of the bad teams the Rebels have played, the Rebels allowed them to start off ok until putting their foot on their necks mid first-half and never looking back. Take a look at the gameflow chart below:

Without having played a minute of this game, the immediately obvious theme would be the introduction of the athletic 5’11” Marquette transfer Reggie Smith. Because he excited the crowd so much at the Rebel weekend event, his first real minutes of the season have been highly anticipated. The theme that was perhaps missed because of the introduction of Reggie Smith, UNLV’s return to the rankings , and the really nice win against Illinois was can Chace Stanback regain form from the abysmal performance in the win. He did big time.


Stanback was extremely impressive from long range, having shot three pointers nearly unconscious. He built his way to a new career high of 29 points tonight having made 8-9 from three point range, and 10-13 overall. Its almost too bad his ‘hot hand’ came alive against this bottom feeder opponent. In addition to the big point production, Stanback had 4 rebounds, 1 assist, and only 1 foul.


Reggie Smith had to break some of the rust and contain the adrenaline of not having played for about a year. He got some opportunities to get in the game, both in the first and second half, totaling 9 minutes of play. His numbers weren’t stellar, probably due to the time off as was to be expected, 3 points (1-4 shooting), 2 rebounds, 1 assists, and 3 turnovers.


This game really wasn’t in jeopardy, and was closed out when the Rebels started the second half on a 11-0 run. The lead was as many as 27, but ended in front by 18 points.


The beauty of having someone like Reggie Smith available off the bench (when he’s up to full speed), is that the Rebels have Anthony Marshall, Oscar Bellfield, Justin Hawkins, and Reggie Smith to pressure opposing teams point and shooting guards. In a two guard lineup, that’s 80 minutes of playing time that needs to be filled up, and at Coach Rice’s preferred defensive intensity and offensive potency – four super athletic guards are magic.


Defensively, the Rebels tonight were very active and busy, with only turnovers (12) and the occasional blown defensive assignment allowing the Warhawks to post 63 points.


Carlos Lopez had some wonderful stats tonight, 12 points, 9 rebounds on 4-4 shooting. Quintrell Thomas sat this one out due to a toe injury, smart move seeing how his special set of skills weren’t needed against this opponent. Kendall Wallace also had a nice outing, shooting 3-4 from three point range (trying to keep up with Stanback). Oscar Bellfield shook off his shooting woes, scoring 10 points on 4-5 shooting.


While Justin Hawkins, Anthony Marshall, Mike Moser and Brice Massamba didn’t post a ton of points, collectively they did their jobs defensively and Marshall and Moser combined for 11 assists. Mike Moser had some very exciting back-to-back reverse slam dunks.


Speaking of assists, this was a bright spot for the Rebels. One of the things I’ve been harping on has been the serious lack of assists over the past 4-5 games, even in the wins. This game, the Rebels finished with a very healthy 20 assists. Shooting was also fantastic, finishing from 58% from the field and nearly 61% from three.


All in all, it was a good outing for the Rebels who still should be a little tired from the impressive amount of effort they put forth in Chicago just two days ago. With the entire week off to practice and get ready for the Cal Bears on Friday (2pm start), the Runnin’ Rebels should be ready to dominate once again.


Rebel Reign MVP - Chace Stanback


GO REBELS!

Early Christmas present for UNLV fans - UNLV beats Illinois 64-48

 BEATS

For everyone who still felt anguish, despair, and resentment towards Illinois for embarrassing us in last year’s tournament – this was a beautiful thing. For Mike Moser, it was a opportunity to shake off his injury that has hampered him the last several games (including the two losses) as well get a chance to play this time against the Illini. For the Rebels as a team, it was UNLV’s mission to knock off another ranked and undefeated team on a neutral* court.

Some of the issues that had plagued the Rebels in the last four games were slow starts and lack of defensive energy, especially in these mid-west road games. There was a team that had a lack of defensive energy, thankfully it wasn’t UNLV. Illinois only had one thing going for them all afternoon, and that was D.J. Richardson pulling off hide-behind-your-teammate 3 pointers. The Rebels successfully covered the passing lanes, handled the bigger more athletic center (who happens to lead the Big 10 in blocks), and create a deficit of confidence in the Illinois from the jump.

UNLV got out to a fantastic start, leading 4-0. They kept momentum by defending fiercely, and were very active in getting a hand in the face of nearly every shooter. Early on, two players from the Rebels got the ball rolling, Brice Massamba and Mike Moser. Massamba, who is 2-3x the player he has been in previous seasons, was dominate and aggressive. Moser, who was finishing recovery from a sprained wrist, gave himself a huge boost of confidence when he made a nice 3 point shot early. The lead went back and forth between UNLV and Illinois for awhile, then UNLV found some space with 6 minutes left in the half. That run, which helped UNLV get a 33-22 point lead at halftime, was the product of consecutive jumpers by Quintrell Thomas, a fastbreak layup by Justin Hawkins, a steal by Anthony Marshall that led to a 3 pointer (by him), a pair of free throws by Marshall, and a free throw by Quintrell Thomas.

First half shooting favored the Rebels 42% to Illinois 28%. The Rebels didn’t feel the need to jack up too many 3 pointers, and only made 2 of 6 attempts, where as Illinois jacked up 11 three point attempts and only made 3. The Rebels were also a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe and outrebounded the Illini 20-17. Both teams were fairly sloppy with the ball (UNLV 8 Illiniois 9 turnovers), but UNLV capitalized off those turnovers scoring 8 points to Illinois’ 1 point.

In the second half, UNLV actually pushed the lead higher, outscoring the Illini 31-26. This game was furthered by impressive outings by our three post-players, Brice Massamba, Carlos Lopez, and welcome back Quintrell Thomas. Brice was simply agrresive and was not intimiated by the taller and longer Illinois defenders. Carlos Lopez was as creative as he could be, with ball and head fakes that lead to impressive moves under the basket. Even the Big-10 network announcers were highly impressed with his footwork. Missing in action since the North Carolina game, Quintrell Thomas provided hustle, energy, and did a lot of great things that helped the Rebels win the game. Quintrell’s active hands were responsivle for several Illinois turnovers, and he was able to finish many times at the rim, and shoot some great short range jumpers. Quintrell Thomas finished with an impressive 13 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, 2 blocks, and only 1 turnover and 1 foul! Brice Massamba finished with 8 points on 3-3 shooting, 2 rebounds and only two fouls in 9 minutes of action. Carlos Lopez had 6 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block. The effort of our big men will surely intimidate our foes in the future, and make them respect us more inside.

UNLV’s lead wasn’t always so high, in the second half the Illini cut the lead to as close as 8 points, mainly the work of D.J. Richardson and Leonard Miles. Richardson, who had things working for him all game, maintained his scoring throughout the game and finished with 19 points. Miles, didn’t achieve much in the first half but picked up his scoring and got some of the inside looks he missed in the first half. UNLV kept their feet and hands moving and created a significant amount of turnovers (10 to Illinois’ 6) in the second half. UNLV again shied away from the three pointer and only attempted 5 in the second half, making only 1. Illinois, as a team were completely unprepared for this game and missed a lot of free throws, open shots, and layups. In fact, I can’t remember a team having so many airballs – especially a ranked team.

Mike Moser was everything  great he had been in the past, and had an impressive 17 points, 11 rebounds. Moser had an uncharacteristic 6 turnovers, which frankly I didn’t personally witness even though I watched the game. The Rebels did a lot of good things despite not having their shooting rolling as well as games past. As a team, it was a block party – UNLV notched 9 blocks, many of them leading to transition buckets. Assists were still lacking at 11. The Rebels accumulated 10 steals, many leading to transition as well. Rebel Reign MVPS are Mike Moser and Quintrell Thomas, they simply brought it today.

Other odds and ends: UNLV had quite a decent traveling contingent at this game, they were visible and at many points you could hear the Rebels chant over the airwaves. Oscar Bellfield shot poorly, but did a lot of other things well – hopefully he’ll unlock a hot streak, especially from 3, soon. Chace Stanback, whom the announcers knew nothing of other than he was impressive against North Carolina, only had two points late in this contest. While, as I’ve said at least twice previously, UNLV is a deep enough team with multiple players other than Stanback who can light up the scoreboard, he needs to solve his shooting issues. Even in the UCSB game, he was pretty quiet until overtime. Getting Stanback some easy buckets early in the game may be key to his effectiveness, because something is clearly off. UNLV had at least 6 dunks, some by Moser were NBA jam worthy!

It was a great game, a statement game, a revenge game, and an excellent tournament resume booster. In the United Center, the Runnin’ Rebels may has well been the Chicago Bulls in the black and red uniforms. As impressed as I am with the road win, I am more impressed by our rookie head coach’s ability to pull of this win and correct the mistakes of the last couple games. GO REBELS!

We've reached 50,000

Thank you to all the Rebel fans out there that have visited Rebel Reign.

Although this website has only existed since February of 2011, it has been viewed 50,000 times in less than a year. I think that means we're doing something right here.

I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to Rebel Reign, especially Jason Taylor for sharing his analytical insight, and all of the people who have agreed sit down and do an interview.

We will continue to work towards our goal of celebrating the Runnin' Rebels as we strive to be champions once again.

Let the Rebels reign supreme, and thank you to all the fans!

Ugly ball bounces in our favor: UNLV beats UTEP 65-54

 vs 

For a game against a UTEP team that only has two wins on the season and the Rebels were supposed to beat by 18, it was way to close - for way too long.

This was a slow and sloppy game in the first half for both teams. The game was kept close on poor shooting by the Rebels (3-19 early), very limited scoring by two normally key offensive guys, Stanback (5 points, but not until late) and Moser (6 points, but 11 rebounds). The bulk of the scoring in this game fell on Carlos Lopez (11 points)– who was solid while in the game but plagued by early foul trouble, Justin Hawkins (12 points), and Anthony Marshall with a game high 20 points, many of them late in the game. The slow start has been a hallmark of all of there most recent games, from the two road losses to the wins, this one and the one against Cal State San Marcos, both against mediocre teams. To Coach Tim Floyd’s credit, his team was prepared to defend the Rebels, and to dictate tempo. At this point in the season, I’m far less impressed with the Rebels ability to merely win a game against a team that manhanded us on defense and successfully stole the tempo from our guys – when they are as lousy as the UTEP Miners. The best indicator that the Rebels weren’t “putting the biscuit in the basket” was that they had only 5 points 7 minutes into the game.

Things weren’t all bad in the first half, there was a nice sequence where a steal lead to a dunk by Anthony Marshall, and then on the next play a steal lead to a three pointer by Oscar Bellfield.

One of the more interesting things, was that in one of the timeouts Coach Schroyer was the one talking to players about the set they were going to run, with Coach Rice to the side of him, and Coaches Hutson and Augmon behind Rice. I was surprised to see Coach Rice differing to Schroyer, and at that point in the game given the results after that time out, it had limited effectiveness in terms of building a lead against UTEP.

The second half remained uncomfortably close, with the lead see-sawing at times. It wasn't until approximately 4 minutes remained in the game that the Rebels, on the backs of Marshall, Hawkins, and some late scoring by Stanback gave the Rebels a comfortable margin to win the game. 

Turnovers were a major problem that plagued both the Miners and Rebels, but the Rebels limited turnovers in the second half and finished with a slightly higher than acceptable 14. Thankfully, the Miners couldn’t hold onto the basketball to save their lives, and had 20 turnovers of their own.

The real issue on offense, beyond poor shooting or the fact that Moser is still not himself, is assists. The Rebels continue to do the opposite of what gave them the win streak, and what put them over the top against North Carolina – sharing and helping each other score the basketball. The Rebels had only 11 assists. That’s the lowest number they’ve had this season and still won the game. The other games that had similar numbers were vs. USC (w) with 12, Wichita State (L) with 13 and Wisconsin (L) with 8. All others were close to or higher than 20 assists, and the season average is 18 assists per game.

The real issue on defense, is energy. As was extremely noticeable, when the Rebels came out of certain timeouts they played great defense, but most of the game they did not  - especially in the first half. Had the Rebels played defense with the energy of UTEP, we would have easily surpassed the odds makers 18 point margin. What the coaching staff should have the players do, is put on their best defensive effort early on, and figuratively punch them in the mouth so their offensive prowess is diminished. Coach Kruger’s teams were better in that respect – and its something the current team needs to watch some of the previous seasons game tape on. As far as effort on D, the best example in recent memory would have to be the team that went to the Sweet 16, with Kevin Kruger and Curtis Terry; those guys hustled and made up for their lack of skill and talent many-times-over with pure determination.

Props go out to Quintrell Thomas, although he was given limited minutes still (9 minutes) he still had 3 blocks and had a pretty sweet dunk. Although the reason the staff hasn’t been playing Q much is unknown to me, I’m ever hopeful that the guy gets more playing time and is able to improve and be a key inside presence for the Rebels.

It could just be the overall energy level of the team, and this week is finals for these student-athletes, but its not just that the Rebels have been lax and tentative on defense, but when they do get possession of the ball, the effort isn’t dramatically better either. Some of the complaints of people far closer to the game than myself that the players weren’t ‘talking on defense’ – didn’t see improvement in that area today.

The Rebel Reign MVP is Anthony Marshall, with runner up Carlos Lopez. Great job guys!

While a win is a win, and the Rebels are now a respectable 10-2 with no bad losses, optimism is hard to come by when the next challenge is playing Illinois (10-0) at the United Center on Saturday afternoon. With the exception of three Rebels, the team appears to still be playing with shaken confidence,  and energy only on short bursts. Coach Rice must find a way to rectify those issues to have a chance at avenging last year’s tournament matchup disaster, and he only has a few days to do it. Surely, Illinois will be prepared in case the Rebels that beat North Carolina and battled UCSB show up in Chicago, and hopefully it will be an exciting afternoon of Rebel basketball.  

GO REBELS!

Loss to Wisconsin

 VS.  

Wisconsin loss – 62-51

Here’s my observations about the game:

Energy – Rebels defense, on the whole, was not there, neither was the energy needed to play Runnin’ Rebels basketball – defense that dictates offense. The last time this happened was about the same time last year the Rebels sustained several losses in a row, after the perfect 9-0 streak. This year, after eight wins in a row we now have two losses to good, but beatable teams. My theory last year, was that the Rebels just got tired from playing such hard defense game-in and game-out that it wore on them, leading to a breaking point at this time in the schedule. While a lot has been made of the strength and conditioning Coach Rice has implemented prior to the start of the season, the result has been the same – it seemingly cannot be sustained a third of the way into the season against the better teams. Solution – you can only play with the guys you have, limiting minutes is one approach, calling timeouts not to correct things but to give guys a breather is another, but going deeper into the bench is another option.

Missed layups – this game could have been a lot closer if many of the Rebels attempts to make layups, by Moser, Marshall, Massamba, and Bellfield, would have just bounced in. Layups are the next easiest shot to free throws, and our guys normally can sink them. Solution – more layup drills.

Players having career three nights against the Rebels – this afternoon, it was a player named Ben Brust, in the Wichita State game, it was a player named Joe Ragland. They both torched the Rebels from beyond the arc. While the signal was too bad for me to play close attention to in the Wichita game, Anthony Marshall said they were looking (at Ragland) to be a driver, when in fact it was a spot up shooter. In today’s game I saw the Rebels play a ‘we don’t respect outside the arc’ defense, a modified zone so that players could supply help defense when someone with the ball wandered inside. The problem with that kind of defense (which is usually effective) is that it fails when the opposing team, or player in the case of Brust, is not missing from deep. Solution: The Rebels need to employ a rule from here on out – when a player is shooting 60% or better from anywhere on the floor, at least have a man on him at all times from there on out. For example, when Ragland was 3 for 3 from deep, the Rebels should have been in his face the whole time, even be a little dirty if necessary. That would prevent these players from destroying us. Likewise, after Brust was 3-for-3 from outside, he should have had pressure-man defense the rest of the game, at least out to half court.

Oscar’s bad decisions – It’s a tough one, when those shots go in you say, man great job Oscar! and lord knows he’s made some big shots over the years. But when they continually don’t go in and he jacks them up before the shot clock has even reached 25, we have problems. Besides Bellfield’s terrible shooting, he was playing the point guard position today, but didn’t do that job very well. He had three assists, and three turnovers – a ratio of 1. He jacked up 12 shots and ended with 7 points. Obviously, Marshall is still hurting and cannot effectively run the point, but Bellfield ran the point for almost 3 years – he needs to relearn what made him good and go with it. Solution: More practices where Oscar runs point, maybe for the scout team if they want to plug Marshall into the primary point guard role. Problem may also resolve itself when Reggie Smith becomes active in a few days. The key is, when the Rebels were really doing well, assists were off the charts – people were helping each other. Right now, the team finished the game with 8 assists – that’s a freaking joke, and it won’t win basketball games.

Moser is still not 100% - I don’t even think he’s 50%. Everything he was doing well isn’t there for him right now. Basketball players are finely tuned athletic machines, and a sprained wrist is really going to hamper a guy who is a primary scorer and rebounder. For more on this, read this article: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/dec/10/rice-mosers-lot-more-hurt-hes-letting/

Finding the hot hand – there was only one scorer for the Rebels who actually had his shot going – Chace Stanback. He was 5-9 from the field, 2-3 from three. Why he didn’t get the ball more often, who knows. The next best scorer percentage wise was Carlos Lopez, 3-4 from the field. Only four attempts when shooting so well is unacceptable. Solution – Coach Rice needs to tell his guys to look for Lopez, Stanback, or whomever has the hot hand, rather than the Bellfield takes another unassisted jumper and misses.

Shutting down the point guard – the Rebels did achieve one of their main objectives, shutting down Wisconsin’s phenomenal point guard, Jordan Taylor. Rebels defense limited him to only scoring points by way of free throws. Great job to the Rebels by shutting him down.

Overall impact – This loss is not a bad loss. It wasn’t by as large margin as the Wichita State game was, and it was a road game against the #14 Badgers. So, in terms of – does this hurt our tournament resume, it probably doesn’t. The disappointing thing was it was a winnable game, Wisconsin did not look invincible by any means, and if the Rebels had just worked together to grind the thing out, we could have potentially won it, or at least made it close.

Looking ahead – UTEP is the next game, and then comes Illinois. UNLV needs to workout the kinks against UTEP, be it doing things better, or resting injured players (Marshall and Moser). Rest is an achievable scenario, as UTEP is a horrible team, and should be an easy win once the manure smell clears out of the Thomas and Mack (NFR reference). If things don’t change, a loss is guaranteed against Illinois. Should that be the case, we’re running out of quality teams to beat on the schedule. 

Down about the Wichita State loss? Watch this about the 1990 UCSB game vs. UNLV

Losses happen, and that Rebels team was one of best college teams in history. No reason to panic!

Shakin’ off the funk; Rebels roll after the first 15 minutes and beat CSU San Marcos 94-50

 VS 

The Runnin’ Rebels appeared to be frozen to the (actually quite cold) floor for a great while in the first half, before man-handing CSU San Marcos. For a team that was in its first year of existence, plays in the NAIA, and loaded into four minivans to come to Las Vegas, they were composed and hung with the Rebels initially.

While it was widely anticipated that the Rebels would blow out the weakest team on their schedule this year, ironically on the same floor they dispatched the #1 Tarheels. The Rebels and Cougars traded baskets until the 10:44 mark when the Rebels were up 20-19. The Rebels maintained a slim lead until the 6:00 mark of the first half, then broke open a lead that grew as large as 20 at the half. The lead ballooned after the half and resulted in a 44 point victory. The real turning point that helped the Rebels shake the funk off from Wichita, was defense.

Once UNLV put defense first, the offense naturally came. Players were regularly doubling offensively exposed players, getting hands on the ball to create steals, and challenging the passing lanes  to create turnovers. Once the Rebels figured out that their defense reigns supreme, the game was a simple victory. The Rebels had 34 points off of turnovers, and 25 fast break points – simply phenomenal.

Rebel Reign MVP Justin Hawkins had another breakout game, scoring 23 points on 9 of 12 shooting, and 4-5 free throw shooting. Several others had solid games, Chace Stanback remained reliable for 16 points, and shot over 50% for the game. Brice Massamba had 10 points and was a perfect 4 for 4 from the field, and Lopez impressed as well with 11 points on 4 of 5 shooting.

Mike Moser, who was suffering from a sore hand, was limited in scoring preventing what would normally be an easy double double. He still notched 12 rebounds, but only had 6 points for the game on 3 of 8 shooting. Anthony Marshall, also slowed by injury, was slightly below average with 7 points, but a healthy 8 assists.

This win, while insignificant in terms of RPI or respect, helps the Rebels to focus on what was lacking in the Wichita game – defense. The Rebels’ next game is likely one of their toughest on the schedule coming Dec. 10 at #14/16 Wisconsin. It also gave many of the players the confidence needed for the tough road game. Provided Anthony Marshall and Mike Moser can heal up and perform a their normal greatness, the Rebels have a better than average shot of notching a victory in Wisconsin.

Good effort by the Rebels, my only complaint would be the length of time it took for Coach Rice to empty his bench.