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 19th 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!
