Post-Holiday Points: UNLV takes Runnin' to Chapel Hill

Versus Canisius: The Runnin' Rebels were the Defendin'  Rebels beating a much improved Canisius team 89-74. If the road game against UTEP was Khem Birch's debut, this would have been his highlight reel introduction. 6 blocks, are you kidding? Of course, anyone would have guess that was possible given the comments Quintrell Thomas had made about respecting Birch's swatting abilities, combined with the many plays where he all but had a block but someone else fouled the player just before the block. Major credit as usual goes to Anthony Bennnett, who when on the court had the Rebels comfortably ahead, and seemingly not-so-much when off the court. Justin Hawkins had 3 blocks himself, among providing valuable point production. Further worth noting, is Katin Reinhardt made his living this game not at the three point line, but by driving to the hoop - something he hasn't done a ton of since high school. It was efficient and well played basketball, and came at a much higher percentage than the three attempts. Katin realizes that his 3 ball just isn't falling at the click he wants, so he's decided to change his game a bit - bravo!

Trending Rankings: The trending stories are that the MWC, who has often had 3 teams in the rankings (UNLV, New Mexico, and SDSU in ever changing order) now only has two. New Mexico dropped a home game to a South Dakota State team who had just driven 1100 miles in a bus to get to Albuquerque because their flight got canceled. This forced a lot of voters to rethink the power of New Mexico, and pushed them out of the top-25 completely. UNLV now ranks 20/17 in the polls. Foe SDSU is likely to push even higher as suffered another loss but took it to the wire against #3 Arizona (67-68) in the Hawaii classic.

Something to prove: Although basketball games shouldn't be thought of psychologically  unless its to one teams advantage, people with too much time on their hands (like me) start to think about things. UNC has a lot of advantages coming into this Saturday's game, even though they are not a ranked team anymore. #1 Revenge - any team who was bested last season in the fashion the Rebels did would want Revenge #2 Nothing to lose - with no ranking to lose, UNC can play loose, where as UNLV would likely move down in the rankings  if we lost to UNC, even though nobody has beaten them at home all season. #3

Injuries: With Mike Moser doing better, but still a few weeks away from playing, other notable injuries occurred during the Canisius game that could have some impact on the UNC game. Savon Goodman suffered a quad injury during the game that limited his playing time to 3 minutes. Anthony Marshall was limping considerably in the second half of the game. And perhaps more seriously  Bryce Dejean-Jones took a hard fall on an offensive foul that left him dazed with a cut on the side of his head. With the holiday layoff being just the right kind of healing the Rebels need facing their toughest foe yet, all hope is that everyone rests and heals up so we aren't beaten by lack of depth.

Depth: With the emergence of Khem Birch, there is a lot of depth issue the Rebels can play with. Right now I'd have to say (with Moser Injured) this is the best team they can put on the court:

Center: Khem Birch
Forward: Bryce Dejean-Jones
Forward: Anthony Bennett
Guard: Anthony Marshall
Guard: Justin Hawkins

Next in line at each major position:
Center: Quintrell Thomas
Forward: Savon Goodman
Guard: Katin Reinhardt

With Moser back - things get pretty interesting. Likely the best thing to do regardless of position is to attempt to play our best players no more than 25 minutes a game, and have more-than-capable backups play the remaining 15. This will keep legs fresh and defense intense throughout the rest of non-conference, and then the difficult conference schedule.

Happy Holidays! Looking for a little holiday magic for an inspired late-December game in North Carolina! Go Runnin' Rebels!

Grand Canyon: Suddenly a Challenge? Preview

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By Jason Taylor
RebelReign Contributor


First, there was the loss of Chase Stanback. He was suspended for the first two games for a DUI over the summer.

Ok… We can deal with that, especially when our exhibition game counts as one of the first two games, and our first regular season game is against Division II Grand Canyon.

Now, Lopez is gone too (for a few weeks) with a twisted ankle.

After watching the Washburn exhibition, we were thankful that Rice gave Lopez good minutes in the second half because he provided a much needed spark with a pair of under-the-basket moves and a trip to the free-throw line, netting a quick 5 points. Down the stretch, he provided the boost we needed to pull away with a pair of dunks. He scored 11 points in the game.

But, Ok… We can still deal.

Marshall was also a key against Washburn as he began regularly running the point in the second half. Lopez’ pair of dunks came by way of Marshall’s ability to break down the defense with penetration. As help “D” came, AM dropped the ball off to his 6’11” teammate. Marshall added 14 points himself, and truly helped “seal the deal”.

Now… Marshall is gone!

He played in a summer league, which is allowed by NCAA rules. However, he played an extra game “outside” of the league, which is disallowed for some reason. So, they “took one” for “playing one”, and suspended him for the first game of the season, overriding an appeal from Coach Rice.

HOLY MACKREL!

We’ve lost a point guard, a small forward, and a power forward for the first game. If Friday doesn’t come fast, we’ll give the NCAA a chance to suspend a coach, just to round things off!

So, that leaves us with 7 scholarship players… Not the best scenario for a coach that wants to burn the soles off the competition with fervent paced play.

As an added bonus, Wallace’ knee has been swelling recently due to micro tearing. He is planning on nursing it through, and delaying needed surgery until the end of the season.

It’s more than evident something(s) must go. We’ll have to slow down on offense, play some zone defense, or dip in to reserves, which consist of 3 first year walk-ons.

I believe the starting line-up will likely be Bellfield at the point, Wallace at the “2” guard, Hawkins to replace Stanback at small forward, Moser at PF, and Massamba at center. This leaves Thomas and Mashour as subs.

If you’re pulling for Karam Mashour like I am, this should definitely give him a chance to show something. He will likely sub in to give aid to Wallace, and he’ll probably see minutes replacing Moser at the “4”.

I see Bellfield and Hawkins playing for most of the game… they may see 35+ minutes each. J-Hawk may even get a chance to run the point for a few minutes during a Bellfield break.

The walk-ons: I just don’t know if Rice will use them or not. I can easily see them coming in for a few minutes to give relief, especially if we can create a bit of daylight on the scoreboard. The hardest part is that they’ve all just come on board. There’s not even a leader amongst the walkers!

I wonder if the coaching staff would like to retract that “11-11-11 Let’s Run” ad, and change it 11-14-11, when we play Reno and see the return of Marshall and Stanback.

This easy game just became very interesting. Can a partial “Runnin’ Rebel” team pull it off?

See you Friday night. We’ll see.