Desert Reign: Impressions of UNLV’s Talent - Part II

This is part II of Jason Taylor's impressions from the Desert Reign tournament held recently. The first part, released this past Wednesday, had impressions of Anthony Marshall, Justin Hawkins, and Daquan Cook. The article continues here:

Savon Goodman dunking ally-oop from Daquan Cook

Savon Goodman - The first impression of Goodman as he stepped on to the court, is that all competitors might need to spend time running back and forth between the dorm buffet line and the weight room.  Okay, maybe that is a stretch for my “first impression”, but the assertion is entirely safe having watched him play.  Let me just say this… UNLV fans are going to LOVE this kid.  You know, like, a few years ago, how much we complained about needing toughness - guys that could scrap, scuffle and rebound by sheer physical domination?  Remember, especially before getting Moser, how a high-in-the-air rebound almost always went to SDSU, or UNM?  Remember how much we’ve complained about big guys that can’t drive from 18 to 22 feet out and just cram it down somebody’s throat, or finish on the break?  Rebel fans - have no fear, Savon Goodman is here!  That’s right, I’m sayin’ it with confidence.  We’re gonna’ Love This Guy.  Not only can the thick-bodied 6’6” 210lb forward pound, he can fly!  You saw the dunk in the video.  He was easily a good foot over the rim.  Then, “Oh, ya.  I forgot to mention, he’s got a soft touch.”  He can bull his way in, get knocked in the air, and still balance out a nice touch to put the ball in the basket.  The down side?  He needs to work on form in his jumper, and he looks to me to be a less than 60% free throw shooter.  That’s okay, though.  I’ll take all the “and-nones” he can dish out.  If you remember J.J. O’Brien, who transferred from Utah and almost came here last year but went to SDSU after Bryce Jones committed, Goodman is his ultimate replacement.  He scored around 30 points in the game I watched, almost all of them coming at the rim.  Nice!

Moving on to Katin Reinhardt - Flash, ah-ah.  Katin is the guy, who whenever he has the ball, we’ll be drawing breath, anticipating - something.  We’re not always going to get exactly what we hope for, especially as he “freshmans” out of the gates, but this kid is a showman, he loves UNLV, and we’ll love him back.  He can seriously break ankles with his cross-overs, and he has great form on his pull-up jumpers, which he’s very confident in using - maybe overly so at times???  He can drive, dunk, pass, and shoot.  Consistency and balance will be his biggest questions.  Anything can happen, but I definitely see him as a shooting guard, vs. point guard, to start off as a Rebel.  I believe he’ll be an early season contributor.

Demetris Morant - I saw Morant play last year in the Addidas 64 tournament, and then, of course, in the Desert Reign game as well.  To give background, this kid just won state in the triple jump and the high jump.  He cleared 6’10” to win.  That’s insane!  To give perspective, according to my sports-expert friend, Pete, the great Wilt Chamberlin set a record way back in the day with a 6’11” jump.  The kid is athletic!  However, he’s the “quiet kid” on the court.  He does fine, retrieving rebounds for put-back dunks, and he gets a share of blocked shots, but as I’m sure he would admit, he’s a few years away from making an impact as a Rebel.  I hope he has a great work ethic, because he has all the potential in the world if he’s driven.

Bryce Jones - When I mentally insert him into a line-up, I think, “How big and athletic can we get?”  Marshall, Jones, Moser, Bennett and Birch…  6’3”, 6’6”, 6’8”, 6’7”, and 6’9 - average vertical, atmospheric.  I predict stretches of time - say 3-minute blocks - this season that the other team simply doesn’t get a rebound!  Jones will be difficult to defend.  He has supreme confidence, and can score from anywhere.  Turn-around 15-foot jumpers, 3-pointers, finishing dunks - he has the full repertoire.  However, he may have a switch.  He’ll change some games for us, much like Chase did last year, and then, he may go absent at times.  Overall, he’s a tremendous recruiting ‘get’; he’ll bring attitude and toughness, and he’ll be contributing right away, I believe.  Stylistically, he’s more Kobe/Jordan-esque than anybody else on the team.  Whether he can perform similarly… well, that’s almost impossible.  More than anything, though, this kid is a high-level competitor. 

And finally, Khem Birch - Khem is a game changer even if he never sees the offensive end of the court.  His defense is crazy good.  He has Joel Anthony’s timing, but can probably out jump him by a good 6 inches.  Like Joel, he doesn’t need time to get off the floor - for rebounds, or blocks.  I’ll make some early predictions: Khem is ineligible to play until December, but he’ll still lead the MWC in blocked shots on the year.  How’s that for steppin’ out?  Then, rebounds - He will outrebound Mike Moser on a per game basis.  So while he may not have more total rebounds at the end of the season than Mike, I’m predicting that he’ll have more rebounds per game than anybody on the team, and conference.  He has a similar style and ability to Mike, but he rebounds from the inside out, vs. Moser, who rebounds from the outside in.  In other words, he starts his efforts near the basket.  He looks like he can guard out to the perimeter as well.  These facts, assuming they hold true, definitely make him strong NBA material in my mind.  Then, yes, he has offense.  He can grab an offensive rebound six feet on the side, and put it right back up without needing the backboard.  He’s active and talented.  He may not be the leading overall point per game scorer on the team, but he’ll definitely have games where he’ll be the leading scorer.  Like Moser, he just has too much that can’t be taken away. 

So that’s it.  This all sounds pretty exciting as I write it.  Every position is stacked.  Thomas and Lopez, I believe will still be contributors.  They’ll have their chance to play some good minutes early in the season.  The rest of the season will depend on how well they establish themselves, because it’s entirely possible that one of them will get very few minutes once Birch comes on. 

Another exciting element is the fact that the supposed “best player on the court”, Anthony Bennett, isn’t even mentioned yet.  He didn’t play in the Desert Reign tournament, and I haven’t seen him play, other than highlights.  He has been nominated by some national media to be the second most NBA eligible player in the 2012 class next to Shabazz Mohammed.  I’m hoping that Bennett will finally fill the shoes of the great Larry Johnson.  They seem to have similar builds and styles.  Fingers crossed on that one too!

Speaking of Bazz, I’m actually glad he didn’t choose UNLV.  We needed a power forward so much more than a shooting guard, or small forward.  There are those that wonder if we can manage all our talent.  I believe we have a very good chance of doing that as the team stands right now.  This, however, would have been much more difficult had Bazz come.  We would have been lighter in the frontcourt, and doubled up in the backcourt, possibly giving rise to some unhappy bench minutes for top talent.  The balance just wouldn’t have been there.

I only watched a few games, but these impressions, based on limited viewing minutes, helped push me into the T & M last week to grab season tickets.  That’s another story.  See you there, I’m sure!

Desert Reign: Impressions of UNLV’s Talent - Part I

By Jason Taylor
7-29-2012

(Part 2 will be released Saturday night)

I had a bout of RWS - Rebel Withdraw Syndrome - and  was unable to attend games recently in person, so I searched the net and found videos of several Desert Reign Pro-city League games on Rebel-Net.com.

Several Rebels joined the league this summer, and Rebel fans turned out in numbers.  The air conditioning system was broken in one game, but red clad fans completely filled the stands regardless of the near 100-degree indoor temps, and hung in to gain measure and give support to the new arrivals, and a few seniors.  That was a nice sight.  DaQuan Cook made a comment about how all these people were cheering as he and Savon Goodman walked into the gym, even though the fans had never even seen them play before.

I was able to watch games that included Anthony Marshall, Justin Hawkins, Khem Birch, Bryce Jones, Katin Reinhardt, DaQuan Cook, Demetris Morant, and Savon Goodman.

There were never more than 2 current Rebels on each team.

The competition was stout enough to gain perspective, I believe.  Although, of course, it is only a few games of loosely run scrimmages, so we obviously have to take that for what its worth in my analysis.  Several players rooted in the Las Vegas area were in attendance, including Darrington Hobson (of UNM, and NBA Bucks), Jamaal Smith (UNM grad), Billy White (SDSU grad), Pierre Jackson (Baylor), Romel Beck (UNLV grad), Marcus Lawrence (former UNLV point guard), and several overseas pro players.  

Here’s what struck me with each Rebel:

Anthony Marshall at Desert Reign

One of the strongest impressions I had was that there was one player that stood out consistently.  His strength, poise, occasional flash and explosiveness were gravitational - people knew who “that guy” was.  He positioned well, backed players down at will, played great defense, and made very few mistakes.  He even nutmegged a guy at center court.  I don’t think there would be any doubt, that if teams could be picked by the players - captain-style - that he would have been called right at the top.  Anthony Marshall was masterful.  He had over 30 points in one of the games I watched.  I’m really excited about seeing whether this level of control will carry into, and throughout the season.  Fingers crossed!


Then, add Justin Hawkins - more very solid play.  Justin seems to have hardened and strengthened his frame, and showed no hesitation what-so-ever on his shot, most of which, he made.  Drives to the basket, mid-range jumpers, and three pointers - he looked Good.  I’ve always said that he is a good three-point shooter when he steps into his shot - otherwise, not so much.  Justin seems to have progressed - he was hitting three’s against in-his-face defense, even hitting a few fall-aways.  On one telling play regarding added strength; he was below the basket and suddenly exploded straight up, slamming the rim down with a two-handed dunk.  “Hold on,” I said, hitting ‘rewind’.  “Holy mackerel.  Yep, that was Justin!”

Now, for the new guys:

The first game I watched included Savon Goodman and DaQuan Cook.  If you don’t watch anything else, watch this.  DaQuan Cook is number 6, and Savon Goodman is number 12 on the green team.

How about that, Rebel fans?

DaQuan Cook with Carmelo Anthony

So, DaQuan Cook - The game I saw with him was his first in Las Vegas.  He had just arrived in town a few days before and was just barely getting oriented.  He and Goodman came in off the bench.  The first impression as he stepped on to the court, was that this kid is going to have to spend a good bunch of his time running back and forth between the dorm buffet and the weight room.  He’s listed at something around 6’1” and 165lbs.  I’d call that fairly accurate - maybe even a touch heavy.  It’s hard to tell on video.  I am a little worried he’ll get pushed around, especially on defense.  On offense, he’s fun to watch; simply by the fact that you don’t know which way the ball is headed.  He can thread the needle, and take advantage of opposite direction breakdowns with some nice no-look passing.  Since this was his first game, he may have been a bit shy offensively.  He rarely looked to take it all the way to the hole himself, and didn’t take many jumpers, especially if he was well defended.  This made him a bit predictable at times.  If the opposing team had receivers covered, they could possibly gain a turnover because he might force a bad pass before taking it strong himself.  The jury is out on him, in my book.  He’s young, so even if he needs growth, he has plenty of time to develop into a weapon for UNLV.  Given the supporting cast, it’s very possible this kid could flourish as a true, pass-first point guard. 

For the rest of the new guys, come back Saturday!

New Foes: A Preview of The New MWC Competition

Update - Midweek (likely Wednesday) an outstanding article will be posted by our very own Jason Taylor regarding player performance at the Desert Reign tournament and evaluations of returning players, as well as all the new guys who played. It's comprehensive, may release it in two parts (one this Wednesday eve, the next late Saturday). Come back then or follow on Twitter to find out when its published!

Football - love it, or count it as a sideshow to the glory of the Runnin' Rebels Basketball, it has changed the landscape of the MWC. Over the past few years solid and formidable opponents have left the Mountain West Conference. Remember the Utah Utes and BYU Cougars? Now we have -0- opponents from our neighbor state to the east. Reason - football money. The MWC brought in a few short lived competitors - The TCU Horned Frogs and Boise State Broncos, gone (TCU already gone, BSU gone next season). Then there's another usual suspect who has decided to leave - the SDSU Aztecs (next season).

Additions anyone? While other "stronger" conferences have decimated our league, there were some additions. In fact, we are only losing one this season, and gaining two - a net gain of one team (for now). The additions are Fresno State and Nevada. Let's learn a little about these new additions.


Fresno State - "The Bulldogs"

Fresno State should be familiar to many because they occasionally show up in the NCAA tournament, were kind of a cinderella back in the early 2000's, but most importantly - was the landing spot of Jerry Tarkanian after he was muscled out of UNLV (1995-2002).

Location: Fresno, CA (in a tie with Bakersfield for the armpit of California)
Venue: Save Mart Center
Capacity: 14,544
Former conference: West Coast Conference (WCC)
Head Coach: Rodney Terry
Historical series with Fresno State - UNLV leads 27-6

(Season)       (W-L)
2011-12 - 13-20
2010-11 - 14-18
2009-10 - 15-18

While known for basketball, they have seriously under-performed for quite some time. The Bulldogs seem to be excited about their recent recruiting class, and their coach is entering his second year with the team (sound familar?) Expectations for Fresno State will be minimal, they may do slightly better than bottom of the MWC, but not by much unless they line-up a cupcake non-conference schedule. More often than not - they have been the cupcake.

They return 3 of 5 starters and are quite excited about Fresno native Robert Upshaw, a 7 footer ranked #55 in the ESPN top 100 recruits (2012). They also feature Las Vegas native (Cimarron-Memorial graduate) Kevin Olekaibe, who starts for the Bulldogs. Incidently, the guy can score - he notched 43 points last sesaon vs. Seattle University in a home game. The other returning starters are Kevin Foster and Tyler Johnson.

It's hard to point to anything that the Bulldogs really do well - all of their offensive stats are ranked in the 200's among the 300 or so D-1 teams:

PPG - 65.8 / Asst PG / 11.3 Reb PG / 31.6  / FG Pct 40.9%

Defense statistics:
66.1 PPG allowed / 12.2 Asst PG allowed / 35.7 Reb PG allowed / 44.8% FG Pct allowed

So, with these kind of statistics, my knee jerk reaction is - it will feel like TCU never left, they were just replaced by Fresno State. Unless this 7 footer is named Shaquille O'Neil, we should be able to beat them both times we meet.


UNR "Nevada" - The Wolfpack

We know Nevada. We've known them for a very long time - they are our in-state rivals. Every year, we play a football game against them, and what's at stake is possession of the Fremont cannon. We have faced them in basketball every year for as long as I can remember. The bonus is now we'll face them twice a year, maybe three times if we end up playing them in the MWC tournament. Welcome to the reckoning, "Nevada"

(season)     (W-L)
2011-12 - 28-7
2010-11 - 13-19
2009-10 - 21-13


Location: Reno, NV (armpit of the United States)
Venue: Lawlor Events Center
Capacity: 11,536
Former conference: Western Athletic Conference (WAC)
Head Coach: David Carter
Historical series with UNR: UNLV leads 54-19

Despite UNLV easily beating UNR last year, they went onto a very respectable record: 28-7. That said, because of their weak conference and lack of quality wins including obviously not winning their conference tournament (lost to Louisiana Tech in the final) they ended up in the NIT and were beaten by Stanford in the quarterfinal. The Wolfpack is returning three starters: Deonte Burton, Malik Story and Jerry Evans Jr. but lost (to graduation) Olek Czyz and Dario Hunt. This is the type of team which will actually get to prove whether they can substantiate their record because they actually have to play difficult matchups. Kind of like if you made Utah State play in our conference. Likely outcome - they will not repete last season's success (duh). They would probably not repeat last seasons record even if still playing in the WAC due to the losses of Czyz and Hunt.


Here are their 2011-12 averages:
Offense:
PPG: 70.3 / Asst PG 12.9 / Reb PG 37.1 / FG Pct PG 45%

Defense:
PPG allowed 65.1 / Ass PG allowed 13.8 / Reb PG allowed /33.1 . FG Pct PG allowed 41.3%

The Wolfpack's most impressive statistic was rebounding (45th in the nation), but the team high rebounds statistic seesawed between Czyz and Hunt 90% of the time -- so they're taking a hit there. Unless they unleash some secret weapon, we should be able to beat them both times we meet.

Conclusion

Geographically speaking, we've added some semi-close but crappy locations to play basketball at. But, we've finally rounded up our in-state rival. Only time will tell if either school can provide real competition to the Runnin' Rebels, or at least help our RPI. Welcome to the big leagues Bulldogs and Wolfpack.

One man's journey to become a season ticket holder

UPDATED: Tuesday July 24 @ 8:20PM (SEE BOTTOM FOR ADD'L + PHOTOS)

Tuesday, July 24 I get to walk into the Thomas and Mack and select my seats. I get to donate to the RAF. I get to essentially own a little piece of what is hopefully a historic season. 

I've never intended this site to be about me, nor do I go out of my way to put my name on anything. I do the site because I genuinely love Runnin' Rebels basketball, can't get enough of it, and felt the coverage in recent years to be lacking. So keeping in line with that mission, I present my story of how I've attended or watched Rebels games, and the very proud step I've taken to become a season ticket holder.

Pre-UNLV

There was a time that I was only peripherally aware of UNLV and its storied basketball team. As a man in his mid 30's, I was a youngish kid living in Northern California when the Rebels brought home the title. Also as a kid, I identified more with the NBA and had a few local teams to follow and root for - the Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors. I was aware that college basketball was enjoyed by many, but never could get into a game where there were so many teams and I could identify with none. Back to the NBA, Larry 'grand-mama' Johnson was big everywhere, not just in Charlotte and Las Vegas. He put UNLV on my radar, as did Greg Anthony, Stacey Augmon, and those who followed in the NBA such as Issiah Rider, Shawn Marion and Keon Clark. Attending games was a really fun thing to do for a kid; my father regularly got luxury suite tickets by way of his business's accountants, Ernest and Young - so that was sweet. Being an avid fan of basketball as well as the NBA has maintained its prominence in my life, but there would be room eventually for college basketball.

At UNLV

Having selected UNLV as my alma matter for a bachelors degree (2000-2003), I got a chance to attend as many games as I could from the student section. There was no 'Rebellion' back then, only fans who had bridged the gap and were waiting out a stream of coaches, hoping UNLV would again rise to prominence. That year's team (2000-01) underperformed greatly, but had a lot of talent. Names such as Dalron Johnson, Kaspars Kambala, Trevor Diggs, and Marcus Banks may ring a bell. The salt in the wound, was that UNLV was banned from post-season play (not like the record would have allowed for much anyhow) due to NCAA sanctions. The following years were decent as we got to see Marcus Banks shine and make his way to being a lottery pick - awesome stuff. I got to live in the dorms with and occasionally chat with a freshman Lou Amundson, pretty cool.

Sitting in the student section was perhaps easier back then, not having to stand all game, or come really early to get lower bowl seating. But, it was kind of sad at the same time - a school with this kind of basketball pedigree barely getting turnout out of a sizable student body. Still - it was free, and I was a poor student, just rooting for his team.

Post-UNLV

After I left UNLV, and went on to further schooling I kept tabs on the Runnin' Rebels and admired from afar what was going on. My absence from the Rebels was short lived, as in 2006 I was back in town and ready for more. Like most Rebels fans you had to be excited about what Lon Kruger brought to this town - stability, traditions honored, and most importantly winning. The Sweet 16 season was the best things the Rebels had done, since the Final Four teams of  the early 90's. I remember during the run, I happened to be in San Diego when the Rebels were facing Oregon, and was extremely frustrated with the lack of television coverage - so much so that I traveled from bar to bar to find the game being shown. As many feel, the Rebels maybe peaked too early into Lon Kruger's tenure, and were never able to match or beat that crowning achievement. But still, Lon Kruger made the Rebels one of the toughest teams on defense, and we were regularly at least a bubble team for the tournament.

The Website Years


I have attended a handful of games each year, sometimes on my own dime - and sometimes due to the generosity of a co-worker with season tickets. There's a legitimate debate that could be held, regardless of sporting event, whether its better to sit at home and watch from the very best angles in HD, or to buy seats that won't break the bank, battle traffic, and watch the game in person. In former years, the sit at home strategy won out, but this year is different, its special, and its worth watching in person. You would think running this site would get me a media pass, well - that hasn't quite panned out yet.

I've put together a comprehensive breakdown of how UNLV Basketball tickets stack up to other entertainment in town, as well as our competition in the MWC and even an NBA team. Honestly, its the highest read article on the entire website. I did it for myself as much as for the people, because I wanted to see whether the university was taking advantage, comparatively, or were UNLV basketball tickets a good value. My conclusion this season - if it shapes up to anything even close to the hype, its totally worth it.

Besides being a fanatic Runnin' Rebels fan who dedicates several hours every week to writing new material for other Rebels fans to enjoy, I still remain a man who people have trouble buying a birthday present for. Sure, my wardrobe is at least 20% Rebels gear - but something is missing *Rebels Tickets*. I tried to jump on the bandwagon and buy conference season tickets last year, but to my dismay - UNLV was, in my opinion, taking advantage. What they did was offer the MWC season package (2nd half of the season) for the same price they were charging had you purchased the whole season before it started! That kind of tactic, although the Rebels had accomplished significant feats leading up to the MWC season, was too big of a mental pill for me to swallow - so I passed on that being my Christmas present. This season I wised up and put my money down early.

Let's not get crazy, I'm not some high roller who's looking at a piece of real estate in Gucci Row. I'm thinking more like center upper deck, hopefully low enough to enjoy the game. For a pair of season tickets, I intend to spend a bit under $600 (about $300 per). That's still a lot of money for me and my family to put towards anything, but its important to me and should provide substantial entertainment. So, Tuesday, July 24, 2012 I get to walk into the Thomas and Mack and select those seats. I get to donate to the RAF. I get to essentially own a little piece of what is hopefully a historic season.

For those of you who want to buy into the dream of the 2012-13 UNLV Basketball season, Tuesday may be your day as well. In the evening, after everyone (like myself) who ponied up a $100 deposit has selected seats - you may in-kind select yours. The marketing and sales people are calling it an open house, and more information can be learned here. You'll have to think about several things, 'can I afford it', 'will there be adequate television coverage now that The Mtn is dead', 'would I rather go piece-meal to games', 'would I rather root and cheer from my couch'. No doubt about it, economic times are tough, can you make it work?

Other Options

There are alternatives to purchasing season tickets, and still see a lot of games in person. Two strategies that could work for you are the UNLV Kids Club, and perhaps becoming a student.

The UNLV Kids Club, which I discuss at length here, gets your registered kids into any game for free (premium games are exempt from this), and up to 4 adults for half price. Granted, you need to have kids to enjoy this benefit - but it could be a really good idea for someone who's schedule can't accommodate making it to all of the games, but a decent portion. Seats were in the upper deck last year, and will surely be in the upper deck again - near other Kids Club Members.

Becoming a student might benefit you in many ways, such as furthering your education that could lead to a higher paying job. Student tickets are free, and to my knowledge, are available to anyone with a Rebelcard carrying a certain amount of credits (number to be found later) may get free attendance, and may purchase additional tickets for non-students at half price. You get to sit in the student section, can dress up without it being weird, take part in handling Mozilla or any of the other Fatheads that are now in the Student Section, and likely have a real good time. Its likely not worth it to audit a class or two to get into games for the price of tuition (and blow those classes off), so if you were considering that - just pay for season tickets.

Conclusion


Once I select my pair on Tuesday, I'll post photos to accompany this article, along with a recap of the experience. I can hardly wait to see my future seats. GO REBELS!

SEAT SELECTION

Today, I went down to UNLV's Thomas and Mack Center and picked out a pair of choice seats! The process was easy enough, came down at the scheduled time and rode the hallowed escalator to the front doors of the arena. It's go time, I was thinking.

Inside the doors were two tables, one which was manned by sales associates, the other that functioned as a pay station. Once there was an available representative, they guided me through the arena, checking to see what areas I was looking and and then suggesting possible seats. I started close to the enterance doors sections, and noticed some pairs or other groupings (3's and 4's) that were really low (as low as row A) and untaken. The staff had demarked available seats with paper tags, easy enough to understand. I thought, hmmm... let me check out these seemingly fantastic seats....

Issue.. those 'too good to be true' seats had obstructed views. Why were there obstructions you ask? Because especially in the upper deck there happens to be obtrusive railings and camera men stands that can block one's view. I suggested what should be a very easy solution to my rep - why not deeply discount these obstructed view seats, why pay full price for less than a full view? He agreed with me, but I guess the system cannot be changed by one man with a decently reasonable idea.

Getting back to seat selection, I was surprised that there was such limited available seats left. This speaks volumes for the Runnin' Rebels fans, not only over the previous seasons - but now. The place appears full up with season ticket holders. Putting that fact aside, I was able to find some good pairs of seats that didn't have particularly obstructed views in my price range. One was on one side of the arena, the other on the other side, they differed by 2 rows (vertically). I can up with what I thought was a good idea. I could not objectively remember what the view was in one seat, walk all the way around and sit in another and say one was better than the other. So, having a camera in hand, I snapped a photo from each and then just compared  the photos. Easy enough, selection made. Then, it was as simple as going to the pay station and dropping down the remaining balance ($100 deposit previously taken).

The math is as follows: ticket price + RAF donation + printing fees = price. In my case, $215 + $25 + $25 = $265 total per seat. 18 games of fun = priceless.

The word is tickets will be mailed out till October. I can't wait to receive mine! Here's the pictures from today.

Updates- Canadians may not play in Canada, Players witness Team USA, Schedule

This weekly update features a quick recap and analysis of a few recent stories, including one that just broke over the last few days regarding Anthony Bennett.

Canadians may not play in Canada


Already known was the fact that Pittsburgh transfer Khem Birch, who still has one semester left to wait due to a transfer redshirt, unfortunately will be unable to participate in the exhibition games in Canada starting in August.

What is now breaking news in the last few days, is that the NCAA is dragging their feet on declaring fellow Canadian Anthony Bennett academically eligible. At least one news outlet, has cited the reason for Bennett's eligibility decision taking so long is because he attended multiple high schools - and that normally slows the process. So, the NCAA has to look over his academics from Findlay Prep, as well as the Canadian HS's. Coach Rice believes that determination may take up to a month, but it could potentially come after the Canadian exhibition - leaving Bennett unavailable to play in the games.

The terrible irony of both the Birch and Bennett situation, is that UNLV is as loaded as anyone with solid Canadian talent. The fact that Birch and Bennett cannot enjoy a homecoming of sorts is a terrible shame and shows the NCAA's rules and regulations, at least in this case, have gone to far and have cost a couple of young men some valuable and meaningful experience. To make matters worse, this is a once-every-four-years type of trip, so its not like provided either Bennett or Birch are still at UNLV next year (think NBA draft) they can experience it in the 2013-14 campaign. Tempering the blow, the last trip was to Australia and we had -0- Australian talent, and have gained -0- Australian talent from the experience.

The Canadian public will just have to enjoy the performance put on by what is still a terrific college basketball team, but what purpose did this solve? Couldn't the athletic department have fought to get these guys to be able to play in games that don't mean anything anyhow? Maybe they did, it just wasn't publicized... Regardless of the insignificance this has on the the part of the season that actually counts, you have to feel bad for these guys.

The above cited article also mentions the possibility for Bennett not being available this season -- slow your roll Sporting News, let's not plant those seeds of doubt.

UNLV Players witness USA National Team Practice in their diggs

It was hinted, they'd find a way to watch. Low and behold, the balcony from the Mendenhall Center provided ample views of what must have been entertaining basketball with Team USA tuning up their performance before hitting the court against the Dominican Republic on Thursday night, then taking the show to DC and then off to London to hopefully dominate the 2012 Olympic Games.

What's initially clear, is that UNLV - who has had a good relationship hosting the national team as well as the NBA summer league most years (except for the lockout shortened season this past year) has received tons of free publicity from hosting the event. That clearly benefits UNLV as a basketball program, and highlights not only our facilities but our arena to potential future UNLV talent. After all, if its good enough for the best NBA players, isn't it good enough for you?

Although I was in attendance at the USA v. Dominican Republic game, my seats were so far up I didn't get a chance  to see if any UNLV players were in attendance. That said - even if they were the best basketball played in Las Vegas likely was left on the practice floor of the Mendenhall center. Calling it a sloppy game would be too kind. The only fun takeaway is that the Mack was packed, I'd have to estimate at least 16k showed up. Lakers fans heavy - as evidenced by the overwhelming applause for Kobe Bryant in comparison to other players. In all honesty, I've been to three of these now including the FIBA, and for the money its the cheapest way to see the NBA's biggest stars play. The one criticism, an intra-squad practice would be far more entertaining and meaningful then beating up on a team who was just knocked out by Nigeria from even being able to compete in London.

Back to practice, in publicized photos Roscoe Smith, Anthony Marshall, and Justin Hawkins were seen taking in the activities. Anthony Marshall actually tweeted quite a few photos from practice. What can a forward and two guards learn from the elite crew? Obviously plenty of tricks. When top players, who are also friends with each other get together - they want to show off. Take the amazing Blake Griffin dunk off of the wall. Unfortunately, the torn meniscus moved him off the roster. For Justin Hawkins and Anthony Marshall, they got to view some great workouts from players such as Kobe Bryant, James Harden, Derron Williams, and of course - Chris Paul. But, as seen only in practice, they got to see these players compete against potential future Olympians in the form of the USA select team. This included Demar Derozen, Klay Thompson, Paul George, Jrue Holliday, Kyrie Erving, and John Wall at the guard spot. Roscoe Smith got to see Kawai Leonard, Lance Thomas, Gordon Hawyard, Taj Gibson, and Derrick Favors try their best to prepare Carmelo Anthony, Lebron James, Andre Iguodala, Blake Griffin, and Kevin Love for the games.

Time will tell whether the experience lent any takeaways to the UNLV players who watched the NBA's best and NBA's up-and-comers tear up the courts, but hopefully this pays dividends beyond the publicity.

Non-Conference Schedule Set

Here is the Non-Conference schedule, just recently released this past week (schedule page updated as well). In Rebel Reign style, the opponents will be looked at, predictions will be made, and comparisons to previous schedules will be mentioned. This all takes time, which is why no major media outlet has done the dirtywork either. We'll get it done, and there is plenty of time before the season starts to start thinking about how winning that winning record will be. Feast your eyes on our foes:


UNLV BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
The Rebels' non-conference opponents for the 2012-13 season:
Nov. 3 at UCLA (closed scrimmage)
Nov. 7 Dixie State (exhibition)
Nov. 12 Northern Arizona
Nov. 17 Jacksonville State
Nov. 23 Oregon
Nov. 24 Cincinnati or Iowa State
Nov. 28 UC Irvine
Dec. 1 Hawaii
Dec. 4 at Portland
Dec. 9 at California
Dec. 13 University of La Verne-z (D-III)
Dec. 17 at Texas-El Paso
Dec. 19 Northern Iowa
Dec. 22 Canisius
Dec. 29 at North Carolina
Jan. 3 Chicago State
Jan. 5 Cal State Bakersfield
z-at Orleans Arena; all other home games at Thomas & Mack Center    

Free throw percentage - the great overlooked statistic

Chace Stanback knocking in a free-throw near the end of UNLV's victory over #1 UNC

Notching either a shooting foul, or getting the opposing team into the bonus or even sweeter - double bonus, can do wonders for offensive production. After all, they don't call it the charity stripe for nothing. Provided the Rebels aren't dominating and destroying the competition night in and night out - there will be close games. In said close games, capitalization from the free throw line will be of paramount importance - otherwise points were essentially left on the table, and that could turn what otherwise would be a W into an L. These are my observations.

#1 - Recent history paints the Rebels as a below average free-throw shooting team. 

There are three important statistics, free throws attempted, free throws made, and free throw percentage - the aggregate of the two earlier stats. Why not just look at percentage? Because it ignores frequency at the line which is critical if the points are to mean anything. Here's how the Rebels have been doing from the line.

Free throws attempted: 734 in 2011-12. Comparing that to the rest of the MWC, we were 2nd in attempts. Nationally, we were 83rd in attempts. Being second in the conference is not too shabby, although first would be better - at least we weren't middle of the pack or worse. The per-game average (734 / 35) is nearly 21 attempts per game. 21 potential points is huge. Got to make those shots to be succcessful. 

Free throws made: 496 in 2011-12. Compared to the rest of the MWC, we were 4th in the league in makes - middle of the pack. Nationally, we were 100th in makes. Clearly, its not rocket science at this point to note that we did not maintain that 2nd in the conference or national statute when it came to actually making the attempts. The per-game average of makes computes to (496 / 35) about 14 points per game. So, while its hard to be perfect, the Rebels last season left about 6 high percentage points on the court last year, on the average per game. How many close games could have been wins? How could those wins have helped our seeding and changed our fate? Nobody knows - but room for improvment definitely

Free throw percentage: 67.6% from the free throw line in 2011-12. Within the MWC, we were ranked 7th in the conference in percentage. Nationally we were ranked 228th. This is simply bottom of the pack statistics, unacceptible from anyone's point of view. This is the number that justified why you, as a Runnin' Rebel fan always felt a little queesy last season when one of our players stepped up to the free throw line, and why you felt that way when an opponent was sent to the line. Room for improvement? No such thing as a stupid question? - that's a stupid question if there ever was one. 

Historically, have we always been this bad at free throws? Granted, Coach Rice and his assistants have only been at the helm for one season, but a lot of our players were on prior rosters. What does history say about this disturbing statistic...

College Basketball Stats by StatSheet.com

College Basketball Stats by StatSheet.com

So historically, we were better the prior couple of years, and weren't this bad since 2005-06. From looking at the charts, we do OK for 4 years and then hit a bump in the road. Clearly, shooting a high percentage from the free throw line has to be as important as anything Coach Rice has the team working on for this upcoming season.

#2 - Coach Rice @ BYU had his team on lockdown with FTs.

Anyone who has seen the BYU Cougars play, knows those guys hit their free throws. Throw out whatever stereotype you like, such as that unatheltic team has nothing better to do than to practice unopposed shots all day - but these shots matter, and last time I checked BYU was nearly always a threat in the MWC, even without Jimmer. Who happened to be an assistant coach at BYU..... Dave Rice - for the five years prior to his taking the reigns at UNLV.

Coach Rice's last season at BYU (2010-11) - FT Attempts - 865, Makes - 662, percentage 76.5% That's 10th in the nation that season, #1 in the MWC. Amazing numbers, winning numbers, envyable numbers. Along with his run and gun offense that he brought from Provo, why can't he bring the 10th in the nation free throw shooting mentality as well? Was 2010-11 an anomoly for BYU?

College Basketball Stats by StatSheet.com

College Basketball Stats by StatSheet.com

Ok, so Free throw shooting kind of sucked when Coach Rice got to BYU. But look what happened in a few years - #1 in the country in free throw percentage in 2009-10. That's perfection. Being optimistic, maybe a few years down the road UNLV has a similar turnaround.

#3 - Specific players, who needs work - who is already solid?

First of all - we're in a bit of trouble. Our top three free throw percentage leaders (Kendall Wallace, Oscar Bellfield, and Chace Stanback) have all graduated.

The next best is Mike Moser, who shot 78%. Following, we have Anthony Marshall who got to the line more than anyone (163 attempts) and made almost 72% of those. Justin Hawkins was at 62%, Carlos Lopez was at 61% and Quintrell Thomas was at 60%. Khem Birch, based on limited data from Pitt was at 54% Unless our returning players have a major improvement over the summer in FT percentage, or we recruited studs from the line - we are doomed to a similar fate as last season, maybe worse. Certainly, with the group assembled we'll have plenty of slashers and scorers - which will lead to league leading attempts - but we need to make those shots and we need our players focused on getting those "easy" points.

Simply put, everyone needs work - and hopefully everyone has been putting in that work on the regular.

# 4 - Was this pointed out by anyone during last season?

Yes, Ryan Greene, formally of the Las Vegas Sun but now of Vegas Seven's RunRebs.com pointed it out several times. See these articles.UNLV needs more balance ; Free throw shooting stressed in wake of loss

Hopefully this issue has been on the front-burner even though it hasn't received much press in recent memory. I have faith in our guys, and they seem to understand that it takes a hell of a lot of work to achieve the ultimate goal - winning a championship. No attribute can be ignored in pursuit of that endeavor.

Stats - Credit to Statsheet.com

Interview with Anthony Marshall

On Saturday, June 30, 2012 Anthony Marshall did a comprehensive interview with Rebel Reign and many areas fans wanted to know about - he answered. As a senior, a leader, and a floor general Anthony will play a huge part of the Runnin' Rebels success this upcoming season, his final as a Rebel. He is also a class act as a Las Vegas native. Everyone enjoy!

RR = Rebel Reign
AM = Anthony Marshall

RR: You’ve been known to use negative comments from opponents, their fans, and even some from UNLV fans to push you harder – when did you start doing that and does it really work for you?

AM: It’s kind of something I’ve always done, even since my younger days. You hear talking around the city, and it kind of motivates you to prove doubters wrong. You just go out there and work harder, so publically its gotten out over the past year – but I actually do really use it. I use what people say about our or my abilities to work harder.

RR: So how far back have you been using it?

AM: Middle school, high school. A lot of people say you shouldn’t read negative things because it could harm your game or stuff like that, but for me, it just adds fuel to the fire. Back in high school I would go onto message boards and read, just like I do now. You have to have a tough skin and all, but I use it.

RR: With Oscar Bellfield graduating, there is an obvious opening at the PG position – are you ready to run Coach Rice’s up-tempo offense, and what can we expect different from what we saw from Oscar?

AM: Well, if you’re a Rebel fan and at the games you would see I ran a lot of point last season. Me and Oscar were so interchangeable, sometimes he would go to the wing and let me run the break, run the point guard position a lot. If you look at my stats, I’ve made some strides over the last couple of years on my assist to turnover ratio. I felt this past year I did fairly well, could do a lot better, but I felt it was a starting point for me. Oscar was first, and I was second in assists in the conference. So I feel that I am really ready to play the point guard position, it’s something I feel I can do, and to be the team we want to be I’ll have a good opportunity to fill that role.

RR: Do you see yourself playing shooting guard or point guard at the next level?

AM: Well if you look at the guys who play shooting guard at the next level, they are 6’6”, 6’7” around there, so for me, I feel PG is the position I’ll have to play and I’m pretty comfortable playing it. There’s still some things I need to work on in that area, just my overall game, I just can’t be satisfied with one thing. So for me to get where I’m trying to go the point guard position is something I have to play. If you look at Russell Westbrook, who is a great player – not trying to compare  myself to Westbrook, in college he was more of a shooting guard (at UCLA he wasn’t PG, they had Collision) and then in the NBA they tried to mold him into a point guard. It’s just a learning process – a transition.

RR: As a Las Vegas native, you’ve been a strong vocal supporter of recruiting locally. Are you happy how things have changed since you’ve started with the program, and how much further does UNLV need to go to get to where you think it should be in local recruiting?

AM: I think it’s changed a lot. Coming out of high school, people really weren’t considering UNLV as a destination, not too excited about playing basketball here. UNLV staff wasn’t really focused on recruiting local prospects like that. That’s why UNLV wasn’t recruiting local prospects. Now you can’t go anywhere without seeing someone with UNLV hat, tee shirt or sweatshirt or just talking about the Rebels – it’s a real feeling. When I signed my letter of intent this is what I envisioned, now its exciting to become a Runnin’ Rebel.

RR: Is there anything more that can be done to improve?

AM: I just feel like if we keep doing what we’re doing,, keep winning, and we’re one of  the elite programs – everything should take care of itself. Who wouldn’t want to come and play for a Coach who lets you do what you want to do, gives freedom as long as you play hard each time, play defense, and play as a family. He lets you get out of run, he’ll never tell you not to shoot a good shot. And who wouldn’t want to play in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada – it all just clicks.

RR: What are your personal goals for the 2012-13 season?

AM: Improving my overall game, I feel like returning and being a leader on this team, on and off the court, focus on the goal that’s ahead – to win a championship. That’s why we all came to UNLV, and that’s what Coach Rice feels we are capable of. So, if you look at the nucleus we already have and bring in the new guys, we have a great opportunity. Even though its far away, and easier said than done - put in the work and we’ll get there.

RR: Even though your already a pretty athletic and muscular guy, what are you working on physically in the off-season?

AM: I’m just trying to get my eating habits right, hard being a college athlete and stuff like that. Just getting my eating habits right. I really want to take a night class in yoga, it prevents injuries and soreness – just staying healthy and all. It’s just hard to find a night one because of summer school, and practice.

RR: When this year is over, and you’ve graduated – what will you miss the most about playing for UNLV?

AM: It’s kind of hard to say because there are so many things, but I’d have to say being around my teammates. You really grow a tight bond with them – like they are your family. That and definitely putting on the UNLV jersey and running down the red carpet. That’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life and cherish.

RR: What is something you’ve learned from Coach Rice and staff that’s new to you, both on and off the basketball court? (philosophy, tips, etc)

AM: They are both terrific coaches (Rice and Kruger). They are really similar, except for Coach Rice wanting to play fast and Coach Kruger wanting you to slow things down first. It’s kind of good having both because sometimes the flow of  the game is a team that likes to get up and down like you, then others want to work in the half court. Their methods of teaching are kind of different, but overall, it’s kind of the same.

RR: Who has been you most challenging 1-on-1 defensive / offensive assignment – in college basketball / MWC / within your team?

AM: Personally, that’s a tough question. Hard to say, I look forward to guarding all the guys at SDSU – I grew up playing against them. On the court – we’re enemies, but off we are friends. So I’d have to say it’s always good matching up with guys you know. Hank Thorns Jr. at TCU, Billy White when he was at SDSU, BYU, they liked to get up and down when we played them. It’s always fun.

RR: Inter-squad scrimmages – who is  the biggest challenge to play against?

AM: I always match up with Justin Hawkins, Bryce Jones, or Mike Moser. With Justin – I’ve known him like since the 9th grade. He always thinks he has an advantage on me because he knows my game. Bryce, he’s very competitive as is Mike Moser.

RR: Is Justin as successful at picking your pocket as he is in the game?

AM: Actually no, because I know his defensive tendencies, and I know better than to dribble the ball  right in front of him, keep my body between him and the ball. So he doesn’t pick my pocket like that.

RR: Twitter – obviously you are plugged into social media, what does the interaction mean to you and how does it differ from before you had a twitter account?

AM: I actually got Twitter my freshman year, before anyone really had it. Then my sophomore year, people saw how much I tweeted and people started following me – then it really blew up.

RR: What kind of effect does it have on you?

AM: Some people say  it may have a negative effect, but to me, it I’d say it has a very positive effect. Growing up, never had a website or social network to reach people we looked up to, to ask them advice or questions. So for people to write me questions or comment on how they feel about something – I cherish that, and appreciate it. I think it’s fun, I’m always looking to help someone if they need it, or answer questions like who’s my favorite players, etc. Someone taking five minutes out of  their day to talk to me, I appreciate that.

RR: Do you think you could go without Twitter at this point?

AM: Yeah, I could. It’s just a social network – not life or death. I could do without it.

RR: Just was curious, because obviously there are collegiate programs that don’t allow it and that can be a big part of a player’s decision on whether to attend that school or not. But it doesn’t look like anything like that will be happening at UNLV anytime soon.

AM: I feel like we are all responsible men. Coach Rice, he holds us accountable as adults – we know what we can’t write. So he treats us like adults.

RR: There was a stretch of games last season where you were half-man half-amazing – otherworldly. Now, you always play really well, looking back what was clicking for you during that time period?

AM: Just being aggressive. In the beginning, I was more passive, looking more to get my teammates involved. I wasn’t really looking for my own offense, and that hurt a bit .I’d say around the SDSU game, conference play, that’s when I got it going – that’s when I had a stretch of playing really well. I started being aggressive, going to the lane. When defenders tried to stop that, it opened up my mid-range jump shot. When defenders tried to stop that I just kicked it out to my teammates.

RR: When you started your UNLV career in 2009-10 with a roster that included Tre’von Wills, Chace Stanback, Matt Shaw, Steve Jones, Darris Santee, Brice Massamba, Kendall Wallace, Derrick Jasper, Oscar Bellfield, Justin Hawkins, Carlos Lopez, and Coached by Lon Kruger. Now in 2012-13 your roster has yourself, Justin Hawkins, Bryce Dejean-Jones, Katin Reinhardt, Daquan Cook, Mike Moser, Anthony Bennett, Roscoe Smith, Savon Goodman, Quintrell Thomas, Demetris Morant, Khem Birch, and Carlos Lopez now coached by Dave Rice. How is the feeling different now?

AM: I’d say for me, now I have the leadership role. Coming in as a freshman you really don’t say much, we had leaders like Tre,  Jasper, Oscar, and Chace. This year, it’s probably me, Mike, Justin, just taking on that leadership role.

RR: What do you know about Katin Reinhardt and DaQuan Cook?  Have you played with them at all?

AM:  I haven’t had a chance to play with them yet, they come up next week. But what I know is they are both great guards, athletic, great passers. Katin can shoot it, DaQuan is a traditional pass first guard. So I mean, once they get here we’ll have a lot of pieces to put together – but I’m looking forward to working with all of them.

RR: Everybody in the country is talking about the amazing new transfers and recruiting class, ranked #7 and likely preseason ranking in the top 10.  What’s the buzz right now amongst the team about it?

AM: The sky’s the limit.  I think our potential is unlimited. It’s exciting to have such talented pieces to work with. We’re lucky to have the opportunity to show that. If you look at the past, a lot of top ten teams, some don’t even make the tournament, or they get knocked out the first round. So buzz – we’re not trying to be that, we’re trying to surpass. We want to get to the end and cut down the nets and raise the trophy. That’s the ultimate goal and I feel this year we have the right pieces to do that. You look at our roster from top to bottom, and guys are interchangeable. You take our second team players, whoever they are going to be,  and they could be first team at another college and have them winning games. So for us, we just have to put together the pieces and make things work.

RR: Obviously coming into last season Mike Moser sat out a year as a redshirt transfer, and then came in and was amazing. Do you see the same thing happening with Bryce Jones?

AM: Yeah definitely, I also see the same potential in Khem. They are both terrific talents, and I am really pleased to have them on my team. Bryce is a competitor who brings some grit to the team which is good, but I also see the same things with Khem also.

RR: I know you won't be playing with them, but tell us what you know about Dantley Walker and Christian Wood.   Have you played with them, what do you see from them?

AM: Actually Dantley used to play for my AAU team the Las Vegas Prospects when he was in high school, so I’ve always been around watching him play. I’ve always liked his game, and when he decided to come to UNLV I was excited for him and happy for him. I grew up watching him – he’s like a little brother. Christian, I’ve seen highlights of him and made it to one Findlay Prep game – and he’ll be playing for the Las Vegas Prospects as well, so I’m excited and happy for both of them and excited to see what they do when they come in.

RR: Coach Rice seems to be a very "nice" guy, a solid guy like Coach Kruger, is he the same in the huddle as his public persona?

AM: Yeah definitely, he’s a nice guy. He really doesn’t do too much yelling – he talks to you calmly unless he has to get after you if you’re not doing stuff right. I think that makes a big impact on how you play, when a Coach can just come and talk to you, it makes you play relaxed instead of pressured. The way he is seen in the public eye – that’s the way he is, what you see is what you get.

RR: Give me a couple things that would get him "fired-up" mad.

AM: Not playing as a team, that’s one. We’re a team of great talent, so playing as a team is very important. Not playing defense, not keeping your man in front. We have some scrimmages were not keeping your man in front is really important. Not boxing out when rebounding, the little things – stuff like that.

RR: Do you work with any specific assistant coaches, and how do they help you?

AM: Each assistant coach, their doors are open to talk to them or get some shots with them. That’s the great things, they’re always willing to work with you and help you. That’s the great thing about having a coaching staff like this. I’ve worked out with all of them, and they just want us to improve and get better.

RR: What’s your favorite NBA team, player – similar games to your own or strive to play like?

AM: I’m a west coast guy, so it would have  to be Lakers and Kobe Bryant. I really try to play like myself, but drawn comparisons from fans and other people to Derrick Rose as far as athletic style and body type. Russell Westbrook as far as athleticism, being a shooting guard and then to point guard. As far as trying to play like Kobe – naw, he’s 6’6” and when I realized I wasn’t going to get that tall I realized I had to play like a smaller guard.

RR: Favorite shoe on the basketball court?

AM: I play different Jordan’s all the time, but this past year my favorite shoes were the Jordan XIV’s.

RR: We’ll that’s all I have – I really appreciate the interview.

AM: No problem, thanks.

2nd Annual Legends Reunion Celebration presented by RebelSwag

Here is a fun event for those who would like to mingle with your favorite former UNLV athletes and avid fans. I went to last year's and it was a really good time. This Saturday night if you're interested:

Facing the 'good problem to have' - is there room for everybody?

Coach Dave Rice - knows exactly what he's doing

Before the article - shout-out to UNLV's Joel Anthony and the Miami Heat for winning the NBA Championship. That's two Runnin' Rebels winning championships in the last two years (Shawn Marion 2011 with the Mavericks).

Any college coach will tell you, having too much talent is a good problem to have to deal with. The opposite is obviously trying to make up for a lack of talent and figuring out ways to beat your opponent when likely outmatched. The Runnin' Rebels are now as stacked as they were at anytime since their 89-90' and 90-91' teams took college basketball by storm. Let's look at what others are pointing to as a perceived problem.

There are forty minutes in a college basketball game, and with no more than five players on the court for a team at any given time, that means 200 minutes are up for grabs, not including the potential for overtime. What keeps a player on the floor is their ability to make plays, hustle, be consistent, make others better, not turnover the ball and not pick up fouls.

Anyone who knows the game of basketball knows it takes some time for a player to get a feel of the tempo of the game, to feel the offense and read the opponent to work within the defense. Game tape and bench time are very important, but cannot make up for actually planting your sneakers on the court and breaking a sweat. There have been players who have had more minutes than they thought possible, perhaps recently graduated Oscar Bellfield would fit into that category. And there were others who believed they were entitled to more minutes, specifically non-garbage time minutes - perhaps recently transferred Karam Mashour would fit into that category (he is transferring to Morehead St.). There have been coaching decisions that many of us fans would tend to disagree with, specifically the carousel of substitutions at the center spot constantly rotating between Massamba, Lopez, and Thomas - more so with Kruger, but somewhat with Rice.  All in the persuit from a coaching standpoint of figuring out what five guys can get UNLV a W instead of a L. In the end, if the Ls outnumber the Ws, change will come swiftly and paid employees are the ones who may not see the court.

Let's run through scenarios under the believe that what Coach Rice said, he'd like to run 9-10 deep will in fact play out.

Here is how I see this years roster grouping out:

Players who can play point guard:
Anthony Marshall
Katin Reinhardt
Justin Hawkins
Daquan Cook

Players who can play shooting guard:
Bryce Dejean-Jones
All of the previously named point guards

Players who can play small forward:
Anthony Bennett
Mike Moser
Savon Goodman
Roscoe Smith

Players who can play power forward:
Anthony Bennett
Mike Moser
Khem Birch
Carlos Lopez
Quintrell Thomas
Demetris Morant
Savon Goodman

Players who can play center:
Carlos Lopez
Quintrell Thomas
Khem Birch
Anthony Bennett
Demetris Morant

Players who are going to potentially redshirt 2012-13 (based on speculation in the media)
Daquan Cook
Roscoe Smith (may be forced by NCAA)
Khem Birch (fall semester)
Savon Goodman
Demetris Morant

There have been many off-season additions, but the losses that most impact the Runnin' Rebels from a minutes and impact standpoint are clearly Chace Stanback, Oscar Bellfield, and Brice Massamba.

Chace Stanback averaged 27.9 minutes a game at the forward position. Who will fill his shoes? Much has been made of the deepest front-court in all of college basketball, and In the early season, we'll have #6/7th ranked Anthony Bennett to fill his shoes and bring both offense and grit to the position. Clearly, having Anthony Bennett run along side Mike Moser in the 3 and 4 positions is a dream lineup, so why not make it happen? Fortunately we can have any two of our deepest front court on the court at any time. Part of the reason why Coach Rice is thinking of running 9-10 deep is because its going to take a hell of a lot of energy to play his up-tempo offense the way he actually wants to execute it. Along with the offense, the constantly switching defense is likely to be back, and hopefully while we exhaust the opposing teams we keep fresh legs on the court. So, in likelihood Roscoe Smith will not be granted a waiver because the NCAA is not particualry thrilled with all the transfer activity. Let's pretend that Demetris Morant redshirts (could easily be Goodman instead of Morant redshirting), and Quintrell Thomas and Carlos Lopez stick with the 5 spot. Then you really only have Anthony Bennett, Mike Moser, Savon Goodman, and Khem Birch (in the fall). Not as deep as previously presumed. A total of 80 minutes between the small forward and power forward must be split between them. According to how I'm looking at it - plenty of room to be had and make up for Chace Stanback's minutes and production.

Oscar Bellfield averaged 32 minutes a game at the point guard position - that's a hell of a lot of minutes to dish out. All of the candidates outlined above all have the potential to be scoring point guards, and will likely not have to create their own shot or face a double team based upon the amount of respect opponents' defenders will have to pay the rest of the roster. Making up for the consistency of Bellfield will be difficult - remember, Coach Rice really wanted to start Anthony Marshall at PG before the seasons started, and did for a few games - but then changed back to Bellfield at point. I believe Marshall has the ability, but Coach realized that he needed the experience that Bellfield brought to the position.  All four candidates are capable of playing point - but the starter will be the one with the most consistency. The starter will occupy 20-27 minutes a game. Because there are so many minutes to fill, redshirting Daquan Cook should not be an option, provided he is ready to run Coach Rice's system. Had Reggie Smith not transferred, hands down I'd say he was going to redshirt - but this will be a huge test for him. A friend of mine keeps telling me Daquan Cook will be the biggest surprise this year, can't wait to see if he's right. Plenty of room to fill Oscar Bellfield's shoes, and plenty of room to fill the shooting guard position as well. Over-recruited? Nope.

Brice Massamba averaged 20.2 minutes a game at the center position. This is a very interesting quandary because of  the fall ineligibility of Khem Birch. Clearly, he would be in the mix at either the 4 or 5 position if available all year - but what to do about fall? Without Khem, you are left with Carlos Lopez and Quintrell Thomas guarding the center position. Pretty good, but the question is whether to have Demetris Morant use what could otherwise be an extremely productive redshirt year and have tons of freedom in the 2013-14 season. I can't even begin to think about how difficult this decision will be, but likely the outcome will be solely based upon how Morant plays in practice and the exhibition games in Canada, and whether he is comfortable with potentially losing minutes when Birch is introduced into the lineup in late December. I still have a lingering suspicion that the redshirt is probable, but if that's the case I am praying Lopez and Thomas can hold down the center position while awaiting Birch. Over recruited - No. Massamba really owned the center position last year, it will be fun to see who can carry his torch.

So, with as much hype about old roster vs. new, and whether the Runnin' Rebels are too stacked with talent that we all should be concerned - I think Coach Rice & staff knew exactly who they needed, didn't over recruit onto any one position, and have everything perfectly laid out going forward. Perhaps the mentality could be likened to someone going hunting, and always bringing too little ammo. Then, on a subsequent trip the guy finally brings an adequate amount of ammo and thinks - man, is this too much? Naaa... just enough to finally hit all of your targets. My prediction - MWC Champions and at least Elite Eight.

Savon Goodman's commitment caps this season's roster

The newest member of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels - Savon Goodman

Update 6/18/12 - All rosters have been updated for the addition of Goodman.

Late Friday the local media notified the Runnin' Rebel faithful that Coach Rice had yet again stunned the critics, as well as surprised the believers by signing Savon Goodman as the final scholarship on the 2012-13 roster.

Goodman had in recent weeks focused his possible destinations to UNLV and SMU. The 6'6" power forward from Constitution High School in Philadelphia, PA has been described by Coach Rice in a nice article by Ryan Greene of RunRebs.com as able to score at will, good in the transition game, a bit raw on offense, but a fantastic defensive player that can guard four positions.

For the purpose of RebelReign's profile of Savon Goodman, a little research as well as footage should say a lot about what UNLV is getting in Goodman.

Prior Commitment: Savon Goodman was previously committed to Villanova. He withdrew his commitment in the summer of 2011. Two potential reasons have been named, 1) Villanova's academic approach was not in line with what he was thinking, and or 2) After the Boost Mobile Elite game that summer Goodman got a lot more interest nationally, so he wanted to reopen his options and see if he could do better. In seeking a new home many destinations were mentioned, besides UNLV and SMU, NC State, Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Kansas, Missouri, Seton Hall, St. Johns, Temple, West Virgina and UCLA were all named as potential places of interest.

Measurements: He is 6'6", 210 pounds, and has a 6'9" wingspan. He carries a full frame that is solid muscle.

Accolades: Goodman was a Parade Magazine All-American (as was Dantley Walker). He and classmate Daiquan Walker led Constitution to a 23-9 record, the Public League championship, and the program's first state title. Goodman's averages per game last season were 25.8 points, 14.2 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 2 steals.Savon Goodman was named a top three rebounder/defender at the 2011 Kevin Durant Skills Camp. He is currently ranked as the 72nd best player overall in the 2012 class, and 18th best in his position by Rivals.com. He is currently ranked by ESPN as the 100th best player overall, 28th best in position. Both services rank him as a 4-star recruit. Member of the USA Elite National Team, helped lead USA to victory in France in FIBA competition in 2011.

Take away: From reading articles about Goodman, as well as watching plenty of tape I've come to a few conclusions that may have not already been mentioned out there.

Effort - Savon Goodman is a dunking machine, no doubt. Not the fancy type of dunking that we potentially lost when Reggie Smith transferred out, but blue-collar lunch lets go to work dunks. What hasn't been mentioned but is readily apparent, is he has an extremely quick second jump - and the intuition to properly use it. This is valuable because it leads to a lot of second chance points from his own original miss, or someone else s. With the amount of Runnin' Coach Rice will expect from this finely tuned machine, having fresh hops on the bench (bench for now) is an extremely valuable commodity.  What impresses me about his jumping is not only his dunks, but his ability to get to the open ball and provide the effort necessary to do the little things to win a game. Looking at what he was able to accomplish in High School, he is a legitimate double-double threat, similar to Mike Moser.But unlike Mike, they play entirely different styles of basketball.

Other attributes: Goodman has been noticed as well for two other attributes, passing and getting to the free-throw line. So, we can expect a man who will make smart decisions with the basketball, goat the opponent into foul trouble, and be able to capitalize from the charity stripe. Clearly, these are some things UNLV has been lacking in years past. He is fundamentally sound, physically strong, and mentally tough. Another excellent get by the coaching staff.

When will we see him play: Again, citing back to the article on RunRebs.com, the scenario is that if Roscoe Smith gets the waiver to play (and elects to play this season), then Goodman will redshirt this season. If Roscoe Smith is not granted a waiver (which is a likely scenario considering the love the NCAA has for UNLV and everything generally surrounding Smith's transfer from UCONN), then the picture becomes a bit more unclear. I'm not even going to begin to speculate on this because there are several contingencies that go into the ultimate answer. Just another fun thing to watch coming into the 2012-13 season.

A picture is worth a 1000 words...
So video is infinitely better. Do yourselves a favor and take a look at what Savon Goodman has done. You'll be impressed.

Loss of 'The Mtn' - Good or Bad?

The Mtn is dead, what's next for UNLV  broadcast?

All of the headaches that basketball fans are experiencing right now are as of a result of football's maddening quest for automatic bowl qualifiers and getting a piece of the better part of money inequities from television deals. As a UNLV Basketball fan, two problems - the MWC has decided (or has it) to combine with Conference USA, and the flagship sports network of the MWC, The Mtn, has pulled the plug as of May 31, 2012. The LVRJ has recently written a decent breakdown of what happened, and where we are now. But, this is an important enough issue to at least delve a little further and push things to their logical end. That's the beauty of running a fan-based website - I can do that.

The LVRJ article explained a couple things that I didn't know. First, the demise of  the MWC as we know it has little to do with the demise of The Mtn. Article explains that the network was losing money, and it was a financial decision. Second, although I thought that the MWC commissioners would have had something lined up when the decision to pull the plug was made - not so, they are going to make it up as they go along this season, and work towards a solid TV deal for next season. Third, UNLV will lose $400,000 that would have been paid from The Mtn, but now has the opportunity to sell the rights to individual games, potentially to the highest bidder.

Analysis

When I first heard that they were shutting down The Mtn, I was kind of happy. Provided that the conference or UNLV had something bigger and better lined up (something to rectify the disparity between the MWC and the Pac-12 TV deals) losing the hokey The Mtn, seemed like no big deal, maybe even a good thing. Then, initially after I read the LVRJ article cited above, I was a bit scarred. Without The Mtn, there would be no dedicated network to televise MWC games. But then I got to thinking --- I don't recall very many UNLV basketball games being featured on The Mtn last season anyhow. Let's see if that's in fact true.

The Runnin' Rebels played 35 games last year that counted towards our record, this includes the second round loss in the NCAA tournament. Of those 35 games, the Rebels were televised 26 times (*one time was ESPN3.com). Of those 26 television appearances, here's the breakdown:

CBS Networks: 8
NBC Networks: 3
The Mtn: 9
Other: 4
ESPN Networks: 2

So, even with The Mtn in existence, UNLV Basketball was still only televised 74% of the time. Of those television appearances, The Mtn carried UNLV more than any other media source, but still accounted for only 34% of games televised. Taking the total number of games played into account, The Mtn televised only 25.7% of UNLV basketball games played last season. These are not encouraging statistics, and besides the low production value and sporadic availability of high definition programming, coupled with the major difficulty in obtaining the channel "The Mtn" nationally, I now remember why I hated The Mtn.

So, when it is said that UNLV has to hodgepodge together sales of television rights for certain games this coming season - it looks more like this is par for the course. Most of the time last season, games were hodgepodged out, so much so that the exhaustive list of where one could view a UNLV game included: CBS, CBS Sports, NBS Sports, ESPN, ESPN3, TruTV, Big10 Network, Cox 96, CBS Local Channel 8, and of course, The Mtn. The place where you would watch the Rebels changed so many times, a few times RebelReign.com had the channel wrong as far as advertising the game.

Is this a shift from the previous season? Of the 33 games played during the 2010-11 season, 25 were televised. Of those 25 appearances, here's the breakdown:

Versus (remember them?): 4
ESPN Networks: 4
The Mtn: 11
CBS Networks: 5
TBS: 1

So during that season, The Mtn overwhelmingly covered Runnin' Rebels basketball as compared to other sources. Overall, they covered 44% of televised games, and were responsible for televising 33% of all possible games. Keep in mind though, as far as quality - The Mtn was not in High Definition last year, so watching a game on The Mtn was like watching an old VHS tape (in my opinion).

'You're So Money'

Given, I have no idea what a college can get paid for the rights to the their games - it really depends on ad revenue and the equasion of how much money a station can make off televising a certain game. I do know generally how much a game costs to televise, it was said last year (if I recall correctly) that it was 20k for non-HD broadcast, and 40k for HD. Hypothetically, if UNLV made 400k last year (let's totally write off UNLV football and other sports for the sake of argument) and pretending that The Mtn hosted every televised game, that's UNLV getting paid roughly $15k per televised game. Know, you know that figure is much lower because in actuality many UNLV football games and other NCAA sports are televised, so that sucks. Again speculating, maybe the hodgepodge last season occurred because the Rebels were more-often-than-not nationally ranked, and were a pretty awesome team for most of the season. So maybe, given the choice between broadcasting your games on The Mtn for a pittance, or looking for someone to 'show me the money', UNLV has already been eating at that troth. So it may be good, and they may have it figured out even though I and many fans are not at all comfortable with the fact that they are making it up as they go as far as televising our Runnin' Rebels. Thank God I bought Season Tickets this coming season,.

The short of it is, based upon the fact that this is not really new territory, and they appear to only be finding a home for 9-11 games (hopefully more), I'm not concerned if the athletic administration isn't concerned. Coach Rice is putting a remarkable product on the court this year, likely a preseason top-10 product (or at least close). Our team's games should sell high, provided the team lives up to expectations. So, only time will tell whether this is a good thing or bad, but chances are it is a very good thing.

PS: A word of warning. Over the years there has been a proliferation of internet sites and advertisements claiming to have a streaming feed to every NCAA game, including the one you happen to be looking to watch. Don't buy in - they are scams. They do not have the game you are looking for. If the game you want to watch is online streaming, it will be available in three places 1) your teams website, 2) opponents website, 3) ESPN3.com. Don't waste your money or time chasing windmills.

Khem Birch Interview

Khem Birch spent some time answering some questions that were on my mind, and I'm sure a lot of Runnin' Rebels fans' minds and this interview is the finished result. Would like to sincerely thank Khem Birch, he's a real class-act and a major piece of UNLV's charge to the top of college basketball.

RR = RebelReign
KB = Khem Birch

RR: Since you transferred from Pittsburgh and sat out last half of  the season, this summer, and first half of next – what are you working on basketball skills wise?

KB: Me and Coach Augmon have been working on midrange shots, face up moves, and shooting on the run.

RR: And what would you say, of those areas, have you had the most improvement in so far?

KB: I would say midrange shot.

RR: So how far is your range right now?

KB: I’ve been able to hit threes I haven’t hit before, but I’m more streaky when it comes to the three. My midrange shot is much better.

RR: So you’re pretty good from 16-18 feet out?

KB: Yeah.

RR: Are you a better shooter catch and shoot, or from the dribble?

KB: I would say catching off the pass.

RR: Physically, obviously you’ve been working with Coach Kabo in the weight room?

KB: Yeah.

RR: Is there any particular things he has worked with you on that you weren’t working on at Pittsburgh?

KB: I’ve been able to lift and keep my balance. At Pittsburg I was able to gain weight, but not jump – here I’m able to gain the weight and still jump.

RR: So he’s been focused on your vertical?

KB: Yeah, I’m still getting better, I’ve gained 10 points of muscle.

RR: Is that upper body, or lower body, or evenly spread?

KB: Yeah, even.

RR: Are there any areas physically you need to improve, I know you just said you’ve put on the 10 pounds but are you looking to add more bulk, or are you good where you are at?

KB: Yeah, definitely my lower body, my legs are still skinny. So I’m trying to do more leg stuff.

RR: Obviously, that will help you playing the 4/5 position.

KB: Yeah.

RR: I want to talk a minute about Anthony Bennett, you met him a while back while both in Canada?

KB: I was 17. We were on Team Canada together.

RR: Were you also both on CIA together?

KB: No, I was on the older team.

RR: Throughout his recruitment, you guys being in the same city that must have had a profound effect – any every Rebel fan thanks you. How excited are you to play along side Anthony this coming year?

KB: I am really excited. The last time we played together we did really well. So hopefully we can do more. We can probably get to the final four and win a championship together.

RR: Did you play together at the same time on Team Canada?

KB: Yeah, that worked out really well.

RR: What do you think of the addition of Roscoe Smith?

KB: I feel its great because he knows what it takes to win a national championship. He’s a really good player so, my hopes were up that he would come. I told him I wanted him to come, and I’m very excited.

RR: Were you surprised at all that he did chose UNLV?

KB: Actually I was, because he told me he was going to look at other schools and I was like, dang. He might… once you go to another school you might get another opinion, but that wasn’t the case. But I guess he really liked the visit and I guess we did a good job of showing him around Las Vegas.

RR: Its been well reported that last season’s win over #1 at the time UNC Tarheels put UNLV on your radar as far as transfer destination, but what specifically about UNLV attracted you and players like yourself to UNLV? Is it the opportunity to work with Coach Augmon and develop you as a forward?

KB: It was Coach Rice actually, he lets you play more free form, and run and gun, and that’s the style of play I really wanted. Having Coach Augmon and the other coaches helps as well because they were really nice  when I visited.

RR: So it’s the run and gun style that attracts players?

KB: Yeah.

RR: What do you think of the Mendenhall Center?

KB: I’m in there everyday, working out in there, morning, noon, and nighttime.

RR: Obviously better than the gym you used to play in.

KB: Definitely.

RR: How is it working out and playing against Mike Moser, Carlos Lopez, and everyone?

KB: It helps a lot, especially Mike. He’s really good on defense, he has quick feet. Its tough to get past him. And Carlos is strong. Its really good.

RR: What did you think by the visit and talk by Mike Tyson before the tournament?

KB: I was in shock, I can’t believe I saw Mike Tyson. He’s a really nice guy. I loved when he said even thought you don’t want to practice every day, you just have to. I take what he said to heart, and I go to the gym.

RR: During practice time, who is your favorite player to battle?

KB: I would have to say Brice Massamba. He’s really physical. And Quintrell, he’s really strong and brings physicality to the game. I would say Brice.

RR: How do you see UNLV fitting into your future plans as far as getting drafted and playing in the NBA?

KB: People think that, but I don’t really sweat that. If I was looking to get drafted quicker I probably would have stayed at Pitt and not taken the redshirt year. I’m really trying to graduate, and hopefully make the NBA in a year and a half.

RR: Well that’s a very humble attitude, I guess the ultimate decision is out of your hands. So that’s a good perspective to have.

KB: Yeah, definitely.

RR: How do you like living in Las Vegas versus Pittsburg?

KB: I like it way better, there is a lot of sun – not gloomy. People are real friendly here, lots to do. And the coaching staff is great.

RR: What do you think about 24 hrs supermarkets and fast food, they don’t have that everywhere else?

KB: That’s actually true, yeah. Cause I really get hungry at night.

RR: So you can hit the jack in the box or Taco Bell.

KB: Yeah

RR: What’s your favorite basketball shoe?

KB: Nike Foamposite Penny Hardaway.

RR: Is that because of the way they handle, or how light they are?

KB: No, its because of the way they look.

RR: Favorite NBA team?

KB: I don’t really have one.

RR: Favorite NBA player?

KB: Kobe Bryant

RR: Since Kobe is more of a shooting guard, and you play forward are there any forwards you idolize and like their game?

KB: Serge Ibaka game’s actually.

RR: He’s tough, he’s a good athlete – I get that.

KB: Yeah

RR: Well, thank you for the interview.

KB: No problem, thank you very much.