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.

Welcome home, Roscoe Smith

Update - 5/27/12 7:00am - All current and future rosters have been updated 

Well, Las Vegas is about to become Mr. Smith's home for the next few years -- so why not welcome him!(obvious play on a popular movie title). Runnin' Rebels fans will get to see Roscoe Smith at the fan preview, but it is yet undetermined as to whether he plays on the 2012-13 roster. Here are the scenarios:

1) Roscoe Smith is not granted a waiver by the NCAA to play immediately, forcing him to redshirt like any other player transferring teams. If you were unaware, UCONN was hit with sanctions (for failure to meet academic goals) banning the team from conference or NCAA tournament play. It has also cost UCONN an appearance in this coming years Carrier Classic, previously hosted in San Diego and starring UNC and Michigan St. Many of Smith's UCONN teammates have transferred or declared for the NBA draft - given the futility of playing for UCONN this season, its hard to argue against it. The gist - forced redshirt, we welcome him to the court on the 2013-14 squad when Mike Moser and possibly Anthony Bennett have gone on to the NBA.

2) Roscoe Smith is granted a waiver by the NCAA. He becomes eligible to play this year for the Rebels, adding even more depth at the small forward spot behind Anthony Bennett.

3) Roscoe Smith is granted a waiver by the NCAA, yet decides to redshirt to improve his offensive game and wait until there is more room at the small forward position to get a lot of minutes.

Regardless of scenario, the prevailing logic right now is that several people will redshirt this coming season, most likely would be Demertris Morant, then Roscoe Smith (voluntarily or not), and possibly Daquan Cook (less likely with the leaving of Reggie Smith).

But putting all of this aside, who is Roscoe Smith and what can the Rebels expect? I've scoured the Internet to find that answer.

Coach Rice was quoted as saying of Smith “He is a terrific player, a proven winner and has a tremendous work ethic. He is a versatile wing that can play and guard multiple positions.”

All true. Here's what the UCONN media and fans say about Roscoe Smith on those points:

Hardcore UCONN Blogger David Gillett profiled Roscoe Smith after his freshman (championship) year, and had this to say:

Looking Back: Roscoe Smith had a rough freshman campaign. He struggled with consistency on the offensive end and saw his playing time fluctuate. His jumpers were all over the rim and he lacked a way to put the ball on the floor to create a shot. He turned into a defensive and rebounding specialist and did the dirty work that the team needed from him to ultimately win the championship. Unfortunately he will be most remembered for his flub at the end of regulation against Texas where he tossed a half court shot with eleven seconds remaining on the clock.
The Good: He plays hard on the defensive end and was tasked with covering the opponents most offensively talented players. He has great length and athleticism. His shot isn’t horrible, he just needs confidence in it. If he can find ways to get to the line and see the ball drop in the basket a few times, it would help his shot drastically. He is a tough nosed player and doesn’t mind banging bodies inside and is the type of player Jim Calhoun loves.
The Bad: He has no go-to-move and needs to work on getting points in the paint. He settled for quick jumpers and that isn’t his game right now. He needs to develop a post game and a way to put the ball on the floor and attack the rim. He also needs to do a better job of blocking out. He had a hard time adjusting to college and tried to use his athleticism to get rebounds instead of putting a body on his man.
Looking Ahead: With a whole year under his belt and a taste of success, Roscoe should take the next step in his development and contribute more on the offensive end. If he can flirt with ten points and ten boards a game, then he will warrant a major role because of his outstanding defensive ability. The wing position takes the most time to develop and Roscoe has all the tools to be successful, fans just need to be patient. Link

Connecticut Post writer/blogger for UCONN Kevin Duffy wrote of Smith's leaving for UNLV

Sources indicate that Smith transferred because he wanted to play on the perimeter. Though he would have been guaranteed a starting spot and quality minutes at UConn, he would have primarily played power forward. 

Smith, a starter in 33 of 41 games during UConn’s run to the 2011 national title, struggled to crack the rotation on a regular basis this past year. He averaged just 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 18.3 minutes per game. He did, however, thrive in a critical five-game stretch that helped UConn clinch its NCAA berth. Link

And then we have the UCONN fans. The author of this particular post (champs99and04) seems well versed in UCONN basketball (1255 posts) and expressed this sentiment on the loss of Roscoe Smith:

I too, thought Roscoe should have stuck it out at UConn because I think that would have been best for his career. But I think calling him a "glue guy" is selling him short. No, he wasn't a star, but basketball is a team sport, and without the hard nosed role players like Smith and Oriakhi, Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb wouldn't have gotten the chance to do their thing. Forget winning a national championship, because I'm not even sure the 2010-11 Huskies make the tournament without Roscoe. They were thin up front, Roscoe came in under the assumption that he was going to play the three, but yet he played the four nearly the entire season. Over his two years he was as selfless a player as anybody could have hoped for, which is why it surprised me that he decided to leave.  

The bottom line is that although Roscoe and Oriakhi won't be held in the same regard as guys like Adrien, Khalid, etc., they still contributed massively to this program during their stints here, never got into trouble off the court, and kept their grades up. I have a lot of respect for Roscoe and Oriakhi, even if I disagree with their decisions to leave. Link

Speaking to the decision to leave and nicely summarizing Roscoe Smith's career, Dom Amore of the Hartford Courant wrote this:

Smith, a sophomore from Baltimore, started 33 games as a freshman in 2010-11, averaged 25.4 minutes, 6.3 points and 5.2 rebounds. In the NCAA final against Butler, Smith blocked four shots. This past season, Smith started 18 games and averaged 18.2 minutes. He began playing a bigger role in late February, when the Huskies (20-14) began playing better as a team. 

Calhoun would not comment on his discussions with Smith. A team source, requesting anonymity, said Smith's decision stemmed from his desire to play small forward rather than power forward. With Oriakhi, who has since committed to Missouri, gone, and small forward types Omar Calhoun and R.J. Evans coming in, Smith was most likely to play power forward. Smith, unless he can obtain some sort of waiver from the NCAA, will have to sit out a year before resuming at a new school. Link

This is Smith's statline:

Season gp gs min         minavg tp ptsavg fgm fga fgpct  fg3pct

2010-11 41 33 1040 25.4        258 6.3           87 227 .383 .301

2011-12 33 14 602     18.2        146 4.4           53 125 .424 .241

TOTAL 74 47 1642 22.2        404 5.5          140 352 .398 .286

Season ftm fta ftpct oreb   dreb treb rebavg a to blk     stl

2010-11 59 75 .787 78 135 213   5.20         19 36 51        21

2011-12 33 51 .647 39 73 112 3.39          7   28 19            7

TOTAL 92 126 .730 117 208 325 4.39        26 64 70         28

Conclusion: 

Coach Rice's words are accurate. Roscoe Smith is a champion. He's a valuable player who is a tough defender who is often tasked to defend the opposing teams best player, and can defend from the 2 spot to the 5. His offensive game needs a bit of work, and shot is inconsistent. He does a lot of invaluable things other than defend, he brings intensity and heart, and does things that don't show up in statlines. My theory besides other obvious factors (style of play, friends on the team, region, etc), is UNLV has become a treasured spot for forwards because they will have the opportunity to work 1-on-1 with Stacey Augmon, who was a hell of a player and was the former player development coach to the Denver Nuggets. The Runnin' Rebels have scored a major coup by recruiting Roscoe Smith, and he will provide some continuity when we do lose early Mike Moser and Anthony Bennett, and quite possibility Khem Birch. 

Fun Meme

Reggie Smith headed back to the midwest

Transfer point guard Reggie Smith has asked for and been granted release from the Runnin' Rebels to transfer to a school closer to Chicago. The reason behind the sudden leaving has to do with being closer his ailing grandmother.

Reggie's time at UNLV was short, and due to the reliability of Oscar Bellfield, Rebels fans were waiting to see what Smtih could do with more minutes and more time in Coach Rice's system.

In a sudden dramatic change of events, the Rebels - once loaded with guards, has lost some great ones and will lose more after this coming season (Anthony Marshall and Justin Hawkins will graduate after the season). Fortunately, new guards are on the horizon. Daquan Cook and Katin Reinhardt are penciled into the lineup, and the Reggie Smtih transfer decision could easily have an effect on either one of their decisions to redshirt the coming year. Potent scoring guard Bryce Dejean-Jones will make waves at the shooting guard positon. Additionally, Dantley Walker will be added to the roster for the 2013-14 season, and the Rebels still have strong interest in Findlay Prep's Nigel Williams-Goss.

The Reggie Smtih loss also frees up another scholarship, making it two available for the 2012-13 campaign, which is shaping up to be epic. Reggie Smith will be missed, and hopefully he gets the chance to make the impact he is capable of at the college he attends. Good luck to you Reggie!

Maintenance day

Instead of a news story update, much needed maintenance has been going on on the website.


 I invite you to check out the new and improved roster pages, which are much easier on the eyes in format. All available schedule information has been updated. Additionally lots of clips have been added to the Old Games tab. The depth chart tab has been shelved until we see what Coach Rice's rotation will be. 


As a preview of what is still coming up in the next few weeks,  a article previewing the guards, and an article with updated information on season tickets. Some interviews are in the cards as well, more to come soon. 


In the meanwhile, make yourself at home - and stay awhile!

How sweet it is! - Anthony Bennett is a Runnin' Rebel

Anthony Bennett is the latest addition to a stellar Runnin' Rebels roster

With the dust that clouded up the Las Vegas sky clearing, Anthony Bennett cleared the air as well, and stole the collective breath of Runnin' Rebels fans this afternoon by selecting UNLV as his destination. Bennett, the highest ranked undeclared senior of the 2012 class (#7 regardless of position), and a prized member of Findlay Prep's powerhouse basketball team, picked the Runnin' Rebels after eliminating Florida and Kentucky in recent weeks, and then eliminating Oregon.

Bennett, who will play in the small forward spot along side Mike Moser, may get to start with longtime friend and fellow McDonald's All-American Khem Birch (when he become eligible after the fall semester) - who is likely as responsible as anyone in successfully recruiting Anthony Bennett to play at UNLV.

Expectations will be extremely high for the Runnin' Rebels, as many formidable weapons remain on the roster and when things click, the Rebels will be able to compete with and beat any team in the nation. What's impressive about Bennett, is that he uses his statute and leaping ability to efficiently dunk the ball. Staying away from being a one-trick-pony, he has considerable offensive skills in the form of a midrange jumper and even an effective three pointer, which makes his defender respect him not just underneath the basket.

It is clear that Coach Rice and the Assistant Coaches did a hell of a job in recruiting Anthony Bennett, and acknowledgement and thanks goes to the players who made him feel like UNLV was a good destination to further the very bright future he has in basketball. Much will be made of his addition, as well as the potent roster that is a mesh of experience and talent. But a picture is worth a thousand words, so they say, so videos must be worth exponentially more. Here are links to all prominent stories on UNLV landing Anthony Bennett, and video of Bennett in action.

To Anthony Bennett- Thank you for choosing UNLV. You had your pick of every top basketball school in the nation, and you recognized that you could do as much for UNLV as it could do for you. If every Runnin' Rebel fan could personally thank you, they would.

Bleacher Report
SB Nation
CBS Sports
ESPN
Las Vegas Sun
LVRJ

Half an update: Birch's disposition and Bennett's final three

Jimmy Kimmel tweets to Anthony Bennett

While this won't be the next preview (next and final is guards), there was two significant Runnin' Rebels news stories that came out this week and are worth noting as well as discussing.

A Good Khem Birch Interview

Those who miss Ryan Greene's take on the Runnin' Rebels look no further than Vegas Seven, the weekly which has a section and website under the moniker, www.RunRebs.com. Scooping the other news outlets, Mr. Greene interviewed Khem Birch, and bounced aspects of his game and worth ethic off of Coach Rice to complete the piece. The article in it's entirety can be found here: Link.

While the whole article is plenty interesting, the part I'd like to discuss is Birch's stance on playing center. As should be noted and is well established in news stories, Khem departed Pitt among other reasons, because he did not want to play Center. Clarifying his position on playing the five spot, Khem says he didn't want to play with his back to the basket, in the slow half-court offense that Pitt ran. He doesn't mind playing center in Coach Rice's transition offense because of potential mismatches.

Drawing my own conclusions from his words on the subject, he doesn't appear adverse per-se to the center position anymore, so likely much more emphasis in not liking his former teammates or the offensive sets the team was running. That's kind of a really bold reason why one would transfer, especially given the chronology of events that brought him to UNLV. Distilling that, Birch was unhappy early in the season at Pitt, he just so happens to see the UNLV-UNC game where UNLV runs and is dominant most of the game, and then after electing to transfer he picks UNLV over Florida.

Their loss is our gain for certain, and my roster preview albeit assumed that he would be playing the five spot rather than the four was part wishful thinking and logical conclusions - but the guess was on the money. So, to have another really legitimate center option after the fall semester, and one of his caliber is intriguing to say the least. It also shows the maturity of Khem, being willing to play the same position he supposedly despised for the Rebels. This should work out very well.

Bennett's Final Three


Not that long ago, teams were being cut and UNLV didn't make it into the dress cricle. That was the disappointment which became Shabazz Muhammad's ridiculous 'the decision' show. Rebels fans have reason to be hopeful, and its because we are in the final cut of destinations for the best unsigned high school senior in the nation. Anthony Bennett has reportedly narrowed his list to UNLV, Oregon, and Kentucky. Gone is Florida - which was considered a favorite after they had a similarly tall player transfer out, but their hopes diminished when Bradley Beal declared for the NBA Draft. According to this story, he and Bradley were close and he would have loved to play with him - hence Florida was in the running, but no more.

The downside is many have Kentucky as a strong front runner now to land Bennett. Any why not, Kentucky is essentially the Barbie's of the college basketball world - 'that bitch has to have everything'. The positive take away is that Bennett just finished an official visit to UNLV, and was thrilled with the staff. Clearly, there are several good things going for us -- a staff he likes, facilities everyone should love, and a long time friend - the aformentioned Khem Birch. If Bennett held high regard for Florida because he had a friend on the roster - then we are in a good position with Birch not going anywhere for at least a year.

I'm optimistic on this one. I think Bennett knows Kentucky's championship run was a rare event, largely enabled by consensus #1 draft pick Anthony Davis. It will be a very difficult feat to repeat, and being the team who follows a championship team and failing to bring a championship is an expectation and burden few would want to have to deal with. Anthony Bennett's hopefully not the type who believes he has to be on Kentucky's roster to be noticed by NBA scouts, and knows merely being associated won't help his draft position. He likely knows UNLV will be scary good next year, especially if he is a part of the magic. Come on Las Vegas, let's fly a Canadian flag for Mr. Bennett and land a top 10 prospect!

Update: Anthony Bennett has spurned Kentucky's scholarship and is down to between Oregon and UNLV.  Officially, Bennett had said his decision would come in two weeks (this was about a week ago), so his decision grows ever closer. LV SUN.

Another update: Anthony Bennett has tweeted Monday evening that his decision will come this weekend.

Final update: ANTHONY BENNETT CHOOSES UNLV! Full story coming Sunday (late night today)

Roster Preview: 2012-13 Forwards

The Forward spot has been a place where the Rebels had limited depth, and now still have limited depth. Looking at 2011-12, the primary forwards were obviously Chace Stanback and Mike Moser. With Stanback graduating and Moser thankfully returning for what will likely be his final UNLV season (barring injury), the question is who will run alongside Moser? Several of the 'forwards' have previosly been penciled into the center spot by virtue of someone is needed there (Carlos Lopez, Quintrell Thomas and possibly Khem Birch) and have been previewed several weeks ago - but who is left to be the next Chace Stanback? Who will give some relief so that the guard heavy roster isn't outmatched by taller more physical forwards? Let's take a peek.

Mike Moser

Mike is a wildly talented and driven player who had much more ups than downs last year, but the teams success and demise rose and fell with his performance, by and large. Was there a game that was lost when Mike Moser played very well? Yes - that aborition at TCU where we lost 102-97 (Moser had 22 pts, 8 rebs) but by and large in the vast majority of the losses Moser was underperforming, as was the rest of the team. 

In his first season with the Rebels, he had to deal with sudden extreme expectations having been named as a Naismith Player of  the Year Candidate very early on, having to deal with injuries, and then having his shot fall off as the season progressed. This is a lot for anyone to deal with, especially someone who is new to the system, and playing for a coach who wasn't the one who recruited you. All in all, Mike Moser's Junior year should be one of high expectations - as he's all but a lock to play in the NBA provided he shores up a few shortcomings, and the Rebels perform well. 

What Moser does well - He is tall, athletic, and hard to guard. He has an interesting set of tools in his toolbox, being that he can block shots, he can easily dunk or catch the lob for the ally opp. He can also steal and defend as well as anyone - and of course, we have the rebounding. As a solid double digit scorer as well as rebounder, he is the heart and soul of the Rebels. Coach Rice had said that the Runnin' offense is successful when there's high pressure defense, and rebounding so that a fast break can take place off of a missed shot. That's Moser's bread and butter. Ken Pomeroy made an interesting observation mid-season, stating essentially that Moser was a statistical anomaly given his offensive rebounding prowess and three point shooting percentage. Link This could be chalked up as a good thing or bad thing. As a good - to make an easy, popular reference, Dirk Nowitski is 6'11", is often the tallest guy on the court, yet he can shoot the three like a guard. For the same reason that Nowitski is a rare player, a guy like Moser who can pull down boards like nobody's business isn't presumed to normally have the ability to shoot a three pointer with much consistancy. Why? Because great rebounders are normally taller players, and taller players (like Dirk) don't normally shoot the three well (or free throws for that matter). Moser is a great player, and what's great about the Rebels is even though Moser is this, that and the other kind of awesome - you don't expect him to be the Rebels leading scorer that frequently. That's because our roster is still stockplied with great players, even more so than last year. 

What Moser doesn't do well - he's still not as bulky as other dominant power forwards who project well to rebound well in the NBA. Easy example - Drew Gordon (UNM) has the body necessary to occupy space, and not give ground to other forwards. Mike Moser has upper body muscle, but he lacks bulk in the hips and legs especially that may have contributed to his fatigue later in the season. Getting back to the statistical anomoly that Ken Pomeroy pointed out, the bad side of that is it shows that Moser may have been too comfortable shooting the three pointer. No secret, UNLV over Coach Krueger's tenure has been a team in love with the long ball, and the 'streak' has been somewhat of a constant reminder of the importance of shooting the three - but the team's leading rebounder should maybe shoot a whole lot more layups and short range higher percentage jumpers. Example, Mike Moser's three point percentage was 33%, he made 44 of 133 attempts. Total field goal percentage was 45% he made 184 of 409 attempts. Subtract out his three point shooting, and we get a 2 point percentage of nearly 51% . His three point attempts accounted for 32.5% of his shot selection. Clearly, three pointers are worth more than two pointers, but making only 1 of 3  from deep versus 1 of 2 from within the line potentially means he could have been a more effective player - less reliant on the three. My evaluation of what Mike needs to do to get better and become more complete, is to hit the weight room and build more lower body muscle, still maintain his quickness, and build on his short to mid range game. If Mike does improve like he's capable of, he is a lottery pick. 

Demetris Morant

The Bishop Gorman incoming freshman has a daunting decision ahead of him - burn a redshirt year or try to crack the rotation. The general evaluation of Morant is that he is a hyper athletic player who has tons of above-the-rim ability, is a one man block party, but who's offensive game is under developed. This carries slight risk for the Rebels, as improving under the tutelage of Dave Rice means building an offensive repertoire. Weighing heavily on whether to take a red shirt year depends largely on minutes available now, and whether dipping his toe in the water right away and potentially not being as successful as possible could mess with his confidence. Time and circumstance will tell on that point. The other similarly tall players who he may compete for minutes with, are the aforementioned Mike Moser, Quintrell Thomas, Khem Birch, Carlos Lopez, and Bryce Jones - who is a tallish tweener guard at 6'5" (Michael Jordan was also a guard, and 6'5"). The other big question is whether he'll be playing the 4 or 5? Throughout his stay at Bishop Gorman Morant was put in the center position. As a center, he's undersized - but UNLV has a history of success with undersized centers (Lou Amundson, Joel Anthony). My gut reaction is that he will take the redshirt, and then breakthrough better when Quintrell Thomas has graduated and Mike Moser has left for the NBA. 

Bryce Jones

Mr. Competetive, but also Mr. Misunderstood - he's the USC transfer who has waited out his redshirt year and is poised to make a big spash on the court this year. I'm mentioning him in the 'forwards' category because my take on the rotation (guard heavy) would likely having him match-up with a forward, and at his height he would be capable of guarding a forward up to perhaps 6'8". The line on Bryce is that he sometimes has been the best player on the court in many practices last year - no small feat given how good the team was through the majority of last year. The same complement was paid to a man by the name of Mike Moser - and look how good that turned out. Bryce Jones left USC because of playing time, and an altercation with another teammate. With some temperance on his live or die playing attitude, he will either push others to succeed, or be toxic to the chemistry of  the team. My thoughts are that the coaching staff assembled have enough experience and knowledge to be able to gauge his + or - , and will adjust based on that. Yes, we have a history of transfers, but we also kick malcontents to the curb - see Emmanuel Adeife. 

For Bryce to be a successful player, everyone needs to wipe the slate clean, recognize who he is, what he's been through, and what occurred and brings him to the Rebels. Then, purely evaluate him based on what occurs while he wears the Scarlet and Gray. Bryce Jones has the ability to be a special player, a scoring powerhouse, and a confident give-it-all-you got baller, a complete player. He just needs to have the maturity to work within Coach Rice's offense, be unselfish when someone has a better shot than he does, and to celebrate his teammates as much as he can. The offensive load left by Chace Stanback must be picked up by someone - and Bryce and Khem Birch are the most likely candidates to handle the task. 

(Want to know where Carlos Lopez, Quintell Thomas, and Khem Birch were discussed? Click here)

Becoming known as a pro-prospect: Stanback and Bellfield compete at Portsmouth Invitational

Yet another diversion from analysing the roster, but the opportunity to report on an event that involves two recent Rebels and hasn’t been reported hardly anywhere else is worth talking about.

The Portsmouth Invitational is a tournament which has existed for 60 years, and invites graduating seniors to play in a round-robin style tournament which spans 4 days and fields 8 teams of players. Invited to the tournament this year from our 2011-12 Rebels is Chase Stanback and Oscar Bellfield.

Chace, who was among  the leaders in the NCAA in 3 point percentage, was also invited to the 3-point contest at the NCAA final, and played in the all-star game as well. Oscar has been a fixture in the Rebels lineup over the past four years, and has regularly logged more minutes on the court than any other Rebel. The Portsmouth Invitational, as well as assumedly tryouts for NBA D-League teams (should the draft not quite work out) will be a major stepping stone for both Stanback and Bellfield .

Now, let’s get to what actually occurred at the tournament. Chace Stanabck was put on a team named Cherry, Bekaert & Holland – an accounting firm who likes to put their name on things, obviously. Oscar Bellfield was placed on a team named Portsmouth Partnership, named after a non-profit dedicated to promoting economic growth, leadership and education within the city of Portsmouth. What’s in a name – nothing.

Chace Stanback


The initial game for Chace came against a team named K&D Rounds Landscaping. Chace took the bull by the horns and capitalized well from the field. He shot poorly from three, but still made 50% of his shots. Not sure how closely the refees were calling this one (likely not much because it was an exhibition for scouts), but Chace didn’t get to the foul like to attempt any baskets – meaning his stat line had no padding.

Here's what Ryan Maddox of NBADraft.net had to say about Stanback's performance:

"6’8” Chace Stanbeck (UNLV) stood out immediately. His final numbers won’t wow you (11 points, 2 boards, 1 block), but I’d be shocked if this kid doesn’t at least have a cup of coffee in the league sooner than later. Going 5-10 from the field, he simply would not be sped up and played a consistent, effective pace all night. Hit a catch and shoot three on a kickout in the early going. Drove hard to a kill spot from the FT line extended off two dribbles and rose up over his defender and buried a jumper. Not a lot of wasted motion/energy with this guy. Could be more vocal/demonstrative – especially in a setting like this. Went 1-5 from deep tonight but mechanics/shot selection both check out. Shot over 45% from distance during the season. Want to see him matchup with Kevin Murphy tomorrow. Has the size to guard 2s/3s at the next level – could be a huge mismatch for opposing 2s with his length/range."

Here are his stats for game one:

Game two:

In the second game, which his team lost by two points to Portsmouth Sports Club (not Oscar's team) Chace shot pretty well from the field, and all of his stats were respectable. He had the same amount of points as in the first game, but took two additional attempts. Given that Chace's team lost, they then went to the consolation game for third place. Low and behold, they were to compete against Oscar Bellfield's team. Here's the stat line:

Oscar Bellfield

Oscar started the tournament off with a rocky overall performance. Fortunately for his team, they won the game despite it. Oscar was in a funk shooting-wise, and only hit one shot all game despite seven attempts. Disappointingly, his assist to turnover ratio was 1. These were very un-oscarlike numbers, maybe he was just a little too used to runnin Coach Rice's offense to play the generic ball dished out by the 'Portsmouth Partnership'. On to game two, here is the statline:

Game two

Having basically mulliganed the first outing, expectations were 'no where to go but up' right? Well, sort of. Oscar again only made one basket in the outing, but at least he didn't have any turnovers. So, three assists to 0 turnovers makes for a good average. Bellfield's team would not get another shot to make it to the tournament game because they were blown out by 'Roger Browns' by 20 points. BUT, this set up an intriguing matuchp Oscar Bellfield's team would face Chace Stanback! Intriguing! Here is the statline:

Trading Places - Oscar plays against Chace

In the name of making a name for yourself in front of Mitch Kupchak (L.A. Lakers), Daryl Morey (Houston Rockets) and Rick Sund (Atlanta Hawks) to name a few, a match up between two UNLV players occurred, and although it wasn't Shawn Marion vs. Joel Anthony in the NBA finals, it is still a noteworthy occurrence. 

Leading up to the game, we had Chace Stanback playing good basketball, and Oscar not-so-much. Would anything change? Would Oscar tell his players how to throw Chace off his game, or vice versa? Clearly, because they play different positions they wouldn't go head to head. The take away from this game was that things changed for both Chace and Oscar, a dramatic change for both. 

Looking at the statline, Chace - who had been having fantastic performances totally fell off. He jacked up way to many shots, and connected on about a quarter of those  tries. In contrast, Oscar was measured, and shot the ball much better than he did in the first two games. Bellfield couldn't shake the turnover bug, and again had 3 giveaways - but so did Chace. The better team on this particular day ended up being Oscar's, which resulted in an overall third place finish for his team. Here's the box score:

Conclusion

Chace had 2 of 3 good games, and performed as a reliable scorer in those games. He wasn't dominant, but for a GM who is looking at the Portsmouth Invitational to potentially pick up players in the draft or free agency - dominance is really going to be overstated at this level anyhow. The last impact player to come out of the Portsmouth Invitational was Jeremy Lin - but the reason that he is a phenomena is partly because of the challenges of being branded 'lesser' from the gate - Oscar and Chace will face similar difficulties moving forward. Chace likely maintained his value in this tournament and may inspire a GM to take a chance on a hard to guard player who can shoot the three, all be it in a streaky manner. Oscar had one lackluster performance after another, and likely didn't make much of a mark on the radar. Over the years, Oscar has single handedly won games for the Rebels, and done some pretty amazing things. Hopefully the scouts may take a chance on him in the D-league,and he gets the chance to run the point for a new team sometime soon. Although you cannot find a very good recap of the Portsmouth invitational, hardly any photos, or video of it -  it sill mattered, and it featured two of our favored sons. So, to Chace and Oscar - best of luck to you moving forward. 

Coming full circle on recruiting: Update on Dantley Walker, as well as the news of the past week

Taking a break from the three part series previewing the roster of 2012-13, there is much to talk about as well as summarize that occurred on the recruiting front. Before discussing that which many of you already know, let’s get an update on Dantley Walker, future member of the Rebels for the 2013-14 year.

Dantley Walker Update

Dantley Walker: Man on a mission

For those of you familiar, Dantley Walker – prolific scorer from Panaca, NV committed to the Rebels, but as a Mormon he elected to serve a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. This delays his arrival at UNLV as a freshman two years. I had the opportunity to interview his father/assistant coach Greg Walker last year, and get updates from time to time. The information we had previously, was that his mission was to be in Spokane, Washington – and he was fortunate to get an early start so that he didn’t have to begin his colligate career, then leave and come back to it two years later. He was clearly excited to go on the mission, and to be a Rebel.

Since we’ve last updated, Dantley Walker has been on his mission for nine months now, and is doing very well. He loves serving the call of the mission, but obviously misses competitive basketball very much. He served the first five months in Cordeau-d'lene, Idaho, and has been in Spokane, Washington since then. One of Dantley’s goals for his downtime was to keep in basketball shape and do all that he can to maintain readiness for the future. To that end, luck has smiled on him and one of his former AAU coaches from the Las Vegas Prospects, Rick Walter, now coaches at Spokane Falls Community College. Any morning that the two can find the time, he works out with Coach Walter and goes through some serious basketball workouts.

Elder Walker at the
training center

Elder Walker working on the
golf game

Elder Walker showing off the guns

According to Coach Walter, Dantley seems to be maintaining his basketball skills. As far as the hope that he might be playing pickup ball with formidable Gonzaga players – that hasn’t occurred just yet. So far, he plays with other missionaries and basketball players around Spokane. He does hope too hoop it up with Gonzaga players, or Spokane Falls players. As far as physical activity not on the court, he's lifting weights and jumping rope when he can and has added about 10 pounds to his frame since graduating from high school.

Dantley Walker and Coach Walter in Spokane, Washington

I inquired as to whether he’s been recognized (as a UNLV recruit) while out doing his mission work, and he really hasn’t because up there they’re more focused on Boise St, Washing St. U of Washington, Gonzaga, and Idaho St. But, they eventually all find out he’s going to be a Rebel, and think it’s really cool. For those that may not  straight off believe him, they check the internet – especially his YouTube mix tapes and find out quick enough. I also wondered if he regularly got heat (given what he’s doing) for not going to BYU – and Dantley normally appeases their question by pointing out that he is from Nevada, UNLV offered first, and as a matter of fact Coach Rice was very interested in Dantley as assistant coach of BYU. It a great situation he has with the Rebels, going on the mission and then coming back as a scholarship player, but he’s really interested in Coach Rice’s up-tempo system. He also sometimes mentions that the WCC isn’t as strong as the MWC, but has to be careful about saying that in front of the Gonzaga fans.

Yes, Dantley Walker has had some friendly suggestions  to just stay put after his mission and help the Gonzaga Bulldogs – to that his answer is “no way, gonna run and gun with Coach Rice and the Rebs.”

Dantley Walker will be back from his mission in July, 2013, and will begin practice at UNLV shortly thereafter. Best of luck to Dantley Walker and his family, he is perusing and admirable endeavor in the name of his faith, and that’s a quality trait to have. He’ll be more mature and focused, and hopefully will run point for the Rebels when he is ready to suit up.

Shabazz no more


Although there were many reasons that it would make sense for Shabazz Muhammad to join the Rebels, he cut UNLV from his list of five shortly before the McDonalds All-American game. Incidentally, he was MVP of that game, and won the dunk contest.

For whatever reason, Muhammad chose UCLA – a storied basketball program, that has become an embarrassment to its former glory, harbors a coach who nobody can say has any discipline over his players, hasn’t made the NCAA tournament in the past two years, and has been the jumping away point for numerous promising recruits – who go on to do great things elsewhere (Chace Stanback UNLV, Mike Moser UNLV, Drew Gordon UNM, Matt Carlino BYU). A lot has been said, straight out in the media that Muhammad, or rather his family, was essentially bought and sold under the guise of an Adidas shoe deal. For what it’s worth – I honestly hope not. While UNLV is not an Adidas team (Nike last time I checked), the choice of UCLA over the likes of national champion Kentucky, or Duke which is a perennial favorite and sucks up more TV time than anyone makes no sense whatsoever. UCLA holds no advantage over UNLV in terms of basketball prowess. On this subject, this is perhaps the only time I’ve ever agreed with that San Diego loving troll Ed Graney of the LVRJ on this point – we don’t need Shabazz Muhammad. No reason to be bitter towards him on this, for not choosing UNLV – but the angst I have (as well as many others) is about the stupidity of the choice of UCLA.

Mashour has left the building

Israel native Karam Mashour has declared his intention to leave the Rebels in search of a team that will give him the chance to crack the roster and play solid minutes. For a guy with the work ethic that he has, first to arrive and last to leave practice, as well as his unfettered support of his teammates throughout a season that allowed him less playing time than the season before – it’s sad that we couldn’t utilize him better.

His highlight of his career was the baseline dunk against the University of Central Arkansas. Less than a month later, came the lowlight – refusing to play garbage time minutes. It’s understandable why he’s frustrated, he played for the Israeli U19 national team, and supposedly was an athletic freak on the Las Vegas Prospects. Since arriving at UNLV, he’s not done anything but play garbage time for the most part. Mashour – a Kruger recruit and scholarship holder, showed more promise coming in, and was never given the chance to put that on the floor in front of the fans.

There certainly is a duality to this kind of problem – UNLV has largely been successful over the years, even back to the Tark days because of transfers. There is an ebb and flow of players who are constantly in search of playing time, or a system that better suits them or highlights their talent. Some people are searching for a challenge, others are looking to be a big fish in a little pond, instead of a little fish in a big pond. We get it, basketball is like life – sometimes things don’t work out as planned.

Karam Mashour, for certain, helped the Rebels the past two seasons, and surely improved his skills for practicing with and against a nationally ranked team. Hopefully, this experience serves him well wherever he plays next, and when he gets back to Israel and no doubt try his hand a pro-ball there. Good luck to Karam, and thank you.

In pursuit of Anthony Bennett

Numerous sources, LVRJ, LV Sun, Vegas Seven, have all noted that Anthony Bennett is the biggest prize left in the recruiting sphere, and the Rebels are hot on his trail trying to make his colors Scarlet and Gray.

I am cautiously optimistic that he will become a Rebel for several reasons 1) there is significant room now and in the future for a large power forward in our offense, 2) friendship with Khem Birch, 3) the Rebels are a damn good team worthy of his kind of talent, 4) excursion to his homeland, Canada this summer.

Hopefully Anthony Bennett does not feel any kind of distain that all the talk over the past year or two has been about Shabazz. Reality check – any town that has the consensus #1 pick will get a little crazy over him, especially so when we have a very good basketball team that could potentially land him.

Fact #2, Las Vegas is very high on Findlay Prep, and UNLV would love to land or retain as many Findlay Prep players as possible on the regular. The Runnin’ Rebels is the perfect landing spot for Anthony Bennett to spend 1-2 years bettering himself as well as the Rebels in pursuit of a championship and a pro-career. Anthony Bennett – WE WANT YOU TO BE A REBEL!