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By Rhett, February 6, 2010 10:02 pm

Tre'Von rollin dolo's. (Photo by Louie Traub/RebelNation.Net)

I last attended a college basketball game on January 17th when UNLV lost to Utah at home. It was a bad loss.

Since then, UNLV has won a few road contests, and a home game vs Air Force I could not attend. To say I was looking forward to today’s game is an understatement. I have deprived myself of Big Monday’s and Super Tuesday’s. I’m doing what I have to do, but I am missing my favorite sports season, and I’m bummed about it sometimes.

That being said, UNLV playing host to BYU was game #19 for me. It was quite the game.

UNLV game out slanging nerve gas on BYU. I have never seen anything close to what I saw in person today. The Rebels were ready to play. It was evident after they started the game on a 11-2 run, with Tre’Von Willis getting whatever shot he wanted. BYU came out flat, seemed pouty for most of the game, and really never even competed. I have seen BYU play a ton of games (second only to UNLV) over the past hand-full of years. They recruit talent, seem to be well coached, and probably deserved their high rankings they’ve had this year. They can’t play against UNLV though. The Rebel’s choked away the game in Provo earlier this year. They were up at the under 4 time out, and just did not make plays they’ve made all year. BYU didn’t win that one, UNLV lost it. BYU rolls into town this afternoon (1pm local tip is  a good deal) and they get the covers blown off their golden bible. Tre’Von Willis put his stamp on his MWC POTY opinion, by throwing in 33 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals and 0 turnovers. He also played some very nice near lockdown defense on this Jimmer kid, holding this supposed all world MWC guy to 21 points on 4 of 15 shooting. Oscar Bellfield also played a part in this. Both guys are fast, and did a great job in keeping Jimmer in front of them all afternoon.

The final was 88-74, but it wasn’t even that close. It was over at halftime, with UNLV being up 22 going into the break. UNLV was up by as much a 29 before halftime.

Another little tidbit – for everybody claiming Fredette is the clear cut MVP of the MWC, think again. Willis is scoring more per conference game than Fredette, and has owned him in both head to head meetings. Spare me that ‘oh, he was sick’ crap. Willis played well on the road in the heart of Provo. Fredette stunk it up today. The only open shot he could get was a NBA+ three. Who’s your prophet?

UNLV hosts New Mexico Wednesday night. They beat the airbrushers today to create a 3-way tie on top of the MWC. UNLV has the previously mentioned New Mexico game, then heads to SDSU and Utah. Then they play all the clowns at the bottom of the league.

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By Sam, February 6, 2010 9:01 am

The MAC West looks like its going to CMU. The Chips have a 3 game lead as WMU and NIU have faded during cross divisional play. Eastern Michigan will probably have a sub .500 conference record as they continue to drop winnable home games, and I am quickly becoming frustrated with the prospects of the conference to crown a champion capable of winning an NCAA tournament game.

Michigan State played a terrible game and was thoroughly out classed by Wisconsin. Kalin Lucas rolls his ankle and might be out for the seasons most pivotal stretch (@Illinois, and Purdue). If they don’t win the Big Ten regular season after starting 9-0 then they should make Paul Davis an honorary captain during the Big Ten tournament, and probably shouldn’t be expecting a deep run in March. The notion that everything will be all right in March is an over estimate in East Lansing. State really hasn’t been playing good basketball for the last month, and I don’t believe Tom Izzo can just have them flip a switch. I really hope they don’t fade down the stretch because this is a likable collection of players, but after the debacle in Madison I have my concerns.

Rhett assures me that Lon Kruger will step up today and stop the Mormons from running away with the Mountain West. Let’s see if Jimmer can carry his sprite drinking, polygamist practicing, Orrin Hatch voting, door to door bothering, 25 year olds to victory in a hostile and sin filled environment.

I need wins by UNLV, Western Michigan, Eastern Michigan, and Michigan State today to feel good about the direction of this season. I’ll take 3-1 but anything less than that and my worries will continue. I’ll be at the Convo in a few hours cheering on EMU against Ohio U. Hope its worth it.

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By Rhett, February 2, 2010 1:58 pm

It’s been a slow couple of hoops weeks for me. Deprived of UNLV hoops due to a hole in the schedule, and no holes in my class schedule, I’ve been void of basketball greatness since UNLV lost at home to Utah on January 16th. Since then, UNLV has played 1 home game, which I could not attend. They won, 60-50. The Rebels also won two road games during the last two weeks.

This leaves me looking forward to this weekend, and BYU coming to town. They’ve only lost twice all year. The Cougars should have lost to UNLV to open conference play, but that’s another story. Saturday at 1PM I will be back in the swing of things. Conference play is half over, and it seems this is all going by just too fast.

I have secured my flight to Toronto, in order to hitch a ride with the rest of the Tourney Trip group on their way to Buffalo, NY. I’ll be looking forward to some wings and pops with the crew. We’re also all ears to anybody who may have a few good pointers about Buffalo. We don’t want a repeat of last years trip.

I’m still on track for 50 games. Time off work has been had, my ticket purchase plans mapped out, and travel booked. All I need now is the will to do it, and the wife to put up with me.

Good Talk.

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By Rhett, February 2, 2010 1:49 pm

In honor of National Pixelvision Day – which is tomorrow, I thought it would be a good idea to get everybody ready for this great holiday. There are several important factors when you are getting ready to watch a basketball game.

First of all, it’s important to arrange for proper viewing equipment. For NPD, I’ll be using a combination of my man-cave’s Sony Bravia 40 inch television, with Bally #84 to keep me company.

Pixelvision will be an online only event, this means I can be found here, laptop at the ready:

I wont’ be watching alone either. Pixelvisions very-own mascot, Bruno, will be by my side, wondering what all the fuss is about.

See you all tomorrow! #pixelvision

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By Nate, January 29, 2010 3:16 pm

Item! Michigan State is off to the best Big Ten start in school history at 8-0. After stealing two one-point games in a row on the road the Spartans return to Breslin tomorrow to face the Northwestern Wildcats. MSU not only has the motivation of going 9-0 and lengthening their conference lead but also exacting some revenge for last year’s 30’ shot fueled upset to the ‘Cats. A team that can steal conference games on the road, especially two last shot wins, might be the start of something special – add to this the fact MSU still hasn’t played it’s best basketball of the season yet and there is ample reason for excitement in East Lansing.

Item! After seeing Jalen Rose dressed in his clown suit while giving back to the community Tuesday Evening, it occurred to me that I should do something to help this gracious human-being help others. So, here’s my tip to Jalen as he begins his burgeoning TV career: buy a copy of Rosetta Stone, the English Edition.

Item! Injuries have plagued the Big Ten this year from Kevin Koble to Lewis Jackson to Maurice Creek to Evan Turner to Jon Leuer it seems almost every conference squad has endured a tough injury and that has hurt the overall perception of the conference. Turner and Jackson are back and at least Turner looks to have not missed a step. Here’s hoping the rest of the season is injury free and everyone (expect Wisconsin) has a nice Tourney run.

Item! I am yet to see Avatar but I did see a cat with only 3 legs the other day – Mother Nature still makes the best special effects.

Item! The other night Steve Lavin listed the “Five C’s” of good officiating. They are: Consistency, Communication, Conditioning, Calmness and Courage. As per usual I think the Lav is right on with his assessment. Although, I would add a sixth – “Comfort” as in comfort fitting slacks, no one wants to see a ref running around in pants 2 sizes too small.

Item! What has happened to the Somali Pirates? For a while there pirates were hip again and then just as quickly as I was getting out my eye patch and fake peg leg they seem to have disappeared from the news. No worries though, I bet they’re hiding out in a secret cave harbor until the coast is clear.

Item! After watching almost 5 seasons of EMU Basketball and the coaching of Charles Ramsey I have reached the conclusion that he may be the worst coach in all of D-1. Now mind you this is far from a rush to judgment, as I’ve given him the benefit of the doubt because he’s had bad luck with injuries, transfers and troubled kids that were talented players. But this year he has all the pieces in place, including 3 guys who would start just about anywhere they played, and he’s just one game above 500 overall and 2 games below in conference. The Eagles are struggling because Ramsey cannot make in-game adjustments and appears to be completely lost during end-game situations. EMU with its location, facilities and history should be a mid-major power and I hate to say it but C-Ram is a big reason they aren’t.

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By Sam, January 21, 2010 6:52 pm

#1 John Calipari

College basketball needs a great renegade to come along every so often to scare the shit out the blue bloods and cause a stir. John Thompson did that in the 80’s leading a Jesuit school with no football program or tradition to speak of, with a roster of scary good and fearless black players in a new conference to the very height of the national scene. In the later part of that decade and into the early 90’s Jerry Tarkanian took UNLV out of obscurity and into the national spotlight with Frank Sinatra and Bill Cosby sitting court side some nights. It was fun, it was unique, it was limited. During the 00’s John Calapari started a semi renegade empire in Memphis utilizing the most dangerous new tool available to him, the one and done. Cal used his connections to seedy middle men to get a steady flow of hot shot high school stars that never intended to stay long in the college game. His Memphis teams won big, beat big programs, and had NCAA tournament success. Cal built something at Memphis from the ground up that threatened the bigger, more established and likely just as dirty programs that he was routinely beating. He had become a hated and feared man by the big AQ program fans.

You knew that once Patrick Ewing left Georgetown that Hoya Paranoia would fade. You knew that the NCAA would eventually catch up to Tark and end his empire in the dessert, and we all knew that eventually somebody would drop a dime on one of Memphis’ one and dones. What nobody expected was that before Calapari could meet his apocalyptic downfall in Memphis he would jump ship and lead the bluest of blue blood programs who cheat more on accident than he ever did on purpose. Now instead of being a rouge anomaly at neat program in a non AQ conference, Calipari is a giant hypocritical horse’s ass at the biggest, brashest, fuck headyest program in all the world. His act slickster act was more palatable before he became the front man at college basketballs winningest program. It is the equivalent of John Dillinger becoming President of the United States. If you are going to be an outlaw be an outlaw, if you are going to run one of college basketballs blue blood programs you have to be an insufferable, phony, christian huckster like Bill Self, Roy Williams, or Ben Howland. Calipari blurred the lines and instead of being a martyr for gangster when the law came to Memphis he cashed out and took his once fresh act to a place where it is not by any means cute.

The Lowlights:

• His introductory press conference and midnight madness address to Kentucky fans are the most obnoxious moments in the history of spoken word.
• Sometime this year he will lock John Wall in an embrace and pretend he coached him
• There is much more to come. Stay tuned if you can stand it.

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By Sam, January 17, 2010 4:56 pm

#2 Alex Legion

Alex Legion managed to shoot way up this list with his most recent antics, and since he announced his 5th change of heart in where he will continue his amateur career this decade he makes it all the way up to #2 for embodying the entitlement and profound selfishness that represent his type of player. Alex Legion is basically a sixth man at best now  but don’t tell that to Momma Legion. This Mother of the Year has called into talk radio shows to trash coaches that her son was playing for, taken him out of schools, and basically shopped him around as if he were a used car. For his part Legion has been whinny, soft, and underwhelming at every stop. His refusal to accept coaching and play a role less than star on any team he has played for has stunted his growth as a player. He was at one time a very sought after recruit but has now fallen all the way to a sideshow in the Sun Belt conference because of his own bad choices.

The Lowlights:

• A native of Inkster, MI Legion spurned the Inkster public schools to play at the elite private school Birmingham Country Day for his first three years of high school. Before his senior year Legion’s mother moved him to the seedy basketball factory Oakhill Academy so that he would recieve the proper exposure and not have to “settle,” for the University of Michigan where he had verbally committed prior to his senior season but withdrew that commitment before leaving Country Day. It should be noted that Alex never started for Oakhill.
• Alex gave another verbal commitment and signed a letter of intent to UofM as his senior year was winding down only to once again pull back, this time after Michigan and coach Tommy Amaker parted ways.
• Legion finally committed to the University of Kentucky after his mother claimed on a Detroit sports talk radio program that she had repeated direct conversations with God and Jesus about her son and knew that he was destined for great things but that Michigan was not in his plan. Among her other claims were that this was not a one time conversation but that she was in fact a “prophet of God,” and said that God had told her that Alex would come back to Michigan to play in the Final Four in 2009.
• Despite his mother’s crazy prophecy mumbo jumbo Alex decided to transfer from Kentucky after half of his freshman season when he determined that Billy Gillespie was being mean to him and treating him “like a freshman.” Annette Legion claimed that Gillespie was a drunk and a fornicator who had his way with some of the players girlfriends. This claim was never substantiated.
• After playing the second semester at Illinois in 2009 (and not making the final four) and most of the first semester this year (33 games total) Legion decided to transfer from Illinois to play for Isiah Thomas at FIU. There is no word on if god told him or his mother to make this move.
• Alex Legion has played for 3 different high schools and left 3 different college programs. He and/or his mother has publicly trashed 1 high school and 2 college coaches, and they will still be a part of college hoops (unfortunately) for a least another year.

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By Sam, January 17, 2010 4:32 pm

The Buffalo Bulls look like the early favorites in the MAC East

Mid American Conference basketball is fighting to stay relevant on its own campuses, in its own region, and in the greater college basketball world with scarce resources and a fast diminishing profile. The presence of FBS football has caused all of the 12 all sport member institutions to place an emphasis on fielding viable D1 football programs which is a very expensive undertaking. As a result of this conference wide emphasis on prioritizing football MAC basketball has slipped considerably over the last decade while conferences that were once considered peers have excelled. Fans of the CAA, WAC, MVC, or Horizon would be insulted if they were considered peers of the now lowly MAC.

In 1999 Miami reached the Sweet 16 behind the efforts of future NBA player Wally Szczerbiak, in 2002 Kent State made it to the elite 8 with players like Trevor Huffman and Antonio Gates, the MAC was arguably the class of the mid majors during its peak in the 90’s. In 1995, 1998, and 1999 the MAC had multiple NCAA bids. During that decade the conference had a very respectable 9 NCAA tournament wins. Guys were leaving the MAC and having decent careers in the NBA. Guys like Grant Long, Gary Trent, Wally Szczerbiak, and Bonzi Wells.

After Indiana ended Kent State’s magical run in 2002, Central Michigan came along with a NCAA tournament win in 2003 lead by another future pro Chris Kamen. Since then however the MAC has not had a player taken in the NBA draft, won an NCAA tournament game or even sniffed a 2nd bid. The MAC is now a one bid league with a falling seed line, dwindling fan support, and no resources available to commit to the problem. In 2007 a 26 win Akron team that won the MAC regular season title, and only failed to win the tournament title after Miami hit a 30 ft bank shot as time expired in the championship game failed to even get a bid to the NIT.

I mention the downturn in MAC basketball for two reasons: 1.) It shows that this is a real underdog league 2.) To illustrate that this is a common problem that is being suffered through by every MAC program. There us no powerhouse basketball school in the MAC who can carry the conference. In fact this conference has more parody than any in college basketball. While Kent State and Akron have had the most recent success, neither has the resources to put any distance between themselves and the field and both have to start from scratch every season to fight their way through the pack and try to emerge as the MAC’s lone NCAA representative. This is the most wide open race in college hoops this year, and because of the tough spot that these schools are in one of the most worthwhile and I am going to try to keep everyone in touch with what is going on as best I can.

To start with every team has played 3 games, and all we know so far is that: Toledo is really terrible, playing on one’s home court is the biggest determining factor in being successful in the MAC, non conference play was a meaningless indicator, and everybody still has a chance to be dancing in March (except Toledo). The way the MAC operates is pretty slick. There are two divisions East and West with 6 teams in each. Each team plays the other 5 teams in their division, then plays 6 cross divisional games before finishing the season playing the 5 inter divisional teams again. Last year the East was so much stronger than the West that no team from the West had a record better than 2-4 against the East, and three teams failed to beat a team from the East at all. This year there looks to be more parity between the two but that really won’t be determined for another two weeks when the teams start facing one another.

So far Northern Illinois has jumped out on top of the West with a 3-0 record despite having only won 4 games in the non conference. Western Michigan and Central Michigan are right behind at 2-1. NIU has the only non Toledo road win of any team in the West winning at Ball State. That so far is the difference in division. It looks like a race between those 3 teams although Eastern Michigan now has legitimate low post monster Justin Dobbins back from injury and should improve gradually as the season progresses as long as they stay healthy. I had the opportunity to watch Dobbins first game back against Toledo last week where he went off with 18 and 4 against the Rockets. They were a different team than the one I saw in Kalamazoo four days earlier when they only managed to score 47 against the Broncos.

Over in the East Buffalo has jumped out to a 3-0 start with wins over BG, Miami, and Akron. Last years champ Akron is right behind at 2-1 along with a 5-11 overall Miami club that always seems to improve as the year goes on under the coaching of possible vampire Charlie Coles. Kent State at 1-2 and Ohio at 0-3 are in the cellar right now but both could bounce back and be right back near the top once they start plowing through the weaker West. The east race is usually more fickle and harder to handicap this early in the year.

So thats where we are right now. I’m going to try and get out to the Eastern Michigan/Ball State game this weekend and regularly post about the MAC race as the year goes on.

The games of the week that promise to have the biggest impact on the standings are:

East

Kent State @ Buffalo 1/20

If the Bulls are able to win and get a 3 game cushion between themselves and perineal contender Kent State then they are in the drivers seat for at least the next month. If Kent State is able to win then they can muddy the waters and turn the East into a week by week struggle for supremacy.

West

Northern Illinois @ Central Michigan 1/23

After dispatching of Toledo mid week NIU is likely to roll into Mt. Pleasent at 4-0 in conference. If CMU wants to contend for the division then they are going to have take care of business at home. Otherwise NIU stands poised to sweep through their first round of games with the West.