Comments Off

By Rhett, January 13, 2010 10:31 pm

It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves. That’s the best way to describe the first conference home game for UNLV against the air brushers from San Diego St.

1st Half (worst): UNLV plays timid horrible basketball. Aztecs drive the lane, score in the paint, draw fouls, out rebound on both ends and overall dominate the game. If it wasn’t for their crappy shooting from the free throw line in the first half, this game could have been different. Either way, Steve Fisher’s gangster program of the west slashes and dashes their way to a 39-33 lead at halftime, with it seeming like it should have been a ton more.

2nd Half (best): UNLV erases the six point hole before the first media time out with hustle on defense, and determination to drive the lane instead of lazily settling for jump shots near the three point line. Tre’Von Willis and Chace Stanback worked some 2-man game real nice for a stretch, and Anthony Marshall did a nice job on the defensive end (including rebound in a short stretch), off the bench. UNLV realized a modest lead half way through the second half, and made the free throws down the stretch to seal the deal. UNLV 76, SDSU 66.

Unsung Hero was undoubtedly Oscar Bellfield, who has staked his claim as perhaps the best pure point in the league. Another six assists tonight, giving him 22 on the conference season, with only four turnovers to go with them. Last year, big O was maybe pressured to get to the rim a bit more in order to score, since the Rebels lacked scoring overall. This year, with Jasper, Willis, and Chace on the wings, Bellfield does a great job getting into the lane and kicking for open looks, and setting up his scorers nicely off the pick and pop / roll. Nice game again tonight.

Game count notched at 17 after tonight. Utah and Tourney Trip favorite Jim Boylen visit Las Vegas on Saturday. Then it’s a week on the road for the Rebels.

Comments Off

By Sam, December 22, 2009 8:01 pm

I have been a fan of college basketball for as long as I can remember. From an early age I have loved this sport and have made an effort to get to any game I could. So on a recent vacation to Nevada and Arizona I made it a point to check out the local hoops scene (okay it was actually the point of the trip but don’t tell my lady friend she thinks we were visiting friends and family). I would encourage any sports fan to travel outside of their region and watch some random teams at least once in their lifetime. It can be an eye opening experience. For a guy who has lived in the midwest his entire life to see an Arizona State fan fly into a rage at jump ball call in a non conference game it’ll make me think twice about doging Pac 10 fans for being flighty, and disinterested.

My first stop was in Las Vegas to check out UNLV v. Kansas State at the Orleans Arena. The Orleans Arena is like Rhett’s personal venue since he was watched so many WCC, and exempt tourney games there since becoming westie, and he assured me that it was a different environment at the Thomas and Mack where UNLV usually plays its home games. I was a little apprehensive about the fan base when I saw a rebel fan in the parking lot with a sideways visor freestyle rapping next to a bunch of trucks and RVs but those concerns were quickly put to rest as the game began. Vegas is an entertainment town. There is tons to see and do, and if you are going to compete for the entertainment dollars in that town you have to put on a show. Even though they were not at their home arena the UNLV people did everything they could to make the game a spectacle. They had a pyrotechnics display and a celebrity video to fire up the crowd (it was Carrot Top though). The crowd was enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and very very intense. I thought the guy behind me was going to start challenging the Kansas State fans to meet him in the parking lot for either a fight or a rap battle. But the enthusiasm died down as the game wore on and K State started draining 3 pointers. That K State team is really good by the way. So I guess it isn’t fair to judge a fan base based on 1 game at a pseudo home arena when they are getting beat by double digits but I think they are passionate and in a certain sense demanding because there are so many other ways for them to be entertained if they choose. The passion can turn to frustration pretty quickly. But it looks like it is fun to root for UNLV when times are good.

The arena was literally in a casino, which was strange and you could get a beer which I did but didn’t really feel good about it. The program was tiny and free, and there were alot of people wearing vintage UNLV gear that they probably purchased when Anderson Hunt was a freshman. You could sense that most of the people who filled up this place were the diehards, and there was a pretty impressive contingent of Kansas State fans as well as a few cowboys. Not juiced in local cowboys, but actual cowboys in town with the rodeo. I won’t go into the specifics of the game because Rhett already did that but I will say once again K State is good and very impressive in person. It was a different environment than I was used to and I would like to go  back for a big conference game at the Thomas and Mack sometime.

With Arizona State I think I got the gist of what they are and what they can be with one trip and probably don’t need to go back. First off I think they used the same architect to build the Wells Fargo as they did to build Crisler Arena. It is a round, bland building with a few trophy cases and not much ambiance. It lacked the impressive collection of NIT banners that can be found at Crisler but you could build your own burrito at the concession stand so I guess that part is a wash.

I was there for the game against San Diego State and my old buddy Steve Fischer who has recreated his patented brand of undisciplined gangster ball on the west coast to finish out his tainted abortion of a career. They had 23 turnovers on the game and ended up on the losing end despite dominating on the glass 39-21. It was a sloppy 55-53 Arizona State victory that will probably be significant in March as both of these teams will  be someplace on the tournament bubble.

What I took away from this game and this fan base was a sense that Herb Sendeck is a very good coach who is building a program and the fans at ASU are lucky to have him since they aren’t exactly Kentucky. For a game against a good SDSU squad they had an announced attendance of 10,055. There is no way there were that many people there even though in all fairness most of the students were away for Christmas break and its a pro sports town full of transplants and good weather outside. The people that did show up were loud and enthusiastic even though it wasn’t always at the appropriate time, and seem hungry for a winner. I think they are a rising power in the Pac 10 and will supplant Arizona as the dominate team in that state very soon if they haven’t already. They are just an impact player away from making a real statement on the national scene as well.

So that is my feelings on the random places I visited to watch hoops on my vacation. I recommend strongly going to any random game when you are in a new town. Not only is it kind of fun and interesting but it makes you appreciate your home teams that much more. I know I can’t wait to get to the Convocation Center tonight in Ypsilanti to watch Samford take on Eastern Michigan. There is no place like home.

Comments Off

By Rhett, December 18, 2009 4:57 pm

Since I left you last, Sam came through Vegas to hang out for a few days while he completed a tour of the desert southwest. While he was here, we took up a game. It’s what we do. I have to say, it was very trip-esque. There were off day activities such as walking up and down the strip, hiking at Red Rock Canyon, and watching a tutorial on how to be a gangster. Bang Bang, Skeet Skeet. Had one of the missing 3 been here, I believe we would document it as a trip. It will be up for debate in the future.

UNLV vs Kansas State at the Orleans Arena

UNLV is kicked out of the Thomas & Mack every fall due to the National Finals Rodeo being in town and taking over the hoops venue. The Rebels usually hit the road for a few days, which is fine, but they can’t stay out forever. They took up a pseudo-home game against Kansas State last weekend Saturday at the now Tourney Trip famous Orleans Arena, the meca of random basketball. It was pretty ugly for UNLV from start to finish. K-State rolls out two very talented, very smooth and very confident guards in Jacob Pullen and Dennis Clemente. They combined for 50 points, including Pullen’s 7 for 10 from 3 point land. Every-time UNLV would put two good things together, he’d come down and stick a cold blooded jumper in some-body’s face. The game was over at halftime when UNLV blew an easy Dunk (Santee) and the Wildcats came back down to the other end of the floor to stick a layup. 4 point swing in about 7 seconds turned what would have been a five point deficit into a nine point hole, and a horrible feeling in every UNLV fan’s stomach. The second half was more of the same, and really, it was worse than the 15 point loss it ended up being. The only good thing to come out of it was the fact that UNLV didn’t give up 100 points, which a Kruger Rebel team has never done. Kansas State 95, UNLV 80.

I want to give an official Tourney Trip thank you to fellow Tourney Trip member Sam and him coming through to watch some random hoops in Vegas. The company was much appreciated.

From there, UNLV played at Southern Utah, about a two hour drive north from Las Vegas in Cedar City, UT. Had it not been for a final in my English lit class, I would have made the trip. UNLV seems to have gotten their minds right and back on the winning track with a W here.

Last night, I welcomed myself back to the T&M for UNLV vs Weber St. I was surprised about how packed it was last night. Not near a sell-out, but a decent crowd nonetheless. Had a great time and so did UNLV. Seemed like their first complete 40 minute effort of the season. Matt Shaw was clicking from beyond the arc, Chace Stanback continues to show his improved confidence, scoring prowess (for the third game in a row) and silky smooth jumper. Weber St is a nice squad. Kyle Bullinger was 5-8 from 3 point land, seemingly hitting each of them when UNLV threatened to put this game out of reach. Fun game overall. UNLV 72, Weber State 63.

From there, I have one more UNLV game this year, as they host USC-Upstate tomorrow night. I will try to take in a few games of the Holiday Hoops Classic (Southern Illinois, San Diego, San Fransisco, and Florida International), depending on the TV viewing schedule this weekend. After these couple games, it’s strictly business.

I received word today that I will have a media credential for the Las Vegas Classic, next Tuesday and Wednesday at, once again, the Orleans Arena. This is an awesome thing. I’ll probably be doing some blogging on site, I’ll fire up the twitter feed, and hopefully, sit back and enjoy some hoops. After that, I will be basketball-less until UNLV returns home for its first home conference game against SDSU on 1/13/09.

Butler vs Xavier tomorrow morning (11am tip for me!!), do I root for my namesake, or X which = dynasty?

I think I’ll just watch.

Comments Off

By Rhett, November 29, 2009 12:49 pm

I am sure most of you have enjoyed some extra time off from your day jobs the past few days, perhaps a couple fine meals with family and friends, more than one piece of pumpkin pie, and some downtime to relax. At least I hope this is the case. I had a great meal with the family here in Vegas prepared by my special lady and her mom who flew in from Michigan. Thanksgiving in Las Vegas takes on another meaning for me though, as a banquet of college basketball was on hand over the past couple of days.

UNLV took on Louisville yesterday in an early tip off at the Thomas and Mack. We arrived early and watched the T&M fill up to near capacity. UNLV had looked pretty good the first hand full of games we’ve seen this season, but  I wasn’t sure how they would perform in a much hyped around town game. I felt UNLV was better than Louisville overall, but didn’t know if it was prime-time yet. Lots of these questions were answered yesterday.

UNLV came out early and took it right to Louisville, letting them know there would be no pushing around. Shaw, Massamba, and Santee went to work on Samuels denying him the ball, Bellfield did a job staying in front of Sosa, and overall, the Rebels played very solid man to man defense.

Jasper, Willis, and Bellfield all had several nice moves in the 1st half. Super Freshman combo of Hawkins and Marshall did their part, and UNLV was up 10 at halftime.

The second half started with more of the same. The Rebels held Louisville scoreless for over 4 minutesto start, with UNLV extending the lead from 10 to 16 or so. It was 48-32 with 5 minutes gone in the second half, and I was thinking blow out. I should have known better.

Louisville tied it up with a 30-11 run over the larger portion of the second half, making the last 4 minutes of this game pretty intense. Edgar Sosa started hitting 3’s, Some guy I’ve never heard of (Rakeem Buckles) had two nice hoops and got to the line a hand full of times, it seemed like they were coming from everywhere, and were possibly playing with a 6th guy on the floor. UNLV was forcing things a bit when it got closer. Once it was within 2, things calmed down a bit and UNLV was forced to bring it to the zone. Louisville used the zone almost 100% of the time in the second half, which gave them the turnovers and missed shots they needed for the comeback. However, when it came to crunch time, Bellfield scored on 3 straight trips against the zone, gaining the lane with the shot clock under 5 seconds and putting runners in the hoop. It was amazing.

With under a minute left, UNLV stepped it up on defense too, with a big block by Santee (and two made FT’s after the intentional foul from Samuels), and a steal by Jasper as Sosa gained the lane the next trip down. UNLV was up 6 at this point, and iced the match. Final Score: UNLV 76, Louisville 71.

And what a crowd. The T&M was absolutely rocking, silencing the hand full of ‘ville fans. How can you stand up for your team when your coach hooks up with women in storage closets of your favorite eatery and then forces one of his assistants to marry her? I heard a few classic one liners from the upper deck on Saturday that I will save for personal conversations. Overall, it was a great time.

After this game, I headed back to the Orleans Arena to catch the last two games of the Las Vegas Invitational. Yesterday I was on hand for four total games, including a great comeback by Utah for the night cap. I was hoping for another upset special early as Bradley took on Illinois for the 3rd place game.

The crowd once again was made up by a large conglomerate of Illinois fans. Bradley had its fan block back as well, but was drown out by “ILL-INI” chants for most of the afternoon. The game started close with both teams trading baskets, resulting in Bradley gaining a small lead for most of the 1st half. Illinois put on a rush at the end after they settled down and started running some real offense. Tisdale was in early foul trouble, much to the dismay of the Illinois fans in the stands. Mike Davis was effective down low working FT line extended and in, using the glass, etc. For Bradley, it was pretty balanced for the most part. Things stayed close in the second half as well. Big 3 pointers back to back from Roberts and Warren helped Bradley to a small cushion and that was enough to knock off Illinois and send their jerk fans walking. Final Score: Bradley 72, Illinois 68.

Bet the top 25 ranked Illini did not figure on losing both games in the desert. This is a testament to top 25 rankings before a season even starts being completely useless.

Second game of the night was a yawner. Utah came off its upset over Illinois, Oklahoma State handled Bradley pretty well. Utah hit a few shots to start the game, but it was over by the time the buzzer sounded for halftime. OSU guards are small, but damn fast, and the combination of Luca Drca and Carlon Brown could not keep them in front of the defense. Jim Boylen was fired up as usual, drew a technical early in the 1st half (looking to fire up the troops), but just couldn’t get it going. Down almost 20 at the half, the second half was more of the same. Couple spurts in either direction, but nothing of great note. Utah is pretty young. Had their squad from last year been matched up against the speed and strength of OSU, I think it would have been a different story. Boylen has a good thing going in Utah though, and the Utes should be in the top half of the MWC again this year. Final Score: Oklahoma State 77, Utah 55.

In addition I watched two brutal games before the “prime-time” games yesterday. Wofford vs Southern and Seattle vs Presbyterian. Seattle has some Juco transfer who is an absolute beast. He’s like 6′10″ and still handles the ball up the floor, backs his guy down and shoots the ball. It’d be like putting Kevin Garnett on the floor. Just odd to watch, but interesting nonetheless. Seattle beat Presbyterian 67-63, and Wofford beat Southern 81-66. Incidentally, I did catch the last 4 minutes of the “title” game between Wofford and Seattle. Wofford won with a great defensive stand on the last play of the game, denying Seattle’s KG a shot after he had previously missed two FT’s and got the rebound, slammed it home to take a 1 point game. Wofford nailed a shot, giving Seattle’s monster man a shot, but it was not to be. Wofford 84, Seattle 83 (Look at the box score. Charles Garcia has 41 points on 24 shots, and also shot 18 FT’s. 1 assist).

That is it for my basketball weekend. Four more games on Friday, Three and a half (lol) on Saturday, and one last Wednesday puts my total at 11. It was a long weekend of basketball watching. Today I am settling back into my normal routine for the work week ahead. UNLV is on an extended road trip because of the rodeo coming to town. Dar. My next game will be when Sam is in town, and we head back to the Orleans Arena to watch UNLV take on Kansas State.

I’ll chime in again sometime this week with a few observances around the world of college basketball instead of whats going on in my little sports bubble. In closing, shame on you Illinois fans, and shout out to UNLV. Let the buzz begin.

Comments Off

By Rhett, November 27, 2009 12:15 pm

If this were any other game, I’d have been all in for Holy Cross. They have been a classic small timey team as of late, hail from the Patriot League, and shoot a ton of 3’s. In reality though, this was just a warm-up game for UNLV. They had balanced scoring across the board from Willis (14), Bellfield (13) and super frosh’s Anthony Marshall (14) and Justin Hawkins (12). UNLV was outrebounded for the1st time all year, but I attribute this to the abundance of long rebounds going out to the 3 point line after brutal 3 point shot after brutal 3 point shot on the Crusader’s account. UNLV was in control for the whole game, avoided the trademarked slow start, and put things away for good halfway through the 2nd half. UNLV 80, Holy Cross 59.

Still looking for Derek Jasper to take over a game though. He’s shown flashes of his talent, definitely runs the offense well enough, and has shown no ill affects of his previous knee issues (highlighted by a alley-oop slam in the second half where he jumped high enough to have his arms and head above the rim it seemed). Here’s to hoping he shows up big next time out, vs this guy ->

The look ahead is to Louisville on Saturday. There may be a little bad blood between the two schools. Ricky Pitino was rumored to be a lock for the UNLV job before Kruger got it, before Pitino’s lady friend nixed the deal due to her not wanting to live in Las Vegas. UNLV also won a close game in Louisville last year without their best player, Wink Adams, on the floor due to an injury the previous game. These two items, coupled with the fact that UNLV needs to gain some national respect with a big win after their nice start (#1 in RPI rankings to start the season), and it’s going to be a hard fought game once again. I’m sure the student section will have a few choice chants for Pitino and his gangster style shotgun marriage of his extra special lady friend and some dude who guards the door while he’s picking out the carrots for a stew or something at his local watering hole. Should be interesting to say the least.

Due to the Louisville game, I will be missing the 1st two games of the 2nd day of the Las Vegas Invitational. I’m headed to the first two games after this post is done, and will be looking for Bradley and Utah to knock off Illinois and Oklahoma St. this evening.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with friends, family, and giant plates of food.

Comments Off

By Rhett, November 9, 2009 10:10 pm

What a great time of the year. Here in Vegas, we’ve broken the heat wave for a few weeks now. We’re headed to Thanksgiving. I’ll have lots of family in town, my special lady will fix up a mean turkey, and I will find a nice spot to catch as much of Feast Week on ESPN as possible. I’ll also be taking in the Las Vegas Invitational at the Orleans Arena the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving. Really looking forward to this, shout out to Scott, get those days off work so you can come watch some hoops.

Unfortunately, I will miss UNLV’s exhibition game tomorrow vs Washburn. I am excited to see how this team shapes up with these high profile transfers trying to gel and become a team. I’ll get my 1st live action look on Saturday when the Rebels take on Pittsburgh State, which is in Kansas (that’s for Sam).

Tonight, though, you can quench your thirst for basketball with two games on ESPNU, as Isiah Thomas and FIU take on North Carolina. Then you get Syracuse / Albany. Both games are brutal, but they are games, and that makes them watchable for the 1st half at the very least. I’ll watch both while doing some reading for class, as I really could use some hoops, and the ‘Cuse being on the loose is never a bad thing.

Bust out your throw backs, and get ready to go. My goal of 50 games begins on Saturday. Who’s going to hold the ribbon at the finish line for me?

Comments Off

By Rhett, July 15, 2009 1:15 am

As you may remember from my previous post here, I came across the privilege to dine with Coach Kruger after attending the Coaches vs Cancer Party at the Palms a few weeks back. After a masterful job of matching up the schedules of all the parties involved, the Ladyfriend and myself met up with Coach Kruger, his wife Barb, and another couple from the same event at a restaurant in Mandalay Place last night.

Overall it was a great evening. Coach Kruger and his wife are extremely laid back down to earth people who care about their family and love what they do. It was amazing to get a little insight into the life of a coach, especially one with the stature of Coach Kruger, considering he’s coached in the NBA (Atlanta Hawks) and been to the Final Four (Florida). He’s been successful everywhere he’s coached, so you know his approach works. Community driven good people who care about what they do and truly pay it forward. If you happen upon this, thanks for a great night Lon and Barb.

What does this mean for me? Has Tourney Trip hit the big time? Not so fast. It just so happens that I may live in the basketball capital of the world, which has done a lot to provide me the opportunities the past year or so. No NBA team, but there is NBA Summer League, and USA Basketball hosts several exhibition games as well. In addition are the UNLV Runnin’ Rebels, and several pre-season invitational college basketball tournaments. Both the West Coast Conference and the Mountain West Conference host their conference tournaments here as well. When you add it all up, basketball is always around, and if you love the game, it’s hard to not be involved. This is especially true when there are great events such as Coaches vs Cancer, and great hosts like Lon Kruger.

Looking forward, there are a few more days of Summer League, which may prompt a post towards the end of the week. After that, it’s about a 3 month countdown to midnight madness events, invitational tournaments, and starting down the road to Indianapolis. Until then, continue to follow Sam’s trek down the path of gangster paradise, scumbagville, and the things we’d rather forget about but should always remember. Something tells me there may be a link to the Fab Five coming up.

Good Talk.

Comments Off

By Rhett, May 9, 2009 6:27 pm

A few days ago, UNLV forward DeShawn Mitchell was released from the UNLV basketball program, headed by Lon Kruger. This is the sixth player to leave the program over the past year and a half. To outsiders looking in, this would be cause for concern. Why would an up and comming program, returning to the national spot light, be losing all of these players? Is it the coach? The program itself? Let’s take a closer look:

DeShawn Mitchell (F) – Freshman last year, had one decent break out game on the road vs Texas Pan American where he scored 14 points. After that, he struggled to hold his spot in the rotation, with several DNP’s and few minutes when he did play (And this was on a squad STARVING for meaningful minutes from a forward. Come on now. They were playing 6′3 guys at Center vs a 7′3 freak from Utah. ANYBODY could have had minutes at the three front court spots had they shown even the desire to play defense). It comes down to playing defense, which Mitchell did not. He was a high flier and shook the place when he dunked, but that’s all he could do. Plus, with the additions of several promising forwards and guards (Chase Stanback, Derek Jasper, to name a few), I’m sure he could see the writing on the wall. The two mentioned players have been able to practice with the team for the past year. Couldn’t have been hard for Mitchell to figure out.

Beas Hamga (C) – The hype in this town about his prep rankings killed him before he even stepped foot onto the floor. The idea of having an athletic 7 footer to go toe to toe with whoever the Mormons recruit from Australia or some meteor was a nice thought. What actually turned out was a timid unprepared lanky kid who was 3 steps late on defensive rotations, had no concept of an offensive game, and was just not ready. He was not ready, yet he wanted the playing time. He’ll get it at whatever small Indiana school he ended up at, so good for him. UNLV does not change diapers.

Marcus Lawrence (G) – Joke. This is UNLV (I don’t say this like UNLV is some elite school. They’ve gone through the garbage before. Kruger is clean and won’t stand for crap). He should have known what was expected of him having been born and raised in Las Vegas. Coming to practice drunk? C’mon man. Didn’t get a lot of run, but showed a little promise. I think UNLV was glad to have him as a local guy just for people to get excited about, but if he were still around this coming season, he’d be on the bench. Belfield and Willis would have been all over this guy.

Lamar Roberson (F) – Did this guy even play? I only remember reading a news paper article about the guy being lazy. Whatever. Kruger isn’t going to fight with somebody who wants to leave when during his stay he didn’t even act like he wanted to be here in the first place.

Emmanuel Adeife (F) – Rumor has it this guy interrupted a post game meeting by leaving, even when Kruger told him to stay put. Kruger flips out and kicks him off the team on the spot. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Troy Cage (F) – I remember he seemed promising. Didn’t play much really. The ol’ internets say he moved onto a JC in Texas to play more. Good for him I guess. Can’t imagine him playing much this next year either.

So that’s the 6. Lots of forwards bounced, which was noticed this year. What I see is the changing of the guard. The caliber of player that left is below the caliber of player that is coming in. UNLV has attracted transfers from UCLA, Kentucky, Memphis, and evidently, soon to be Kansas with Quintrell Thomas, a big forward who played sparingly last year for the Jayhawks.

When a program makes a step, and better talent is attracted to the team, the old guard can see they’re soon to be put to the bench and makes their move to another spot in order to play. That and some of these other guys were just clowns that didn’t have a good enough idea that Lon Kruger is going to make you play defense and work hard. Those things are important.

So you outsiders with your negative aspirations as to the route the UNLV hoops program is headed – think again. Can’t wait for some midnight madness, and the changing of the guard is completed.