For quite some time, I’ve felt like I was the only one posting on this board. As I look back over recent messages, and beyond, I see my screen name, over and over. So it wasn't just my imagination.
It’s regrettable, yet understandable, that no one wants to engage in any spirited discussions about Rebel hoops. There was certainly a time when the entire city was engaged in what was the latest news concerning the team. I'm aware that I'm trying to cling to something that just isn't there anymore. But that was a very different time, a very different team, in a very different Las Vegas.
This latest loss, to a mediocre Utah State team, at our house, has taken the wind from my sails. I’ve stayed away from Rebel-Net, since Saturday night, because I’ve lost my enthusiasm. I am crushed by my own naivete. I had convinced myself that this team, and this coach, were as good as their soft-ball schedule made them appear. Sure, they dominated the Mississippi Valley’s and the Prairie View’s, as expected, but what about the annihilation of Utah? And playing Arizona to a dead heat in regulation, a game they lead throughout? Where has that team gone?
Conference season has arrived, and the Rebels are once again, a middle-to-lower-end-of-the-pack participant. It makes me feel like a fool falling for the hype, year after year.
When Kruger was here we were doing enough to get to the Dance, yet never winning the conference. The general sentiment was that, sure he was a pretty good coach, but he never got that 5-star player that might elevate us to the next level. He had reached his “ceiling”, and many, if not most fans weren’t all that sorry to see him go. Since Lon has succeeded at Oklahoma, in ways he never did here, there are some who want to engage in a bit of revisionist history. They claim they wanted him to stay. If that's true, they were awfully quiet about it at the time.
The hiring of Dave Rice was met with great optimism. Sure, there was the Reggie Theus faction, but most saw Rice as a great hire The Rice vs Theus argument had more to do with personality than qualifications. Did we want the GQ-flashy Theus or the nerdy Rice?. A true Rebel, A player on the '90 National Championship team, Rice had been quite successful as an assistant at BYU. And he'd been the de-facto head coach, while Dave Rose battled cancer. What could possibly go wrong?
And out of the gate, they pulled off the biggest upset of the year, when they surprised North Carolina. But the team tailed off in conference play.They were eliminated in round one of the NCAA’s. by Colorado. And it was a team dominated by Chace Stanback Mike Moser, Oscar Bellfield and Anthony Marshall. All Kruger disciples.
Then came year two of Rice’s tenure. And Rice landed Anthony Bennett. Exactly the type of prize recruit, that Kruger wasn’t getting. And we still went to the tournament. Albeit still with mostly Kruger’s players, plus a somewhat sluggish Bennett, only to be eliminated in the first round by a Cal team we’d beaten earlier.
No one needs this recounting of UNLV’s fall from grace after that. My point is, year after year, we were drawn into the narrative that
this year was going to be different. We’d get better. We’d win the conference and succeed in March. After all, we landed Steven Zimmermann, right? Or, we got Rashad Vaughn. No matter how many stars they might have had next to their name, the result was always the same..
And this year, I fell for it, once again. This team, with a new coach, and a seven-foot, five-star prize, was the real McCoy, if you’ll forgive the pun. And once again it’s conference time and to put it bluntly, we suck.
So I’ll take some time off from this board. Ill still watch the games. I’m still a fan. But I can’t be positive after our history. And coming here to complain and be negative, doesn’t appeal to me. Should our fortunes brighten, in the words of the ex-Governor of California,.. I'll be back... Until then, hasta la vista, baby...
Go Rebels!
