We have a lot of need to be filled by the portal. And we’ve been hit and miss, more miss with it, so far under KK.

Players jump, there’s zero loyalty, it’s about instant gratification.

What does UNLV have to offer? What is our primary point of attractiveness? We have ample playing time available. As much as anybody. And that will shine for some players.

The problem is, I think you want guys whose primary motivation is winning and being part of a successful team, program. That is probably more reserved for perennial top 30 programs though.

So we will (and others) continue to attract “me first” players from the portal. Which leads to selfish ball, tough chemistry … because guys committed so they’d get minutes and they aren’t getting them because their focus is off.

I think you have to sacrifice numbers/close to ready made for character/potential. And you have to fast track that potential. Unless the coach is an extraordinarily strong personality that can break the nature of entitlement found in many of these guns for hire portal guys.

It’d be nice to be the school that portal guys are interested in because UNLV is a good program, they fit a piece of the puzzle and can get us over the top … instead of “plenty of minutes available”.

First, I think it is unlikely to get an at-large but if we win three maybe. Here are some key games to watch and who to root for/against this weekend.

ACC:
UVA vs GT - root for GT, UVA currently last by Lunardi, 10 seed by Palm

Pitt vs NCST - root for NCST, both are out but Pitt is closer to the field than NCST

Wake vs Clemson - root for Clemson, a loss pretty much eliminates Wake from discussion.

Big 12:
Oklahoma vs Texas - root for Texas, OU is a 8/9/10 seed so a loss here and a loss early in the tournament could push them out. Texas is slightly ahead of OU seed wise but has much better NET numbers.

KSU vs ISU - root for ISU, KSU is out but a win at home against ISU and a deep run could push them in.

Big East:
Villanova vs Creighton - root for Creighton, boost our numbers and Villanova is right in the bubble.

Seton Hall vs DePaul - root for DePaul, Seton Hall helped itself with a win against Villanova last time out. This won’t help them much but a loss is devastating, currently lunardi has last four byes and palm has in play-in.

Providence vs UCONN - root for UCONN, Providence is a different case, some mock brackets have them in, Palm doesn’t even have them as a bubble team. Loss isn’t bad here but a win would be painful to all other bubble teams.

St Johns vs Georgetown - root for Georgetown. St. John’s has won four straight after Pitino’s outburst and is squarely on the bubble.

Big Ten:
Michigan State maybe but there NET is so high not sure even a loss to Indiana and a loss first round would keep them out.

Northwestern vs Minn - root for Minn, Northwestern is in at 8/9 see right now but has a small chance to play itself out.

Nebraska vs Mich. -root for Mich, pretty much same boat as NW, in but could play itself out.

Iowa vs Ill - root for Ill, Iowa on the bubble and needs to not play itself in.

PAC-12:
Colorado vs OSU - root for OSU, road loss to OSU would hurt CU’s chances and push them off the bubble.

Utah vs Oregon - root for Oregon, Oregon is farther from the field then Utah and probably will not be able to play it’s way in.

SEC:
Miss St. vs S.Car - root for S.Car, while this loss will not kill their chances a win probably makes them a lock.

Tex A&M vs Miss - root for Miss, I am not sure why A&M is not in over MSU as of now and even some mock brackets don’t even show them just out. They have a head to head if MSU, more quad 1 wins and less bad losses. I don’t think Miss can play it’s way in.

American:
USF vs Tulsa - USF is UNLV without the quad 1 wins, but a conference title. A loss would be nice.

FAU vs Memphis - root for Memphis, currently projected as a 8/9 seed but there NET wins/losses are comparable to UNLV but they have a high NET. I think they are in due to last year but I think they could drop with two losses. Memphis cloud play it’s way in, but would rather see FAU lose this game.

Ivy:
Princeton vs Penn - I don’t think Princeton gets an at large with no games against quad 1 teams and a 3-3 record against quad 2 but a loss would still be helpful.


Conference Tournaments:

Lose/Early or Win Teams:
James Madison (Sun Belt)
McNeese St (Southland)
Indiana St (MVC)

Who do you guys think we’re going to play?

Rebs 7-1 with win over a ranked Stanford team.

And currently leading SJSU 19-1 in the 6th inning.

Good lord mercy rule...

Aztecs, tough battle tested, know how to win under Dutch, they know who they our style wise!

UNLV: 2014 last time won Quarterfinal MWC game, style wise, walk it up, Thomas dribble pass it around to 3 guys at 3, look down low and stand and watch, or have Thomas do it himself. Weak soft rebounding team, at least 3 games beaten on boards by 15-30, totally unacceptable.

Is this start under KK top 4 MWC team with huge dependent on grad transfers or can KK get another top freshman like Thomas? Can he recruit shooters and wings who can create without Thomas?

So what is everyone expecting from this tournament? Up until the UNR game I was hopeful that our seeding would align well for a favorable bracket and a team that is ready to make a serious run at the championship. The UNR loss pushed us into the seeding with SDSU and imo that’s the worst seeding for us. Just a bit too much to ask of this team and coaching staff to beat SDSU twice in a row within a couple weeks, even with a healthy team. If Ka. Boone is a no go any win by UNLV would have to be classified as a major upset.
If it’s not us I’d like to see USU complete its run and win the MWCT with SDSU and UNR losing as early as possible. Can’t stand BSU’s coach and I just don’t have much respect for UNM.
Short of a run in the MWCT I’m at least hoping for an NIT bid, which would at least still be a very positive step for a program that has done nothing in the post-season for over a decade. Who knows if the team is healthy for the NIT we could make some noise and perhaps help a few key transfers see the potential in brining their games to UNLV for the 24-25 season.

my guess is 0

Average 17Pts. 8 Rebounds. Does anyone know the story on how this one got away?

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That was just one of those 50-50 games that you could have won just as easily as you lost. The Rebels had quite a few of them this season and they probably won half of them.

Effort was good, the IQ aside from DJ, was abysmal. The lack of any sort of depth really showed today. Dedan looked completely gassed by the end and that may have impacted his shot late. But what a monster player for the Rebels. I knew he’d be good, I didn’t expect him to be this good. He just had nobody of consistency on the team and had to shoulder almost all the offense. This season is going to pay off for him, he got 5th year senior minutes, duties and all the shots he could handle. And he did well with it. The lack of a bench is expediting his growth.

It was a good effort today. Too many low IQ players in the floor. But they fought back, coulda-shoulda-woulda … I’m not overly excited about the future but I don’t have that Marv impending feeling of doom about it either.

I think I stated this a few times after the first game. SDSU went up big early and coasted to the win, but it wasn’t their doing. It’s not like they were getting easy buckets or were red hot. It was because UNLV missed everything. After that, UNLV was better than them, which they showed last week … and today, short handed, we woulda coulda shoulda … this was a good year to sweep SDSU or at least go 2-1 and we only went 1-2. Not beating SDSU down when they are down as much as they’ve been for awhile, sucks.

I’m not going to beat the horse of fire or keep. Plenty of time and threads for that discussion.

FWIW, I was notified and given a “guarantee” Dedan is staying here.

Discuss.

Here we go

Who here thought DTJ would be our only scoring option?

My geez OMG Thomas, if if the last play invgalf

If he doesn't have worst basketball IQ, he's horrible, horrible shot before that pass. He has rebounded really well.

Up 5, should be 8. Webster huge 11, need Rodriquez to get some points.

Team ball, aztecs just horrible again.

If Ka. Boone is out and you were the coach what strategy would you use to beat the Aztecs?

USU going to survive, foul problem got them. Watching Yap, wow, he has no handles at all, having him in OT really hurt. Cockroach Hudson will be gone, he's horrible

Constant pressure, getting layups and shooting 3's. I could get behind that!

So does the MW move games to Th/Fri for TV? Discussion starting on my Board about this. I guess you control our away games (where Th/Fri would be ok with us), and I would assume the Pac-2 controls our home games - or do your teams have a say?).

WSU in general hates Th/Fr games. A significant portion of our fan base resides 280 miles away (Seattle area) and 75 miles away (Spokane, with a 2-lane highway connecting us, going through the biggest speedtrap 25MPH small town on the planet). Plus our quite popular RV lot takes up large student/staff parking lots right by the stadium. In the past the TV lords and Pac-12 office have controlled game times and dates. Will be interesting to see this develop. My opinion is that we will be getting a shit TV deal for home games anyway. I say F-that in favor of trying to cater to our battered actual fan base.

They will be playing for an ACHA National Championship tomorrow at 6pm against Adrian College. They beat Missouri State, Pittsburgh, and tonight vs. University of Central Oklahoma to get there.

There'a a stream behind a pay wall on something called FloSports, but regardless, the boys play tough, smart, quick team-oriented hockey and I think that deserves a shoutout.

Interesting comments from CKK at the Coaches Show last night. He was asked about the future and he didn't hesitate to say he thought there would be more stability going forward. Said that there would be a good core coming back to go with his recruiting class and the program hasn't had that recently. He didn't seem too concerned with a mass exodus.

I was at the Gonzaga game last night. They push the ball after most defensive rebounds. Positives - 1. they got several uncontested layups due to confusion on the defensive end. 2. They got a number of 8 foot jumpers as they were slowed near the basket. 3. They got several totally uncontested three's as the defense was not organized. 4. They picked up a few fouls due to the defensive player put in a bad defensive position. Negatives - two turnovers.

IMO, with DTJ there is no reason for CKK not to get two/three players who can benefit from running. There are probably 10 assists just waiting there if we can pick up the pace at appropriate times.

Rebs 68
Reno 62

I can't stand Reno.