Cool Article

[Pistol Pete 1]

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2018/feb/05/in-point-guard-noah-robotham-rebels-have-point-gua/

Makes you wonder what was Dave Rice thinking 5 years ago. His own brother was coaching the kid and he never even recruited him! Sad when you stop and think about the point guards he brought through here hoping for a quick fix and a gem was right under his nose.

 

[MonsterJam]

Well, Dave thought he could recruit 4 and 5 star players at every position to be successful. Turns out he could recruit 4 and 5 star players. He just couldn't 1) coach them or 2) win long-term with them. A very costly lesson to be learned here.

Brandon McCoy is turning the corner today. Not so long ago I wasn't feeling him. Still, I'm of the opinion that a team of fundamentally sound 4-year players working as a team ALWAYS trumps individual talent with personal agendas. I've seen it long enough at UNLV to know this is true.

Hindsight is 20/20 right? I might have gone after the same players as Rice back in the day. Today? No thanks. Give me the hardworking 2-4 star players that will be here 4 years unless they have breakout seasons (e.g. Patrick McCaw).

 

[UNLVWINS]

All Dave needed was a good point guard. He almost had it with Fischer.

 

[Knight Rebel702]

All Dave needed was a good point guard. He almost had it with Fischer.

The Irony is that he had Nigel William-Goss who led Gonzaga to the NCAA Championship game here. Maybe if he convinced him to stay a Rebel, he would still be coaching here . SMH

 

[UNLVWINS]

The Irony is that he had Nigel William-Goss who led Gonzaga to the NCAA Championship game here. Maybe if he convinced him to stay a Rebel, he would still be coaching here . SMH

That is very true.

 

[MonsterJam]

I don't think so. Rice just didn't have "it"- the ability to motivate players to play as a team and for the team instead of for themselves.

 

[YellowSpinE]

I don't think so. Rice just didn't have "it"- the ability to motivate players to play as a team and for the team instead of for themselves.

And he just didn't seem to instill solid fundamental basketball in guys. I wish Rice had worked out.

 

[j. spilotro]

https://lasvegassun.com/news/2018/feb/05/in-point-guard-noah-robotham-rebels-have-point-gua/

Makes you wonder what was Dave Rice thinking 5 years ago. His own brother was coaching the kid and he never even recruited him! Sad when you stop and think about the point guards he brought through here hoping for a quick fix and a gem was right under his nose.

Perhaps Noah wanted minutes and the potential to get them at Akron was much higher than to get them at UNLV. You think? Of course Rice knows the family well and knows Noah well. Noah is a great kid, really great kid - and if you’ve seen him play, he’s a winner. I like him a lot. He’s certainly not a pure point guard, not in the way Jordy is. He will be a good, seasoned player for UNLV next season.

But Noah probably wasn’t going to get any minutes at UNLV early in his career, especially. He knew that and I know Rice likes the Robotham’s a lot. Do you lie to the kid and his family, especially one that you’ve known for many years and tell him to come here because he might start when he won’t? Because he may earn minutes early when he probably won’t until he’s an upper classman?

Noah is an example of a kid hitting the target. He went to the right place since PT was important to him. He was going to play early for Akron against similar competition.

But to act like “didn’t know” when this was discussed between the parties ad nauseum way back when.... with the goal of the best fit for the kid at that time.....

 

[UNLVWINS]

And he just didn't seem to instill solid fundamental basketball in guys. I wish Rice had worked out.

He proved that UNLV could still bring in the best players around. Next year’s Rebel team might not be as good as this years. McCoy is gone in about a month.

 

[TarkisGod]

He proved that UNLV could still bring in the best players around. Next year’s Rebel team might not be as good as this years. McCoy is gone in about a month.

McCoy-Gone
Johnson-Gone
Juiston-???

I sincerely hope, for purely selfish reasons, that Shakur opts to play out his Senior year. But the way kids run to the draft, even though they're unlikely to go in the 1st round. And the 2nd is iffy.

Honestly, Juiston is a man, while McCoy is a boy. But I suppose a team is more than willing to wait for him to mature, given his potentially huge upside.

I was entertaining this pipe-dream that Brandon's army-sergeant mother, might urge him to stay another year, but...there's always the $$$

In any event, we're losing our star center, and our experienced point guard. Robotham sounds like a good replacement, but Joe says that he's not the classic point guard, like JJ. So I'm not sure what that means to the team.

Replacing Brandon will be a tougher task. I don't imagine we can do that. But Coach Menzies has been known as a developer of big men. It's easy to see, as Diong becomes a force around the rim. But his offensive skills are limited as of this point. He's certainly no replacement for McCoy. But at this time last year, we were mired in the worst season in UNLV history, but look what this team turned into.

I'm not saying that they're performing to our expectations. But, they will likely win 20 games, an unimaginable feat 12 months ago. However a dynamite recruiting class changed that.

So who knows what MM might have up his sleeve?

Go Rebels!

 

[j. spilotro]

McCoy-Gone
Johnson-Gone
Juiston-???

I sincerely hope, for purely selfish reasons, that Shakur opts to play out his Senior year. But the way kids run to the draft, even though they're unlikely to go in the 1st round. And the 2nd is iffy.

Honestly, Juiston is a man, while McCoy is a boy. But I suppose a team is more than willing to wait for him to mature, given his potentially huge upside.

I was entertaining this pipe-dream that Brandon's army-sergeant mother, might urge him to stay another year, but...there's always the $$$

In any event, we're losing our star center, and our experienced point guard. Robotham sounds like a good replacement, but Joe says that he's not the classic point guard, like JJ. So I'm not sure what that means to the team.

Replacing Brandon will be a tougher task. I don't imagine we can do that. But Coach Menzies has been known as a developer of big men. It's easy to see, as Diong becomes a force around the rim. But his offensive skills are limited as of this point. He's certainly no replacement for McCoy. But at this time last year, we were mired in the worst season in UNLV history, but look what this team turned into.

I'm not saying that they're performing to our expectations. But, they will likely win 20 games, an unimaginable feat 12 months ago. However a dynamite recruiting class changed that.

So who knows what MM might have up his sleeve?

Go Rebels!

I’d be more shocked with Juice declaring for the draft than McCoy deciding to stay. I don’t think either happens.

Noah is good. He’s a winner.

 

[lvhiker]

Joe, thanks for your thoughts on Juice and Brandon. They give me hope for continued improvement next year.

 

[UNLVWINS]

McCoy-Gone
Johnson-Gone
Juiston-???

I sincerely hope, for purely selfish reasons, that Shakur opts to play out his Senior year. But the way kids run to the draft, even though they're unlikely to go in the 1st round. And the 2nd is iffy.

Honestly, Juiston is a man, while McCoy is a boy. But I suppose a team is more than willing to wait for him to mature, given his potentially huge upside.

I was entertaining this pipe-dream that Brandon's army-sergeant mother, might urge him to stay another year, but...there's always the $$$

In any event, we're losing our star center, and our experienced point guard. Robotham sounds like a good replacement, but Joe says that he's not the classic point guard, like JJ. So I'm not sure what that means to the team.

Replacing Brandon will be a tougher task. I don't imagine we can do that. But Coach Menzies has been known as a developer of big men. It's easy to see, as Diong becomes a force around the rim. But his offensive skills are limited as of this point. He's certainly no replacement for McCoy. But at this time last year, we were mired in the worst season in UNLV history, but look what this team turned into.

I'm not saying that they're performing to our expectations. But, they will likely win 20 games, an unimaginable feat 12 months ago. However a dynamite recruiting class changed that.

So who knows what MM might have up his sleeve?

Go Rebels!

McCoy is going to be out of here in about a month. I bet Juice declares also. These guys want to make money when it gets down to it.

 

[TarkisGod]

McCoy is going to be out of here in about a month. I bet Juice declares also. These guys want to make money when it gets down to it.

Bastards!

Go Rebels!