Great win !
- Thread starter heatermatt
- Start date
We really ought to be in the top 25 but I would not be surprised if we end up just outside in the 26-30 range.
It was a solid performance top to bottom. Defensively we were pretty good. We did have that period in the second half were we couldn't beat the zone, but at the same time we did have some good plays against it. We just didn't finish the plays.
Being hot in the first half definitely helped, but them being hot in the second got them back in the game. I consider it a wash.
I do expect to go 2-2 in the next four with losses against Witchita St and Arizona on the road. I hope fans dont jump off of the bandwagon since even if we do crack the top 25, that will knock us out.
As of now I expect this team to be in the 20-40 range by the seasons end, depending on how certain bounces go during conference play.
Plenty of reason to be excited about the rest of the season.
It was a solid performance top to bottom. Defensively we were pretty good. We did have that period in the second half were we couldn't beat the zone, but at the same time we did have some good plays against it. We just didn't finish the plays.
Being hot in the first half definitely helped, but them being hot in the second got them back in the game. I consider it a wash.
I do expect to go 2-2 in the next four with losses against Witchita St and Arizona on the road. I hope fans dont jump off of the bandwagon since even if we do crack the top 25, that will knock us out.
As of now I expect this team to be in the 20-40 range by the seasons end, depending on how certain bounces go during conference play.
Plenty of reason to be excited about the rest of the season.
Hard to say how we fare,, but I like our chances against zona and the shockers both are not at full strength ... I think we could do 3 of four but would take 2 wins all and all good start to the season
I think we could go 4-4, if we play a entire game the way I know we can play. We made free throws and showed grit the last 5 minutes. Keep improving kinda wish teams will be at full strength only makes us stronger.
Our depth pulled through tonight against a shorter bench. Got good minutes out of poyser.
Our depth pulled through tonight against a shorter bench. Got good minutes out of poyser.
18 for 21 at the line...85%!... Gotta love that! Keep it up boys...Great win! Let's carry it through to a hobbled Wichita State squad.
Okay, the scoring drought in the 2nd half, and the failure to box out on the offensive boards were cause for concern, but I'm sure the coaches will be addressing them in practice. No game is perfect, but this is an undeniable quality win. Our resume is already looking quite impressive. The DR-haters must be very unhappy. He may be around for a while.
GO REBELS!!!
Okay, the scoring drought in the 2nd half, and the failure to box out on the offensive boards were cause for concern, but I'm sure the coaches will be addressing them in practice. No game is perfect, but this is an undeniable quality win. Our resume is already looking quite impressive. The DR-haters must be very unhappy. He may be around for a while.
GO REBELS!!!
Led by 20, never trailed, won by double digits.
Crowd was amazing. All red, loud as hell at all the right times.
Great day to be a Rebel
Crowd was amazing. All red, loud as hell at all the right times.
Great day to be a Rebel
Love this from Morgan. Love the response from Coach Miller.
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Ryan Miller @CoachRyanMiller 8h8 hours agoParadise, NV
@LVNewsBureau I absolutely love this. Prideful of the university and city we represent. @_theREALdeal15
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Ryan Miller @CoachRyanMiller 8h8 hours agoParadise, NV
@LVNewsBureau I absolutely love this. Prideful of the university and city we represent. @_theREALdeal15
Rebs didn't deserve to be ranked yesterday. Were we talented enough to be? Absolutely. Just needed to show it.
Today is a new day. Not that it matters all that much at this point in the season, but I'd be shocked if the Rebs weren't ranked next week.
If we'd shot 80% from the line against UCLA (and won, obviously) you could easily make a case for a top 15 ranking going into Wichita. Leaving UNLV out of the rankings entirely based on that 2-point, Maui loss would be weak.
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Don't care about rankings yet... would be nice but this team is better than people expected and its showing. Rice finally got a group of ballers with experience, big game success, and bad A$$ attitude. They dont back down, hang their heads or quit which is what alot of people have been dying to see. Clearly the best team in MWC right now and its not all that close.
While Id be generally apprehensive to agree, I think it will make for much larger national audience if both UNLV and UA are ranked and potentially top 20 teams when they meet.
Great point in there about the 'struggles' vs zone. Guys had some really good looks and just couldn't convert. It happens. I think our struggles vs zone are slightly exaggerated. If zone defense wasn't effective nobody would run it.
Defensive intensity was great the entire game.
Wichita is a tough place to play and they are getting healthy. 2-2 vs Witchita, Oregon, AU and ASU would be a solid result.
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It wouldn't be entirely based on that. It would also be based on the fact that this is a Dave Rice team and people have concluded that his teams aren't good.
That's also a big reason why this team wasn't close to being ranked when the season started. People were judging this group of players negatively because different groups of players from the last two years failed to make the tournament.
There are teams in the top 25 today that got there without doing much. What has Arizona done to get its ranking? They are up there because they were good last season, not because they look good this season.
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At this point I'd be disappointed if we only end up 2-2 in the 4 difficult nonconference games (3-3 if you include UCLA and Indiana). We should have at least a decent shot at taking a minimum of 1 road game.
To really set ourselves apart from other teams we need to go a minimum of 3-1. If we really are good then 4-0 is possible and would really make a statement. I don't want us to be just another San Diego State. We don't want to get something like an 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
To really set ourselves apart from other teams we need to go a minimum of 3-1. If we really are good then 4-0 is possible and would really make a statement. I don't want us to be just another San Diego State. We don't want to get something like an 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Baby steps. You are hoping we go from a non post season team to a top 15 team in a quarter of a season. That is a stretch for a blue blood.
Although a ranking is richly deserved at this point, it's probably not gonna' happen. As is usually the case, we will fall victim to "East-Coast Bias".
Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com came out with his Top-25 (plus one) this morning, after the Rebels dispatched #15 Oregon. He dropped the Ducks down to #26. The Rebels?...MIA...
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...lv-drops-to-26th-in-cbs-sports-top-25-and-one
Gary Parrish of CBSSports.com came out with his Top-25 (plus one) this morning, after the Rebels dispatched #15 Oregon. He dropped the Ducks down to #26. The Rebels?...MIA...
http://www.cbssports.com/collegebas...lv-drops-to-26th-in-cbs-sports-top-25-and-one
I think anyone ranking the Rebels lower right now based on lack of faith in the coaching staff is both lazy and wrong. They're being proven wrong with each Rebel win this year. This years team has appeared very well coached and head and shoulders smarter than any Rice team in the past. Rice has improved. Rice has improved his staff. Rice has improved his players. That's how I see it anyway.
A big reason this years team appears so much better coached than prior Rice teams is that it's better constructed. Seagears and McCaw are easily the best two PG options Rice has ever had. Or how about the fact that Carter and Zimm are two of the highest basketball IQ players we've ever had, who also happen compliment each other brilliantly? Or that Morgan is light years improved over last year, capable of providing an energy every team needs?
All credits to an improved coaching staff.
The Rebs are going to knock off a few more big name coaches before this is done, and I suspect they'll win the "coaching" battle plenty along he way. Altman and Crean are already on the defeated list. F-n Alf just barely escaped it.
I'd love to hear the 15 teams you'd rank ahead of UNLV right now had we made our FTs against UCLA.
Hell, Id love to hear the 20 you'd rank ahead of us today if you were willing to offer. Would be good conversation.
Nope, not willing. I haven't seen every team play so how could I give that info? You want me to give hypothetical based on what could have happened?
I think you missed my point. To expect to win at least 2 out of the next 3 against the quality we are going up against is too lofty IMO. Arizona is good and we beat them last year. They will not be messing around and could thump us. It will not be a bad loss if they do.
Witchita St had a bad start to the season but will get players back and will also be very motivated.
It is possible to win one of the two but not likely.
College basketball is so much about who is up to play any given game and if you can follow those things close enough you can make money on that more than any other sport. Those two teams will be up to play us and we are on the road. Very tough spots.
When was this team not a postseason team? The only reason this team wasn't taken seriously at the start is people underestimated them. I think this team was far better at the beginning of the season than people thought.
In other words, maybe this team was already one of the top 15 teams when the season started and nobody realized it. It's not uncommon for preseason rankings and opinions to be way off.
Preseason rankings have been harshly criticized (especially in football) because people rank/judge teams that nobody has ever seen play.
I always thought they were a post season team, just not a top 15 team.
Is wrong. That's what I think.
Perhaps someone should tell Miami lost at home to Northeastern. And that the Utah win isn't impressive anymore.
And Baylor. Lost to Oregon in their only test, zero impressive wins.
UCONN? Losses to Gonzaga and at home to Syracuse. Beat unranked Michigan, for whatever that's worth.
Cincy. Signature win so far is beating unranked Nebraska by 4 in a a game I didn't see, but I'm guessing was terrible television. Then they lost to Butler. Impressive.
Oregon. Lost by double digits, never led, trailed by 20. Weaker schedule. Can't rank them ahead of UNLV.
I'm not saying UNLV will be ranked in the top 20, but it's hard to argue those teams should be ranked ahead of UNLV today based on performance.
I understand subjectivity is always a factor in rankings, especially early. It's the major reason peoples early season rankings can be comically shortsighted.
Fair enough. Reasonable actually.
I wonder if Gary Parrish has seen all those teams play? Judging from his rankings i doubt it.
That was my point.
Definitely agree there. If he has watched all of those teams play and still votes that way he should probably be out of a job.
If you give us a 30% chance of winning each road game, then mathematically what are the chances of stealing at least one? About 51%? And that's assuming we are a significant underdog. Give us a better chance of winning and the odds get even better. I don't think stealing one is a longshot.
On the other hand, there is a chance we drop a home game when I look at stuff this way. And of course we could drop both road games.
On the other hand, there is a chance we drop a home game when I look at stuff this way. And of course we could drop both road games.
League is weak. Rebs are deep and getting better. OOC schedule is battle testing this team early.
I think we're going to dominate the MWC. Feeling FAR better about this group being able to travel than any in recent memory. Higher BBIQ teams win road games more frequently.
I think we're going to dominate the MWC. Feeling FAR better about this group being able to travel than any in recent memory. Higher BBIQ teams win road games more frequently.
Exactly. And the problem with your numbers is that they work in a vacuum.
I don't feel this way about our chances in these games because of the quality of the teams, but because of the circumstances surrounding them.
It is the way I analyze things. Trying to think outside of the box. Some people would say Arizona beating Gonzaga today would hurt our chances. In my mind they actually just went very slightly up. They are still the same team they were a day ago, but now maybe they relax a little bit. Had they lost Sean Miller would be up their a$$ and they would be listening. Maybe there is a chance they let off a little now.
I still think we are dead in that game either way. So in my mind that leaves a road win against Witchita, assuming we win at home against Arizona St and on the road at Riverside. Beating a good team like Witchita will be tough because they too will be ready for us.
May not win but zero reason we shouldn't be highly competitive against Arizona. You can put in your projected loss column if you want to be pessimistic i suppose. I see no reason to think that way.
Well it sounds like you give us much less than a 30% chance of beating Arizona. If the odds of winning that game are really low, then we would have way less than a 51% chance to steal a game and that changes the numbers a lot.
I would give us a 40% chance of beating Witchita and maybe 15% against Arizona. My math isn't strong enough at this age to figure the odds.
I am not being pessimistic, I am being realistic. The same way I don't get way down on the team when things go bad, I don't get over confident when the start going good.
I operate (or at least try to) completely emotion free. I try and analyze things from a fair, unbiased perspective.
I expect us to go 2-2 in the next four and if we do that is still a successful non conference performance.
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Kinda funny, different viewpoints on the meaning of realistic perhaps. Seems to me giving the Rebels no chance to win at Arizona is more unrealisic.
Perhaps you feel differently about that potential line than I do. There's certainly room for discussion there. I'm far from a pro, but if UNLV played @ AZ today, Rebs +8, +320ML sound about right? Implied probability of upset with that would be around 25% I think.
I can't write that off as a sure loss in my mind the way this team is trending. Just can't do it, realistically.
Perhaps you feel differently about that potential line than I do. There's certainly room for discussion there. I'm far from a pro, but if UNLV played @ AZ today, Rebs +8, +320ML sound about right? Implied probability of upset with that would be around 25% I think.
I can't write that off as a sure loss in my mind the way this team is trending. Just can't do it, realistically.
