I like to jot down my observations on the game before I get to the boards and read posts. I look at the stat sheet, but don't listen to post games or anything like that. I just like going by my initial thoughts and observations, whether they are right or wrong. It's going to be kind of jumbled.
I fully anticipated beating Cal Poly by double digits. And if UNLV was going to win by less than that or lose the game, I was going to be incredibly disappointed. With a two point loss, I suspect most people are very disappointed. But I wasn't, not really. Though there was some bad, I felt that there was a ton of good out there tonight. Too many missed connections in the halfcourt offense that were good plays that didn't account for points.
First off, if college basketball is going to be called like this all season long, then coaches better do one of two things. Bring in five walk-ons so they have enough bodies or teach a matador defense that gives up 120 points per game. Just like last year, it was absolutely brutal. This wasn't refs screwing UNLV over. This was refs screwing the game over. Seriously. Absolutely ZERO flow to the game.
It was a two point win. It was actually a double digit win that UNLV played into a very tight game because they couldn't make the uncontested 15 footer. I'm not going to worry about that too much at this point - it happened last season and it got better as the season progressed to the point where it wasn't necessarily an overwhelming achilles heel, as it was tonight. There's not much you can say about it. I think UNLV missed 7 or 8 free throws in crunch time - and with better than average free throw shooters. I thought Cal Poly showed their experience by not folding when the Rebels had them on the ropes. I don't think UNLV did anything wrong (besides missing FT's) to let them back into the game. They were savvy and scrappy. But it shouldn't have been as close as it was.
Offensively, it could have been better, but that the Rebels faced a zone for the vast majority of the game and launched only 14 three pointers (at least two were ill advised, maybe it was three) says alot about the offensive intent. The ball was moving, players were penetrating, the ball was hitting the high and the low post. I thought it moved pretty well (turnovers were still an issue though). There were a lot of plays that "just missed" timing-wise that would have been beautiful, easy scores. Still got some of those, but I think that's the type of stuff that just gets ironed out as the game time minutes pass.
I thought McCaw was downright awful in the first half. But he was nails in the second half. I thought Ike and Goodluck were very bad for the duration of the game. No way Ike should be grabbing more boards than Goodluck. I bitched about Dwayne not grabbing boards last year. It's worse when Goodluck doesn't get them. Now Goodluck is not a naturally great rebounder, in fact, for his size, he's subpar. But he's gotta do more than that. As for Ike, I don't know if it was pressing - but he was just not very good at all. Turnovers, missed shots... not the type of performance you expect out of a senior.
Seagears went from terrible to pretty good as the game progressed. He almost followed the same trajectory as McCaw in this game. Dwayne put up his obligatory "you shouldn't be shooting that" shot, but other than that, he was really strong tonight. If he continues to embrace what he is instead of what he thinks he could be, he's going to be really, really good. The way he's played recently is exactly what the Rebels needed last year and will need this year. Be the high energy blue collar guy, it's a suit that fits well.
Ben didn't get a lot of minutes, but man, the makes stuff happen out there and he's just important glue. The collective team IQ goes up when he is on the floor. He just makes winning plays. He's not going to dazzle you with anything, but he's just so solid in the things he does. As for Zimm, pretty good first game for the freshman, almost a double double. We're going to be saying alot of good things about him this year. He's just going to get better and better, he's just getting his feet wet at this level. I really like him and Ben in the game at the same time. It's a combo we might see on the floor for longer stretches if GO doesn't get his head out.
I liked that Jordan looked to attack the lane instead of just settling for jumpers. You never want to settle for being a one dimensional player. Overall, he was okay, but he needs to drain the important free throws. He did have 4 assists, which is something you have to be happy about. I liked that the Rebels had three guys with at least 4 assists. It says something about chemistry when those numbers are up.
Back to the officiating. I thought what could have been a critical play was when the officials didn't call a time out when Zimm was injured. If I'm not mistaken, the Mustangs drained a three when Stephen was nursing his knee. The college rule this year is that the coach cannot call a timeout from the sideline during a live ball - Rice was pointing the refs in Zimm's way trying to get the official's time out, but it never came. Bad piece of officiating.
A great change was that the Rebels came out strong in the second half, very strong. That's a flip flop from the pattern we have witnessed. That first 10 minutes of basketball in the second half was inspired basketball, great defensive pressure. It was exciting. And I think that's where I WASN'T disappointed with this game. There were significant stretches of really good basketball that interupted by whistles, missed free throws and some bad plays. Those stretches of "good" are things we are going to see get longer - the ball movement against the zone, the pressure defense creating some turnovers and havoc, the halfcourt defense making shots very difficult, etc. None of those areas were long enough to actually dominate tonight, but they were long enough to think that it was something real - that they didn't just fluke into it. Anyway, that's why I'm not all that disappointed.
I fully anticipated beating Cal Poly by double digits. And if UNLV was going to win by less than that or lose the game, I was going to be incredibly disappointed. With a two point loss, I suspect most people are very disappointed. But I wasn't, not really. Though there was some bad, I felt that there was a ton of good out there tonight. Too many missed connections in the halfcourt offense that were good plays that didn't account for points.
First off, if college basketball is going to be called like this all season long, then coaches better do one of two things. Bring in five walk-ons so they have enough bodies or teach a matador defense that gives up 120 points per game. Just like last year, it was absolutely brutal. This wasn't refs screwing UNLV over. This was refs screwing the game over. Seriously. Absolutely ZERO flow to the game.
It was a two point win. It was actually a double digit win that UNLV played into a very tight game because they couldn't make the uncontested 15 footer. I'm not going to worry about that too much at this point - it happened last season and it got better as the season progressed to the point where it wasn't necessarily an overwhelming achilles heel, as it was tonight. There's not much you can say about it. I think UNLV missed 7 or 8 free throws in crunch time - and with better than average free throw shooters. I thought Cal Poly showed their experience by not folding when the Rebels had them on the ropes. I don't think UNLV did anything wrong (besides missing FT's) to let them back into the game. They were savvy and scrappy. But it shouldn't have been as close as it was.
Offensively, it could have been better, but that the Rebels faced a zone for the vast majority of the game and launched only 14 three pointers (at least two were ill advised, maybe it was three) says alot about the offensive intent. The ball was moving, players were penetrating, the ball was hitting the high and the low post. I thought it moved pretty well (turnovers were still an issue though). There were a lot of plays that "just missed" timing-wise that would have been beautiful, easy scores. Still got some of those, but I think that's the type of stuff that just gets ironed out as the game time minutes pass.
I thought McCaw was downright awful in the first half. But he was nails in the second half. I thought Ike and Goodluck were very bad for the duration of the game. No way Ike should be grabbing more boards than Goodluck. I bitched about Dwayne not grabbing boards last year. It's worse when Goodluck doesn't get them. Now Goodluck is not a naturally great rebounder, in fact, for his size, he's subpar. But he's gotta do more than that. As for Ike, I don't know if it was pressing - but he was just not very good at all. Turnovers, missed shots... not the type of performance you expect out of a senior.
Seagears went from terrible to pretty good as the game progressed. He almost followed the same trajectory as McCaw in this game. Dwayne put up his obligatory "you shouldn't be shooting that" shot, but other than that, he was really strong tonight. If he continues to embrace what he is instead of what he thinks he could be, he's going to be really, really good. The way he's played recently is exactly what the Rebels needed last year and will need this year. Be the high energy blue collar guy, it's a suit that fits well.
Ben didn't get a lot of minutes, but man, the makes stuff happen out there and he's just important glue. The collective team IQ goes up when he is on the floor. He just makes winning plays. He's not going to dazzle you with anything, but he's just so solid in the things he does. As for Zimm, pretty good first game for the freshman, almost a double double. We're going to be saying alot of good things about him this year. He's just going to get better and better, he's just getting his feet wet at this level. I really like him and Ben in the game at the same time. It's a combo we might see on the floor for longer stretches if GO doesn't get his head out.
I liked that Jordan looked to attack the lane instead of just settling for jumpers. You never want to settle for being a one dimensional player. Overall, he was okay, but he needs to drain the important free throws. He did have 4 assists, which is something you have to be happy about. I liked that the Rebels had three guys with at least 4 assists. It says something about chemistry when those numbers are up.
Back to the officiating. I thought what could have been a critical play was when the officials didn't call a time out when Zimm was injured. If I'm not mistaken, the Mustangs drained a three when Stephen was nursing his knee. The college rule this year is that the coach cannot call a timeout from the sideline during a live ball - Rice was pointing the refs in Zimm's way trying to get the official's time out, but it never came. Bad piece of officiating.
A great change was that the Rebels came out strong in the second half, very strong. That's a flip flop from the pattern we have witnessed. That first 10 minutes of basketball in the second half was inspired basketball, great defensive pressure. It was exciting. And I think that's where I WASN'T disappointed with this game. There were significant stretches of really good basketball that interupted by whistles, missed free throws and some bad plays. Those stretches of "good" are things we are going to see get longer - the ball movement against the zone, the pressure defense creating some turnovers and havoc, the halfcourt defense making shots very difficult, etc. None of those areas were long enough to actually dominate tonight, but they were long enough to think that it was something real - that they didn't just fluke into it. Anyway, that's why I'm not all that disappointed.
