I'm liking the statement that UNLV made today at Air Force. They were able to play good defense, were patient on offense and made some big shots on the road. I wish there had been some more upsets today in conference, but it looks like Tuesday's game against San Diego will be for a share of first place and give the winner a leg up moving into the second half of conference season. It appears as if the conference season is beginning to settle down and the cream is rising to the top. Utah, BYU, UNLV, San Diego are setting themselves apart a little bit and UNM, TCU and Wyoming still have some work to do to get to that next tier in league.
Here's a nice story about Kas Kambala, who used to play for the Rebs. Glad to see that the former subject of an ESPN magazine feature is back in the game.
Super Bowl pick is Arizona and the over (47). Hopefully, the casino will agree with me.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Saturday, January 31
Wednesday, January 28
Sure...why not?
I wonder if those that vote in the coaches and AP college polls even pay attention to the sport they are involved in? I understand the schedule of a college football head coach, especially on game day, is quite hectic and doesn't allow for much lounging and watching ESPN or the Big Ten network. Why are these coaches polled for their opinion on who is the best teams? If I am a university president paying my football coach millions of dollars a year to coach in 12 games, I want their focus to be on whatever the team needs to do to win that week. I don't want him paying attention to the other teams in other conferences that they may not play. However, if I am a coach of a team trying to set my program apart from everyone else, I am crying out for that attention.
It is impossible to measure the effect this phenomenon has on college football from year to year. If a team is not ranked highly in the preseason, before any games have been played at all, it has no chance to play for the national championship. In college basketball, a team can float around the Top 25 all year, but ultimately each team has to win six straight games in the tournament. Utah is the most recent team screwed by the system. The coaches poll should be replaced with one that polls people who watch games.
This blant was brought about by the last basketball coaches poll that still had votes for BYU over UNLV, after UNLV had beaten the Cougars at home. What else do you have to do to curry favor with voters? It is the most obvious evidence that coaches do not watch games and should not be allowed to vote for the Top 25 teams in the land.
Very happy to see Wink attack the lane in probably the most impressive victory on the road in some time at BYU. Tre'von is coming into his own and become more aggressive and consistent. If Santee and/or Massamba can become something more than a black hole in the middle, they should be in position to wrap up a third consecutive dance bid.
We'll see what happens. 11-5 will probably be good enough to win the conference this year.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
It is impossible to measure the effect this phenomenon has on college football from year to year. If a team is not ranked highly in the preseason, before any games have been played at all, it has no chance to play for the national championship. In college basketball, a team can float around the Top 25 all year, but ultimately each team has to win six straight games in the tournament. Utah is the most recent team screwed by the system. The coaches poll should be replaced with one that polls people who watch games.
This blant was brought about by the last basketball coaches poll that still had votes for BYU over UNLV, after UNLV had beaten the Cougars at home. What else do you have to do to curry favor with voters? It is the most obvious evidence that coaches do not watch games and should not be allowed to vote for the Top 25 teams in the land.
Very happy to see Wink attack the lane in probably the most impressive victory on the road in some time at BYU. Tre'von is coming into his own and become more aggressive and consistent. If Santee and/or Massamba can become something more than a black hole in the middle, they should be in position to wrap up a third consecutive dance bid.
We'll see what happens. 11-5 will probably be good enough to win the conference this year.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Friday, January 16
Cautious Optimism...
I am still recovering from the worst night of basketball ever. But I blog on, hoping that anyone out there is paying attention to the way I suffer from being a fan. I had to partially listen to the radio broadcast of UNLV losing to CSU in my kitchen and then I settle down to watch a rousing finish to the Lakers-Spurs game, only to be shocked by something called a Roger Mason, hitting a shot when not even touched by Fisher and watch Ariza get called for a travel when he was clearly fouled. Roger Mason, Jr. sounds like a failed detective pilot for FOX in the 90's.
It was a brutal evening of basketball. I don't think I am over it. The Rebs have got to figure this thing out. Soon. Or else they will suffer the same fate of their football counterparts and waste good non-conference wins. It is promising to note that two years ago, they also started 1-2 in conference after a 12-2 start. What is disheartening is the way they lost. These new talented guys have got to show they buy in to what Kruger is selling. The results speak for themselves. This business, as reported in the Las Vegas Sun, of fooling around before a road game is absolutely horrible. They cannot think they are that good that they can win just by showing up. Hopefully, this road trip will show them a little humility, they have a lot of hard work in front of them and the team can pull together to finish what can still be a special season. The teams of the last two years were able to consistently defend, battle and war for each possession and play of the game. This team got cocky after beating Louisville on the road and inexplicably lose these two on the road, which almost certainly would have been penciled in as wins. Now, they are going to have to fight to maintain their home court and steal some games on the road that, right now, they are not good enough to win. Not a great combination.
By the way I was a little disheartened to read that Wink was reticient in reprimanding his showboating teammates during the shootaround before the C-State game. This is your team, your senior year--How do you want to be remembered? You have benefited from great on the court leadership from Kevin Kruger and Curtis Terry, apply the lessons you have learned and don't be afraid to get in a teammate's face if they aren't falling in line. You have more invested in the team's success than anyone. You ARE the Rebels right now and you must answer the bell. I hope you can lead your team to develop, grow and find success.
Speaking of the Sun, I have been impressed by the depth of its coverage of the Rebels. They have taken covering the taeam during practice and road trips and aren't afraid to be critical when deserving, but also give nuggets of information gold for die hard fanatics who want to be on the inside. Sports marketing has spend some money this year on the Rebs and it is fun to watch. The Rebelution is a fun idea and definitely an improvement on Hoops City, UNLV that lasted far longer than it should have.
Tark has a great feature on the Sun website. His stories of the glory days are just fun to read. I barely remember them before the Maxson caused implosion. I followed them as they went undefeated but never knew at the time that a few years later it would be where I chose to get educated. I read that he had verbal commitments from Jason Kidd and Ed O'Bannon before he was forced to resign. That would have been a crazy good team with Isiah Rider and Elmore Spencer. More probably would have followed. Oh, what could have been. I'm going to add the link to the front page for all to follow. Good stuff.
I'll finish by saying I am cautiously optimistic about what is left of the Rebels season. I hope they can turn it around and beat Wyoming tomorrow night. They definitely do not have much margin for error left.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
It was a brutal evening of basketball. I don't think I am over it. The Rebs have got to figure this thing out. Soon. Or else they will suffer the same fate of their football counterparts and waste good non-conference wins. It is promising to note that two years ago, they also started 1-2 in conference after a 12-2 start. What is disheartening is the way they lost. These new talented guys have got to show they buy in to what Kruger is selling. The results speak for themselves. This business, as reported in the Las Vegas Sun, of fooling around before a road game is absolutely horrible. They cannot think they are that good that they can win just by showing up. Hopefully, this road trip will show them a little humility, they have a lot of hard work in front of them and the team can pull together to finish what can still be a special season. The teams of the last two years were able to consistently defend, battle and war for each possession and play of the game. This team got cocky after beating Louisville on the road and inexplicably lose these two on the road, which almost certainly would have been penciled in as wins. Now, they are going to have to fight to maintain their home court and steal some games on the road that, right now, they are not good enough to win. Not a great combination.
By the way I was a little disheartened to read that Wink was reticient in reprimanding his showboating teammates during the shootaround before the C-State game. This is your team, your senior year--How do you want to be remembered? You have benefited from great on the court leadership from Kevin Kruger and Curtis Terry, apply the lessons you have learned and don't be afraid to get in a teammate's face if they aren't falling in line. You have more invested in the team's success than anyone. You ARE the Rebels right now and you must answer the bell. I hope you can lead your team to develop, grow and find success.
Speaking of the Sun, I have been impressed by the depth of its coverage of the Rebels. They have taken covering the taeam during practice and road trips and aren't afraid to be critical when deserving, but also give nuggets of information gold for die hard fanatics who want to be on the inside. Sports marketing has spend some money this year on the Rebs and it is fun to watch. The Rebelution is a fun idea and definitely an improvement on Hoops City, UNLV that lasted far longer than it should have.
Tark has a great feature on the Sun website. His stories of the glory days are just fun to read. I barely remember them before the Maxson caused implosion. I followed them as they went undefeated but never knew at the time that a few years later it would be where I chose to get educated. I read that he had verbal commitments from Jason Kidd and Ed O'Bannon before he was forced to resign. That would have been a crazy good team with Isiah Rider and Elmore Spencer. More probably would have followed. Oh, what could have been. I'm going to add the link to the front page for all to follow. Good stuff.
I'll finish by saying I am cautiously optimistic about what is left of the Rebels season. I hope they can turn it around and beat Wyoming tomorrow night. They definitely do not have much margin for error left.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Monday, January 12
A bit of history repeating
I got a little sad for LMU fans when I saw across the crawl on the wwl that Billy Bayno resigned as head coach due to health reasons. I really wanted to see him succeed there and bring that program back. Now longtime Division II coach Max Good has his three year contract at a major D-1 school and I am very happy for him.
This, of course, is not the first time Max has taken over a college program after Bayno's departure. The season before Billy was fired as head coach at UNLV, he brought Good over from New Hampshire where he coached a wildly successful small college program and coordinate the Runnin' Rebels offense. Mark Dickel redeemed his college career by producing a superb senior season and leading the nation in assists. I am very happy for Coach Good and I wish the best for him.
So after the sky is falling after UNLV's loss to TCU, a little perspective has settled in. I still don't think this loss will look as bad as it would have last year. TCU will finish in the middle of the pack of the conference this year and I think it serves notice that TCU will not be an automatic win that the upper teams can count on. They are definitely well coached and able to put some pressure on teams this year especially at home. UNLV is going to lose some games on the road in conference this season and always seem to lose one they shouldn't. I think they should have won at Air Force last year and I think they will this year, provided Wink and Oscar are healthy and the center position isn't quite the black hole it appeared to be in the first two conference games. The Rebels have good shooters and will struggle most nights if the three is not falling. They had a chance to still win the game, regardless of how bad they played. If one or two of those shots (and a free throw as well) fall, it may have put a little more pressure on the Frogs and boosted UNLV's confidence enough to pull through. They have recovered well from losses the last two years and I look for a good rebound performance at CSU this week.
Home field sure ain't what it used to be in the NFL as you saw three homers go down this weekend. I'm rooting for Cardinals-Steelers but would be okay if Phily wins. Just as long as the Ravens go down, I'll be good to go.
Be careful walking your dogs at night.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
This, of course, is not the first time Max has taken over a college program after Bayno's departure. The season before Billy was fired as head coach at UNLV, he brought Good over from New Hampshire where he coached a wildly successful small college program and coordinate the Runnin' Rebels offense. Mark Dickel redeemed his college career by producing a superb senior season and leading the nation in assists. I am very happy for Coach Good and I wish the best for him.
So after the sky is falling after UNLV's loss to TCU, a little perspective has settled in. I still don't think this loss will look as bad as it would have last year. TCU will finish in the middle of the pack of the conference this year and I think it serves notice that TCU will not be an automatic win that the upper teams can count on. They are definitely well coached and able to put some pressure on teams this year especially at home. UNLV is going to lose some games on the road in conference this season and always seem to lose one they shouldn't. I think they should have won at Air Force last year and I think they will this year, provided Wink and Oscar are healthy and the center position isn't quite the black hole it appeared to be in the first two conference games. The Rebels have good shooters and will struggle most nights if the three is not falling. They had a chance to still win the game, regardless of how bad they played. If one or two of those shots (and a free throw as well) fall, it may have put a little more pressure on the Frogs and boosted UNLV's confidence enough to pull through. They have recovered well from losses the last two years and I look for a good rebound performance at CSU this week.
Home field sure ain't what it used to be in the NFL as you saw three homers go down this weekend. I'm rooting for Cardinals-Steelers but would be okay if Phily wins. Just as long as the Ravens go down, I'll be good to go.
Be careful walking your dogs at night.
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Saturday, January 10
Texas Letdown
Rebs blew a chance to keep up with the Cougs on the road. BYU won at C-State and the Rebs dropped a winnable one at TCU. Without Santee and Massamba playing, TCU hammered the Rebels inside and dared them to shoot threes until they missed. UNLV couldn't keep up and missed crucial shots in the last minutes of the game that cost them the win.
The serious lack of center play is disturbing and a bad sign of what this season could de-volve into. Our centers were supposed to give us the inside presence they have not had since Kas Kambala left town. One high profile transfer later and this game marking the nadir for the center position, along with other followers I am scratching my head at Lon's decision to keep Darris and Brice on the bench the entire game. Darris didn't start, instead Coach Kruger went with essentially a five guard lineup and hoped to shoot the Horned Frogs out of the building. The staff had an entire week to get ready for this game and I have a hard time believing that Lon and the guys couldn't adjust to what TCU was doing. These guys held John Bryant, Jordan Hill and Samardo Samuels to normal production and they have made all conference players out of Andrew Faris and something called a Zvonko Buljan. I thought Santee put together some effective minutes when he was in, but I don't remember seeing him in the second half. Brice could have at least taken up some room in the middle. I haven't yet checked, but I wonder if some discipline was meted out for the bigs after the UNM game. The only problem is whether the team's confidence has been hurt.
Give all the credit to TCU. You can tell this is a well coached bunch and played hard the entire 40 minutes, something UNLV has yet to do in conference. I think this Jim Christian guy is a good coach and will end up at a big time school in the future. More teams this year will lose at TCU, I promise. I hope we don't see them in March at all.
Rebs must regroup before they play at Colorado State Wednesday. They need to figure out what is going to happen inside and Wink and Rene must find their inner chi to get back on track. before the rails fall off a very promising season. I will be staying away from the four letter's website for a little bit because I'm sure there is nothing good to be read there.
Very happy for Arizona Cardinal fans tonight. I did not think they could get past the Panthers, but they did just fine. Not very excited about Baltimore advancing...and I really have no rooting interest in either of the games Sunday. The Giants surprised everyone as the underdog last year and I guess as the favorites you would think they would win over the Eagles, but I think Phily is one team that nobody wants to play. My pick is Phily and San Diego, just because I think Big Ben will choke a big one at home.
That's all for now, bloggers...remember to turn the lights out when you leave....
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
The serious lack of center play is disturbing and a bad sign of what this season could de-volve into. Our centers were supposed to give us the inside presence they have not had since Kas Kambala left town. One high profile transfer later and this game marking the nadir for the center position, along with other followers I am scratching my head at Lon's decision to keep Darris and Brice on the bench the entire game. Darris didn't start, instead Coach Kruger went with essentially a five guard lineup and hoped to shoot the Horned Frogs out of the building. The staff had an entire week to get ready for this game and I have a hard time believing that Lon and the guys couldn't adjust to what TCU was doing. These guys held John Bryant, Jordan Hill and Samardo Samuels to normal production and they have made all conference players out of Andrew Faris and something called a Zvonko Buljan. I thought Santee put together some effective minutes when he was in, but I don't remember seeing him in the second half. Brice could have at least taken up some room in the middle. I haven't yet checked, but I wonder if some discipline was meted out for the bigs after the UNM game. The only problem is whether the team's confidence has been hurt.
Give all the credit to TCU. You can tell this is a well coached bunch and played hard the entire 40 minutes, something UNLV has yet to do in conference. I think this Jim Christian guy is a good coach and will end up at a big time school in the future. More teams this year will lose at TCU, I promise. I hope we don't see them in March at all.
Rebs must regroup before they play at Colorado State Wednesday. They need to figure out what is going to happen inside and Wink and Rene must find their inner chi to get back on track. before the rails fall off a very promising season. I will be staying away from the four letter's website for a little bit because I'm sure there is nothing good to be read there.
Very happy for Arizona Cardinal fans tonight. I did not think they could get past the Panthers, but they did just fine. Not very excited about Baltimore advancing...and I really have no rooting interest in either of the games Sunday. The Giants surprised everyone as the underdog last year and I guess as the favorites you would think they would win over the Eagles, but I think Phily is one team that nobody wants to play. My pick is Phily and San Diego, just because I think Big Ben will choke a big one at home.
That's all for now, bloggers...remember to turn the lights out when you leave....
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Friday, January 9
More of the Same
Again, this is from the world's biggest UNLV homer, but what else can the Rebels do to get some love? Joe Lunardi is close to getting a new nickname and is still keeping the Rebs out of the dance and putting Utah above them. (By the way, see this article by Rick Reilly on the people's football champion) Obviously the voters aren't watching games (we know these guys aren't watching college football games but still voting for teams) At least he still has three more months to get it right.
Until then, the Rebels have to be concerned. The Mountain West is better this year but have failed to make some noise with the big boys. BYU had a chance to beat Wake Forest which would have sent ripples through the world of college basketball and Utah has played a tough non conference schedule that may elevate them enough to get on the bubble. UNLV has the best wins in my opinion vs. Arizona and @ Louisville. BYU could not beat the two baddies on their sched, ASU or Wake, San Diego's best win is at home against San Diego (in a game where the Toreros best player got hurt), UNM's best win is Mississippi, notable only because it is a SEC team, but a 9-5 SEC team that will barely finish in the top half of the conference. TCU and Wyoming have improved, but don't have the RPI or signature wins that get you attention.
I really think Utah has begun to figure it out with Luke Nevill inside and really should be a tough get this year. San Diego seems to live up to its reputation as an underachieving talented team. New Mexico is definitely improved and gave the Rebels all they wanted at home in each team's first conference game.
The last two years, UNLV has gone 8-0 at home and 4-4 on the road in conference. It is hard to see this year's edition improving on that mark. They are more talented and have made progress defensively, they will need to win each place they won last year and pick up a game or two (preferably two) of these opponents: @BYU, @UNM, @Utah and @Air Force. Conventional wisdom says this year they should be able to beat the Falcons in the Springs, but they most likely will give one back @ San Diego, a place they don't win often either. If Wink's injury lingers, they are very vulnerable to dropping a game at home, meaning they would have to get it back on the road. One encouraging sign is that they have been tougher on the road than at home. 13-2 is a desirable place to be, but their toughest work is still ahead of them.
In other news, UNLV football coach did not take my advice to hire Rocky Long. He ended up getting hired at San Diego, which means playing there will not be fun the next couple of years.
While I am enjoying the Celtics slide since their Christmas showdown with the Lake Show, I know it will not last. They will figure it out and turn it up as the weather gets warmer. I was impressed with how well the Cavs looked tonight vs. the C's. LeBron is truly elevating his game and giving whatever his team needs to win. They will have something to say about who plays in the Finals.
I think we are still many years away from a playoff in college football. The Big Six conferences have a stranglehold on this thing and will not share just in the name of fairness. There is too much money to share access with the smaller conferences and there really is no compelling reason for them to do it. It is a case of the rich getting richer and pulling further away from the poor. They do not want to see the same kind of parity you see in college basketball nowadays. They want the big powerhouses to feed on the small fish and until they are forced to do so, they will not. Utah's finish at No. 2 is as close as a non-BCS team will get to the national championship. I think when they have no choice but to let two non-BCS teams in, that's when you will see them panic a bit and work harder to keep them out. The thing I would like to see is delaying the start of the polls until October or so, because they play such a large role in how the BCS shakes out at the end. But, the polls sell newspapers or web page views now, I guess and they or the BCS aren't going anywhere any time soon.
Scrubs returns on ABC, tell your friends so it gets renewed....
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Until then, the Rebels have to be concerned. The Mountain West is better this year but have failed to make some noise with the big boys. BYU had a chance to beat Wake Forest which would have sent ripples through the world of college basketball and Utah has played a tough non conference schedule that may elevate them enough to get on the bubble. UNLV has the best wins in my opinion vs. Arizona and @ Louisville. BYU could not beat the two baddies on their sched, ASU or Wake, San Diego's best win is at home against San Diego (in a game where the Toreros best player got hurt), UNM's best win is Mississippi, notable only because it is a SEC team, but a 9-5 SEC team that will barely finish in the top half of the conference. TCU and Wyoming have improved, but don't have the RPI or signature wins that get you attention.
I really think Utah has begun to figure it out with Luke Nevill inside and really should be a tough get this year. San Diego seems to live up to its reputation as an underachieving talented team. New Mexico is definitely improved and gave the Rebels all they wanted at home in each team's first conference game.
The last two years, UNLV has gone 8-0 at home and 4-4 on the road in conference. It is hard to see this year's edition improving on that mark. They are more talented and have made progress defensively, they will need to win each place they won last year and pick up a game or two (preferably two) of these opponents: @BYU, @UNM, @Utah and @Air Force. Conventional wisdom says this year they should be able to beat the Falcons in the Springs, but they most likely will give one back @ San Diego, a place they don't win often either. If Wink's injury lingers, they are very vulnerable to dropping a game at home, meaning they would have to get it back on the road. One encouraging sign is that they have been tougher on the road than at home. 13-2 is a desirable place to be, but their toughest work is still ahead of them.
In other news, UNLV football coach did not take my advice to hire Rocky Long. He ended up getting hired at San Diego, which means playing there will not be fun the next couple of years.
While I am enjoying the Celtics slide since their Christmas showdown with the Lake Show, I know it will not last. They will figure it out and turn it up as the weather gets warmer. I was impressed with how well the Cavs looked tonight vs. the C's. LeBron is truly elevating his game and giving whatever his team needs to win. They will have something to say about who plays in the Finals.
I think we are still many years away from a playoff in college football. The Big Six conferences have a stranglehold on this thing and will not share just in the name of fairness. There is too much money to share access with the smaller conferences and there really is no compelling reason for them to do it. It is a case of the rich getting richer and pulling further away from the poor. They do not want to see the same kind of parity you see in college basketball nowadays. They want the big powerhouses to feed on the small fish and until they are forced to do so, they will not. Utah's finish at No. 2 is as close as a non-BCS team will get to the national championship. I think when they have no choice but to let two non-BCS teams in, that's when you will see them panic a bit and work harder to keep them out. The thing I would like to see is delaying the start of the polls until October or so, because they play such a large role in how the BCS shakes out at the end. But, the polls sell newspapers or web page views now, I guess and they or the BCS aren't going anywhere any time soon.
Scrubs returns on ABC, tell your friends so it gets renewed....
laters
cvz
Rebels by 10
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)