Knudson: March Sadness for the MW

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By Mark Knudson, The Mtn. Insider
March 19, 2012

The first weekend of the Big Dance wasn’t kind to the Mountain West. Only New Mexico made it past the first game and the Lobos couldn’t overcome shooting woes in a narrow loss to Louisville in their second tilt.

Lobo fans might be disappointed but at least UNM lost according to seeding. Same for Colorado State. San Diego State lost as a favorite, but looking back it’s fair to say the Aztecs overachieved this season. It was supposed to be a rebuilding year for Steve Fisher. Instead, he shared the Conference regular season title with preseason favorite New Mexico and was MW Coach of the Year. Not too shabby.

Then there’s UNLV. A team as talented as any west of Lawrence, Kansas, but a team that for whatever reason couldn’t put things together down the stretch. A first round loss to also-ran Colorado could only leave observers scratching their heads. What’s with this bunch? As with any team that fails to reach its potential, there are numerous factors, such as injuries and fatigue - the usual stuff. Throw in a brand new coaching staff and there are plenty of reasons to point to.

Still, this was a team that upset then No. 1 North Carolina in late November, so the coaching transition couldn’t have been that difficult. The Rebels were ranked as high as No. 11 in early February before losing six of their final 11 games. They didn’t look like the same team down the stretch; they looked like a team without an identity.

While he did everything in his power to put a positive spin on things, first year head coach Dave Rice must also look in the mirror. He needed to have had his team better prepared. In the wake of this disheartening first round exit from the NCAA tournament, how should Rice’s first season in Vegas be evaluated? Was a 26-9 record (6-8 away from home) a success or something less?

Your answer may depend on your level of expectations, but it’s hard to watch this team and believe that they played up to their capabilities. While the record was good, they left so much more on the table. The big win over the Tar Heels very early in the season will now be viewed as the highlight of the year. But it’s how you finish that really matters, isn’t it? And the finish was, well, lousy.

From a talent perspective, UNLV lost some games this season they should never have lost, including the dreadful performance against outmanned Colorado. They came out flat and looked unprepared for almost three quarters of the game. It’s very fair to say that Rice was badly outcoached by CU’s Tad Boyle. While it has to be noted that every team that beat UNLV this season made the postseason (Wichita State, Wisconsin, SDSU, New Mexico and CSU all made the NCAAs and Wyoming and TCU went to the CBI) it’s also fair to say that UNLV had more raw ability than all of them except maybe Wisconsin and New Mexico. It would have shocked no one if UNLV had made the Sweet 16 this season.

Yet the Rebels were an enigma. They often looked like two different teams in the same game. When they were motivated and playing hard, the Rebels could – and did – beat anybody. But they had a tendency to go into extended funks, like the second halves against Colorado State in Fort Collins and TCU in Fort Worth, where they blew big leads and lost, or the first half against Colorado when they simply looked lost from the very start.

These kinds of failings fall on the coach. Rice was never able to completely grab the attention of his players. To be fair, none of them were his recruits and he was installing a new system. Still, having an entire team lose focus semi-frequently lands back at the feat of the guy in the lead chair. Moving forward, Rice and his staff will need to teach their players how to play up tempo at both ends for a full 40 minutes.
 
You can look at the other teams in the Conference – including those other three that made the NCAA tourney - and point to deficiencies. But those other three - SDSU, New Mexico and CSU - pretty much got everything out of what they had to work with. The Lobos were what we thought they were, and both the Aztecs and the Rams overachieved to a certain extent. On the other hand, it’s hard to argue against the notion that even winning 26 games, the Rebels underachieved this season.

The future of UNLV basketball should be very bright. They may not ever quite get back to level they were at in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but the Rebels should be a basketball force to be reckoned with for many years to come, including next season. UNLV has the pedigree to be a Top 25 program year in and year out.

For that to happen, it’s not only the UNLV players that need to make off season improvements.