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ltcpilot

Air Force at UNLV (Edited at the top)

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Time for a rematch, it's Air Force at UNLV

(More at http://ricksfalconreview.blogspot.com/ )

 

As Air Force travels this week for a Tuesday 830pm MST tipoff versus UNLV, we look back at the surprising results of game one in this matchup at Clune Arena.  The Falcons stunned the Rebels with a victory leading from start to finish.  Thoughts from that game (LINK).  The Falcons hope to find the same kind of magic in their tough rematch on the road in the Thomas&Mack Arena in Las Vegas.

 

Since the first meeting between these two teams the Falcons have gone 3-3 with 2 road losses (one to #6 Nevada after leading up to the 10:43 mark in the second half) and garnering their lone road win at SJSU.  UNLV has gone 3-4 and is coming off a loss at home to Fresno State.  Without looking at the teams, the schedule for this meeting gives some benefit to the Falcons.  AF played at home last Wednesday and this weekend had their first bye of the season.  It fits right around GR week (graded review = test week) at USAFA and it's a great time for the players to get the rest.  The scheduling of the Tuesday tip, while rested with the bye, gives them one less day of 'idle time no games' between playing.  UNLV has kept busy traveling and winning on the road at Boise State then the home loss Saturday to Fresno State.  Attendance might have an issue for those fans with allegiance to Rebel basketball vs Knights hockey as they also have a home game on Tuesday with a 8pm tipoff.  This AF fan suggest 'everyone' go to the hockey game tomorrow night instead of the T&M!

 

For the team matchup up, the biggest change will be the presence of UNLV' s Diong (6'11"/ 7ppg/6rpg/2bpg/54%FG/50%FT. His presence will be a factor on both ends for UNLV.

 

Keys for the game should not come as a surprise:

- The Falcons must go inside and inside-out and do it from the opening tipoff.  That has been a problem in games they struggled in:  Simply being intimidated and not making that push early to get inside.  We have seen them adjust late in games with success but sometimes to late in the game to matter, and especially on the road everyone knows you cannot get into a hole early.  Simply said, AF must attack early and often.

- AF cannot allow UNLV's big men (especially with Diong back) to control the lane on either end but especially on offense, to work underneath the net and score at will and....

-.....it will be a fine line between AF double teaming the big's underneath without leaving the wide open man free from the arc.  UNLV has done well in league play (in the middle of the pack) in 3pt percentage (better at home).  While they shoot well, AF hopes to find success from the arc as UNLV is near the bottom of the conference in 3pt defense on their own right

-Falcons must take care of the ball and limit turnovers.  Both teams took care of the ball in game one (AF 6 TO; UNLV 8 TO) but both are susceptible on the year to turn it over with each team averaging 14 TPG for the whole 2018-2019 season.

-AF must score early and take the crowd out of the equation.  T&M is a tough place to play and tougher when the fans are into the game and playing with a lead.  (Did I mention I think all UNLV fans should go to the Knights hockey game?).

-Lastly both teams shoot right at 67% from the charity stripe. I haven't followed UNLV closely but the Falcons are either on or they are off with their FT's.  The team that can find consistency from the line may have the advantage.

 

Big game for both teams.  Tough to win on the road for any team and AF has not done well with that in recent history.  With the parity in the conference so tight at times, depending on wins and losses this week on Tuesday/Wednesday nights six teams could find themselves between 6-5 and 5-7 in league play, battling for that 4th and 5th spot in the standings and the opening tournament bye.

 

Go Falcons Beat UNLV

 

unlv%2B1.PNG

 

 

 

DATE: Tuesday, February 12
TIME: 7:30 p.m.
SITE: Tarkanian Court, Thomas & Mack Center (18,000), Las Vegas
TV: CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Tim Doyle)
RADIO: ESPN Radio 1100 AM (Jon Sandler, Robert Smith, sideline reporter: Steve Cofield)
AUDIO: UNLV Gameday App/TuneIn & UNLVRebels.com

 

UNLV leads the all-time series 38-14

 

UNLV is 26-2 all-time against Air Force at home and has won six in a row against the Falcons at the Thomas & Mack Center

 

The 2018-19 season marks the 36th year of Runnin’ Rebel basketball in the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV has posted an all-time record of 486-123 (.798) in the arena since it opened in 1983

 

Air Force is coming of an 81-76 home win over Wyoming on Saturday

 

AFA has won three of its last five games overall

 

Air Force is 1-7 in true road games this season, including 1-4 on the road in MW play

 

The Falcons are led in scoring by Lavelle Scottie (14.8 ppg) and Ryan Swan (12.0 ppg). Swan leads the team in rebounding (6.7 rpg), while AJ Walker is the team’s assist leader (2.1 apg)

 

Falcon head coach Dave Pilipovich is in his eighth season with a career record of 94-126 (.427)

 

The 2018-19 season marks the third at UNLV for head coach Marvin Menzies. Prior to coming to UNLV, he spent the previous nine years as head coach at New Mexico State where he compiled a 198-111 (.641) record. His current career record is 241-156 (.607) and he is 43-45 (.489) at UNLV

 

The Runnin’ Rebels (12-11, 6-5) are coming off a loss to Fresno State on Saturday. Prior to that, they had won four of their previous five games at the Thomas & Mack Center. UNLV is led in scoring by senior guard Kris Clyburn’s 13.8 ppg

 

UNLV ranks either No. 1 or No. 2 during conference play in the following statistical categories: scoring, 3-point field-goal percentage, 3-pointers made, blocks and offensive rebounds

 

Since the 3-point field goal was adopted by the NCAA in 1986-87, UNLV has converted at least one 3-pointer in all 1,062 games played

 

Clyburn's scoring average is at a season high 13.8 ppg

 

Hamilton is 3-15 from the field in his last three games and 5- 23 in his last six games (3-15 from the arc in six games)

 

Beck hasn't played since February 2nd at USU where he played 6 minutes

 

Blair took two FG attempts in 25 minutes vs Fresno St 

 

Blair has grabbed 7 rebounds in each of his last two games

 

Against Fresno St, Woodbury took a FG attempt for the first time in his last four games

 

Ntambwe has grabbed just 6 rebounds in his last three games after grabbing 24 in his previous three games

 

Diong took a season high 13 FG attempts vs Fresno St which his the first time he's had more than 10 FG attempts all season 

 

UNLV has taken 66 more 3ptFG attempts than opponents in 11 MWC games 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

..GO FALCONS..

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49 minutes ago, ltcpilot said:

-AF must score early and take the crowd out of the equation.  T&M is a tough place to play and tougher when the fans are into the game and playing with a lead.  (Did I mention I think all UNLV fans should go to the Knights hockey game?).

I wouldn't worry about the "crowd" lol. Especially against AFA.

I think UNLV probably loses this one. Their defense is that bad and it will be a repeat of the debacle in the Springs.

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25 minutes ago, ph90702 said:

I don’t see Air Force winning.  Not a road team.

except that they absolutely torched us in the springs, and it was not even close, I think up to 36 points at one point. Pop has Menzies figured out, and it won't matter if it's home or away. and no, i don't think diong makes that big of a difference.

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28 minutes ago, 4UNLV said:

except that they absolutely torched us in the springs, and it was not even close, I think up to 36 points at one point. Pop has Menzies figured out, and it won't matter if it's home or away. and no, i don't think diong makes that big of a difference.

We’ll be fine.

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1 hour ago, VincentVegaBond said:

-ph, 5 years from now in the midst of a 10-20 season.

Menzies needs another 4 years to implement his vision and get the right kids here! He recruited too many raw players and he needs to be able to at least get another class that can play through all 4 years!

-ph

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42 minutes ago, BleedRed702 said:

Haven’t you heard of the 10 year rebuild plan? It’s what he pitched to TKM. 

Hyperbolic but there was a lot of criticism of Rice for bringing in highly talented players that never stuck around for a few years. Guys like Khem Birch, McCaw, Vaughn, Zimmerman, Derrick Jones jr., Christian Wood etc. 

There was a lot of NBA talent on Rice’s teams but they never developed because of coaching and soft personalities if we had a Kruger with Rice’s recruiting ability, they should have been top 25 team annually. 

It’s obvious that Menzies believed he had 5-6 years here and placed a lot of emphasis on having seniors down the road regardless of basketball acumen. I watch the games and these guys have talent, physically speaking but are just way too slow to react or diagnose the play in time. Menzies should have recruited more guys like Juiston and Hardy from areas where they have been playing ball since they were tykes and know the game. 

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Vegas is -9 and should get the home win.  But if AFA gets a lead vegas will have problems coming back.

AFA does have a coaching advantage and Menzies teams traditionally have trouble when playing disciplined, well coached teams.

If I were to bet I'd take AFA and the 9 points.

"Don't underestimate Joe Biden's ability to F@*k things up."

Barack Obama

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The team knows what they have been taught and are playing within Marv's system. He is the guy responsible for the way the Rebels execute on the floor. If a player misses a shot or reaches in for a foul then that is on the player. If they make a defensive rotation to a position on the floor according to the way the defense is setup and that leaves a lane to the basket or a guy alone on the 3pt line then that is on the guy that setup the defense. Diong being drawn outside to cover his guy and leaving a lane open to the basket is on Marv. Not making corrections to the way the opponent is scoring until you are down by double digits is on Marv also. 

If one team shoots at a high percentage against you then that means that they had a good night where things went well. When the majority of teams during the season shoot at a high percentage against you then that means that you have a predicable and inefficient defense. When loss after loss after loss are all blowouts then that means that the coach doesn't have a clue what the problem is and/or doesn't have a clue how to fix it. When multiple opponents during the season go off for career high rebounds and/or points then there is definitely a problem. 

When after 11 years as a head coach you only have 1 win against a Top 50 team then that tells a story. When in a little under 3 years you have more blowout losses than the 3 coaches before you had combined in 12 years then that tells a story also. One of the best ways to try to predict the future is to look at the past and extrapolate forward. Based on Marv's past and especially here at UNLV the future doesn't look very bright. Other than wishing and hoping there really isn't ay reason to expect things to change.

Let's take this new AD out for a spin around the coaching world and let her earn her salary. Find a competent coach that can teach the game and get results. Everybody is doing it. USU and Fresno seem to have done it. UNLV has more to ofer than those 2 schools so it seems to be within our ability. Reno did it 3 years ago.

 

"Every time a person says that something can't be done they are interrupted by someone that just did it".

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13 hours ago, quickdraw said:

There should be 2 or 3 thousand of us there...maybe. We will wreak havoc with our crazy and wild revelry. It will be the cadets 1st look at the horrors of war.

Rebel game goes at same time as VGK game - guessing with opponent being AF that 3000 might be a good crowd tonight - I'm debating on which to watch live and which to DVR 

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4 minutes ago, VincentVegaBond said:

8 minutes till game time and I'd bet my left nut there aren't even 1,000 people here. Not even close. Bad even by Marvelously Mediocre Marv standards.

It’s not Menzies’ fault if people don’t show up.  He can only control to results on the court.

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