Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)
Recruiting key to Menzies turning around program
Rebels coach clearly has to fortify roster
Three takeaways from the UNLV basketball team’s 9445 loss to No. 5 Duke on Saturday at T-Mobile Arena:
THREE TAKEAWAYS
1. IT WAS AS BAD AS FEARED
UNLV went in as a 24-point underdog, and was dominated from the beginning. Though that wasn’t a surprise, getting beaten so thoroughly underscores not only how far the program has fallen since the glory days of the early 1990s, but what kind of job first-year Rebels coach Marvin Menzies has in front of him.
He had to throw together his roster after being hired in mid-April, and it’s clear Menzies doesn’t have the talent to compete with the elite in college basketball. Even the elite in the Mountain West will be tough for the Rebels.
Menzies will need some recruiting victories to put some life back into his program.
“He has that (UNLV brand), and it just takes time,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I’m not saying he’ll go through this, but we were 38-47 my first three years, and then, boom, we started doing really good. We’ve been very good since.”
2. AND IT’S NOT GONG TO GET MUCH EASIER
The Rebels still have to play No. 24 Oregon in Portland next Saturday, and will meet No. 3 Kansas on Dec. 22 at the Thomas & Mack Center. Those games could be nearly as ugly as this one.
“Moving forward, we know what the standard is,” UNLV guard Uche Ofoegbu said.
Menzies has a tough task this month keeping his players from getting discouraged. UNLV must be mentally right for Mountain West play, which begins Dec. 28 at Colorado State, or a long nonconference season will turn into a long conference one as well.
It’s that conference schedule Menzies said he is most concerned about being ready to play, and insisted his players would continue to develop.
“I know I have better players than that,” Menzies said. “I don’t know if they were rattled. I’m not quite sure what the answer is. I know what I need to do in reference to getting back to evaluating film, talking to the guys, continuing to educate them, getting better. I don’t know how you replicate this type of opponent in practice.”
3. INCARNATE WORD IS A TRAP GAME
If there is such a thing as a trap game for UNLV, this is it. The Rebels play Incarnate Word at 7 p.m. Wednesday at the Thomas & Mack.
With that game falling in between the meetings against Duke and Oregon, it would be natural for the Rebels to let down mentally. They can’t. The Cardinals opened the season by putting a scare into Texas before losing 78-73. Incarnate Word is 5-3.
UNLV’s players “know they’ve got to get ready for that game the same way they prepared for this one,” Menzies said. “They’ve got to practice hard, they’ve got to execute, and they’ve got to keep learning. Listen, we ran into if not the best, one of the top (teams). That’s a Final Four team.” Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@ reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson65 on Twitter.