Hell of a win! All 5 starters were in double figures scoring, and Hicks was close with 8. If our offense can continue to score like that, then teams are gonna have a hard time beating us! Love that the guys cleaned up their game and learned from the Stanford loss! Cal Poly on Friday at home now. They’re unveiling the new championship banner!
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MBBALL UNLV Game Thread
- Thread starter Griz til I die
- Start date
grizzlyjournal
Well-known member
Griz have a budding super star in frosh Kenyon Aguino. We're way stronger in the blocks than I figured pre-season.
rocklobster
Well-known member
Money was the best player on the court tonight.
mtgrizrule
Well-known member
I posted that during the game.
LivingstonNative
Well-known member
I just got done reading all the comments from the game tonight. Everyone did a great job recapping the game for me. I didn’t get to watch the game because I had previous engagement. Sounds like Running Rebels tried to run with the Griz and it just didn’t happen for the Rebels.
There were many, many, many, many (okay damn near all) GRIZ teams who would have folded at about the 16:00 mark when unlv went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 4, and ultimately those teams would end up losing by 17.
Instead this team simply went on their own 8-0 and never looked back.
Could be a very fun year, y'all.
Instead this team simply went on their own 8-0 and never looked back.
Could be a very fun year, y'all.
Watched the replay. It’s going to be an exciting year for Griz basketball.
BelierPeaux
Well-known member
I was waiting for our typical 5 min cold spell but kudos to the Griz, they were locked in the whole second half.
rocklobster
Well-known member
He was so smooth and in control. There's a confidence and sense of leadership from him this year.
Kid went through a lot his first two years. I hope things are better for him and his siblings and he can just play and have fun.
IDK how good UNLV will end up being this year, but I still think what the Griz did last night was impressive! To go on the road and hang a hundred on a team from what's really been the premiere mid major conference over the last 3 years is impressive. The first NET rankings don't come out until December 1, but I suspect when they do that this will be a Quad 2 win for the Griz which is huge in terms of boosting your seed for the tournament (if we get there). I believe UNLV was in the 80s in Kenpom so last nights result should end up looking really good. We only had one Quad 2 win all last season. Now we need to pull for UNLV to win at Memphis on Sunday and keep winning. If we can turn that Q2 win into a Q1 win, then the Griz are really gonna have something good on their resume! Here's to a fun season!
Watched on TV last night, cashed receipts on UNLV fans - it was a good time. Nothing anyone else hasn't said but just adding some thoughts. Money was incredible, he had just a few games like this last year but was really up and down - if he can find this consistent role most all of the season then he's an MVP lock. So smooth at the rim and his step back was killer. Needs to be a little more careful with the ball. Aguino is going to be a problem in the conference, as a young guy as long as he can stay out of foul trouble he's going to be a major mismatch. He doesn't look like a lot of freshmen we've ever had.
I was pleasantly impressed with Thompson and Issak. Love seeing a healthy Henderson back, he's such a good slashing guard. With more time I think Jedkins could be a bit of a secret weapon for Montana too. Wish Hicks would've made that posterizing dunk at the end lol - I like his aggressiveness. Good game for Sawyer, tough foul out against some real athletes UNLV had.
I was pleasantly impressed with Thompson and Issak. Love seeing a healthy Henderson back, he's such a good slashing guard. With more time I think Jedkins could be a bit of a secret weapon for Montana too. Wish Hicks would've made that posterizing dunk at the end lol - I like his aggressiveness. Good game for Sawyer, tough foul out against some real athletes UNLV had.
grizzlyjournal
Well-known member
The Las Vegas Review Journal has a full gallery of outstanding action shots from the game. I'm an "old-fashioned" sports photo guy & loved these. I believe the photographer's name is L. E. Baskow.
The game story, by Ed Graney, is also very good. Quote: "The Grizzlies got to the basket with ease." P.S. Make sure to view the last shot (Money $$!) of the photo essay
Link below:
www.reviewjournal.com
The game story, by Ed Graney, is also very good. Quote: "The Grizzlies got to the basket with ease." P.S. Make sure to view the last shot (Money $$!) of the photo essay
Link below:
‘We have to get better’: UNLV basketball suffers 2nd shocking home loss
UNLV’s men’s basketball team lost to Montana at the Thomas & Mack Center, suffering its second shocking defeat in three games.
www.reviewjournal.com
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GrizPony
Well-known member
He has a 44 inch vertical. Measured and hit it twice. 5 inches more than Oguine. Freak athlete.
Now that I am fully recovered from my 50th birthday trip to Portland that included way too much beer, I can put some mental capacity towards focusing on basketball.
Watched bits and pieces of the first game and much of the UNLV game. I was way too preoccupied consuming my weight in excellent Portland micros to catch any of the Stanford game.
Here are my thoughts:
1. This team is so much more athletic than I would have given them credit for after their first couple of exhibition games. UNLV is uber athletic and even last year this is the type of a team the Grizzlies absolutely would have struggled with. Yet for much of the game, they we UNLV's athletic equal and what impressed me was their bounce in and around the hoop.
2. Aguino has body control that you don't get very often out of Freshmen. He looked unassumingly good in those early two games, but last night he played as if he were a 6-10 250 pound center. His post game is polished and has a physicality that is functional and not just brute force. He's capable of leveraging defenders and that is a skill set that requires work. Twice in the first half he reset to get the body position he wanted. In the second half, in the midst of that run he used the space given by the defender to work to his right/left to get baby hooks. Not a skill you see in a lot of HS kids these days. Seems very comfortable back to basket.
3. Money forced maybe 1 or 2 shots last night (which was vastly better than last year) but the biggest take away was his distribution of the basketball. He seems very comfortable in toggling between facilitator and scorer and doesn't seem inclined to put his head down and go bull in a china shop offensively. He put 40-45 points on the board last night just through his influence. If he can be that guy, he's gonna be a force.
4. Sawyer looks healthy and spry. It is hard to understate really how much more of a post presence on both ends he can be when he's healthy. Made it clear last night truly how limited he was at the end of the season last year with that knee.
5. Despite giving up 90 points last night, this is going to be a deep team defense. If they can find a way to stay out of foul trouble in the post, they have a lot of guys who can defend multiple spots on the floor (maybe not in the most conventional way). Lots of guys who were engaged defensively last night.
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If I were to pick nits, and there aren't many from last night, is if there is a bit of a trend over the first four games is they can be a sloppy taking care of the ball. We might not get the two hand chest pass as some might want, but there were a lot of one handed lazy push passes that I would love to see a lot less of. I'm still not a fan of how chaotic their press break is, but they clearly have enough personnel to handle the press they might not need the structure, but would love some extra composure from time to time (see the push pass from above).
Watched bits and pieces of the first game and much of the UNLV game. I was way too preoccupied consuming my weight in excellent Portland micros to catch any of the Stanford game.
Here are my thoughts:
1. This team is so much more athletic than I would have given them credit for after their first couple of exhibition games. UNLV is uber athletic and even last year this is the type of a team the Grizzlies absolutely would have struggled with. Yet for much of the game, they we UNLV's athletic equal and what impressed me was their bounce in and around the hoop.
2. Aguino has body control that you don't get very often out of Freshmen. He looked unassumingly good in those early two games, but last night he played as if he were a 6-10 250 pound center. His post game is polished and has a physicality that is functional and not just brute force. He's capable of leveraging defenders and that is a skill set that requires work. Twice in the first half he reset to get the body position he wanted. In the second half, in the midst of that run he used the space given by the defender to work to his right/left to get baby hooks. Not a skill you see in a lot of HS kids these days. Seems very comfortable back to basket.
3. Money forced maybe 1 or 2 shots last night (which was vastly better than last year) but the biggest take away was his distribution of the basketball. He seems very comfortable in toggling between facilitator and scorer and doesn't seem inclined to put his head down and go bull in a china shop offensively. He put 40-45 points on the board last night just through his influence. If he can be that guy, he's gonna be a force.
4. Sawyer looks healthy and spry. It is hard to understate really how much more of a post presence on both ends he can be when he's healthy. Made it clear last night truly how limited he was at the end of the season last year with that knee.
5. Despite giving up 90 points last night, this is going to be a deep team defense. If they can find a way to stay out of foul trouble in the post, they have a lot of guys who can defend multiple spots on the floor (maybe not in the most conventional way). Lots of guys who were engaged defensively last night.
--
If I were to pick nits, and there aren't many from last night, is if there is a bit of a trend over the first four games is they can be a sloppy taking care of the ball. We might not get the two hand chest pass as some might want, but there were a lot of one handed lazy push passes that I would love to see a lot less of. I'm still not a fan of how chaotic their press break is, but they clearly have enough personnel to handle the press they might not need the structure, but would love some extra composure from time to time (see the push pass from above).
I'm seeing a lot of similarities between our football and men's basketball teams.
First, both have some of the best playmakers ever to don a Griz uniform: Gillman and Wortham, with Ah Yat on the same legendary path as his father, in football; and Money together with possibly super frosh Thompson and Aguino in basketball.
But second, huge defensive liabilities, our secondary in football and our rim protection in basketball.
We forget that in both games at Stanford and UNLV, we gave up more than 90 points. Last night UNLV in the latter moments of the game drove almost at will to the basket with little defensive resistance. Had we suffered our notorious five minute shooting slump, we would have lost.
I have another phrase to describe the Five Out offense: "We Ain't Got No Big!" And in basketball, big is back, thanks to guys like Wembanyama or Jokic who can shoot from anywhere on the court while defending the rim, or the two seven footers we faced against Wisconsin in the NCAA tournament last year.
Yes, that was a great win last night, and we'll be fine in the Big Sky. But until we get that seven footer who can defend the rim, my eternal hopes of a Sweet 16 appearance are probably what they should be in the first place: A pipe dream.
billingsgriz
Well-known member
I was thinking similar thoughts. " If we win the BSC tournament--IF--a win like this can only help us with seeding come The Big Dance !!! ( I think we were a 12 when we upset Nevada under Krysko. And I like our chances a lot better as an 11 or 12 as opposed to a 14, 15 or 16. )] Now, if we can just pull off 1 or 2 more road nonconference upsets.
There aren't many more opportunities left. The remaining road games are Texas A&M, North Dakota, and Louisville. I said this in the offseason that the Griz have to beat UND in the Summit Challenge. The Hawks are not good and that could be a Q4 loss potentially, so they have to take care of business against UND.
We stand zero chance against Louisville though. They just beat Kentucky last night and will be ranked in the top ten in next weeks polls. The pipe dream would be to keep that game within 20 points but I'm skeptical we can do that.
Texas A&M is 2-1 so far with 30 point wins over Northwestern State and Texas Southern. They got drilled by Oklahoma State on Sunday though by 24. They host UCF on Friday so we'll see how that goes. I suppose maybe there's a chance if everything goes perfect, but it's gonna be tough. If we could get this win though then that would be gigantic for the Griz. College Station is a very tough place to travel to, and even for Basketball they have a great home court environment so the odds will be stacked against us.
GrizPony
Well-known member
Talking with Larry this weekend, he said they didn't really value the home and away wins that year against LMU but those really helped by year's end because LMU went dancing. Drake also did and we beat them. He said no one circled those games as big but they were largely responsible for our great ranking. And ranking is everything in the tourney.
