Outside shooting could be question mark for this year’s Runnin’ Rebels

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 30, 2019 | 2 a.m.

Pretty much everything about UNLV’s 112-54 exhibition win over West Coast Baptist College on Friday has to be analyzed with the caveat that it came against West Coast Baptist College. The Eagles played hard, but they were too small, too slow, too unathletic and too unskilled to really give UNLV a legitimate challenge in any way.

But one aspect of the Rebels’ performance that could turn out to be somewhat predictive was the outside shooting, and aside from junior guard Jonah Antonio catching fire, it looks like UNLV could be hit or miss on long-distance shots in 2019-20.

Antonio made 7-of-11 from 3-point range against WCBC, while the rest of the team went 2-of-12. Aside from Antonio, six other players attempted a 3-pointer; only Bryce Hamilton (1-of-3) and walk-on Trey Hurlburt (1-of-3) connected.

New head coach T.J. Otzelberger has remained adamant throughout the offseason that the roster has enough shooting, and he still believes in his guys.

After practice on Tuesday, Otzelberger said the shooting should improve as the Rebels get more comfortable executing his offense.

“I know that as a group we can shoot it better than we did,” Otzelberger said. “We have a lot of guys that are playmakers and can get to the rim, get to the basket and finish and I think that’s where their focus needs to be. And then when those [3-point] shots present themselves, we need to do a better job of being shot-ready and getting our feet set and taking 3s that are coming in rhythm, as opposed to ones that we’re just taking because we don’t think they’re guarding us a certain way.”

Whether the Rebels make them or not, the 3-point line is going to play a significant role in how good the team is this season. Last year under Otzelberger, 3-pointers accounted for 40.8 percent of all of South Dakota State’s field goal attempts; in three years under Marvin Menzies, UNLV attempted 3’s on 34.2 percent of its shots.

Junior guard Amauri Hardy turned into one of UNLV’s most productive 3-point shooters last year, as he improved his accuracy from 29.4 percent as a freshman to 34.1 percent in 2018-19. He went 0-of-2 in the exhibition.

Hardy said practice was responsible for his enhanced marksmanship last year.

“Just more reps,” Hardy said. “Continuously staying confident in myself, continuously getting up shots and not turning them down. Coming in day in and day out just being ready to shoot. Taking efficient shots.”

Hardy is just one of the returning Rebels who has to get used to taking different kinds of 3-pointers in the new offense. After playing mostly on the ball last year and often being left to create his own 3-point openings, Hardy has to be ready to catch and shoot with a quick trigger in Otzelberger’s scheme.

“Last year I was put in a lot of shot-clock situations where I got the ball with like eight seconds,” Hardy said, “so I got to shoot a lot of shots in late shot-clock situations, which lowers my percentage. I’m trying to get away from those shots this year.”

At South Plains junior college last year, Antonio connected on 40.9 percent of his 3-point attempts, making him far and away UNLV’s most dangerous shooter.

Otzelberger pointed to Antonio’s work ethic as the reason for his accuracy, and he hopes the junior’s practice habits will rub off on the rest of the roster.

“With Jonah, he shoots it exceptionally well every day because he practices as hard or harder than anybody on our team, and that allows him to always be in rhythm. He stays in rhythm because of how competitive he is. He’s the first guy in on drills, he’s a guy that every day just brings it. I think that’s where the consistency comes in.”

Hardy wants all the Rebels to get to Antonio’s level as shooters.

“I definitely think we can be a great shooting squad,” Hardy said. “Obviously Jonah’s been a shooter, his confidence is at a different level. Every time he touches the ball pretty much he’s letting it fly, and we’ve all got confidence in him that it’s going in. We want to have the same confidence surrounding our other teammates.”

Mike Grimala can be reached at 702-948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Mike on Twitter at twitter.com/mikegrimala.