Previewing UNLV basketball vs. Air Force with reader questions

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Saturday, Jan. 4, 2020 | 2 a.m.

With UNLV riding a three-game winning streak (including Wednesday's impressive beatdown of Utah State), now seems like a good time to open up the mailbag and answer some reader questions.

@Valerieinvegas

Hey Mike, out of curiosity, how many shot clock violations have the Runnin' Rebels had this season? I feel like it was a lot near the beginning of the season and how do we measure in that department against other teams? I feel like we have improved though on those type of TO's.

@MikeGrimala

Unfortunately, this is difficult to track, as the play-by-play logs don't differentiate between shot-clock violations and other "team" turnovers. But there might be some merit to what you're saying, as T.J. Otzelberger likes long possessions and wants his team to keep running offense late into the shot clock.

So far this year, UNLV has had 126 possessions that have lasted into the final four seconds of the shot clock, which is the fourth-most in the country.

When Otzelberger was at South Dakota State, his Jackrabbits were usually among the best in the country at scoring efficiency at the end of the shot clock. That hasn't translated immediately at UNLV, however. The Rebels score 0.635 points per possession with four seconds or less on the shot clock, which ranks No. 236 in the nation.

@evanwozniak

Is this the year that UNLVmbb starts playing its best basketball through conference play and into the conference tourney?

@MikeGrimala

Good question. This is my seventh year covering UNLV basketball, and not once have the Rebels improved over the course of a season. That's a pretty obvious prerequisite to having any kind of postseason success, and it's also an indictment on the previous coaches.

I don't know if Otzelberger will be different, but his approach has definitely been different. By demanding top effort from his star players — and then holding them accountable via playing time — he has set his standard for the entire team. Players know what they have to do if they want to get on the court, and the early results have been promising (like a dominant 70-53 win over Utah State on Wednesday).

Can UNLV build on that and continue improving as the season goes on? As long as Otzelberger can keep getting the players to buy in, they've got a chance.

@m1foley

Which UNLVmbb player wins a game of HORSE?

@MikeGrimala

The media doesn't get to observe practice, so I don't have any inside information on topics like this, but I did the next-best thing by posing this question to Amauri Hardy on Friday. Unsurprisingly, he touted himself as the top horseman, thanks in part to his signature shot from the deep corner (behind the backboard).

If I were forced to make a pick, however, I'd go with a couple guys who are not eligible to suit up this year. David Jenkins and Moses Wood are the best shooters on the team, and I've got to believe the ability to stand beyond the arc and drain shot after shot after shot would make either of them tough to beat. Unless someone else has a bevy of trick shots designed specifically for HORSE, I'd take Jenkins or Wood.

@jerrysp702

Talk about Arroyo not getting the assistants he wants because of money and maybe already looking towards the next job.

@MikeGrimala

Whiffing on your top choice for offensive coordinator is not the way anyone wants to start out their first head coaching job, but in this specific set of circumstances I think Marcus Arroyo will be able to rebound quickly.

He may have preferred Oklahoma State assistant Kasey Dunn, but no matter who ends up taking the OC job at UNLV, it is going to be Arroyo's offense. He implied as much at his introductory press conference — he is going to design the scheme, write the play book, implement the game plans and call the plays. An offensive coordinator is a vital role in facilitating practices and things like that, but the offense as a whole is going to sink or swim on Arroyo's shoulders. So missing out on the OC is not necessarily as big of a deal as it might be for other head coaches.

@Reb_Hombre

Will coach Arroyo make a run at a grad transfer QB? Or stick with the current QBs in the team/possible HS recruit?

@MikeGrimala

It would make sense for Arroyo to want to bring in his own guy. Armani Rogers is a talented player who can only be effective in certain niche packages, and Kenyon Oblad might not have the arm and athleticism to run Arroyo's offense. Maybe he can patch something together between those two quarterbacks to get through the first year, but an offensive specialist like Arroyo will come in with definitive ideas about what he wants at the position and he'll be particular about who takes snaps for him.

@nevadaracer00v

Talk about what you saw courtside as the biggest difference in the UNLV team versus Utah State than the team that lost three overtime games.

@MikeGrimala

Effort. Intensity. Hustle. Whatever you want to call it, they just played harder than Utah State. It was refreshing to see, because UNLV has developed a reputation over the past decade as a team that recruits big stars and then coasts by on talent. The 2019-20 Rebels obviously don't have that luxury, so the only way they're going to compete with teams at the top of the Mountain West is to outwork them.

Otzelberger got them to do it for one game, and it was impressive. It wasn't something we saw from this team earlier in the season, and Otzleberger had to take some pretty extreme measures to correct it. Now we'll have to see how long they can keep it up.

@jerrysp702

Talk about UNLV maybe starting MWC play 6-0.

@MikeGrimala

How quickly the expectation level changes! Two weeks ago the Rebels were coming off an ugly home loss to Pacific and there were already a contingent of fans questioning the Otzelberger hire. Now, after three straight "try-hard" wins, we're talking about going undefeated through a third of the conference season.

And it's actually not as impossible as it sounds on the surface. The Rebels are 2-0 in league play, and if they can hold off Air Force at home on Saturday, that puts them at 3-0 heading into a mini-road trip at Boise State (Jan. 8) and at Wyoming (Jan. 11). Boise will be a tough test, but UNLV won there last season. After Wyoming, the Rebs return home to face San Jose State (Jan. 15). Just giving 100-percent effort like the Utah State game should be enough to beat Air Force, Wyoming and SJSU; if UNLV isn't 5-1 two weeks from now, something went wrong.

@LouDog777

1. When will coach Arroyo's staff be completed?

2. Will coach Arroyo go after 4-star recruits this year or is it too late in the cycle?

3. Why didn't TJO start the season out with his effort expectation being the priority?

4. Who are the three that will be forced out (Green, Coleman, Dembele)?

@MikeGrimala

Let's close out the mailbag with a lightning round.

1. Not anytime soon. Give it another month or so, especially considering the setback at offensive coordinator.

2. Too late this year to reasonably expect a 4-star recruit to sign on, but maybe via the transfer portal.

3. It took a month of games for Otzelberger to figure out what he has in terms of personnel. Hence, no more running-and-gunning; based on the players he has, Otzelberger is now molding them into a defense-and-rebounding team on the fly.

4. UNLV has six recruits coming in as part of the 2020 class and only three seniors graduating, so at least three current players are getting pushed out. Of the guys you mentioned, I think Coleman has the best chance of sticking. And don't forget that Donnie Tillman wants to turn pro after the season, which would open another scholarship.

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