Can UNLV's basketball players please get through a season with no off-court issues?

Somehow, I doubt this is how new coach Dave Rice wanted to start off his tenure: Leading returning scorer Chase Stanbeck was arrested late Friday night for DUI, putting him into limbo heading into the summer.

If this sounds familiar, remember that last summer, leading returning scorer Tre'von Willis was arrested in a domestic dispute, served a suspension to start the season and didn't ever really get his legs under himself the whole season, helping contribute to a season that was successful with its NCAA Tournament berth, but not as good as it could have been with the talent on the roster.

Now, Stanbeck has put a thinner roster in just as difficult a position. While he will likely be back considering this is a first offense, the question is what effect this will have on the Rebels. With the Mountain West changing greatly and BYU no longer in the league, the spot of league kingpin is up for grabs, especially with UNLV nemesis San Diego St. losing most of the roster. This doesn't help in any way and could really hurt the Rebels not just this season, but in future seasons if a possible lack of fitness submarines the season for UNLV.

For the rest of the Mountain West, this could also really hurt. UNLV is the most likely team to pick up some key non-conference wins (co-favorite New Mexico tends to not schedule as aggressively) that will help in seeding and/or making the tournament and if Stanbeck is forced to miss any time, UNLV could lose early games against the likes of Wisconsin (evidently there is a possible game against North Carolina, but the Rebels aren't winning that anyway).

Mountain West Conference Tournament Preview

This one will be a little more in-depth than the others in part because I have followed this league closer than the others over the course of the season.

Opening Round

Wyoming vs TCU – Both of these teams are awful. Wyoming has already fired its coach while TCU can't win in this league meaning it will be even worse once they are in the Big East in two years. I pick Wyoming but it doesn't really matter one way or the other with both teams already carrying 20 losses entering tonight’s game.

Quarterfinals

BYU vs Wyoming – Wyoming has no ability to exploit the Brandon Davies absence. We already saw that last Saturday. Combine that fact with the Cowboys being good and BYU being so much better that Jimmer might not even have to play and you get an ugly blowout.

Colorado St. vs New Mexico – I don't understand why either of these teams are even being talked about for NCAA bids. 9-7 in this league has never gotten a team an at-large so what makes anyone think 9-7 in Colorado St.'s case or 8-8 in New Mexico's case is getting either of these teams in the field without the automatic bid. As for that automatic bid, New Mexico has a much better chance to get it than Colorado St. because of whatever mojo they seem to have against BYU over the last few seasons. Too bad for the Lobos that they have underachieved, especially since Drew Gordon and his nightly double-double became eligible (note that UCLA seems to be just fine without their walking chemistry issue). They will continue to underachieve here making life much easier for BYU in the next round.

UNLV vs Air Force – Tre'von Willis and the rest of the UNLV roster is starting to get hot again like they were early in the season. That is bad news for Air Force and whoever else might draw the Rebels in this tournament being played on UNLV's home court.

San Diego St. vs Utah – Utah is awful and has nobody to send at San Diego St's second-tier starts, let alone at Kawhi Leonard. This could be very ugly if San Diego St. is properly motivated.

Semifinals

BYU vs Colorado St. - One post player is not enough to beat BYU even without Brandon Davies unless everyone shoots lights out. Colorado St. won't shoot lights out and while they have one very good post player in Andy Ogide, they don't have the depth needed to really take advantage. Combine that with BYU seemingly having its focus back after the blowout loss to New Mexico last week and you have a recipe for trouble.

San Diego St. vs UNLV – Expect another knockdown-drag out fight between these two reminiscent of the last few games in this series. When the teams are evenly matched as these teams are (all the games have been close into the final minutes for three years), the lucky bounces are bound to fall the other way eventually. Considering San Diego St. has been winning this game for four years without a blowout among them, the Rebels are due, particularly if the recent hot shooting streak continues.

Final

BYU vs UNLV – Here is where the absence of Brandon Davies will kill BYU. Not because UNLV has depth in the post to throw at BYU though. It's because UNLV has NO depth in the post and Davies will no longer be there to exploit it. In the first game this season in Las Vegas, Davies had his way with the Rebels early opening things up for Jimmer and Jackson Emery to light UNLV up from the outside. Without Davies in the lineup, there is no inside go-to guy to take the pressure off the shooters against UNLV's aggressive man-to-man defense. At the same time, UNLV, if in fact they are in this game will have shot well. If UNLV shoots well early, teams have to switch away from zone defense. When teams in this league play man-to-man against UNLV, they get destroyed because UNLV is more athletic than anyone in the league (except possibly San Diego St.). Both problems will surface here with UNLV finally getting past BYU again after losing both games in the regular season.

What does UNLV need to reach its former glory?

I have watched UNLV play against top competition three times this season. All three times, they lost (including last night to San Diego St.). The Rebels have won every other game this season except one against UC Santa Barbara in a game sabotaged by historically poor shooting (UNLV shot 29% from the field for the game). Over these games and having closely watched the Rebels over the last four seasons starting with a run to the Sweet 16 in 2007, the team has shown the same deficiencies over and over again (as much due to lack of players and talent as anything else).

What UNLV does well:

They defend – It is hard to score on UNLV unless you have an outside shooter having a huge night (as Jimmer Fredette of BYU did last week when the Cougars smoked the Rebels in Las Vegas). The athleticism on the perimeter and sound development of defensive big men by coach Lon Kruger makes any game against UNLV have the possibility of being a defensive slug fest. The Rebels can play nearly any team in the country man-to-man and hold them below their average. The athletic guys on the perimeter also allow for a pressing defense that can force major mistakes against a team that lacks composure. The only exception of course is a knockdown shooter who can create his own shot (like Fredette), but there aren't many of those in college basketball.

They get to the line – Because of the athleticism on the perimeter, UNLV is also able to effectively penetrate, especially against man-to-man defenses. Going back to the 76 Classic over Thanksgiving, UNLV's penetration ultimately delivered the title and the Rebel offense destroyed Virginia Tech whenever they didn't play zone. With that penetration come trips to the foul line. While UNLV may not make all of its free throws, they get to the line enough that they outscore most teams from the charity stripe and opposing players are often in foul trouble when they play the Rebels.

What UNLV needs:

A true offensive post player – For years now, the Rebels have been unable to throw it into the post and generate offense. Lon Kruger does a great job getting his bigs ready defensively, but they usually can't score when they get to Las Vegas (Mountain West schools generally don't have access to those type of players) and when bigs get to UNLV, they never become scorers, just high level defensive role players.

A knockdown shooter – The team only needs one and Kruger might even have to be willing to bend and take a defensive liability to get this type of player. You might know the type I'm talking about: white, son of a coach, no real athletic ability making him unable to have any prayer of defending an opposing shooting guard or point guard, but able to make shots from nearly anywhere in the arena. This player is, in essence, a zone buster. Right now, any coach without super-athletes the likes of which you see only in the top 10 of the national rankings should zone UNLV, even if they don't teach it. The Rebels lack the shooters to overcome the zone and until they have one, zone defense means a struggle for the program.

A look back and forward at UNLV basketball

I don't have all that much to say here. Those who know me know some of my earliest sports memories involve growing up watching UNLV basketball and many know I still can't stand Duke to this day because of the 1991 Final Four upset of the then undefeated UNLV team. Even though I went to Auburn, UNLV is still the team I root for in basketball (maybe it was that we have been, are, and will continue to be terrible in basketball because of institutional indifference) and I hope they can return to where they once were even though I know it is unlikely.

For all the UNLV fans out there, check out these two articles over at si.com, one about the prospects for this years team and one about the 1990 and 91 teams that won the national title and then went undefeated until the Final Four.

You can find the preview for this year here and the look back here.