The big picture has been dwarfed to a few weeks and is much clearer today.
Sports Columns
Oscar Bellfield is a college sophomore who when asked if he could invite anyone to dinner, included the following:
Every game and opponent is different. Lon Kruger is correct on that part. He was also accurate in saying a major reason his UNLV basketball team dropped games at home against New Mexico and at San Diego State last week had as much to do with opposing talent as anything else.
F or those who missed the entire first half of UNLV-New Mexico basketball on television Wednesday evening, those who sat clutching their remotes tighter and tighter as two Top 25 teams went at it but were nowhere to be found on the ol’ tube, you can be certain one theme defined the matchup from its outset.
They had a party as the Rebels kicked Jimmer Fredette and then-No. 12 Brigham Young to the curb Saturday afternoon. When they left, UNLV led the Far West, which is what the sports writers back east call the Pacific-10, Mountain West, Western Athletic Conference and Gonzaga, in basketball attendance.
Don’t be misled by coach-speak that suggests every game is as important as the next.
Matt Shaw says it wasn’t about making a statement, because he has been part of a college basketball program for years now and understands the roller-coaster ride that is a 30-game regular season. He has seen how rhythm shooting can propel teams to unbelievable stretches of play, how it can demoralize even a ranked opponent.
UNLV needs to play basketball today as if it’s the one opening a jaw and showing teeth. It needs to clamp down and not let go.
At an NCAA Tournament party inside a South Point ballroom in March, hundreds of college basketball fans gathered for the opening day of games.
They ate (some), drank (a lot) and wagered (even more). They cheered and booed. They shot baskets for prizes. They laughed when Brigham Young lost another first-round game.