Transition game must spur more easy shots

Somewhere, in the bowels of UNLV athletics, where marketing slogans are annually bantered about, I'm certain they are toying with some gems for the 2013-14 basketball season.

Run For Fun.

Run And Gun.

Run A Ton.

At some point, you figure the running part will happen.

It hasn't consistently for the Rebels, definitely not to the desired level of coach Dave Rice, and yet pace was never going to determine the outcome Tuesday evening, when UNLV beat an inferior UNR side 66-54 before 16,787 at the Thomas & Mack Center.

"We need to get more easy baskets," said Rice of his team that is one-half game out of first place in the Mountain West. "We're not getting enough of them at the offensive end."

It's nearly February, and there doesn't exist a consistent rotation for a team still trying to find itself. Given its 17-4 record, that speaks volumes of the talent UNLV possesses up and down its roster.

But as good as some defensive numbers are - UNLV is holding conference opponents to 43 percent shooting and less than 64 points on average - the Rebels have hardly made things easy on themselves offensively.

It is not the sort of transition torrent one imagines around promotions of "Let's Run," from last season and "Run As One," this year.

Some nights, teams will zone the Rebels and force a slower tempo.

Other nights, opponents do a good job, much like UNR on Tuesday, of getting back defensively.

Other nights, UNLV can't get out of the way of itself with unforced mistakes.

"It's not really frustrating," senior point guard Anthony Marshall said. "It doesn't make a difference to us. We'd like to run, but I feel we're a pretty good half-court team also. Whatever teams want to do, we have to counter it."

I like Marshall. He's having a fine season playing out of position. But this is not a team that can rely on its half-court offense to advance in March.

It's one that ranks dead last in turnover margin among nine conference teams, that averages 13.5 turnovers and doesn't even play all that fast. Anthony Bennett had five of the team's 13 Tuesday.

At a forward spot.

Bryce Dejean-Jones averages almost three and, while he offered good numbers (11 points, eight rebounds, four assists) in 24 minutes, he is a better bet to have a charging foul called on him each game than Rice is to wear a white dress shirt.

Those are facts that could lead to losses against good teams, which doesn't include the Wolf Pack. UNR has a junior guard in Deonte Burton who will be paid to play professionally, a player who probably will deserve first-team all-conference consideration at season's end but will get hurt in the voting because of his team's record and placement. Malik Story is a nice guard as a senior.

UNR, 11-9, doesn't have much else.

I'm not sure how much there is to a rivalry in which one team (UNLV) has won seven straight in the series. The latest victory had more of a first-round conference tournament feel to it, where the higher seed just needed to win and advance and not worry about impressing while doing so.

For most of the night, the biggest mystery had nothing to do with who would win, but if UNLV guard Justin Hawkins really believed his bright orange shoes were a good choice.

"Our defense has continued to improve, and the numbers bear that out," Rice said. "We are rebounding the ball well. But we need to get something going off that defense.

"I'm pleased with how our guys are developing. Different guys will get called on for different situations and different lineups. I definitely want to get us going in transition more."

He went small down the stretch. The lone big was sophomore Khem Birch, an ever-improving center who had 14 points, seven rebounds, two blocks and three steals in 24 minutes off the bench.

The Rebels also went small in the most critical stages when winning at San Diego State. Maybe that's the answer to put more points on conference scoreboards for UNLV, which averages less than 68 in league.

It isn't a bad number, but it's not what Rice has envisioned since taking over the program.

There is a bigger picture here than beating a bad UNR side.

After all, you would never want to think UNLV has adopted a "Shun The Run," approach.

I can see the marketing people scrambling now.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday on "Gridlock," ESPN 1100 and 98.9 FM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.