5 Questions Before Rebels Conference Opener
Rebels enter conference play on a three game win streak.
It’s difficult to say if the Rebels were insane or brilliant when putting together their 2023 – 24 schedule. Marquee matchups against St Mary’s and Creighton were evened out by games against cupcakes like Carroll college and Bethesda University. In between, they traveled to Florida, for a two game tournament, and got a road victory over Pepperdine. All of this in preparation for the opener against Conference Powerhouse and last year’s National runner up San Diego St. We’ll find out on Saturday, what this year’s version of the Rebels will look like. Here’s 5 questions to think about before the Rebels visit San Diego St.
1) Can Kalib Boone neutralize Jaedon Ledee? – For my money Ledee is the odds on favorite to take home conference player of the year honors, but Boone is going to be more than formidable. Ledee is one of the strongest players in the country, however the 5th year senior Boone while only 215 pounds has that “Grown Man Strength”. While he won’t win a fistfight, he’s certainly won’t get bullied the way so many other post have been against the SDSU strongman. Offensively I expect him to give Ledee problems, as Boone has one of the best back to the basket games in the conference. If he can either limit Ledee from his 21ppg average, or score a little more than his 12 per game, the Rebels will have a shot to pull off the upset.
2) Will Rebels 3pt defense or Aztec’s 3pt shooting be the story? – Let’s be clear both teams are terrible at both. The Rebels are 206th in three point defense, while SDSU offense is 229th in three point shooting. To be fair the Aztecs do have some guys that shoot it well, as Ledee, Micah Parish and Recce Dixon Waters all shoot over 40%, however outside of Parrish none of them shoot them in volume. It will be imperative that they don’t find their stroke in this one, as a deadly three point shooting Aztec team is a virtually unbeatable one.
3) Can DJ Thomas control the tempo? I’ve been impressed with Thomas’ all season, after a shaky 1st half against Southern, he’s been unflappable. This is the kind of game, that the freshman came to UNLV to play in. As always SDSU has a strong defense, however this time, the Rebels have the player that can run their offense. In an ideal world, Thomas, limits turnovers and gets them a good shot on most possessions. Slowing down the game and executing is the best chance for the Rebels to pull off the upset.
4) Will the Rebel’s depth make the difference? – For the first time in a long time UNLV is the team with the depth advantage in this matchup. The Aztecs rely heavily on 6 players, while the Rebels easily go 9 or 10 deep. It will be interesting to see how coach Kruger uses his bench, as their are multiple matchups they may be able to exploit. Isaiah Cottrell can be used to draw Ledee from the basket, and Jackie Johnson can change the tempo on both ends. In order for the Rebels to have a shot, their bench is going to have to outplay SDSU’s.
5) Will rest be a factor? On the last week of the NFL season, it seems appropriate that we’re talking about rest. The Rebels last played on Tuesday and have had 3 blowout victories which have allowed them to use their bench, and rest their starters. The Aztec’s meanwhile played a day later, with the depth already being an advantage for UNLV, an extra day of rest could go a long way to strengthening that advantage.