Rice’s message to Rebels: Play hard and together, or else

There is another slogan.

It’s not about running this time.

UNLV has annually followed the lead of countless schools when marketing its most celebrated team, hoping catchy phrases aptly define the product when selling tickets and generating interest.

For some time now, men’s basketball has been advertised as a side that plays an up-tempo style, but what was promised on posters has never quite been delivered on the court. UNLV hasn’t run. Not really.

So it changed things up this season.

All In. All Together.

“Playing hard and playing together are two things we didn’t do consistently enough the last two years,” UNLV coach Dave Rice said. “There is no excuse for not doing both. We’re going to make mistakes early. That’s the nature of the group we have. I will have guys on the floor who play hard and together. Guys who don’t believe it will find out soon enough.

“There has to be consequences for how we act and the kind of effort we give. Every person, starting with me, has to prove their worth to this program, to each other, to the fans, every single day when it comes to attitude and effort.”

Are you sensing a theme here?

I think he wants them to play hard and together.

UNLV opens its fourth season under Rice when welcoming Morehead State to the Thomas &Mack Center tonight for a 7:30 tipoff, a schedule that begins with as much uncertainty as any since the former Rebels player returned to lead his alma mater’s program.

The mystery about UNLV points directly to a talented and yet unproven roster, on which six players have yet to compete in a regular-season Division I game. There is every chance a first-year player (Rashad Vaughn) will lead UNLV in scoring, and that two others (Dwayne Morgan and Goodluck Okonoboh) will have a significant impact on how the season transpires for a team that lost 81 percent of its scoring and 75 percent of its rebounding from last season.

You can’t use youth as an excuse for playing poorly or losing this season. Freshmen with any level of skill now, much less the high ceiling of potential many wearing UNLV jerseys own, arrive on campus having played hundreds of high-level games and without the intention of staying four years.

That’s the reality of today’s college basketball, the facts when signing as celebrated a recruiting class as the Rebels did. Patience isn’t an option. You have to produce now.

“I’ve had people ask me to predict what our record will be,” Rice said. “I have no idea. I think we can have a successful season. To me, that means getting off to a good start with our effort and attitude.”

It really is impossible to forecast a specific number of wins for the Rebels, given so many new faces will be expected to immediately contribute and few, if any, programs face a tougher nonconference schedule. If the Rebels again miss the NCAA Tournament, it won’t be for a lack of playing good people.

The ironic part: Even as preseason expectations are lower this season than in recent times, the Rebels have a chance to be more exciting than ever under Rice. UNLV went 20-13 last year and yet was bad and boring when things mercifully ended against San Diego State in the Mountain West Tournament. That’s a forgettable combination.

UNLV stopped sharing the ball, ranking 125th nationally in assists compared with 10th the previous season and second in 2011-12. The Rebels became stagnant, selfish in spots.

But it’s possible, partly dictated by how small UNLV is up front, that the Rebels will play a far more entertaining brand of basketball this season. Maybe they win 20 games again. Maybe they win more. Maybe they win 18 or so. What they probably won’t be with all their ability at the guard and wing positions is dull.

“The pressure is on me for us to compete every night,” Rice said. “That’s the expectation for this group. I want a program that people can get behind because of how hard it plays. Everything else will take care of itself. We have talent and, over time, that talent level will serve us well.

“There is a challenge for us to be good sooner rather than later. We have a coachable group. I think the guys are tired of me telling them how good Morehead State is. They’ve watched the film. They know. From the day our season ended last year, we’ve done nothing but prepare ourselves for this opener. We can’t take anyone for granted, and we won’t. Every game will be a challenge for us.”

All In. All Together.

What it produces is anyone’s guess, but things should be fascinating more nights than not.

Heck, the Rebels might even run some this season.

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.