Coaches snub Rebels

The preseason men’s basketball ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll was released on Thursday and UNLV did not appear in the top 25.
The Rebels weren’t too far off, though.
UNLV got 60 points in the poll, leading the “others receiving votes” category.
Rene Rougeau saw the poll Thursday morning.
“It was a little upsetting, but if anything it’s motivation to work that much harder and prove how good we are on the court,” the senior said. “On the positive side, it’s about the highest starting point we’ve been at in awhile.”
Being in that position means a few wins early in the season could propel UNLV into the rankings.
Head coach Lon Kruger isn’t opposed to preseason polls, but doesn’t place a whole lot of importance on them.
“Early season polls are great for conversation starters,” he said. “I think it’s good for interest in college basketball. I just don’t put a whole lot of emphasis on them.”
Kruger is not a voter, but has been in the past. He says the early polls were the most difficult to vote on, because it’s difficult to determine how good teams are based on returning players.
Brigham Young was the only other Mountain West Conference team in the poll, placing 36th with 13 points.
Future opponent Louisville is ranked No. 3.
The only other team on UNLV’s schedule to receive any votes was Arizona. The Wildcats got 18 votes and placed 34th. The team will be in a transition period, however, as head coach Lute Olson stepped down just last week.
The entire poll can be seen at http://sports-ak.espn.go.com/ncb/rankings

Rougeau gets extra work
Rougeau stayed around and shot free throws by himself for about 10 minutes after practice ended in the Cox Pavilion on Thursday.
“(I’m) just practicing a new form that I’ve been using,” he said. “I’m trying to get more comfortable with it.”

Late Bucket
Near the end of practice, the team worked on an end-of-game situation.
Chace Stanback hit a jumper with about 10 seconds remaining on the clock to put the white team ahead.
Oscar Bellfield drove the length of the floor and drew the entire white team defense to him before missing a shot off the glass.
Darris Santee was there to corral the rebound and put it back in just before time expired to give the red team the victory.

Coach speaks to group
Kruger also stayed after practice on Thursday, spending about 20 minutes speaking to, and then taking questions from, a group of managers and executives from PT’s and Sierra Gold’s around Las Vegas.
The group arrived late in practice and watched the team in action before having a chance to meet with Kruger.