Second-year UNLV men’s basketball coach Josh Pastner hopes a difficult slate of exhibition games will prepare his team for November better than last season. He wants to avoid the roller coaster of last year and reduce injuries, aiming for a more consistent path built on rebounding, taking care of the ball, and gaining possessions to use the team’s speed as a strength.
Pastner said the Rebels’ identity must be one of great toughness, grit, and competitive excellence, with players controlling loose balls and being hard-nosed. He emphasized that these traits are installed daily in practice and must be shown on the court. The team’s readiness hinges on whether senior guard AJ Storr will be deemed eligible after being ruled ineligible via a court ruling in Tennessee in August.
The Rebels lost their first home exhibition to Utah 79-69 on Wednesday night, with upcoming games against BYU on Oct. 24 and Missouri on Oct. 29. Pastner wants to be far more prepared for the season than in his first year, when UNLV lost two of its first three games and finished 18-17, advancing to the second round of the NIT.
He dreams of returning the Thomas & Mack Center to a raucous atmosphere, saying, 'There’s no other way of putting it — winning solves everything.' Pastner acknowledged the rebuild is longer than imagined, recalling the low attendance at the season-opening game last year when the court was renamed for Jerry Tarkanian, which made him realize it would take double the energy to get fans back and excited.
Sources: Las Vegas Review-Journal
Original reporting: Las Vegas Review-Journal →
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