20th anniversy of 1990 CHAMPS!

I'm watching direct TV the other night and caught this show on Larry Johnson on the MSG channel. It was about his career as a Knick and everyone he played with said he was the best teammate ever. No one knows how great he was unless they were around him all the time. Larry was a great player, probably the greatest REBEL of all time. Which get me to thinking with the 20th anniversary on the 10th of this month. Who is your top 10 rebels of the last 20 years. I say the last 20 because I wasn't around for Reggie Thues and Danny Tark. Great players definitely on the all time list but not in my era. Here are my top 10 players and why.

10. Kaz Kambala. He was the big man in the middle that reminded me a lot of Larry Johnson. He was so dominate and led the Rebs to an amazing run through the WAC tourney and on to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1991. Kaz never made it as a pro in the states but was considered the Turkish Shaq over seas. He is now pursuing a boxing career.

9. Greg Anthony. He was the definition of point guard. He would pass first shoot second. He ran the team and if it wasn't for fouling out in 1991 semifinal there might be two banners hanging in the T&M. Greg was a Vegas kid who led his home town team to a National Championship. Greg had a great NBA career and was one of three players taken in the lottery. You can catch him now on CBS sports college basketball show.

8. Curtis Terry. Yeah I know what your thinking this guy sucks. I believe I invented the nickname Curtis "i suck" Terry. But he has hit some huge shots in his career. Terry was a walk on who made the team and started at the end of his career. Yeah he is the younger brother of Jason Terry but he doesn't play like him. Curtis is a reason we went to sweet sixteen and his shot against SDSU to send it to overtime when he was a freshmen was huge. Maybe bigger then Vince Bookers 3-pointer against BYU at the buzzer. Might be a toss up!\

7. Danny Brotherson. I loved the way he would play. Brotherson was an athlete. He was all American in 3 sports in high school and his teams won titles in all of them. Brotherson played hard every time he stepped on the court. He wasn't the best shooter or re bounder but what white guy you know can dunk on a center? Danny was hardcore. He made a few mistakes but he was always fun to watch play. Not to mention his wife was nice to look at in the stands. Sorry Danny!

6. Kevin Kruger. The reason he is so far down the list is because he only played one season. Can you imagine if we had him for his whole career? It might have been something really special. Kruger ran the floor and always found the open man. He would play hurt. He would think of the team. He wasn't selfish and it was about the team not him. What a player he was. Kevin was probably the smartest point guard of the last 20 years. He knows the game so well. He was the main reason we finally got back to making runs in the tournament.

5. Louis Amundson. One of my favorites. Lou was a great player. He was just so raw when he came in as a skinny freshmen. He learned the game very well and did everything he could to transfer that into games. He was a fan favorite and terrible free throw shooter. Lou was a great inside presence and played hard all the time. Its too bad he got caught in that transition of coaches.

4. Marcus Banks. The guy would not let us lose. Marcus was allowed to do what ever he wanted but he played great when he had to. He would light you up for 30. He would drain a last second floater at the buzzer (RENO) and would play til the death like against New Mexico in the MWC tourney. He is high up on the scoring list for only paying two seasons. He was a lottery pick but doesn't do much in the L. Its sad becuase he might be the best lock down defender I've seen.

3.Anderson Hunt. One of five all- Americans who could shoot the rock from the out side and slam a fast break home. Hunt was the youngster of the group. Final Four MVP and well deserved when he dropped 29 on Duke in the final. Hunt would have been great in the NBA but he was in the era of your not suppose to leave early and five years later it was the thing to do.

2. Stacey Augmon. Plastic man. Everyone loved the quite forward that threw the ball off the backboard in a NCAA tournament game and slammed it home. Who does that. Augmon was so smooth. He was silky smooth. He would walk on air and hit the jumper. He played the longest out of anyone from UNLV in the NBA. What a player, I wish he would come back to coach one day.

1. LJ. enough said.

I have a few players I loved to watch play. So Honorable mention goes to Lou Kelley. He was such a pure shooter. If it wasn't for the injuries he would have had an amazing career. Wink Adams was good. He was a little selfish and bulked up too much his senior year, but a fan favorite. Jeramie Lewis was the poor mans Stacey Augmon. He would play with anyone. He never complained or cried about minutes, just did what he needed to do.