Its not going to be every night but most nights your point guard has to be the team leader. Bellfield this season could be doing a little more in big games to help his team. If Bellfield scores 13 or more points or has five or more assists the Rebels win.
This year against BYU he has 15 points and 5 assist in two games. Its not enough. Against SDSU he only has 6 assist in two games. Also he doesn't have one made three pointer. You notice in some games as Bellfield gets hot the team gets hot. Last nights game was a perfect example. He was cold in the first half and so was the rest of the team. You need a solid point guard to run the team. That is why teams like BYU and SDSU dominate. They have great point guards in Jimmer and Gay. Oscar is a junior and you always think back to when Greg Anthony was a junior how great of a leader he was. Bellfield could be that but he might have a little more maturing to do.
Last night against CSU was one of his best halves of the year. He finished with 18 points. Anytime he has more than 15 points the Rebels are undefeated. Also anytime he has five or more assist the Rebels are 8-1. I never realized it until this point but they need him. They need him to play well. The 76 classic also showed how valuable he was. The BIG O averaged 9 points and 6.2 assists per game.
In the losses to key teams in conference this season Bellfield has not been able to put together a good game. All five games he had less than 13 points and less than 5 assists. Against BYU in the second game he was 1-11 with 2 turnovers and only five points. This is not what you want to see from a guy who plays about 30 minutes a game and doesn't really have a back up to give him a rest.
Bellfield is the key to the Rebels success. He has to get the team involved and he has to shoot the ball just as good to keep them winning. In the non-conference he averaged 11 points and 4 assist per game with a 12-2 record. Since he is 10 points and 2.9 assist. The Rebels are 8-5 in conference. UNLV has some work left to do. I think after last night they know they need to win out. Next up is New Mexico who is more inconsistent than the Rebels. A win there pretty much seals a tournament at-large.
If UNLV can go into the conference tournament with the third seed they have a good shot at making it to the finals and sealing there fate. They cannot drop another game from here on out or it will look bad. Losing to a Utah or Wyoming will look horrible on the resume that already has some blemishes. They will make the tournament from here but no one wants to see a one and done team.
Best case they win out looking at a 23-7 record going into the conference tournament as a 3 seed. If they win the first game and possibly the second. That would give the Rebs 25-8 record and probably a 6 or 7 seed in the tourney. That gives them a shot to win a game or two. This is a great road team. They have won some good games away from the Thomas and Mack and are even better in neutral sites. This is what the committee loves to see.
Worse case. I don't want to think about it. Only positive thoughts over here. But Oscar is the key to this season. Tre Willis and Stanback are roll players to the the floor general. They need him to get going.
That's what's on my mind.
SIMSZEE
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