89-90 UNLV Runnin' Rebels - Nubblies.net Forums

f3lix · 08-04-2011, 07:28 PM

The team many consider to be the greatest college basketball team ever (though some argue it to be the 90-91 version of mostly the same squad) won the NCAA Championship by plowing teams left and right. Ranked #1 in the Preseason, they were full of NBA talent and looked like an NBA team on the floor. Their defense was incredible, they ran the floor all night long, dunked over everybody, and still are the only team to score triple digits in the NCAA Championship game winning 103-73 over Duke, which is still the largest margin of victory in a championship in NCAA Basketball History. Here are some videos of a team to showcase how much bigger, stronger, faster, better, and any other word you can associate with dominance compared to their competition. They were the bad boys before the Fab 5 came along and HBO did an hour long special on them last year.

‪1990 NCAA Basketball Championship‬&rlm; - YouTube

‪UNLV Runnin Rebels (1989 vs Loyola Marymount)‬&rlm; - YouTube

‪1990 UNLV Runnin Rebels‬&rlm; - YouTube

‪TEAMS TO REMEMBER - 1990 UNLV - PART 1‬&rlm; - YouTube

‪TEAMS TO REMEMBER - 1990 UNLV - PART 2‬&rlm; - YouTube

‪TEAMS TO REMEMBER - 1990 UNLV - PART 3‬&rlm; - YouTube

‪TEAMS TO REMEMBER - 1990 UNLV - PART 4‬&rlm; - YouTube

‪TEAMS TO REMEMBER - 1990 UNLV - PART 5‬&rlm; - YouTube

‪TEAMS TO REMEMBER - 1990 UNLV - PART 6‬&rlm; - YouTube

Orgazmo · 08-04-2011, 07:57 PM

This article doesn't even have them in the top ten. Because I don't know anything on the subject, I'm going to take their word for it.

angry pancake · 08-04-2011, 08:01 PM

They were good. Probably better the next year, undefeated until they somehow lost in the final 4. If the 91 team repeated it would be argued as one of the greatest of all time. All in all, an incredible two year run from essentially the same group of players.

f3lix · 08-04-2011, 10:08 PM

The 90-91 Rebs loss to Duke has been ranked in several top 10 lists of the greatest upsets of all-time. It was essentially the same matchup as the 1990 championship, scarred with numerous claims of UNLV throwing the game (just google UNLV Hot Tub), bizarre circumstances (UNLV's point guard fouled out for the first time all season and the final shot of the game was a bizarre 18 foot jumper which was the opposite of UNLV's style), and even Coach K admitting it took a miracle for Duke to win that game.

Bobby Hurley was asked who would win a hypothetical matchup between the UNLV team and the Fab 5 and his response, “It’s NOT EVEN close…Vegas would’ve beaten them easily…If the Fab Five stayed until their Senior year, they (UNLV) still would’ve beaten them. Vegas was the closest thing to an NBA team.”

A great analysis of pitting the best against the best is found here: All-TimeTop15CollegeBasketballTeams

The fans on rivals voted and the results are here: Fan perspective: Top ten college basketball teams of the all time - College Basketball - Rivals.com

Yet another opinion, though this one favors the '91 team: TheDraftReview - 1991 UNLV: Best College Basketball Team Ever!

I could do this all day: 5 Greatest College Basketball Teams of the Modern Era

f3lix · 08-04-2011, 10:15 PM

I should also mention UNLV's domination of the Russian National Team. UNLV is the only American team to never lose to the Russians, going 4-0 against them and pasting them soon after they beat the US OLYMPIC TEAM. Those games spanned between '87-'91.

Orgazmo · 08-04-2011, 11:17 PM

This is ridiculous. UCLA 67-69 with Lew Alcindor is the best team ever. Period. They lost a close game to the great Elvin Hayes Houston team (arguably the 2nd greatest ever) in 1968 when Alcindor was injured and couldn't shoot, but then beat that team by 40 in the semi-finals.

angry pancake · 08-04-2011, 11:30 PM

Those Michigan fab five teams wasn't very great. I have no idea why they are on a greatest of all time list. They came out of nowhere in 1991 while finishing big ten play with a barely winning record and getting blown out often. I think that team lost around ten games. Indiana was the better team the next year. The 1994-95 UCLA team was exponentially better. As were the 1993-94 & 1994-95 Arkansas teams. Those would probably be 2 & 3 behind UNLV on some lists.

Ugly Bastard · 08-04-2011, 11:37 PM

Its pretty understood that UNLV cheated to get those players. Thats why when they talk about all time great teams in CBB on TV or whatever they dont really talk about that UNLV team or when they do they kind of hint at that they cheated. They get brought up every now and then but never get much respect cause anybody who knows anything about CBB knows how they got those players. They're always gonna be looked at with a grain of salt.

angry pancake · 08-04-2011, 11:43 PM

Everybody cheats UB. Even the ivies and other academic powerhouses. Just nobody gives a shit about northwestern's women's lacrosse or the north Dakota hockey team.

f3lix · 08-05-2011, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ugly Bastard

Its pretty understood that UNLV cheated to get those players. Thats why when they talk about all time great teams in CBB on TV or whatever they dont really talk about that UNLV team or when they do they kind of hint at that they cheated. They get brought up every now and then but never get much respect cause anybody who knows anything about CBB knows how they got those players. They're always gonna be looked at with a grain of salt.

Never once was anything proven by the NCAA. Not once. They sent undercover agents onto UNLV's campus and even asked students if those players were in class. They walked away with nothing. Tark sued the NCAA and walked away with a multi-million dollar settlement a few years after he was forced out by the UNLV President, who was the immediately removed by UNLV.

Things you probably didn't know... The next batch of players UNLV had coming in (before Tark was removed) included Jalen Rose, Shawn Kemp, and Jason Kidd.

angry pancake · 08-05-2011, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orgazmo

This is ridiculous. UCLA 67-69 with Lew Alcindor is the best team ever. Period. They lost a close game to the great Elvin Hayes Houston team (arguably the 2nd greatest ever) in 1968 when Alcindor was injured and couldn't shoot, but then beat that team by 40 in the semi-finals.

It's really hard to compare back in that era. In fact, you could say the Walton UCLA teams were better teams as they followed up their undefeated championship season with another. There were way fewer teams playing for it all back then as well. And if you had a dominant player, that was all it took. Now, that almost never happens. Last I can recall was 1988 when Danny Manning caught fire in the tourney and that one kind of came out of nowhere as it had not happened for quite a while since then. Even then a team with two good players were better than one dominant then, see the North Carolina win over Wilt Chamberlain and Kansas and Cincy's back to back over Ohio State. Additionally there were no at large teams for the longest fucking team in the tournament. So, suppose you did have Wilt and he misses a few games with injury and those are losses, you don't go to the tournament even when you're clearly the best team when he's there.

Seem to me the golden age started when Indiana started stockpiling players to have great teams. This lasted until around the late 1990s when the best players out of high school started skipping college altogether. It wasn't nowhere as common for players to come out early. It was unusual for Johnson to leave MSU after his sophomore season. The older timers say Moses Malone skipping completely was just fucking crazy. But I'm really not sure how all of that worked back then, I'm really confused on how Boston drafted Bird after 1978, then Bird goes back to Indiana State for 1979 and retains his rights.

Anyway, that UNLV team would have demolished Alcinder's UCLA team if there was some sort of time travel. They punked the Georgetown team that had Mourning and Mutumbo on it. The Carolina team with Jordan, Perkins, Worthy, Daughtrey would have wiped the floor with those UCLA teams. What would've been cool would be to watch Alcinder's UCLA teams go up against David Robinson's Navy teams. That would've been a better comparison. The game changed way too much in the 15-20 years after Alcinder went pro.

angry pancake · 08-05-2011, 05:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f3lix

Never once was anything proven by the NCAA. Not once. They sent undercover agents onto UNLV's campus and even asked students if those players were in class. They walked away with nothing. Tark sued the NCAA and walked away with a multi-million dollar settlement a few years after he was forced out by the UNLV President, who was the immediately removed by UNLV.

Things you probably didn't know... The next batch of players UNLV had coming in (before Tark was removed) included Jalen Rose, Shawn Kemp, and Jason Kidd.

I'll go out on a limb and say probably not Kemp. He signed with Kentucky in 1988 and enrolled before stealing some shit. He was in the pros in 1989. Don't know about Rose, Tark was at UNLV while Rose was at Michigan. But IIRC, the shit had already hit the fan after UNLV won it all in 1990 and were originally banned from the tournament in 1991 but it was postponed for reasons I don't get until 1992. So, maybe that had something to do with Rose not going.

f3lix · 08-05-2011, 11:17 PM

You are correct on when it received the post-season ban, but the reason was because it was successfully argued that UNLV should be allowed to defend their national title.

Cocktooth · 08-10-2011, 03:14 PM

Guys, you are defending yourselfs against F3lix and his opinion on basketball. Not only are you wasting your own time, but you are also giving him credit as knowing anything about basketball, which obviously isn't the case.

angry pancake · 08-10-2011, 04:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cocktooth

Guys, you are defending yourselfs against F3lix and his opinion on basketball. Not only are you wasting your own time, but you are also giving him credit as knowing anything about basketball, which obviously isn't the case.

Felix is probably right in this case though.

Cocktooth · 08-10-2011, 05:57 PM

I don't have the energy, nor that want to, to read this thread and prove him wrong. Judging by the title, I have one question. Did they go undefeated? If the answer is no, next topic please. You can't be the best if you lose. Period. Kent Benson FWIW.

Cocktooth · 08-10-2011, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f3lix

I should also mention UNLV's domination of the Russian National Team. UNLV is the only American team to never lose to the Russians, going 4-0 against them and pasting them soon after they beat the US OLYMPIC TEAM. Those games spanned between '87-'91.

I believe it would be proper to say they cheated the USA out of a win in Moscow. Plus, I'm sure they played their little hearts out against the college kids from the US. Much like they did in the hockey game where they underestimated Herb Brooks' boys!

f3lix · 08-10-2011, 10:24 PM

Linking their championship year to the following year, UNLV notched 45 straight wins.

Nolan Richardson, who's team gave them their closest game during UNLV's epic 90-91 season had this to say after losing at home in a #1 vs. #2 game. "That bunch with Larry Johnson and Anderson Hunt just manhandled you," said Richardson, who had a 30-5 team also fall to UNLV the previous season, 101-93. "They were men playing with boys. I think (UNLV) is the best team I've ever seen. I'm not sure anyone else is even close."

They had 3 lottery picks come out of that squad in the same year.

They beat teams by an average of 27 points per game in the 90-91 season.

Best. Team. Ever.

Ugly Bastard · 08-11-2011, 01:01 AM

I don't see how you can say a team that didn't even win the championship was the greatest team ever.

Orgazmo · 08-11-2011, 01:43 AM

My vote goes to the UCLA teams with Jabbar on them. Jabbar was the most dominant player on a college level I've ever seen. If Larry Johnston or Stacy Augmon's play led to a rules change, I'm not aware of it.

f3lix · 08-11-2011, 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ugly Bastard

I don't see how you can say a team that didn't even win the championship was the greatest team ever.

Patriots from a few years ago?

DDTempest · 08-11-2011, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by f3lix

Patriots from a few years ago?

The ones that dropped their perfect season in the super bowl to the new york giants?

f3lix · 08-11-2011, 05:27 PM

The ones that fell on a miracle catch (maybe the greatest ever in a big game)

Ugly Bastard · 08-12-2011, 01:54 AM

The Tyree Catch™ was the greatest play in the NFL of the past 10+ years, but it's given too much credit for the Giants winning. They were still 25 yards from glory after that play; it hardly won the game on it's own right.

f3lix · 08-12-2011, 08:12 AM

That play was on third down and went from a sack to an incomplete pass to a first down and ALLLLLLL the momentum was in the Giants favor on that single play.

08-10-2011, 03:14 PM	#14 (permalink)
Cocktooth Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Warsaw Posts: 4,220 Internets: 124047	Guys, you are defending yourselfs against F3lix and his opinion on basketball. Not only are you wasting your own time, but you are also giving him credit as knowing anything about basketball, which obviously isn't the case.
	Nubblies: If we put up with Felix, we will put up with you too.

08-10-2011, 05:57 PM	#16 (permalink)
Cocktooth Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Warsaw Posts: 4,220 Internets: 124047	I don't have the energy, nor that want to, to read this thread and prove him wrong. Judging by the title, I have one question. Did they go undefeated? If the answer is no, next topic please. You can't be the best if you lose. Period. Kent Benson FWIW.
	Nubblies: If we put up with Felix, we will put up with you too.

08-04-2011, 07:57 PM	#2 (permalink)
Orgazmo COME ON YOU YANKS Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 15,726 Internets: 311447	This article doesn't even have them in the top ten. Because I don't know anything on the subject, I'm going to take their word for it.

08-04-2011, 10:08 PM	#4 (permalink)
f3lix Gangnam Style Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DH's Massage Parlor Posts: 6,383 Internets: 213510	The 90-91 Rebs loss to Duke has been ranked in several top 10 lists of the greatest upsets of all-time. It was essentially the same matchup as the 1990 championship, scarred with numerous claims of UNLV throwing the game (just google UNLV Hot Tub), bizarre circumstances (UNLV's point guard fouled out for the first time all season and the final shot of the game was a bizarre 18 foot jumper which was the opposite of UNLV's style), and even Coach K admitting it took a miracle for Duke to win that game. Bobby Hurley was asked who would win a hypothetical matchup between the UNLV team and the Fab 5 and his response, “It’s NOT EVEN close…Vegas would’ve beaten them easily…If the Fab Five stayed until their Senior year, they (UNLV) still would’ve beaten them. Vegas was the closest thing to an NBA team.” A great analysis of pitting the best against the best is found here: All-TimeTop15CollegeBasketballTeams The fans on rivals voted and the results are here: Fan perspective: Top ten college basketball teams of the all time - College Basketball - Rivals.com Yet another opinion, though this one favors the '91 team: TheDraftReview - 1991 UNLV: Best College Basketball Team Ever! I could do this all day: 5 Greatest College Basketball Teams of the Modern Era

08-04-2011, 10:15 PM	#5 (permalink)
f3lix Gangnam Style Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DH's Massage Parlor Posts: 6,383 Internets: 213510	I should also mention UNLV's domination of the Russian National Team. UNLV is the only American team to never lose to the Russians, going 4-0 against them and pasting them soon after they beat the US OLYMPIC TEAM. Those games spanned between '87-'91.

08-04-2011, 11:17 PM	#6 (permalink)
Orgazmo COME ON YOU YANKS Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 15,726 Internets: 311447	This is ridiculous. UCLA 67-69 with Lew Alcindor is the best team ever. Period. They lost a close game to the great Elvin Hayes Houston team (arguably the 2nd greatest ever) in 1968 when Alcindor was injured and couldn't shoot, but then beat that team by 40 in the semi-finals.

08-04-2011, 11:37 PM	#8 (permalink)
Ugly Bastard Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 13,643 Internets: 247330	Its pretty understood that UNLV cheated to get those players. Thats why when they talk about all time great teams in CBB on TV or whatever they dont really talk about that UNLV team or when they do they kind of hint at that they cheated. They get brought up every now and then but never get much respect cause anybody who knows anything about CBB knows how they got those players. They're always gonna be looked at with a grain of salt.

08-05-2011, 11:17 PM	#13 (permalink)
f3lix Gangnam Style Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DH's Massage Parlor Posts: 6,383 Internets: 213510	You are correct on when it received the post-season ban, but the reason was because it was successfully argued that UNLV should be allowed to defend their national title.

08-10-2011, 10:24 PM	#18 (permalink)
f3lix Gangnam Style Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DH's Massage Parlor Posts: 6,383 Internets: 213510	Linking their championship year to the following year, UNLV notched 45 straight wins. Nolan Richardson, who's team gave them their closest game during UNLV's epic 90-91 season had this to say after losing at home in a #1 vs. #2 game. "That bunch with Larry Johnson and Anderson Hunt just manhandled you," said Richardson, who had a 30-5 team also fall to UNLV the previous season, 101-93. "They were men playing with boys. I think (UNLV) is the best team I've ever seen. I'm not sure anyone else is even close." They had 3 lottery picks come out of that squad in the same year. They beat teams by an average of 27 points per game in the 90-91 season. Best. Team. Ever.

08-11-2011, 01:01 AM	#19 (permalink)
Ugly Bastard Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 13,643 Internets: 247330	I don't see how you can say a team that didn't even win the championship was the greatest team ever.

08-11-2011, 01:43 AM	#20 (permalink)
Orgazmo COME ON YOU YANKS Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Indiana Posts: 15,726 Internets: 311447	My vote goes to the UCLA teams with Jabbar on them. Jabbar was the most dominant player on a college level I've ever seen. If Larry Johnston or Stacy Augmon's play led to a rules change, I'm not aware of it.

08-11-2011, 05:27 PM	#23 (permalink)
f3lix Gangnam Style Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DH's Massage Parlor Posts: 6,383 Internets: 213510	The ones that fell on a miracle catch (maybe the greatest ever in a big game)

08-12-2011, 01:54 AM	#24 (permalink)
Ugly Bastard Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 13,643 Internets: 247330	The Tyree Catch™ was the greatest play in the NFL of the past 10+ years, but it's given too much credit for the Giants winning. They were still 25 yards from glory after that play; it hardly won the game on it's own right.

08-12-2011, 08:12 AM	#25 (permalink)
f3lix Gangnam Style Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: DH's Massage Parlor Posts: 6,383 Internets: 213510	That play was on third down and went from a sack to an incomplete pass to a first down and ALLLLLLL the momentum was in the Giants favor on that single play.