| | By Ed Graney
Special to ESPN.com
It was opening day of basketball practice at UNLV when Steve Wynn, one of the most powerful men in the state, the guy responsible for developing most of the extravagant hotels and casinos lining The Strip, for putting the B in Bellagio and the M in Mirage, was approached by a student manager.
Wynn and his wife were asked to sign in for attending the session, sit at least 10 rows off the court and not have any contact with players.
It's standard procedure for guests now, even the most prominent ones.
|  | | It's a case of wait-and-see for UNLV coach Bill Bayno, both on and off the court this season. |
The Rebels, you see, are on a mission this season: Prove there is control within the program, on and off the court.
The former could be a tad easier.
Bill Bayno enters his sixth season as coach and never has he owned this much talent, and never has he needed it more. The reality of a 27-point loss to Tulsa in a first-round NCAA Tournament game last year sits very much in the minds of a still passionate fan base. So too does the 24-point defeat to North Carolina and the 40-point embarrassment at Cincinnati.
The clock ticks for Bayno. It's getting louder.
And yet his are optimistic thoughts: The Rebels went 23-8 last year, 10-4 in a competitive Mountain West Conference, won both regular-season and league tournament titles and return four starters.
"We have guys who trust each other, who believe in one another," Bayno said. "We play in a great, great league in terms of intensity and parity. But we're the deepest we've been since I got here. I usually like playing only eight guys, but I could get to 10 and not feel like we're missing much now.
"We have a championship to defend. We're proud of that. It's a major source of motivation for us."
It's like standing under a cloud one minute and stepping into bright sunshine the next.
Under the cloud: NCAA sanctions will likely be handed down within the next month, the result of extra benefits and recruiting violation issues dating to 1996 and the courting of Lamar Odom. Hence, the new rules concerning those who view practice -- a diligent and yet public manner of maintaining institutional control.
The university has already said it will reduce scholarships by two over a two-year period; reduce the number of on-campus visits for recruits by two; cut in half the number of off-campus contacts Bayno has with recruits and force first-year players to live on campus. It's unknown whether the NCAA will accept the self-imposed sanctions or hit UNLV even harder. It's a tossup, really.
Into the sunshine: The team is built around conference preseason Player of the Year Kaspars Kambala, the 6-foot-9 center from Latvia who is leaner and stronger than his junior season, when he averaged 18.5 points and 9.3 rebounds. Also returning is Dalron Johnson, a 6-10 sophomore power forward, who blocked 43 shots last year.
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“ |
We
want everything (the fans) do and more. Every
team deals with some adversity. We're no different. We just need to get better every
day and not worry about what others say. ” |
|
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— Bill Bayno,
UNLV head coach |
"Offensively, (Kambala) has to maintain what he has done," Bayno said. "I've challenged him to be a defensive stopper. He needs to block shots and shut people down.
"Right now, to bottom, (Johnson) is our best player. We have to run more stuff for him this year."
Still, know this: If UNLV is again going to upstage Utah in conference play and make its third NCAA appearance in Bayno's tenure, it will do so from beyond the key.
Things get tricky here. UNLV's biggest loss is point guard Mark Dickel, who led the nation in assists last season. His replacement is true freshman LaFonte Johnson. Lou Kelly is a promising sophomore shooting guard who was hurt last season. Trevor Diggs is a senior shooting guard who didn't shoot that well. Donovan Stewart is a senior forward who shot 24 percent behind the 3-point arc.
As a group, the Rebels bricked their way to 31 percent behind the three-point line, welcoming double and often triple-teaming of Kambala. The hope (prayer?) is that Kambala doesn't feel such a burden to score this season, that more jumpers hit net than rim, that the sea parts every now and then to actually allow No. 34 a few gasps of air.
"We have more depth now," Kambala said. "We're stronger. Guys want to work harder. They want to stay late after practice. They're not going to accept losing.
"We want to get back to the NCAA Tournament and stay longer this time. We want to play better in games against ranked teams. This is a very good group of guys."
It's ironic. Chemistry is the trait that made UNLV very good at times last year, that and sound defense in stretches of offensive lulls. But this idea of accepting roles and not being poisoned by outside influence was thought diminished with the loss of Dickel, a fiery leader who never shied from a clutch shot.
And yet now, early on, with all the new faces, weeks before the season's first real jump ball, the Rebels resemble a similar cohesive bunch.
Perhaps moreso, even.
"It's a coachable group," Bayno said. "We want everything (the fans) do and more. Every team deals with some adversity. We're no different. We just need to get better every day and not worry about what others say."
How can they hear? Ten rows off the court is a long way.
Just ask Steve Wynn.
Ed Graney of the San Diego Union-Tribune is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. | |
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