Latvian freshman must fill Keon’s shoes in hurry

Steve Carp

Monday, Oct. 20, 1997 | 10:31 a.m.

He wasn't counting on any of this -- the playing time, the attention, the pressure. None of it.

But Kaspars Kambala can't do much about it. He can't get Keon Clark back to the court any sooner (actually, he can if he can help UNLV win a Preseason NIT game). He can't duck the cameras which will be focused on him. And he can't escape the pressure of being a true freshman starting center at the Division I level.

So what will the 6-foot-9 native of Riga, Latvia, do about it?

"I'm going to work as hard as I can and be prepared to play 35 minutes a game," he said. "I don't have any choice."

No, he doesn't. But if you combine his solid work ethic and his positive attitude with his ability to pass, rebound and score, you've got something to work with.

"It's not an ideal situation," coach Bill Bayno said of Kambala's predicament. "We're throwing Kas to the wolves. But he'll get a chance to play right away and get better and that's a positive."

Bayno won't allow Kambala's inexperience to be a negative. It will be on-the-job training. The main thrust of the coaching staff's attention is to get Kambala to stay on the court while not losing any of his aggressiveness.

"Hopefully, he'll pick things up quickly," Bayno said. "We have to keep him out of foul trouble."

That's especially true for the first half of the season. Kambala's backup is 6-9 Ali Kaba, another freshman who has never played a minute of college ball.

Fortunately for Kambala, he was able to get a head start on his basketball education. He spent the summer working with Clark, and playing against a quicker and taller player has helped him adjust.

"It's helping me a lot," Kambala said of practicing with the 6-11 All-America candidate. "I'm playing with the best center in the country every day and he is making me better.

"Hopefully, I'm helping him get better, too. I try to bang on him and he uses his quickness on me."

Kambala said the attention he know he'll be getting in the coming weeks is nothing new.

"Back home, they interviewed me all the time," he said. "When you play with the national team, the press wants to talk to you, so it's OK. It's no problem."

His bigger concern is adjusting to the way the game is called by American referees. In Europe, physical play is tolerated more than in NCAA games. And where in high school he could physically dominate, such won't be the case in college.

"You have to see how they call it," he said of the zebras. "If they won't let you play (physical), you have to adjust.

"They better let me bang."

Kambala said his first weekend of college practice went well. He liked the teaching and enthusiasm that engulfed the North Gym as he and his teammates went through single sessions Saturday and Sunday.

"It went better for me than I thought," he said. "I feel like I'm in great shape and everyone worked hard."

For Kambala, being a starter may be a short-lived proposition. When Clark returns Jan. 10 from his 11-game NCAA-imposed suspension, Kambala may find himself moving to power forward. And when Kevin Simmons' 14-game ban ends Jan. 22, Kambala may be coming off the bench.

"I was ready for that role to back up Keon and Kevin when I came here, so it's no problem," he said. "The important thing is that the team wins. Whatever I can do to help us win, I'll do."

Hoop du jour

* GOOD VISIT: Shawn Marion, the nation's top junior college recruit, wrapped up his official visit to UNLV and came away impressed. "I want to feel welcome wherever I go and fit in," said the 6-foot-7 forward from Vincennes (Ind.) University. "I like what I see so far." Marion, who is also considering Kentucky, Cincinnati, Southern Cal and Kansas, said Las Vegas' warm weather, the up-tempo style of play the Rebels use and the way coach Bill Bayno has with his players are all positives. "With Coach Bayno, you can relate to him because he's so young," Marion said of the 35-year-old head coach. "You can see his guys like playing for him." Marion said he will likely wait until April before announcing his decision. "I want to see how my (sophomore) year goes," he said, adding a jump to the NBA is not out of the realm of possibility.

* FAN JAM: The annual Scarlet and Gray scrimmage, which has been renamed the "UNLV Fan Jam," is set for 7:30 p.m. Sunday at the Thomas & Mack Center. The event, which will include an autograph session with the players following the scrimmage, is free. For more information, call 895-UNLV. ... The first "Bill Bayno Radio Show" will tentatively air Tuesday, Nov. 18, from Gordon Biersch Brewing Company on South Paradise Road, not Nov. 14 as reported Friday.