Columnist Ron Kantowski: Two points perhaps not enough

Monday, Dec. 7, 1998 | 4:02 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday. Reach him at ron@ lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

Two heads are not always better than one -- remember when Ray Milland and Rosey Grier combined to form "The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant" in the movies? So it may be time for Bill Bayno to put away his chemistry set.

Not that the Rebels don't need some. As in Saturday's 79-70 loss at Arizona State, it seems whenever UNLV goes against a team it can't overpower, the starting five mixes like two parts water, three parts gasoline.

Try that mixture in your fuel tank, and your engine is bound to sputter.

And so it goes with the Rebels. Until Shawn Marion incorporates into the Rebels' half-court game, Kevin Simmons decides whether he'd rather shoot from the perimeter or pound the glass and/or Kas Kambala learns how to pick on somebody his own size, UNLV needs an additive to keep its engine purring.

Normally, that's what a good point guard provides, and it's not like the Rebels don't have one. Mark Daniels certainly has the skills. So does Greedy Dickel.

But unless Bayno brings in a skin graft specialist or a mad scientist, he's stuck with either Mark Dickel or Greedy Daniels.

Put their games together, and you get a player -- at least statistically -- that measures up to Andre Miller, Utah's wonderfully talented point meister.

But as seperate entities, Dickel and Daniels sometimes are Miller Genuine Blight.

The Rebels may be slightly better off with Dickel. As a junior, he has been at it longer than the sophomore Daniels, and he really does a nice job of both taking care of and distributing the basketball. When it comes to entry passes, you'd have to go back to Clint Longley on Thanksgiving Day of '74 against the Redskins to find somebody who does it better.

Spinning a pass from the wing into the low post is an acquired skill. But Dickel does it so well his assist-to-turnover ratio is 4-to-1. Those are Bob Cousy numbers.

But Dickel has two shortcomings. First, he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with his jump shot if he were standing in Ol' McDonald's driveway. E-I-E-I ... nope! Second, he's not a great defender, although that's not as noticeable as his errant stroke. When Rebels fans booed Dickel a couple of weeks ago, it wasn't because he was beaten on the dribble.

Daniels was lucky the ASU game wasn't here, or his ears still would be ringing after committing 10 turnovers. He was more out of control than a villain in a James Bond movie. It was Palm Saturday, as Daniels repeatedly was called for that violation.

But when Daniels doesn't monopolize the ball -- too bad that's a prerequisite to playing the point -- he can be spectacular. He's more explosive than a sidewalk sale at a Belfast shopping mall, and on defense, his hands are like flypaper.

As he did for a spell last season, Bayno has been playing his point guards together, to utilize what each brings to the table. But then Brian Keefe doesn't get called for dinner.

Keefe is a one-dimensional player, but given the amount of zone the Rebels are going to see, his accuracy from beyond the 3-point arc is crucial to UNLV's success.

So maybe UNLV would be better off with alternating point guards, rather than concurrent ones. Maybe Bayno should just go with the hot hand and bring the other guy in when the first one cools off.

This may be one time where its better to leave not-quite-well enough alone.