Dickel making stand that he’s Rebel leader

Steve Carp

Monday, Dec. 14, 1998 | 9:29 a.m.

LOS ANGELES -- Mark Dickel had had just about enough.

The UNLV junior point guard has been getting beaten up by virtually everyone this season -- the fans, the media, and now, UCLA's Baron Davis, the talented, trash-talking sophomore, who was seeking to bully and intimidate Dickel.

As Dickel tried to bring the ball up the court less than two minutes into the game Saturday, Davis grabbed him and threw him to the Pauley Pavilion floor while wresting the ball from Dickel.

No ornery bull likes being ridden, whether his name is Bodacious or Dickel. And Dickel was plenty ornery at this point. He popped up from his prone position and let Davis know he wasn't about to become another Doug Gottlieb, who endured similar treatment from Davis the week before when Oklahoma State played UCLA.

Dickel was called for an offensive foul and was also given a technical by referee Bill Kennedy, for going after Davis. But transgressions aside, Dickel may have turned UNLV's season around.

By getting up and challenging Davis and the Bruins, Dickel sent a message to his teammates.

UNLV may have lost the battle, squandering a 13-point second-half lead with just one field goal in the final 13 minutes. But in the 72-67 loss to the 15th-ranked Bruins came signs the 4-4 Rebels eventually may be victorious in the five-month war known as the college basketball season.

Primarily playing the matchup zone defense which helped propel them to the WAC championship a year ago, the Rebels were forced to play together, which they did for the most part.

UCLA struggled against the zone and the majority of its success came in transition, especially early on when the Bruins slammed and jammed their way to a 20-6 lead over the first seven minutes.

For the first time, there was a concerted effort to get Shawn Marion the ball in the halfcourt offense after allowing him to pretty much be on his own during the first seven games.

Not only did Marion prove he was worthy of such consideration by scoring a career-high 22 points, the 6-7 junior did it over 39 minutes while playing with the remnants of a chest cold.

And Dickel, who was seeing that Marion got the ball, proved that he, not Greedy Daniels, is the person to whom this team should be entrusted.

Thirteen points, nine assists and just four turnovers in 36 minutes was proof enough to coach Bill Bayno that the 6-2 junior from New Zealand is his man in the backcourt.

"We found a rotation," Bayno said. "We'll play Mark and Brian (Keefe) and use Greedy at the point and the two."

Daniels failed to make a shot in five tries and his 19-minute stint included four turnovers.

But beyond the obvious UNLV rediscovered it has heart.

Yes, the Rebels are a .500 team through eight games. But the desire and willingness to compete that the team showed Saturday was an indication that old remedies work.

"We're just now trying to figure out who should be playing," Bayno said. "We found Shawn in the offense. Guys were unselfish. Mark was tremendous.

"We've just got to find one of our young guys to lengthen our bench for a couple of minutes. Shawn got a little tired but it's tough to put someone who hasn't played much in that situation."

It forced the Rebels to slow things down and it may have led to the ice-cold shooting down the stretch.

Had Dickel not managed a circus layup past the outstretched arm of UCLA's 6-11 Dan Gadzuric with 2:42 to play, Kevin Simmons' 19-foot jumper with 13 minutes to play would have been the last field goal. Six free throws represented the remainder of UNLV's points over that span.

"I feel for him," UCLA coach Steve Lavin said of Bayno's predicament. "I know he wants to shorten the game, yet he's trying to keep the rhythm that got him the lead.

"They were blitzkrieging us. We were actually glad to see them put the ball in the freezer."