Loss to Trojans leads to long practice session for UNLV

Steve Carp

Monday, Nov. 23, 1998 | 10:18 a.m.

By the time Sunday's marathon practice session had concluded at the Thomas & Mack Center, day had long since turned to night and many of the UNLV players had lost track of the time.

But that's what happens when you come up short in a game you were warned about going in. So the nearly four-hour practice, which rivaled opening day back in mid-October for the longest of the 1998-99 season, was your basic "back-to-the-drawing-board" workout.

"We needed to get some things worked on," coach Bill Bayno said. "We added some things and re-emphasized some others."

Mainly, the Rebels focused on their zone offense as well as their transition defense. The two go hand-in-hand, as anyone who witnessed Friday's 71-68 loss to Southern Cal will attest.

When UNLV rushed its shots against the Trojans' packed-in 2-3 matchup zone, it created long rebounds and USC was able to get out and run. But once the Rebels became patient, made the extra pass and had some balance on the floor, USC wasn't getting numbers in transition, even when UNLV missed.

"We didn't get back on defense because we took quick shots," Bayno said. "No one's in position for a long rebound, so they were getting easy baskets."

Bayno expects Weber State, Tuesday's opponent, to employ some zone. But he also thinks the Wildcats will play UNLV man-to-man.

"They'll probably mix it up so we have to be ready for both," he said.

Rotation settles in

One other factor that came out of Friday's loss to USC is the matter of who's going to play. After spending all summer and early fall emphasizing there are only so many minutes for so many people, Bayno plans to narrow the rotation to no more than eight beginning Tuesday.

That means the majority of the time gets split between returnees Kevin Simmons, Kaspars Kambala, Issiah Epps, Brian Keefe, Mark Dickel, Greedy Daniels and Donovan Stewart, along with junior Shawn Marion.

It also means what few minutes remaining will be fought for between freshmen Desmond Herod, Chris Richardson and Matt Siebrandt.

"They're going to have to accept whatever minutes they get," Bayno said.

Hoop du jour

Tuesday's game with Weber State concludes a season-opening four-game home stand. Following the game, UNLV heads East for Friday's Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic against Kansas in Springfield, Mass. The Rebels don't return to the Thomas & Mack until Dec. 19 when they face Cincinnati in the Las Vegas Shootout. ... This will be only the third meeting between UNLV and Weber State. The schools last played in 1979 when the Wildcats scored a 79-78 victory at the Las Vegas Convention Center. WSU won the other meeting way back in 1959, 76-47.