Columnist Tim Graham: Rebels just weren’t that good

Tim Graham

Thursday, March 11, 1999 | 10:31 a.m.

Tim Graham's column appears Thursday. His media notebook appears Wednesday. Reach him at tim@lasvegassun.com or 259-4078.

What do a dreidel, a turntable, a Greg Maddux curveball and the average UNLV basketball fan all have in common?

They all spin -- a lot.

UNLV's season ended Wednesday night in a lonely gymnasium in a lonely town. The Rebels played as bleakly as the Lincoln, Neb., night and lost to the Cornhuskers 68-55 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.

The Rebels finished a once-promising season three games above .500. Coach Bill Bayno should be patting himself on the back for scheduling easy victories over Sacred Heart, Troy State, Columbia and Southern Utah.

But I'm not sure what is more mind-boggling: UNLV's poor season or the number of apologists blindly jumping to the program's defense.

Rigor mortis had yet to set in before the Rebel masses starting offering condolences and alibis Wednesday night.

Shortly after the final buzzer the phone lines lit up for "Runnin' Rebels Extra," the call-in postgame show on KXNT 840-AM.

Jean called to say she was fed up with the negative criticism surrounding UNLV's program and can't understand why everyone doesn't just rally around the team.

Golly gee, Jean, because this isn't the Special Olympics or Catholic Charities. This is an athletic program you have to pay to watch, and it's not our moral responsibility to cheer the boys up in hopes they'll play better.

But the majority who called wanted to offer preventative spinning. Although rumblings exist, no one has publicly asked for Bayno's ouster. But many were already jumping to his defense.

Scott dialed in to warn "the grass isn't always greener" when it comes to considering a new coach. Judy wants "all those Bayno bashers out there to get off his back and give him some credit."

Of course, as good spinmeisters should, they all had ammo to back their claims.

They pointed to Bayno winning the Mountain Division despite losing Kaspars Kambala to injury and not having team chemistry. They pointed to two 20-win seasons and an NCAA appearance. They pointed to how much the team has improved every year since Bayno came aboard in 1995.

Well, the Mountain Division didn't turn out to be as strong as everyone pumped it up to be as Utah and New Mexico, two Pacific Division teams, played for the Western Athletic Conference title.

And as far as I'm concerned the whole lack-of-chemistry argument is just an excuse for poor discipline. Bayno apparently recruited players he couldn't manage properly.

Save Bayno's first two campaigns, the Rebels' record actually has gotten progressively worse. (Keep in mind UNLV's talent was better and its opposition was weaker this season.)

Yes, the Rebels did make the NCAA tournament last year. But, as my colleague Dean Juipe recently wrote, take away that five-day span of shocking success when it won the WAC and this team barely has been a step above mediocre.

Ninety-six teams make the postseason and UNLV just got knocked out in the first round of the junior tourney.

It's time for everyone involved to admit it: This team wasn't all that good. It should have been, but it wasn't.