Bayno vows to get tougher after ‘frustrating’ season

Steve Carp

Monday, March 15, 1999 | 10:58 a.m.

Bill Bayno had that look in his eyes as he, in somewhat of an ironic gesture, sipped a glass of grapefruit juice.

The look was part frustration, part anger and part determination as he played over his UNLV basketball team's underachieving 16-13 season in his mind.

A season as bittersweet as the juice in Bayno's glass.

And while the tartness of the juice may be tough to swallow, looking back on his fourth season with the Rebels didn't make it go down any smoother. It would take more than a spoonful of sugar to make the taste of this season go down smoothly.

"Frustrating. Totally frustrating," Bayno said in summing up a year that began with high expectations and concluded with an abysmal effort in the NIT at Nebraska and a 68-55 loss.

"I take full responsibility for what happened. We all do. The coaches and the players."

The details of how things unraveled have been well documented. What UNLV fans are looking for are some answers as to why such a promising season ended up being so disappointing. Winning a share of the WAC Mountain Division and earning the program's third straight postseason berth don't have a lot of people smiling these days.

Perhaps you have to go back to a year ago when everyone was celebrating UNLV winning the WAC tournament. Instead of having the momentum from that triumph serve as a catalyst for the 1998-99 season, it seemed everyone, from Bayno on down, embraced success.

It's the one thing Bayno constantly preaches to his players. Yet he himself fell into that trap. This season may have unraveled long before practice began in October.

Out of town

"No question the off-season was the key," he said. "I didn't develop a tough enough off-season program. Guys left town instead of staying together and working out.

"You have to run your off-season program tougher than the regular season because you can't be there."

When practice began in mid-October, it wasn't clear that the lack of an overall diligent summer was going to have a major impact on this team.

"I couldn't tell in October," Bayno said. But he could in late November and into December. There was a lack of cohesiveness. Players who should have improved from the March before had either stagnated, or, in some cases, gotten worse.

And as the season went on, it became evident that some of the highly touted recruits Bayno had brought into the program the last two seasons weren't delivering.

Greedy Daniels played hard, but was inconsistent. Kaspars Kambala had made progress, but he remained inconsistent as well.

Freshmen Desmond Herod and Chris Richardson showed flashes of brilliance. But they both struggled with adjusting from high school star to college role player. Donovan Stewart and Issiah Epps were non-factors, even though they came to UNLV highly touted out of prep school.

Mark Dickel played through much criticism and always had to perform looking over his shoulder -- Bayno always had Daniels ready at the first sign of faltering. That's not the way to build confidence in your point guard.

Dickel eventually won Bayno's confidence. But he logged heavy minutes and physically hit the wall down the stretch. Ditto Kevin Simmons, who went from power forward to center when Kambala was lost to a season-ending knee injury in mid-February. He simply ran out of gas at the end.

Time to adjust

And while JC transfer Shawn Marion was everything he was advertised to be as he led the team in scoring, rebounding, blocked shots and steals, he and his new teammates needed time to adjust to each other. By the time they did, UNLV was a 4-6 team and struggling to find its collective identity.

Offensively, the Rebels continued to struggle in the half-court. There was simply a lack of consistent shooting which made it appear that the sets Bayno had the team run couldn't work. A lot of fans questioned whether or not Bayno could coach.

"It all boils down to having shooters and making shots," Bayno said. "When we executed, it was because we moved the ball and we were being unselfish."

The team did have a good middle stretch of the season when it won 10 of 11 and was suddenly making noise as a possible NCAA Tournament at-large team. But a Feb. 13 loss to Rice and the loss of Kambala to a knee injury at Tulsa two nights later triggered a late-season slide.

"We simply struggled to score," Bayno said. "Teams kept zoning us and making sure Kevin and Shawn wouldn't touch the ball inside."

The Rebels predictably stumbled down the stretch, dropping six of their last eight and bowing out of the WAC Tournament and the NIT in the first round.

But Kambala's injury confirmed Bayno needed better players to execute against the zone.

"Maybe it was a blessing Kas went down," he said. "I wouldn't have seen the real issues."

Bayno's staff has been hitting the road for weeks, trying to raise the bar in terms of talent.

Getting Trevor Diggs, a 6-3 guard from Kilgore (Texas) Junior College, appears to be a step in the right direction. UNLV is also involved with several other JC players. When you break down the best players in the program since Bayno took over in 1995, jucos have carried the day.

Marion. Tyrone Nesby. Keon Clark. Warren Rosegreen. Kevin James. All came from the JC ranks.

Changes on the way

It means there are probably wholesale changes coming. Bayno will be meeting with each player today and with each message will come an ultimatum -- work hard this summer and put the team before yourself. Or else.

"I need to get tougher," he said. "I need to demand more of the players, especially in the off-season."

Some may agree and pick up the pace. Others may say it's not worth it and leave.

Marion announced last week he intends to return for his senior season. Yet, a lot can happen between now and mid-May when the NBA deadline for underclassmen entering the league draft comes up. If Marion finds that he is a high lottery pick, he may very well change his mind.

Bayno said he is pushing himself harder. It may be that a change in demeanor is more important. It may mean being more flexible when it comes to accepting ideas and strategies. Or trying something new when what has been in place hasn't worked.

And it means doing a better job of evaluating players and their abilities and making sure their games fit the style of play at UNLV.

Bayno is aware UNLV is facing a critical juncture as a program. The Rebels will begin play in the Mountain West Conference next season, facing the likes of Utah, New Mexico, an improving Colorado State, Wyoming and Brigham Young along with San Diego State, which appears committed toward putting substantial resources into its basketball program.

A repeat of this year could be downright calamitous at the Thomas & Mack Center. Fan support was beginning to wane late in the year and the discontent around town is evident by listening to the talk shows on radio, picking up the newspapers or visiting the various Internet chat rooms devoted to the team.

Bayno claims he doesn't read the papers, but he's not oblivious to what's going on. He knows 1999-2000 is make-or-break for him and his team.

"It's a crucial year," he said. "There's no sense debating it. We haven't gotten it done the way we want. Nobody's satisfied with where we're at, especially myself."

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