Bayno ready to put ‘Run’ back in Rebels

Steve Carp

Thursday, May 27, 1999 | 10:16 a.m.

Now that Bill Bayno has changed his UNLV basketball roster, the question is will his influx of new talent change the way Bayno operates on game night?

He hopes so. He'd like to stop micro-managing his team on the court and give the players the freedom to play without looking to the bench every trip.

So if Lou Kelly, Trevor Diggs, Kenny Dye and the rest of the new Rebels can slash and score while returnees Mark Dickel, Kaspars Kambala, Donovan Stewart and Issiah Epps can get the newcomers to blend in, perhaps Bayno will still have a voice at the conclusion of most games during the 1999-2000 season.

"Their abilities will dictate what style we play," he said Wednesday as he finally made public comment about the 10 new members of the program. "In terms of making shots and finishing, this will be our best team and this will be the closest we've been to being the old Rebels.

"We've always looked to run. But I think this group will be able to do it more frequently and more consistently. The better players you have, the less control you need to have."

Bayno doesn't want to pigeonhole what kind of style UNLV will have. But given that Kelly, Diggs, Dye and Dalron Johnson were brought to Las Vegas because they can run the floor and make plays, the belief is the Rebels will look to push it at every opportunity.

They may have no choice.

This is not a large squad and the "bigs" may find themselves more effective in a running game. It certainly would play to Kambala's advantage, assuming he makes a full recovery from major knee surgery back in February.

In the open court, Kambala can't be double- or triple-teamed. It makes a huge difference in the way a team plays when its center can go one-on-one or fill the lane uncontested.

The Rebels also should be a better perimeter team. Kelly shot 42 percent from 3-point range; Diggs shot 41 percent and Dye 39 percent. Last year, UNLV shot just 32 percent from long distance.

There's something else Bayno wants to see change come Nov. 19 when the Rebels open the season against Mississippi Valley State. He's counting on his team having improved chemistry.

Last year's group didn't have that togetherness throughout the season.

It caught a rough stretch of road over the first 10 games, then it was smooth sailing for the next 11. But things went a little awry after Kambala got hurt Feb. 15 against Tulsa.

True, the Rebels wound up winning the WAC Mountain Division regular-season title.

But they also went 2-5 to conclude the season. It also saw several players, including leading scorer Shawn Marion, sophomore Greedy Daniels and freshmen Desmond Herod and Matt Siebrandt leave the program.

Obviously, the mix wasn't what Bayno would have liked. So he's hoping that JC transfers Sylvester Dotson, Chris Popoola and Danny Brotherson will have some of their unselfish style rub off on the others.

All three are hard workers who don't need the ball to be successful or contribute.

Dotson and Popoola are excellent rebounders and Brotherson is a scrapper and battler while being an excellent passer.

Bayno calls them warriors and they will get a chance to contribute -- both on the floor and in the locker room.

"I'm absolutely concerned about our chemistry," he said. "We have a game plan for addressing that and we're going to stick to it.

"You don't just develop chemistry overnight. It's a daily thing."

Two years ago, the Rebels spent the summer in town, doing things together outside of basketball. They would go bowling as a team, play softball, hang out at barbecues and get to know each other as people, not just as basketball players.

Look for the team to return to that mode this summer in the hopes of developing some camaraderie that will carry over to November and throughout the season.

Bayno said there will likely be a reduction in the roster size by the time practice begins Oct. 16. Plans are to redshirt Cimarron-Memorial guard Marcus Banks as Banks did not meet the NCAA's requirements for eligibility. He lacked the necessary core courses the NCAA mandates and has yet to pass his standardized test.

Oscar Garcia, the 6-7 forward from Leon, Spain, who signed with UNLV back in November, has some eligibility problems of his own with the NCAA Clearinghouse over his transcripts.

The forward from Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., likely won't be cleared in time to compete this year.

Fresno City College guard Mike Garrett also has a lot of work ahead of him if he plans to graduate this summer. The 6-2 point guard must have his associate degree in order to be eligible. There's a good chance he might not make it in time to start the season.

Should all three fail to qualify, that would bring the roster to 13 -- the seven remaining recruits (Dye, Kelly, Diggs, Papoola, Dotson, Brotherson and Johnson), the five returnees (Dickel, Kambala, Stewart, Epps and Chris Richardson) and walk-on Ra'oof Sadat, who sat out last year after transferring from San Francisco.

Kelly also has to graduate from San Bernardino Valley College this summer to become eligible. He is only a couple of classes shy and is expected to get his degree.

One thing Bayno will have is versatility. Diggs can play either guard spot. Dye can play shooting guard or small forward.

Ditto for Kelly and Brotherson.

Johnson runs the floor like a small forward but at 6-9, he's a likely candidate for power forward, where Dotson and Popoola figure to see most of the minutes.

"We're somewhere between rebuilding and reloading," Bayno said in characterizing the state of his program as he prepares for his fifth season at UNLV.

"But it's at a crossroads point, no question."