For Rebels, exhibition will gauge progress

Victoria Sun

Monday, Nov. 8, 1999 | 10:37 a.m.

Next up

Who: Rebels vs. Global Sports All-Stars, exhibition game

When: 7:35 tonight

Where: Thomas & Mack Center

Radio: KBAD 920-AM

The exhibition game between the UNLV men's basketball team and the Global Sports All-Stars tonight at 7:35 at the Thomas & Mack Center won't just be a chance for the Rebels to pad the win column.

It will give head coach Bill Bayno a chance to better evaluate the team's progress and it will help him decide which players will be part of the rotation when the regular season starts Nov. 19 against Mississippi Valley State.

For the team, a victory over Global Sports will give it some confidence and a loss will serve as a wake-up call.

"I'm excited to play against new players because I've seen these guys for so long," said Donovan Stewart. "Definitely everybody knows everybody's game already so it's hard playing against the same guys all the time.

"I'm just happy to play anybody new."

Global Sports All-Stars is made up of former college players including Paul Culbertson from Nevada-Reno, Sai Tuialii (TCU) and Denmark Reid (New Mexico State).

UNLV will have an opportunity to showcase its new philosophy on offense and maybe put the "Runnin' " back in the team's nickname.

The Rebels averaged a meek 74.6 points a game last year even with an explosive scorer like Shawn Marion, the eventual ninth pick of the Phoenix Suns in this year's NBA Draft, on the team.

So since practice started several weeks ago, Bayno and his staff decided to stress scoring before slowly implementing a defense which has been good news for the players.

"Last year, I got the ball and didn't know if I could shoot it or not," Stewart said. "This year, I know I can."

With five junior college transfers, two seniors and one true freshman, who will be a big part of the Rebels offense remains to be seen.

"We've tried lineups but we're not even thinking about who will start until after the first game," Bayno said. "Then we'll start to hone in on who's gonna start.

"Right now, I have no idea."

* REBELS ON THE RADIO: Starting with tonight's exhibition, all Rebel games will be aired live on KBAD 920-AM. Ken Korach and Glen Gondreziek will be behind the microphone all season long. The radio broadcast can also be heard on the Internet at www.unlvrebels.com.