Good goes to bench as UNLV rolls past Alaska-Anchorage

Victoria Sun

Tuesday, Dec. 19, 2000 | 10:39 a.m.

The substitutions were made fast and furious.

As soon as a UNLV basketball player made a sloppy pass that resulted in a turnover or committed an unnecessary foul, new UNLV head coach Max Good kept his word and didn't hesitate to send in a replacement.

During UNLV's much-needed 101-71 victory over Alaska-Anchorage before an announced crowd of 10,206 at the Thomas & Mack Center, 13 Rebels got into the game. The Rebels (4-5) stopped a three-game losing streak and snapped the Seawolves' (4-3) two-game win streak.

"We had to get this win," said Trevor Diggs, who scored 12 points and had six assists. "That's what I kept preaching to the guys that no matter what happens, we had to get this win.

"You know, right now we were sitting at 3-5. Come on, that's not the type of team we are. You know, we are way capable of being a 6-1, 7-1 team so we had to come out and play harder than they did."

And if using the entire bench is what it takes to produce the desired result -- 40 full minutes of hard-fought basketball and hopefully a victory -- Good vowed he will continue to use as many players as necessary.

But just because Good utilizes the bench in favor of the starters doesn't mean he expects the team to crumble. Good made that point with under four minutes remaining by calling timeout several times with the Rebels safely ahead.

"I don't believe in garbage time," Good said. "I'm not going to just sit there and wait until the game is over.

"To me, and I think you have to hold the guys that come into the game as accountable as your starters, or you're telling them you're not very good, consequently it's not a big deal if you don't play well.

"We let them know that if I put you in here, I expect you to perform. Because I should be able to plug in any one or two players on our team with any other combination and still get a reasonably similar output."

Good was promoted to head coach of the Rebels last Tuesday after Bill Bayno was fired.

One of the players that has benefited the most from Good's "play hard or sit on the bench" system is Vince Booker.

Booker, a graduate of Cheyenne High School, played a season-high 23 minutes.

Appearing in his fourth game of the year, Booker scored five points, had three rebounds, two assists and committed no turnovers. Most impressive was his defense. He had three steals and helped force a couple of turnovers, once on a trap with Jermaine Lewis, who contributed 11 points and four rebounds and assists.

Good praised Booker for helping the Rebels extend their 39-34 lead in the first half. Booker stripped the ball, then was fouled by Taylor Wagner. The referee called an intentional foul on Wagner and Booker made both free throws.

"Vince Booker is not without ability," Good said. "He just hasn't had that many minutes.

"He's got beautiful rotation on his shot; he's a very good shooter. His decision making will get better as he gets acclimated to playing, he just needs experience."

Under Bayno, Booker never really got that chance.

"It's a confidence booster to really know that your effort in practice is going to be rewarded," Booker said. "But all along I was just thankful for the chance to be on the team, that's what has kept me humble.

"A lot of guys really respect the fact that if you work hard, you're going to get to play."

UNLV trailed most of the first half, mainly because it could not stop Alaska guard Ed Kirk from penetrating inside. Kirk had 20 of his 32 points in the first half when the Seawolves led by as many as seven.

The Rebels extended its six-point halftime lead by hounding the Seawolves on defense more intensely than it did the first half and getting the ball inside to Kaspars Kambala, who scored seven points on layups and free throws during a 13-2 run that put the Rebels ahead 60-43. Kambala scored 28 points and had nine rebounds in just 19 minutes.

Good gave the team a B plus to A minus on effort.

"This was a good win," Good said. "This is a process.

"The practices are a little different now and it's going to take some time. But I'll tell you what I liked the most. Every kid that came off the floor ran off the floor.

"If anybody saw any body's head drop, refresh me, but I didn't see one kid's head drop. Everybody was cheering for each other. Everybody was pulling for each other and that's what it takes, we're all in this together, manager right through me. This was a total team effort."