Columnist Dean Juipe: If Bayno had seen this …

Dean Juipe

Friday, Dec. 29, 2000 | 10:20 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

Bill Bayno, having been fired Dec. 12, is in the process of disassociating himself from his former UNLV basketball team, but if he could see the Rebels now ...

He would be aghast at the difficulties they went through Thursday night at the Thomas & Mack Center, struggling mightily with a team called Monmouth University before finally pulling out an 81-70 win.

He would think, "Man, it has been a tough couple of weeks" while still not believing his eyes as his former players continued what amounts to a season-long run of unimpressive games, new coach or not.

He would recall the widespread belief last season that Dalron Johnson would someday play in the NBA, although this season the sophomore looks malnourished and is playing inconsistently, such as his lousy first half followed by a decent second half against Monmouth.

He would blanch at Kaspars Kambala's pregame prediction that he was in for a big night, Kas playing only three minutes in the first half before compiling 16 second-half points to at least put some luster back on his tarnished image.

He would gape at those preseason forecasts that had the Rebels inching into the top 25 and maybe improving greatly on last season's 23-8 record, a not-that-impossible prediction at the time but one that seems ridiculous today in spite of the fact the team has four returning starters and nine returning lettermen.

He would take some blame for the fact his former team stands a miserable No. 140 in this week's Sagarin ratings.

He would wonder how could it be that through the first 11:25 of the game with Monmouth, only one Rebel -- Trevor Diggs -- had scored so much as a single point.

He would shake his head in disbelief at the halftime score sheet that showed UNLV trailing by a point in spite of Monmouth's 18 turnovers.

He would listen -- and maybe take a stab at -- trivia questions in the crowd about Monmouth, including the basic "Where are they from?" that only residents of West Long Branch, N.J., could answer with conviction.

He would hear the occasional groans of the 7,000 on hand, yet, conversely, take some comfort in knowing everyone there was anxious and willing to applaud even the most routine plays that brought the home team a positive result.

He would see freshman Lafonte Johnson parked on the bench for the second half and feel, as new coach Max Good apparently does, that walk-on Vince Booker has become the team's top point guard.

He would shudder at Lou Kelly's first-half shot selection and know why Good kept him on the bench throughout the second stanza.

He would doff his cap toward Diggs and his career-high 34 points.

He would ask himself why Chris Richardson played so poorly in spite of getting a rare start.

He would laugh at those who have already written off the Rebels, given the fact supposed Mountain West kingpin Utah can't beat anyone in its own state, most recently lowly Southern Utah.

And he would be ecstatic at having been excused from the Rebels' all-night flight to Norfolk, Va., where they arrived today for a fairly meaningless game with Old Dominion on Sunday.