Mister misser

Steve Addy

Thursday, Feb. 3, 2000 | 10:36 a.m.

Shooting slump? What shooting slump?

Like a manager trying to massage his cleanup hitter out of a strikeout binge, Rebels coach Bill Bayno would rather not acknowledge that off-guard Trevor Diggs is having shooting problems. The 6-foot-3 junior from Brooklyn is making 32.1 percent, lowest among UNLV's regular rotation.

Especially as the Rebels prepare for a crucial game Saturday against 19th-ranked Utah, the last thing Bayno wants is to magnify Diggs' slump or further erode his waning confidence.

In fact, Bayno insists he has never considered yanking Diggs out of the starting lineup, if for no better reason than to relax him early in the game.

"It's not even in the back of my mind," Bayno said.

But there is no hiding the fact that Diggs has had many poor shooting games, especially lately, as the Rebels (13-5, 4-2 Mountain West Conference) struggle to keep pace with Utah (17-3, 6-0).

Since he shot 11-of-17 and scored a career-high 28 points in a Jan. 15 win at Air Force, Diggs' shooting has turned positively icy. He has hit only 12-of-54 shots in the Rebels' last four games (22.2 percent), including 6-of-28 3-pointers.

Though UNLV won three of those games and Diggs' 15.7 scoring average still ranks seventh in the MWC, it is becoming increasingly harder for the Rebels to overcome his inaccuracy.

Diggs shot 1-of-12 Monday night in a 109-98 defeat at Wyoming. Three of his shots were blocked, each leading to a fast-break basket as the Cowboys jumped ahead by 32 early in the second half. Diggs also committed four turnovers.

"We all struggled in that game," Bayno said in Diggs' defense.

Bayno prefers to cite the Jan. 17 victory at New Mexico in which Diggs shot 1-of-13, but played solid defense on Lamont Long. He also points to last Saturday's win at Colorado State, in which Diggs dealt six second-half assists to help the Rebels rally.

"On nights when Trev hasn't shot well, he's helped us win in other ways," Bayno said. "He is starting to understand that."

However, that hasn't stopped Bayno from putting Diggs through post-practice shooting drills, as he did again Wednesday.

Throughout the season, Diggs' mood has swung from amiable optimism to head-hanging frustration, and he's understandably leaning toward the latter at the moment. But he hasn't tried to explain away his slump or blame it on anyone else.

"I have never had this many bad shooting games in my life," Diggs said. "I tell my brothers, 'If I could make every shot, I'd be in the NBA now.' All I have to do is calm down and have fun with the game. You can't shoot when you're tense. I have to relax and play loose. That's when I play my best."

Point guard Mark Dickel, Diggs' backcourt mate, said, "Trev knows he can do more than shoot. I think he just needs a couple of layups to get his offense going, but he can help by playing good defense and doing the little things."

Diggs said he appreciates the patience of his coaches and teammates.

"Coach Bayno has been great," Diggs said. "The coaches don't put the blame on you, like it's all your fault that we lost, and that's helped me."