Columnist Ron Kantowski: Home court has been a blessing for Bayno

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 | 10:06 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's notes column appears Tuesday. Reach him at ron@ lasvegassun.com or 259-4088.

Here's something to consider: As pointed out by a colleague in the local media (who shall remain anonymous), were it not for the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, UNLV might be looking for a new basketball coach today.

The thinking is that had the LVCVA not ponied up the money to host the WAC and now the Mountain West Conference basketball tournaments, which enabled the Rebels to play on their home court, UNLV would have stood virtually no chance to run the table in 1998 and again two weeks ago.

The Rebels, in case you haven't noticed, aren't exactly Mel Gibson when it comes to being road warriors -- or even neutral-court warriors.

Had the Rebels not won those conference tourneys, they would not have been invited to the NCAA Tournament. And with no NCAA berths in five years on the job, most fans would be demanding coach Bill Bayno's head on a silver and red platter (some still are).

Giving Bayno the benefit of the doubt, he has recruited just enough good players and coached them just well enough to keep the Rebels respectable. But it is no coincidence that whenever the names of MWC coaches come up in regard to coaching vacancies, Bayno's is never one of them.

That's what happens when you lose by 38 every time you set foot outside your home court against a bona fide opponent.

In the past couple of weeks alone, Wyoming's Steve McClain was linked with the Kansas State job and Colorado State's Richie McKay is currently being courted by Oregon State. BYU's Steve Cleveland has been mentioned as a possible successor to Jerry Tarkanian at Fresno (provided Tark decides he has had enough) and Utah's Rick Majerus can have any job that's open (and a lot that aren't.)

As for Bayno ... well, let's just say he owes Manny Cortez, Rossi Ralenkotter and everybody else down at the LVCVA a fat steak with all the trimmings.

* DEPTH PERCEPTION: Can there be any doubt that the women's NCAA Tournament field is too large? Whereas the gap between Northern Arizona and St. John's on the men's side of the bracket is getting smaller all the time, the UConn women obliterated Hampton 116-45 (margin of victory: 71 points) in their first-round game and then beat Clemson 83-45 in Round 2.

Those almost make Desert Storm and Tulsa-UNLV look like nail-biters.

Forty-eight teams is a large-enough bracket for the women, at least until the mid-major conferences make more of a commitment to women's hoops.

* THIS SPACE AVAILABLE: The Indy Racing League took my advice -- sort of -- and found a way to disguise all those empty seats at its races. But instead of sponsor tarpaulins being draped over the empty grandstands (as was suggested in this space), the IRL used computer-generated ads that were visible only on television to cover the vacant seats at Phoenix over the weekend.

Perhaps NASCAR can use that technology to change the appearance of all those confederate flags flying from infield campers and RVs on race weekend.

* SONNY'S SIDE UP: Sonny Vaccaro, chief of Adidas' grass-roots basketball program which stages its hallmark event (the Big Time Tournament) every summer in Las Vegas, over the weekend weighed in on the hot topic of AAU coaches coming to the rescue of big-time college basketball prospects. Vaccaro's stance was as predictable as Duke's first-round NCAA Tournament victory over Lamar.

"The NCAA needs a scapegoat and they pick on AAU types because they are faceless and can't defend themselves," Vaccaro was quoted in Street and Smith's Sports Business Daily newsletter.

"If a coach calls me and asks if he should help a kid out, I tell him it is his duty to help a player out. It is honorable to help the player out."

Somewhere between the NCAA's rigid stance and the anything goes "street agent" mentality there probably is a solution to solving some of the problems confronting some college-age players -- such as not being able to raise the money to attend prep school.

But finding a comfortable middle ground may be more difficult than figuring out Tulsa's pressure defense.

* AROUND THE HORN: Am I the only one who thinks the Pepperdine basketball team looks a lot like Carver High from the old TV series "The White Shadow," sans the short pants that were in vogue back in the '70s? I kept waiting for Waves coach Jan van Breda Koff to put Salami into the game against Indiana. ... To those of us who spent anytime there or grew up reading the Pacific Coast League standings, "Albuquerque" really isn't that difficult to spell. But why does everybody have such a hard time with "Tucson?" For two days during its coverage leading up to the NCAA Tournament, ESPN spelled it "Tuscon" on its bracket graphics. ... Several UNLV players last week talked about the previous year's team lack of chemistry and selfish attitude. Funny how none of them complained about it last year.