Columnist Dean Juipe: UNLV fans try to resist temptation

Dean Juipe

Monday, Dec. 17, 2001 | 10:30 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.

It was a harmless reference, yet a startling one.

Prior to UNLV's 70-68 victory Saturday night in Los Angeles over Loyola Marymount, a Sun report addressed the issue of injured swingman Jermaine Lewis taking a redshirt year and not rejoining the Rebels until next season.

It was optimistically noted that guard Demetrius Hunter would be eligible next season after sitting out this season as a transfer from Georgetown, and that Marcus Banks would be among the returnees from the current team (leading scorer Dalron Johnson will be back as well), and the implication was clear: Better times are ahead.

Yet let the record show that this was the earliest date in the history of the UNLV men's basketball program that a succeeding season was heralded.

I read the article with a mixture of wonder and disbelief. "The Rebels aren't throwing in the towel on this season already, are they?" I asked myself, although the answer to that musing was apparent when they rallied past Loyola Marymount to win their first road game of the year and improve to 4-3.

But had they lost that game -- and when they were down by 16 points in the first half it appeared as if a loss was coming -- it would have become that much easier for fans, coaches and the underclassmen among the players to already start pointing to a 2002-03 season that still seems miles away.

Projecting the team's lineup almost a year in advance of its first game is something new and not entirely welcome in Las Vegas. None of us is accustomed to looking that far into the future and past the current team, especially when it still has at least 22 games to play.

But there's an element of realism in looking ahead, given the obvious physical shortcomings of the present squad and the undeniable fact that head coach Charlie Spoonhour will have a better feel for things by the time the 2002-03 season begins.

It's just a bit disconcerting.

UNLV is not going to be a top-25 team this season and its only hope of making the NCAA Tournament is to somehow emerge as the best of what appears to be a fairly weak Mountain West Conference. Whereas formidable teams have multiple assets, the Rebels are totally reliant upon some natural athleticism and how their outside shots are falling at any given time.

As has and will likely continue to become apparent, they're going to have some poor shooting games. And without a dominant defensive presence or a flock of big men to mitigate these intermittent offensive woes, the Rebels have the look of a team that may be only marginally above average.

Fans will have to adjust their expectations accordingly and a UNLV basketball renaissance is unlikely during Spoonhour's first year on the job.

Ah, but next season, that's another matter.

So, yes, it is easy to look ahead and see a grass that's greener and a future that's brighter, even at this early date.

It's just that it doesn't seem healthy from an emotional point of view. Fans want something to cheer for in the present, and the current team will have to take it upon itself to provide the initiative.