Rebel basketball notes: Get-tough mode works for Good

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2001 | 10:26 a.m.

LARAMIE, Wyo. -- No more Mr. Nice Guy.

Rebels coach Max Good made that decision Sunday, with more than a little prodding by his wife.

After Saturday's 25-point defeat at Colorado State, Good decided it would be more productive to slap his players' hands than to hold them.

He had been depressed by the players' poor effort in the 80-55 loss to the Rams and began wondering if he had lost their attention. But a phone call from his wife Phyllis snapped Good back into drill-instructor mode.

"She chewed me out pretty good, and she was right," Good said. "She told me I was letting my players down because I wasn't demanding enough of them. I was being too nice. She said I was cheating them, and I had to get back to being who I am. At practice (Sunday and Monday), I got after these guys."

Good's renewed intensity was evident in UNLV's 80-78 victory over Wyoming on Monday night. He isn't known for getting on the referees, but spent much of the evening chasing down the officials for one reason or another. His players seemed to respond to his emotion.

"I'm back to being a mean SOB," Good said with a chuckle.

Davis, who also grabbed 14 rebounds, was the defender on Dalron Johnson's winning 3-pointer. He was unable to block or alter the shot, and it was one of Davis' few misplays all night.

"It was a good shot," Davis said. "I didn't play good enough defense on him. After (Johnson) fumbled the ball, there wasn't much he could do except throw up a shot."

Wyoming coach Steve McClain figured Johnson would take the final shot when the Rebels inbounded with 8.1 seconds left.

"Johnson shot a line-drive and it went in," McClain said. "Josh had a hand up. We've been on the other side of that before and we've won the game. But we left it up to chance, and the chance didn't go our way."

In the first half, Kambala outjumped Wyoming big men for two offensive rebounds on one play and scored on the second put-back. On the next timeout, his teammates rushed off the bench to applaud his effort.

Though Cowboys center Uche Nsonwu-Amadi played well for the first few minutes of each half, the MWC player of the week became a non-factor. With Kambala making strong moves around the basket, Nsonwu-Amadi got his fourth foul with 11:03 to play and never got back in the game.

"Kas played his butt off," Good said.