‘Kas quit on us,’ teammate says

Steve Addy

Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2001 | 10:10 a.m.

PROVO, Utah -- On the Rebels' most discouraging night of the season, Trevor Diggs wasn't afraid to vocalize what a national television audience saw for itself.

"No question, Kas quit on us," Diggs said after UNLV's 91-63 blowout loss to Brigham Young on ESPN Monday night.

Diggs was talking about Rebels senior center Kaspars Kambala, a preseason all-America candidate whose effort and output have dwindled so badly that he is in danger of losing his starting job.

Committing two turnovers as UNLV fell behind 10-0, Kambala finished with two points in 20 minutes, both on free throws, missed his only three shots and got only one rebound. He didn't attempt a shot in the second half, which he didn't start, and was yanked for good with 9:20 to play.

For the rest of the game, Kambala sulked on the bench, muttering to no one in particular. There were seven timeouts in that span, and Kambala hung on the fringes of the huddle when he bothered to rise at all. Teammates scowled and frowned, and ESPN cameras drew in tight, but he didn't budge.

When it came to poor performance, Kambala had a lot of company on this night, as the Rebels had no answers for BYU gunners Trent Whiting (26 points) and Terrell Lyday (23). But at least Diggs and Vince Booker were still diving for loose balls with three minutes left and BYU ahead by 30.

Coach Max Good finally pulled Kambala because of poor defense. Kambala questioned the decision, saying, "You're saying I'm not guarding?" Good didn't respond, and Kambala never got back in.

Diggs in particular was upset by Kambala's performance and behavior.

"We competed hard, but some guys quit, I'll tell you that," Diggs said. "I will put that out there -- Kas quit on us. Ain't no question, Kas quit on us. That's crazy. Guys like Vince Booker came out and played hard. All you can ask is for somebody to compete."

Diggs didn't exempt himself from poor play. He shot 3-of-11 and had trouble handling Lyday, who was terrific driving and shooting 3-pointers (3-of-3), but Diggs kept plugging from start to finish.

"If I'm not playing well, I'm still going to dive for the ball, because your shot is not going to fall all the time," he said. "But the thing you can control is how (hard) you play."

Kambala refused to comment en route to the team bus. "Not talking," he said, staring straight ahead.

Good, stressed out because of UNLV's ongoing courtship of Rick Pitino as coach, did not come down too hard on Kambala.

"We did not do a very good job of guarding Whiting or Lyday, either, and I can't blame that on Kas," Good said. "I'm not trying to cover for him, but this was a team loss.

"I failed them. I didn't have us ready to play. I'm responsible. I'm the person in charge."

But after diving on the hand grenade, Good also hinted at lineup changes, saying, "I'm opening up all five positions this week. We have to get back to work."

The Rebels (10-7, 1-2 MWC) will have a full week to prepare for next Monday's home game against New Mexico, but who knows what changes the program will undergo before then. Athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro is in Miami today to meet with Pitino, possibly with a contract proposal for his approval.

If Good's tenure is destined to end this season, he won't want Monday's truly awful performance as his signature game. Though BYU was terrific, it was clear that the events of the past few weeks finally took a toll on the downcast Rebels.

After allowing Utah a 10-0 run in the waning minutes of Saturday's 79-70 loss, UNLV fell behind by the same margin Monday. The Rebels didn't get closer than five after that, and further details are offered only for the sake of the archives.

UNLV scored only three baskets in the last 11 minutes of the half, all by Dalron Johnson, whose 24 points and nine boards led the Rebels. They trailed by 19 at halftime, by 21 with 5:12 to go and by 31 after another 10-0 spurt by BYU.

The 63 points were the Rebels' fewest of the season and BYU's 91 the most they have allowed.

"It got ugly, man," Diggs said. "It was one of those games where nothing went right for us and everything went right for them, so it got out of hand."

It was such a laugher that with six minutes to go, the Marriott Center crowd of 13,605 began chanting, "We want Kaspars! We want Kaspars!"

They meant it sarcastically, but Kambala's coaches and teammates would have agreed literally.