Columnist Ron Kantowski: Cheers for Coach Spoon

Thursday, Feb. 21, 2002 | 10:17 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's insider notes column appears Tuesday and his Page One column appears Thursday. He can be reached at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

In a development that has to be considered more shocking than a legitimate figure skating competition, the local media has not been quick to judge Charlie Spoonhour's performance as the first-year coach of the UNLV men's basketball team.

That's probably the way it should be. A coach, like an artist, should be judged on the volume of his work, not his latest release.

But when was the last time you saw a columnist, much less a group of them, milk the shot clock before firing up a shot?

Well, much like the Rebels' Lou Kelly, my trigger finger is getting itchy.

So now that he has had 24 games to get his loafers wet, let me be the first to launch an opinion from 3-point distance: Spoonhour has done a real nice job of coaching this rag-tag bunch of Rebels to a 15-9 record.

Not that that should come as any big surprise to basketball fans familiar with his exploits at Southwest Missouri State and Saint Louis. But given these Rebels might have been a small underdog to the Ozark Mountain Daredevils at the start of the season, this old Arkansas traveler and his team of overachievers certainly have gotten my attention during the past couple of weeks.

Having said that, this is still probably the most talented team Spoonhour has coached. But I would have liked to have been there when he was introduced to Chris Richardson, and was told that the guy built like a pipe cleaner was his power forward.

Heck, back in the glory days, Larry Johnson used guys like Richardson to pick his teeth.

But Spoonhour has extracted all there is from Richardson's slender 6-foot-6 frame and turned him into a contributor. Ditto for Vince Booker, Jevon Banks and Lou Amundson, the freshman rocker who plays ball like he's in a mosh pit.

While every team needs a few role players, Spoonhour has an entire cast of them. Lafonte Johnson. Omari Pearson. Ernest Turner. Lamar Bigby.

The way I see it, the Rebels have way too many Clint Howards, way too few Robert Redfords.

It's a good thing point guard Marcus Banks has been better than advertised, Dalron Johnson as good as expected and that Kelly's shots started to fall. Maybe there's no such thing as a one-man team, but add two, and you have a pretty fair idea of what to expect from the Rebels.

But under Spoonhour, you also can expect they'll play hard, fast, together and, as was proven yet again in Monday's overtime victory at Colorado State in which UNLV rallied from five points down with 15 seconds to play, to the finish.

In the parity-bound Mountain West Conference, where the name of the game is restrictor plate basketball -- you know, like in NASCAR, where all the cars run together in one big pack -- that may be enough for UNLV to slingshot past the field and into the NCAA Tournament. Especially given the Rebels will play their last three regular season games as well as the conference tournament on their home floor.

Having just witnessed UNLV win a game by virtue of a three-shot foul on a desperation heave from midcourt, need I remind you that stranger things have happened?

It's entirely possible that the Rebels' next defeat will come in the Eastern Regional. If that comes to pass, rest assured I won't be the only one taking a shine to Spoon, just the first.