Columnist Dean Juipe: Debut proves Slam won’t make it here

Dean Juipe

Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2002 | 10:31 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Henceforth, I'm treating the Las Vegas Slam as if it does not exist and I'm doing it because of you.

You stayed home Tuesday night, didn't you? And even if you didn't, you certainly didn't take in the Slam's home debut at the Cox Pavilion on the UNLV campus.

I know that about you because I counted the actual number of people who were on hand for the tipoff and it came to precisely 196. And, chances are, you weren't among them.

The "crowd," as such, diminished as the game with the Southern California Surf wore on, which tells you something not only about the Slam but the caliber of play in the ABA. With the Surf en route to what would become a 131-112 win and the game becoming increasingly sloppy, only those with family ties to the players made it to the final horn.

Call it a case of suspicions confirmed, but this team that has been thrust upon Las Vegas in the middle of its season is not going to survive. No way, no how.

And while Slam glad-handers will be trying to put some sort of positive spin on the situation, their cheery opinions will only reek of deception.

The ABA looks ready to fold after the season but whether it does or doesn't, the Slam already has one foot in the grave and is making plans to accommodate the other.

Everything about the Slam comes across as minor league, and when you add in the fact the team has not yet won a game -- it is already 0-3 -- there is no reason to take more than a fleeting interest in its brand of basketball.

As head coach Reggie Theus said before the game when asked what the Slam has to do to make it in a tough marketplace such as Las Vegas, "We have to win. This town sees losers every day."

Yes, Reggie, it does. And you should have known better than to soil your good name by adding this part-time job to your busy schedule.

As revealing as Theus' words are, they were all but topped by an executive of the league as he dined in the Cox lunchroom. He wasn't speaking to me so I won't quote him by name, yet this is precisely what he said: "I'm just here to make sure this half-assed thing gets off the ground."

Well, it did, but barely.

Not that there weren't an assortment of humorous moments, such as the Slam employee who recruited two of the few ticket buyers to serve as water boys for the Surf. When asked if they wanted to "improve their seats for the game" the high-schoolish guys said yes, only to spend the evening filling cups from a water jug and picking up discarded warm-ups that the visitors threw down.

If nothing else they should have gotten a refund, but so for that matter should everyone who paid to get in.

It may not have been the worst basketball ever played, but those who saw it had to ask themselves "So what?" They could have gone to the YMCA for less, had a better time and probably seen defense played with more intensity by those taking part in the pick-up games.

Yes, I'm done with the Slam even though they're thinking of playing 10 more home games. I'm taking my cue from you, the reader, and if you're not going then I'm not either.

We'll run a brief when the team folds, which could be any day by the looks of things.