UNLV looking to solve Falcons’ precision

Steve Addy

Monday, Jan. 7, 2002 | 10:38 a.m.

WHAT: UNLV (7-5) at Air Force (6-6)

WHEN: Today, 6:05 p.m.

WHERE: Clune Arena, Colorado Springs

TV: None

RADIO: KBAD 920-AM

COLORADO SPRINGS -- From one extreme to the other. That is the tempo adjustment UNLV will have to make tonight against Air Force.

But it also describes the amount of improvement the Rebels expect in their own performance after a 69-59 home loss to preseason favorite Wyoming in their Mountain West opener Saturday night.

Even with appropriate acknowledgement of the Cowboys' plentiful size, talent and depth, it was a surprisingly dismal UNLV effort. The Rebels reverted to the mistakes that plagued them in many nonconference games: poor shooting, inadequate rebounding and general weakness under the basket.

UNLV (7-5) shot a season-low 27 percent, and if you take away the combined 11-of-18 by forwards Dalron Johnson and Chris Richardson, the rest of the team was 5-of-41 (12.2 percent). The bench shot 1-of-17, including Lou Kelly's 0-of-9, making him 0-of-16 in the last two games.

In the first of three straight MWC road games, the Rebels can't afford similar numbers tonight because they probably won't get as many scoring chances. Saturday's game wasn't as fast-paced as most UNLV-Wyoming games, but the Cowboys' push-the-ball offense was still 100 mph faster than AFA's bread-and-butter slowdown attack.

"Air Force is the most different team in the league to prepare for," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "We are coming off a team that does the most transition stuff to a team with an entirely different way of playing. We'll have to play smart."

The Falcons (6-6) employ the deliberate offensive style coach Joe Scott brought from Princeton, where he coached eight seasons under Pete Carril and Bill Carmody. It's a conservative, precise attack that stresses ball movement, aggressive screening, back-cutting and 3-point shooting.

Simply put, Air Force compels opponents to defend into the late stages of each possession. If a defender gets held up fighting through a screen or loses track of a weak-side shooter, he risks embarrassment on a backdoor layup or a wide-open 3-pointer.

"(Defending for 35 seconds) is something we haven't been very good at," Spoonhour said. "On some occasions (Saturday), we defended pretty deep into the possession, but then they broke us down with dribble penetration."

"We need to make the transition (in tempo)," guard Vince Booker said. "We've got to play a defensively sound game, because Air Force runs a lot of things at you -- a lot of backdoor cuts. They make you stay on your toes and wait for you to make a mistake."

If defenders don't rotate quickly or properly, the Falcons will fire away from the perimeter. They're shooting 48.1 percent overall and 40.9 on 3-pointers. Even center Tom Bellairs is hitting bombs, shooting 12-of-18 on 3-pointers (66.7). Forward Joel Gerlach is 16-of-32 (50.0).

"If we get tired, they're going to back-cut us," Spoonhour said. "When we help, they'll toss it out and shoot 3s. We have to find a way to guard that. We have to find five guys who can do it."

The Rebels were never able to solve Wyoming, though they stayed within 10 points until the final five minutes. UNLV's poor shooting wasted possessions gained from the Cowboys' 23 turnovers, and Wyoming had a 45-31 rebound edge that generally limited the Rebels to one shot per possession.

With Kelly and Marcus Banks (2-of-13) misfiring and Wyoming's burly lineup dominating inside, the Rebels were unable to get into late-game rally mode, which they have relied upon lately.

"We forced some turnovers and did some things right, but not enough," Spoonhour said.

Spoonhour, on Kelly's shooting slump: "Lou is the kind of guy who if he gets hot, he'll forget all about this. That's a shooter." ...

Air Force forward Robert Todd, a sometimes-starter, remains on team suspension and won't return until at least next week.