Columnist Dean Juipe: Every Rebel improved this season

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, March 12, 2002 | 10:07 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.

Let's be frank. Each of the members of the UNLV men's basketball team -- and especially those who comprise the nucleus of the Rebels -- opened the season with a question mark next to his name.

In some cases, there were doubts concerning a player's abilities. In some cases, the player's attitude was cause for review.

But over the course of the first 30 games of the season, in each and every instance the question mark has been erased and, more importantly, replaced by a vote of confidence.

To be honest, I've never seen this happen at UNLV and I'm not sure I've seen it anywhere, ever.

The entire team, from top to bottom, was able to blend its individualities into a cohesive, supportive unit that has managed to win 20 games and advance to the National Invitation Tournament that opens tonight at the Thomas & Mack Center with the Rebels hosting Arizona State.

Right off the top, credit has to go to head coach Charlie Spoonhour.

But let's look at where the team's most significant players began the season, and where they're perceived to be today. And credit them for taking it upon themselves to improve and bond.

Dalron Johnson reflects this enviable trend as well as anyone. Forced, in essence, to play out of position and against the opposing team's center, he has broadened his game out of necessity and done so without complaint. He has also set aside a real or imagined tendency to mope and/or internalize his personal feelings, with the result being a complete team player who's not only athletic and versatile but exuberant and compelling.

Marcus Banks may have had something to do with not only Johnson's development but that of the entire team. Dismissed, as most incoming junior college players are, as a second-rate guard upon his arrival, Banks has brought a hard-nosed intensity to the Rebels and marked himself as a potential NBA player. The skeptics have been silenced.

Lou Kelly was seen as a bust by most fans for his first two abbreviated seasons here, and as a failure who might never live up to his advance press clippings. But not any more. Now he's seen as a pure shooter who can and will light it up at any time, and one whose positive impact on the team has been undeniable.

Chris Richardson, many will say, underachieved for no less than three seasons before emerging this year as a valuable commodity on both ends of the floor. The result: When he departs, he'll be favorably recalled and it won't be just because he can seemingly touch the top of the backboard.

Vince Booker shed his inconspicuousness and, it's said, was the first Rebel to grasp Spoonhour's offensive intentions. He also hit a few big shots along the way and endeared himself to the UNLV faithful with achievements that seemingly surpassed his natural talents.

Jevon Banks -- unsung at the outset -- and Lafonte Johnson -- knocked as a shooter only and not necessarily a good one -- and Omari Pearson -- couldn't the Rebels find a real center? -- each discarded his wrap and made positive contributions off the bench, and did so without whining about his role.

Taken as a whole, it's all pretty impressive.