Return to coaching made easy by Rebels

Steve Addy

Tuesday, March 19, 2002 | 8:23 a.m.

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- It sounded something like a season-ending tribute to his first UNLV team, but coach Charlie Spoonhour wasn't trying to hurry the Rebels into the off-season.

"I've really enjoyed working with these guys," he said. "They don't always do things in the manner I want, but they always try hard."

Spoonhour said that two weeks ago when the Rebels were preparing for the Mountain West tournament. He knew every game might be their last, but if the stars aligned correctly the season could continue almost until April.

The end could come today -- or not -- when UNLV visits South Carolina in the second round of the NIT. If the Rebels (21-10) beat the Gamecocks (19-14), they will be one victory from a trip to the semifinals next Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York.

But even if UNLV loses, don't expect much grumpiness from Spoonhour. Having come out of a two-year retirement to take over the wounded program, he has been gratified by the Rebels' receptiveness and effort, which played a prominent role in their late-season run of 13 wins in 16 games.

Though Spoonhour inherited all except four players from the previous staff, this group endeared itself to him, even while it struggled early in the season.

"Trying is one thing we do better than most teams," he said this week. "We don't always shoot well, we don't always rebound, we don't always help on defense, and we aren't going to get any taller. But the effort part -- the trying -- has been great.

"Even when we do stuff wrong, it's with a good heart. We had somebody foul a guy 50 feet from the basket, and he was guarding the wrong man. But he thought the guy was going to get open and shoot a 3, so he ran out and whacked him. The play was awful, but the thought was good.

"I guess I'm old enough that even though I get mad originally, I get over it because I see why it happened."

That appears to be one of few concessions Spoonhour has made to age in his return to Division I coaching. At 62, his practices are just as intense and his instruction just as pointed after 31 games as before the season. In fact, things run smoother now because the players know what he wants and he knows their capabilities and limitations.

Practices are a bit shorter, because few coaches run their team ragged in March, but he's still coaching just as hard. "You either get better or you get beat. It's that simple," Spoonhour shouted last week when a drill didn't satisfy him. But such admonishments have become rare.

"They beat up on each other in practice, but they don't fight or act stupid and I like that," he said. 'I like when guys try to make each other better by competing and playing hard. That's the way it's supposed to be."

Since preseason practice, when Spoonhour installed loose-ball drills that had players diving all over, there has been a certain don't-quit quality about the Rebels. It didn't translate to wins in the first half of the season -- they were 8-7 on Jan. 15 -- but it paid off later in a series of comebacks and overtime wins (four).

"We know we're not the best team in the country, and we're not the biggest team, so our effort has to be better than the team we're playing," Jevon Banks said. "That has been our thing all year.

"We know we're going to mess up sometimes and teams are going to go on runs. But you have to stay in there, stay together and keep playing. Everybody has picked up on that."

The Rebels' reward is being one of 30 Division I men's teams still playing. "If we get to New York and win the whole thing, that will be our statement that we should've been in the (NCAA) Tournament," center Chris Richardson said. "We didn't get that opportunity, so we're going to make the most of the NIT and see how far it takes us."