Columnist Steve Addy: Spoonhour safeguards chemistry

Steve Addy

Wednesday, May 8, 2002 | 9:38 a.m.

Steve Addy covers college basketball for the Las Vegas Sun. Reach him at addy@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4087.

Charlie Spoonhour's first Rebels basketball team proved yet again that chemistry is nearly as important as talent, and that notion is serving as his compass on the recruiting trail.

UNLV has one scholarship left to award for next season, and Spoonhour is being extra careful about the recipient. With the Rebels pretty well set in the backcourt, he and his coaches have politely passed on a couple of guard prospects who would have expected immediate minutes.

In other words, their talent would have been welcomed, but at what price to team chemistry?

As the Rebels showed last season, until teammates start playing together and stop quibbling about their own "touches," they are just a group of guys running around in the same uniforms. But once they fit together -- as the Rebels did in mid-February -- the season can turn around.

At first glance, next season could follow a similar path. Spoonhour's expected starting five will have scoring threats at every position, and you're kidding yourself if you don't think he'll need 15 games to get everyone in line.

Marcus Banks, eyeing an NBA career in 2003, will want the ball, and he should get it. And so should Dalron Johnson, another potential 2003 draftee. Once they began sharing the ball better last season, the Rebels won 13 of their last 17 games and barely missed an NCAA bid.

UNLV will add Demetrius Hunter at off-guard, and he showed in two years at Georgetown that he merits the ball. He was the Hoyas' top 3-point shooter in 2001. At small forward, Jermaine Lewis will return after sitting out last season on knee rehab. He averaged 9.3 points in 2001, and as long as he shakes the rust, he will provide outside shooting and strong dribble drives.

And let's not forget 6-foot-7 center J.K. Edwards, one of UNLV's November signees. We've got no idea if he'll be any good -- he was only so-so in Juco this year -- but the Rebels got him for low-post scoring, so a certain number of touches will be devoted to giving him a thorough look-see.

With that lineup, and sophomores-to-be Ernest Turner and Lou Amundson both needing more minutes, it's going to be a tough juggling act for Spoonhour.

Though it's not his task to keep everyone happy -- a sure recipe for failure -- he's also wise enough to dodge potential headaches. Spoonhour sees no sense in signing a Juco guard who is going to want 30 minutes a game next season. That would only plant dangerous seeds of discord.

With that in mind, Spoonhour is already gearing for 2003. Today, UNLV will host guard Adam Boone, a transfer candidate who averaged 7.2 points last season at North Carolina, including 28 against Florida State. By all accounts, he would make a good replacement at the point for Banks, but apparently no scholarship has been offered or accepted.

If there is a Boone-UNLV marriage, it would work the same as this season when Hunter spent the year on ice as a transfer. Boone would practice all season, with no expectation of playing, then be ready for 2003. Even if it's not Boone, any quality transfer works under that scenario.

Spoonhour can afford to be choosy. Transfers aren't subject to next Wednesday's deadline for spring letters of intent, so the Rebels have plenty of time to find the right guy. Their chemistry might not be apparent until February, but obtaining non-combustible elements now is where it begins.