Injuries held back Rebels in 2002-‘03

Steve Guiremand

Friday, March 21, 2003 | 10:12 a.m.

Anyone who doesn't believe that Charlie Spoonhour takes his job as UNLV basketball coach seriously need only have checked out the 63-year-old's apparel at the end of the season.

Yes, those sweaters and pants that fit so snugly back in November looked downright baggy near the end of the season. And for good reason.

"It was a 20-pounder," Spoonhour said, referring to how much weight he lost during a 21-11 season that ended bitterly with a lackluster and at-times embarrassing 85-68 loss to Hawaii in the first round of the NIT Wednesday night.

The weight was nothing compared to the sleep Spoonhour lost while trying to figure out a team that on some nights looked like it had Sweet Sixteen possibilities, but on others looked lethargic and disinterested.

"Certain games we just didn't come to play like we should have," junior center J.K. Edwards said. "The whole season we didn't play to our potential. That's why we were in the situation we were in (needing to win the Mountain West tournament to get an NCAA bid) at the end."

"We just didn't respond the way we should have in some games," senior forward Dalron Johnson said. "We didn't meet the challenge."

There were constant rumors of turmoil between senior leaders Johnson and point guard Marcus Banks, although neither would admit to it. But it's fair to say they won't be treating each other to a double-scoop cone at 31 flavors any time soon.

"You guys (the media) see things that I didn't see," Spoonhour said Thursday before taking off for a brief vacation in Florida. "Guys makes mistakes out there. That doesn't mean that they don't get along or that they don't care."

Perhaps the biggest reason UNLV failed to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2000 could be found in the training room.

Junior guard Demetrius Hunter, named the preseason Mountain West newcomer of the year after transferring to UNLV from Georgetown where he started for two years, rarely played more than two or three minutes a game in conference play after aggravating a left Achilles' injury that will require surgery. Hunter, a former Cheyenne High star, has an NBA jump shot when healthy and was the Rebels' best 3-point shooter.

Meanwhile, 6-foot-8 sophomore Louis Amundson, who would have likely started at forward this season, decided to redshirt following complications from a staph infection in his thumb. Amundson was arguably UNLV's best defensive forward and rebounder and certainly could have come in handy against the likes of a Britton Johnsen, Mark Bigelow or, cover your eyes Rebels fans, Brian Greene.

Spoonhour, already hampered by scholarship restrictions due to NCAA probation from the Bill Bayno era, was forced to shorten his bench and even play a 2-3 zone to try to keep his best players on the floor longer. The only reliable subs the team had were 6-foot-9 junior forward Omari Pearson and 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Ernest Turner, who made big strides on defense.

Still, UNLV managed to compile a solid 11-3 non-conference record, losing an early road game at eventual Big Ten champion Wisconsin and home games to Pac-10 power Stanford and USC.

The stunning 98-73 loss to USC on ABC regional television Feb. 9 saw the Rebels completely melt down while committing a school-record 34 turnovers. It was the low point of the season and may have been the defeat that kept UNLV from getting an NCAA at-large berth.

However, Spoonhour said that loss also may have been the turning point in the season.

"After the SC game, the guys talked and I thought they came together," he said.

The Rebels won eight of their next 10 games, losing only in overtime at No. 23 Utah, 86-80, and at Wyoming, 69-66, to finish in a third-place tie with the preseason favorite Cowboys.

The highlight of that streak and the season was a 64-41 thrashing of MWC co-champion Utah in the semfinals of the Mountain West tournament. UNLV outscored Rick Majerus' Utes, 25-1, over one 10-minute span, including 17-0 during one stretch.

That was followed, however, by a devastating 62-61 loss to Colorado State in the championship game the next night when Greene connected on a tough 12-foot jumper with 5.7 seconds left to rally the Matt Nelson-less Rams from a 10-point deficit in the final eight minutes.

Goodbye NCAA. Hello NIT. And how do you do Spoon bashers.

"I wanted us to be better," Spoonhour said. "I thought it was a good year in terms of wins and losses considering the injuries to D-Hunt (Hunter) and Louis, but we could have been better."

"My whole senior year wasn't the way I envisoned it would be but that's the way it goes," Johnson said. "It was us out there playing in those uniforms. Every outcome was on our shoulders and we just didn't get it done. You can either look back and be proud of what you put out there or you can sit back and sulk."

The Rebels lose three key starters in Johnson, Banks and the unheralded Jermaine Lewis, arguably the team's best all-around player down the stretch, as well as reserves Lamar Bigby and fan-favorite Jon Knoche.

Starting center J.K. Edwards and forward James Peters, an all-Mountain West tournament pick, return and will be joined up front by 6-foot-7 Marquette transfer Odartey Blankson and 6-foot-10 Chris Adams, rated the nation's No. 1 JC center by some publications.

Hunter and Turner return in the backcourt and will be joined by two highly touted prep recruits, 6-foot-2 point guard Michael Umeh of Hightower High School in Missouri City, Texas, and 6-foot-3 John Winston of Hercules (Calif.) High School.

"We've got to add two more people," said Spoonhour, who has been spending his few off days flying to junior college games.

One of those will likely go to 6-foot-6 swingman Andy Hannan of Minneapolis Community and Technical College, who visited UNLV during the Mountain West tournament and told the Sun he would likely commit to the Rebels instead of Wyoming, Wisconsin or Illinois.

The other will probably go to either 6-foot-2 point guard Randy Pulley of Barton County (Kan.) College, who began his career at Saint Louis University, or 6-foot-7 small forward Romel Beck of Los Angeles City College, who took an unofficial visit Wednesday and attended the Hawaii loss.

Spoonhour, who continues to refuse comment on speculation that he could resign in the next few days, seems to be bulking up for the 2003-04 campaign.

"I've been eating like a hog today," he said. "It's only been an 18-pounder now." The whole season w didn't play to our potential."