Thursday, Feb. 12, 2004 | 10:22 a.m.
Two days after saying he had problems with nearly everyone and everything in the UNLV basketball program, after a sour loss to Utah in Salt Lake City, Odartey Blankson didn't temper his harsh words.
"No, everything I said were things I believed and things I perceived to be true," Blankson said. "If I stepped on anyone's toes, I'm sorry about that. But, you know, I said what I believe. That's the kind of person I am."
After a 70-56 defeat to the Utes dropped the Rebels to 12-8 overall and 3-5 in the Mountain West Conference, Blankson teed off on what he viewed as a lack of chemistry, camaraderie, discipline and fundamentals, poor preparation habits and an even worse attitude.
"It's a bad situation," he said.
In a private meeting earlier Wednesday with UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour, Blankson said he and Spoonhour tried to "come to an agreement with what needed to be done to improve the situation."
Asked to clarify what needed to be done, Blankson, a junior forward who leads the Rebels with averages of 16.8 points and 10.4 rebounds, nearly broke out in laughter.
"I don't think we have the time ... " he said. "What we need to do is a lot of things, as a team and with communication with coaches ... yeah, a lot of things, in every aspect. Not just with the coaches or just with the players.
"Everything."
Spoonhour tried to mitigate Blankson's accusations, saying losing can create frustration that might ignite blowups which can be blown out of proportion. No suspension or reprimand is planned.
"As far as I'm concerned, Odartey and I have no problems at all," Spoonhour said. "When you lose games, things get magnified. There's no question about that, in everybody's mind, and we had just lost a hard game."
Seniors Demetrius Hunter and J.K. Edwards acknowledged the depth of the team's disappointment with its lack of cohesion and record, but Blankson again punctuated that with an outburst after Wednesday's practice.
For at least two minutes, Blankson stood just outside the trainer's room inside the UNLV locker room and had a loud, heated and obscenity-laced exchange with someone inside that room.
"If you don't like me ... " Blankson howled at one point.
One of Blankson's teammates said the object of Blankson's scorn was trainer Dave Tomchek. The pitch of the yelling caused several passersby, including two UNLV women's basketball players, to stop and stare.
"I don't know what got into Odartey," Hunter said to a teammate as they exited a locker room door and walked up a ramp to a parking lot.
Tomchek fumed as he was seen leaving that locker room -- and parking lot -- within 20 minutes.
Hunter confirmed that Spoonhour had a brief talk with his players before practice started in a relaxed manner on the Thomas & Mack Center court at about 2:45 p.m.
"We didn't really talk about what Odartey said," Hunter said. "We just met as a team. It wasn't really about what Odartey said. I can't say whether he's right or wrong. I'd rather just not comment on it. I just want to play ball."
Blankson called that a "quick" meeting.
"We talked about trying to stay together, doing things right," Blankson said, "and, hopefully, getting on the right track."
The practice consisted of a slew of basics, like ball reversal. It ended with Spoonhour telling the Rebels to remember what they did well Wednesday, so they could expand on those positive aspects today.
Both Edwards and Hunter said they only became aware Wednesday morning of details of Blankson's late-Monday comments, which were in Tuesday's papers.
"I don't know what he meant. Like I said, I don't know if he's right or wrong. Of course, everyone's holding their heads (down) because we're losing. I mean, he said what he said. No love lost," Hunter said.
"We might not get along off the court, but, on the court, we have no choice but to play together," Edwards said. "I don't really know about all that, but losing is frustrating."
A UNLV official asked Spoonhour before practice if he would like to keep Blankson off-limits, before or after practice, to protect him from the media, but Spoonhour declined that offer.
Two television reporters, with cameras in tow, spoke with various players, including Blankson, before practice, as did a pair of writers.
Blankson, always thoughtful and insightful, clarified that he is not, and was not, mad at anyone.
"I'm more upset about the situation with the losses," he said. "We all want to win, it's just a matter of coming together. And it wasn't frustration. It's just what I've seen, what's going on, and I voiced my opinion."
Spoonhour said he was most concerned with his team's lack of energy Monday. Moreover, Spoonhour said he would not tolerate inappropriate behavior on or off the court.
"If I ever see guys who don't pass to each other, or something of that nature, or fighting, then it becomes a little more of a concern," he said. "But I don't see that."
When the Rebels left the court late Wednesday afternoon, few had any idea about the direction of the rest of the season.
"Honestly, I don't know," Blankson said. "What I'm going to do is continue to play hard and continue to try to win, and get 'Ws.' But I couldn't tell you what's going to go on the rest of the year."
archive
