Deflated Rebels desperate for a win

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2004 | 10:08 a.m.

The way point guard Jerel Blassingame sees it, things can't get much worse for the UNLV Rebels.

"We're at Ground Zero right now," Blassingame said before his team's 75-minute practice on Monday afternoon at the Thomas & Mack Center. "We're down and the only way we can go from here is up."

The Rebels (12-9, 3-5), coming off a dreadful 94-60 loss at Missouri on Sunday, begin a three-game homestand tonight when they play host to slumping San Diego State (12-11, 3-5). The winner moves into a tie for fourth place in the Mountain West Conference with New Mexico (13-9, 4-5).

"We're just looking for a win right now," junior forward Odartey Blankson said. "It's tough being in a (three-game) losing streak but we still have to find a way to finish the season out strong."

And, at the same time, begin jockeying for better positioning for next month's Mountain West Conference tournament in Denver.

"In my eyes, the only way we can salvage the season is to win the conference tournament," Blankson said. "Other than that, it's been a big disappointment. We've got to continue improving as a team. ... If we win (the tournament), things won't look so bad."

Blassingame believes the timing of the San Diego State game -- UNLV didn't arrive home from Columbia, Mo., until around midnight on Sunday thanks to a plane delay -- is actually a plus for a Rebels team after back-to-back blowout losses on the road.

"I think our schedule allows us to put that behind us," Blassingame said. "You get to go right back out there and play again. It's not like football where you have to sit around for a week and think about the game. When you have a schedule like this it helps as far as putting that last game behind you in a hurry."

"We need to play well and we need to play with some energy," UNLV coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "That's why I'm glad some of the guys showed up early today (for practice). Not everybody does that.

"Somewhere in these (next) six games we have to find a way to piece things together. It doesn't do any good for us to feel sorry for ourselves. ... We've played well before. It's not as though we haven't played well. We've had our good moments and then we had a disaster on Sunday."

That disaster has some in the Rebels community and media grumbling about Spoonhour's coaching future. But Spoonhour, 64, said such talk "comes with the territory.

"I don't even think about that," he said. "I'm not concerned with what you guys write or what somebody says. I'm concerned about the way our team plays. That's what bothers me is that we're not playing as well as I think we're capable of playing."

"It's not the coach," Blassingame said. "We play the game, not the coach. He's been preparing us well for every game, but we get out there and don't execute like we've been told to do."

Starting tonight, the Rebels have six more games to try to figure out a way to change that.

"I say we can still turn it around," Blankson said. "I'm an optimistic person. I think we can still turn it around."

Stay tuned.

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