Columnist Ron Kantowski: A hot gym in July turns out to be cool

Wednesday, July 14, 2004 | 9:49 a.m.

Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

After witnessing the first game of the Reebok Vegas Summer League Stars of Tomorrow NBA-backed hoopfest at Cox Pavilion Tuesday night, I can only say one thing with any certainty:

The late Alexander Belov can rest in peace.

For a little longer, anyway.

For my money, Belov will always be synonymous with professional summer basketball, regardless of how many ways the sneaker companies try to turn off-season jump shots into a peach basket-full of dollars.

I know, I know. The big Russian was technically an amateur when he pushed and elbowed virtually the entire USA starting five to the floor before scoring the winning basket for the former Soviet Union after the clock was reset for about the seventh time during the 1972 gold medal game in Munich.

Belov died at age 26 in 1978, so he didn't live to see basketball evolve into a 12-month sport. But I think he would have been impressed by the quality of play at Tuesday night's opener between the Summer Suns and July Wizards. Or, as I like to refer to them, Guys Trying Out for a Roster Spot in Some Soccer-Playing Land Overseas.

That's a little harsh, of course, because some of the guys strutting their stuffs here through Saturday are bound to stick on NBA rosters. Even if you couldn't tell the players with a scorecard -- the wanna-be Wizards didn't have their names on their jerseys while the prodigal Suns were listed only by name in the program -- you didn't have to be Dr. James Naismith, or for that matter Ted Owens, one of his successors as Kansas head coach, to appreciate the assembled talent.

"I love it," said Owens, one of the many basketball luminaries seated among the crowd. "I think it will find a home here. Now all you need is more teams."

Supposedly, they're on the way. This year's six-team field -- the rising Suns, Wizards, Nuggets, Celtics, Magic and Cavaliers -- may more than double by next summer, as organizers say they have received serious inquires from 14 NBA teams.

Initially, I was dubious there would be enough quality players to justify asking $20 for general admission to a glorified scrimmage. But a cursory look at the program alleviated those concerns.

Marcus Banks, Jameer Nelson, Delonte West, Luke Jackson, Nick Jacobson, Dajuan Wagner, Miles Simon, Keith Bogans, Pete Mickeal, Amit Tamir, Brian Boddicker, Kirk Haston, Casey Jacobsen, Steve Blake, Jelani McCoy, Laron Profit, Michael Ruffin, Gerald Fitch, Jared Jeffries -- it was just like March Madness, only in July.

The biggest surprise, given Billy Packer wasn't in the house, was that there was more than One Shining Moment in the game I watched. The Summer Suns and July Wizards played hard, well and without talking trash. Jeffries, in particular, performed in the manner of an NBA veteran instead of a guy who averaged 5.7 points for a team that finished 25-57.

But just as impressive were under-the-radar guys such as Leandro Barbosa, a 6-foot-3 whippet from Brazil who inherited Stephon Marbury's job as point guard in Phoenix; Maciej Lampe, a 19-year-old behemoth from Spain who the Suns received from the Knicks as part of the Marbury trade; and Derrick Dial, a journeyman from Eastern Michigan who has played for about a dozen pro teams, some of which I can even pronounce.

Those were some of the guys who Owens, who coached Kansas to Final Fours in 1968 and 1974, had marked in his program. Now semi-retired, Owens is an investment adviser for First Capital Management of Tulsa, Okla., and he said the Stars of Tommorow is the ideal place to scout for new clients.

Indeed, this event was made for guys in the basketball business. But with a little massaging from the organizers, it just might be a slam dunk with local basketball fans, too.

For starters, tickets should cost about half of what they do now, and there needs to be more excitement in the arena -- even if it's the manufactured kind where kids shoot baskets for prizes during timeouts and guys flail about in inflatable sumo wrestling suits. There also needs to be more NBA I.D., starting with the uniforms.

When I asked organizers during the introductory news conference in May if the teams would wear real NBA uniforms, they looked at me as I had just gotten off the Washington Generals' bus. But lo and behold, the Summer Suns and Wizards ran up and down the court in nondescript practice gear. If these guys are NBA-caliber players, why not drive it home with fans by having them wear real NBA uniforms?

But nit-picks aside, the Stars of Tomorrow might warrant a spot in Las Vegas' summer sports lineup. Despite going up against the baseball All-Star Game on TV and whatever reality fare Roger Clemens would have been better off watching, there were about 1,500 spectators on hand for the first game and when I left, a lot of guys and gals wearing Marcus Banks Celtics jerseys were still coming in for the second game.

And outside, if you can believe this, a scalper asked me if I needed a ticket.

He was wearing an NBA West all-star jersey with No. 8 on the back. I didn't ask, but I'm quite sure he had never heard of Alexander Belov.