Anthony is Rebels’ pack man

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, March 10, 2005 | 9:08 a.m.

DENVER -- Joel Anthony was born and raised in Montreal, where hockey is more of a religion than a sport. But the backup center on the UNLV basketball team never really took a liking to that game.

"I tried to play it a couple of times in the street as something to do but it never was anything serious," Anthony, a 6-foot-9, 240-pound junior, said. "I don't really follow hockey. Hockey is not big for me."

So instead of specializing in slap shots, the athletic Anthony turned his attention to slapping away shots.

Anthony has blocked a team-high 42 shots for the Rebels despite averaging just a little more than 12 minutes per game. That averages out to one block every eight minutes he's on the floor. Anthony had five blocks in a game against St. Mary's earlier this year, four more against Missouri and another four against BYU last Saturday in UNLV's 76-66 victory in Provo.

Not bad for someone who didn't really play organized basketball until about four years ago.

"It wasn't until I got to junior college that I was really coached on how to play the game," Anthony said. "Before that I played on some recreational teams just kind of having fun out there. Then in my last year of playing high school basketball some friends told me about a traveling team they were playing on in the AAU's."

Anthony tried out and made the Montreal Sun Youth Hornets squad. He played in a pair of summer tournaments in Kentucky and Florida, where his size and quick-leaping ability stood out.

"I was about 6-foot-8 then and I was really skinny," Anthony said. "I just went out there and blocked shots and had a good time. Everyone saw how raw I was as a player so I made the decision to go to Pensacola (Fla.) Junior College."

Anthony credits Pensacola JC coach Paul Swanson for developing him into a Division I player in just two years.

"I was really lucky," Anthony said. "I feel very fortunate to have had a coach like Paul Swanson. He taught me a lot. I grew a lot on the court and off the court. He was a big influence in my life those two years."

After serving a reserve role his freshman year, Anthony blossomed into a first-team all-conference player as a sophomore. He visited Nebraska, Penn State and UNLV and had other schools showing strong interest before deciding to join Lon Kruger's Rebels.

"I was just real comfortable when I came here with all the players," Anthony said. "I thought it was a real good situation here for me where I could come in and compete and have an easy transition with the players we have on the team."

Anthony has improved steadily throughout the season, battling starting center Louis Amundson in physical battles each day in practice. He routinely stays after practice for another 15 minutes or so to work on his offensive skills.

"Every day he stays and works," Kruger said. "He's got the perfect attitude about becoming a better player. What happened for him isn't by accident. He's earned it. He's worked for it."

The Rebels (15-12, 7-7), who open Mountain West Conference tournament play this afternoon against Wyoming (15-12, 7-7), will need some more big blocks, rebounding and solid post defense from Anthony if they are to win the tourney.

Starting center Louis Amundson has been slowed recently by a broken nose. That leaves Anthony and junior Dustin Villepique to pick up more of the slack against a Wyoming front line that includes 7-foot center Alex Dunn and 6-foot-10 junior forward Justin Williams.

And if the Rebels get by the Cowboys today, Utah and 7-foot center Andrew Bogut, potentially the first pick of next June's NBA draft, likely will be waiting.

"He's a very skilled player," Anthony said of Bogut. "He does a lot of things without having to score. Just being on the court he makes his teammates better. He makes good passes. He finds his teammates when he gets double-teamed. He's definitely a real good player."

Anthony says he's looking forward to those challenges.

"It's an exciting time," he said. "That's why I really want to help out our team ... so we can get to the (NCAA) tournament."