Columnist Ron Kantowski: Ichabods preferred to Marathon Men

Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2005 | 10:01 a.m.

Ron Kantowski's column appears on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at ron@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4088.

Is it too late to bring back Marathon Oil?

Just kidding. The relative ease of UNLV's 73-53 victory over Washburn at the Thomas & Mack Center on Tuesday night notwithstanding, it's still better to play an exhibition game against an overmatched Division II school with an ususual nickname than against an overmatched collection of over-the-hill gunners looking for a novel way to pay their rent.

Remember Marathon Oil? Next to EA Sports and Athletes in (Limited) Action, the Marathon Men were the Rebels' most feared preseason rival. It was probably because of the uniforms. Marathon Oil wore blue shirts with a big block "M" on the front. With white pants. Think Clark Kent running into a phone booth and having a wardrobe malfunction.

While I never saw this happen, a colleague swears he once witnessed one of the Marathon Oil players sneak out onto the T&M loading dock at halftime to smoke a cigarette.

On Tuesday it was Washburn that coughed and wheezed, but not until the second half.

Graduation, injuries and defections have left the Ichabods a shell of their former selves -- the self that gave Bill Self and Kansas (79-70 loss) and Gene Keady and Purdue (81-72 loss) fits at this time last year.

Apparently, UNLV coach Lon Kruger let his subscription to "Division II Illustrated" lapse or he would have known that these new Ichabods might have trouble living up to their name. OK, bad choice of words. Nobody could live up to that name.

Still, as late as the 4:06 mark of the first half, UNLV led just 30-28. That was after Louis Amundson made his second dubious play of the first 20 minutes, following up an airball from four feet by goaltending a long 3-point shot that had no chance of going in. Although that would be as close as Washburn got, the potential for some Chaminade-over-No. 1-Virginia drama is there whenever a Division II team rises to the level of a Division I team going through the motions.

Every time a little school like Washburn finds itself in this situation, it believes if it plays like a bunch of "Hoosiers" and makes five bounce passes before taking a shot, it can shock the world. Which is still a better scenario than shocking an old AAU point guard with a defibrillator to get his motor running. Kruger thought so, too.

"Good opener," he said after power forward Dustin Villepigue scored 12 points in 21 minutes by sinking 6-of-7 shots over the 'Bods smallish bods. "It was typical of an opener. A lot of good things, a lot of things to work on."

Even after having all that splainin' to do after last year's game against Washburn, Kansas' Self said he'd still rather play an Ichabod than a Marathon Man.

"I am all for playing exhibition games against four-year institutions," Self told Collegehoopsnet.com. "They (Division II schools) would rather play them as exhibition games than regular season, too, because they don't count on your won-loss record."

Terry Holland probably wishes that rule were in effect before he and Ralph Sampson flew to Hawaii.

The reason the rule is in effect now is because some coaches kept bending the loose ones that governed exhibition games. Because some of the club teams had relationships with hot-shot recruits, many coaches felt compelled to schedule them -- and pay them a significant fee -- for what amounted to a glorified scrimmage.

Which probably explained UConn's 102-44 victory over a rag-tag bunch known as the Beltway Ballers last year. Maryland coach Gary Williams touched off a brouhaha when he charged the only reason the Huskies played the Beltway bunch was to secure the services of McDonald's All-American Rudy Gay, whose AAU team was affiliated with the Ballers.

After trailing Bryant (a Division II school coached by former UNLV assistant Max Good which will visit the T&M Friday) at halftime en route to a 100-85 victory, Williams said he could have taken the UConn approach, too.

"We could have scheduled an AAU team and given them $25,000 like some schools I know," Williams said.

Soon thereafter, the NCAA interceded. Goodbye, Marathon Oil. Hello, Washburn.

"The teams we're playing now at least have a team concept and have been together for a certain amount of time," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "They can control tempo to a certain degree and give you some different looks that help you prepare a little better for the regular season."

That's just what Washburn did for the Rebels Tuesday. And none of the Ichabods sneaked out at halftime for a smoke.