UNLV hoops notebook: The story behind ‘Chopper’

By Rob Miech (contact)

Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Steve Jones is so constantly in motion, like the blades of a helicopter, maybe that’s how he acquired his “Chopper” nickname?

Does he ride a motorcycle?

Maybe he shaved his muttonchops at Arizona State, before he came to Las Vegas, and that ignominy followed him to UNLV?

The actual story of how some form of “Chopper” can be heard a few dozen times at any given Rebels basketball practice is a bit more of a stretch.

But it did follow him from Arizona State.

One quick guess who nicknamed Jones … c’mon, it’s easy … just put a little thought into it … think of the main figure at the UNLV program and his hotshot son.

Yep, Kevin Kruger.

In 2005, Jones was on the Sun Devils team with Kruger. The previous season, Jones was a 6-foot-1, 240-pound post player at Portland (Ore.) Jesuit High.

Soon after arriving in Tempe, Ariz., Jones was mingling in the locker room when he heard someone yell “Pork Chop!” He heard it again but paid it no heed. Jones heard it again.

Finally, he turned to Kruger.

“Who’s that?” Jones said.

“That’s you!” said Kruger, laughing.

Jones was, uh, sporting a few extra pounds on his frame. Kruger couldn’t pass it up. It stuck.

“I guess because he’s a short, choppy guy,” said UNLV senior forward Rene Rougeau. “And he definitely just keeps going, like a chopper. Basically, they called him Pork Chop at ASU. We just call him chop.

“He’s meaty, also.”

Jones is now down to about 220 pounds.

“I’ve heard a few variations,” he said. “Chop sticks. Chop suey. Some people don’t even know my first name. They say, ‘it’s Steve?’ Anything with ‘chop’ in it.”

Jones transferred to UNLV as a walk-on guard and will be eligible as a senior in 2009-10. As a Rebel, he rarely leaves fifth gear.

In a recent one-on-one drill he missed a shot against Wink Adams but snatched the rebound. He missed again but ran down the ball. And again. And again.

In all, Jones missed six shots before Adams finally grabbed the ball.

In the next huddle, Adams glared at Jones. After more than 10 seconds, Chopper finally smiled back.

Icy cool

After recent practices, senior shooter Joe Darger has shown one way he avoids becoming rattled when shooting.

He calmly launched free throw after free throw as Chopper and Chace Stanback shot 3-pointers all around him. Wink Adams and Derrick Jasper had a 3-point contest, as Darger shot free throws, another day.

Darger’s teammates teased and prodded each other, making noise. He stood there, dribbled two or three times and patiently took shot after shot as 3-pointers clanged off the rim or backboard.

At times, his shot hits theirs. Theirs hit his. But he never grimaced or cast an eye at a teammate.

It was as if nobody else was even on the court.

Aren’t you ... ?

A Rebel was asked how many times he’s been told he looks like the late entertainer Gregory Hines.

“You’re the first one,” said sophomore point guard Tre’Von Willis. “Nobody has ever told me that before.”

Hines died, at 59, of liver cancer in 2003. He was an award-winning actor, dancer, singer and choreographer. “The Cotton Club” and “Waiting to Exhale” are among his film credits.

On the deathbed of Sammy Davis Jr., Davis, unable to speak due to throat cancer, acted as if he were tossing a basketball to Hines, who carried that torch with class and style.

Willis, 20, paused with reverence.

Free throws

Carlos Lopez, Anthony Marshall and Justin Hawkins didn’t just attend UNLV’s FirstLook 2008 last Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center and disappear. They attended Saturday morning practice, with about three dozen others, at the Mack. Lopez, at least, went to the UNLV-Air Force football game that night at Sam Boyd Stadium and then went bowling with about a dozen current Rebels and prospects … three fans attended Sunday afternoon’s run … former UNLV center Cliff Findlay, the longtime Las Vegas automobile magnate who is one of the basketball program’s most prominent boosters, watched the first half of Monday’s practice and is going to Africa at the end of the week for a safari. He’s taking shots with a camera, he said, not guns … Wink Adams had asked Chace Stanback about that Final Four run he was a part of last season at UCLA. “He knows what it takes to get there and he says we’ve got the team to do the same thing,” Adams said. “We have to play as a team and execute. Chace is a good player. He could be a great player here.”