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| Thursday, December 19 Tark's legacy looms over Spoonhour, Lopes By Ed Graney Special to ESPN.com |
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The passion is more intense than insane now. The expectations are more tempered than unreal. College basketball in Las Vegas doesn't have the same vigor as when The Shark patrolled the sidelines. But the winning part seems to be returning.
"You have to remember -- Tark hasn't been the coach here for 10 years," says Las Vegas Review-Journal sportswriter Steve Carp, who has covered the Rebels since 1988. "The town has gotten so much bigger. The dynamics have really changed. A lot of people who live here now weren't around in 1991. They don't remember any of those teams. "But the fact that Tark supports (second-year coach) Charlie Spoonhour, that he shows up to practices and games, is good. Those who are loyal to Tarkanian, and they are still around, are now loyal to (Spoonhour)." Spoonhour is the former St. Louis coach who restored order to the program after Bill Bayno was fired and Rick Pitino was courted. He has the Rebels off and running this season at 6-1. UNLV is the Mountain West Conference's most athletic team and many's favorite to win a league title. Spoonhour is in a similar situation -- although not identical given the time periods -- as first-year Fresno State coach Ray Lopes. Each man inherited programs once led by Jerry Tarkanian, teams that knew different levels of success and controversy during those towel-chewing tenures. Tarkanian, who resigned as Fresno State's coach last February and who recently underwent treatment for prostate cancer, won an NCAA title with UNLV in 1990. He is the fourth-winningest coach in NCAA history with a 778-202 record and won 20 or more games 29 times, second only to Dean Smith's 30. "Jerry and I go back a number of years," said Spoonhour, whose first UNLV team last season went 21-11 and advanced to the second round of NIT play. "It has been a very positive experience having him around some. He is always telling our kids to keep working hard. That means a lot. "Tark made UNLV basketball what it is. It's a big part of his legacy. I know how (popular) he still is here. I have no problem with that." It's debatable whether some Fresno State fans think the same of Tarkanian now as when he coached the Bulldogs. Reason being, the university recently placed itself on two years probation for a variety of rules violations, many by the basketball program under Tarkanian. Scholarships in basketball will be reduced by three from 2004-06. Tarkanian turned Bulldogs basketball around for his alma mater, but ran into problems last season when Fresno State failed to make the NCAA Tournament amid a series of suspensions and injuries. His final team finished 19-15. Lopes, the former Oklahoma assistant, has guided Fresno State to a 5-1 start this season. Despite the school's recent admissions of past wrongdoings, basketball's future appears bright. The Save Mart Center, a state-of-the-art on-campus facility, will open in 2003. "When I interviewed for this job and discussed the opportunity to be the head coach, I knew (possible probation and sanctions) were on the horizon," said Lopes. "I have things in my contract ... for situations that come up like this. But I have a great job. I hope to be here a long time. "Jerry Tarkanian is an unbelievable coach. I replaced a legend. It was an honor for me to step into his shoes. He laid a foundation of success, and now it's my job to build upon that foundation." You get the idea Spoonhour feels the same way, despite that near decade between when Tarkanian left UNLV and he arrived. "I just remember how hard Jerry's teams played, what kind of work ethic they had," said Spoonhour. "They were so unselfish. Every coach wants those things. "You know, I believe this town really just wants a winner. And I think if we can continue to give people a winning team and (Tarkanian) keeps coming back and watching us, it will be a very good thing for all involved."
Rebuilding Mode? Montgomery's response: "Well, we just lost to Montana at home." The Grizzlies, by the way, were a 19-point underdog. Things got even worse for Stanford on Tuesday night. The glow has come off Stanford since its impressive showing in the Preseason NIT, since those victories against Xavier and Florida. The Cardinal followed its loss to Montana on Monday by falling to Richmond, making Montgomery's team 0-for-2 in its own tournament. It's the first time Stanford has dropped consecutive non-conference home games since 1981. The same year "Chariots of Fire" won the Oscar for Best Picture. Stanford began its tournament in 1984 and had won the last seven titles. "It's many of the same things we talked about before the season," said Montgomery. "We're young, and young guys make errors. In our first six games, we avoided some of the mistakes we made (this week). But we took a step backward." Nothing is going right. Stanford (5-3 entering Thursday night's home game against UC Irvine) isn't defending well at all and isn't creating easy baskets. The transition game is in need of fine-tuning. The Cardinal didn't play from Nov. 29 to Dec. 14 due to final exams, and the long break obviously hurt. Stanford, like many Division I teams, is looking for someone to provide consistent leadership. Chris Hernandez might have filled the role, but the sophomore point guard broke the same bone in the foot he originally injured in October. Hernandez is gone for the season. Julius Barnes, a senior shooting guard, will remain at the point. Another body that could step forward is sophomore swingman Nick Robinson, who hasn't started a game and is averaging 17.8 minutes. "But he's a veteran player who went on a Mormon mission," said Montgomery, who entered the week needing two wins for 500. "It is crucial for us to find that leadership. We only have 10 scholarship players available right now and three are freshmen. But, like everyone, they have to play and grow up in a hurry."
Around the West "Both of those teams have so much speed, you can't allow them to score in transition," said John. "You have to make them score in a half-court game and then score yourself inside. Now, that's a lot easier said than done. They just have so much skill. I mean, who can't shoot for Oregon? Who can't run and score for Arizona? It's a lot better if they're in front of you than just running free and looking at open gaps and lanes. When they run, you can never have the desired matchups you want." John and the rest of the country watched Cincinnati follow his scouting report on at least the Ducks to the letter in the Bearcats' 77-52 victory over Oregon in the Jimmy V Classic.
But head coach Steve McClain has shown faith in other faces, and players like junior forwards Joe Reis (8.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and Mory Correa have stepped up. Marc Bailey, the Mountain West Conference preseason player of the year, is averaging 15.6 points. "(Beating Texas Tech) is right up there with Gonzaga, no doubt about it," said Bailey, referring to the team's NCAA Tournament upset of the Zags last March. "It wasn't too hard to get up for Bobby Knight and Texas Tech."
Nevada, which hosts Seattle Pacific on Thursday, has lost four games by five or fewer points. "We just don't know how to win yet," said sophomore forward Kirk Snyder, whose 30-footer at the buzzer against San Francisco gave Nevada its only road win thus far. "Good teams know how to compete and win. We're competing. We just don't know how to win."
Pretty much says it all, huh?
Who's Hot Mountain West Conference: The eight-team league went 12-1 last week, missing the first perfect week in conference history when New Mexico fell to rival New Mexico State.
Who's Not Hawaii: What do you get when you don't play a real game for 19 days? You get spanked by 11 at San Diego State, that's what.
Quote to Note Ed Graney of the San Diego Union-Tribune is a regular contributor to ESPN.com. He can be reached at ed.graney@uniontrib.com. |
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