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Home is where the hurt is
Posted: Wednesday January 19, 2000 06:47 PM
By Phil Miller, Special to CNNSI.com One coach insisted before the season that the Mountain West is the toughest travel conference in Division I. Another said he wouldn't be surprised to be unbeaten at home and winless on the road. A couple more declared that the conference champion will be the team that can win a handful of games away from home. Mountain West coaches so feared their conference road trips, you would have thought they were traveling on the Titanic. Shows what they know. One week into the inaugural Mountain West season, home is the worst place to be. Eight conference games were played last week, and the visitors won seven of them. Traditionally tough buildings in Laramie, Las Vegas and Albuquerque turned out to be entirely too friendly this year. Only Utah avoided a home-court loss, perhaps because the Utes are the only team that hasn't played a home game yet. But if Utah caught the home-court hex, that would really be news, since the team owns the nation's longest home winning streak, at 45 games. Utah hasn't lost in the Huntsman Center since Tim Duncan led Wake Forest over Keith Van Horn and the Utes on Dec. 31, 1996. "I can't explain it. Maybe teams are still fresh, and haven't been worn down too much yet," theorized Brigham Young coach Steve Cleveland, whose Cougars won at UNLV but then lost at home to Utah. "All I know is I'm very happy to have a road win already in the bank." They're not so happy in Albuquerque, where The Pit is suddenly the pits. New Mexico, which lost three home games in the past four seasons, has already dropped six in The Pit this season, including its conference home opener for the first time since 1990. The crowd at the Lobos' 85-73 loss to UNLV was quiet because the Lobos trailed all night, virtually eliminating a once-powerful home-court advantage. "I don't think it's anything in particular that we're doing or not doing at home," Lobos coach Fran Fraschilla said. "We're getting beat because we're playing some good teams." Despite the weird start, Mountain West coaches stand by their fears of the road. Expect that 1-7 mark to turn around quick, said Wyoming coach Steve McClain, the only coach with a conference home victory, 88-83 over New Mexico. "Teams have already proven they can win at home," said McClain, who is 19-3 in Laramie. "This league will come down to who can win road games at the end."
Master of the hustle playThe box score says he had a solid but ordinary game -- nine points, six rebounds, one assist. But witnesses to Utah's 56-49 victory over BYU were unanimous that Utah forward Alex Jensen had a subtle but decisive influence on the game. Jensen is one of those "effort" players, a guy who specializes in tapping rebounds out to teammates, who seems to save every loose ball, who handles all the toughest defensive assignments. And in a career full of quiet-but-deadly performances, his play at BYU was one of his best. Jensen guarded Cougar guard Terrell Lyday -- who had averaged 25 points over his previous five games -- in the first half, and Lyday managed only five points in that time. When Utah's big men picked up fouls, Jensen moved inside to guard BYU pivotman Silester Rivers. In one three-minute stretch, the senior forward grabbed a rebound in traffic, backed it out and stroked a three-pointer, blocked Rivers' shot, went up for another three and passed to an open teammate at the last second. "Al Jensen, since his freshman year, he's been a special player," said Utah coach Rick Majerus, who almost drew tears while describing Jensen's dive for a loose ball. "I love him as a person. I love him as a player." With Jensen's leadership, the Utes held BYU scoreless over the game's final seven minutes, and turned a 50-49 lead into the seven-point final margin. His play raises an interesting question for the 13-3 Utes, who are now ranked No. 20: Who is Utah's most valuable player? A good case could be made for forward Hanno Mottola, especially since Utah's offense frequently fizzled when he missed the season's first 10 games with a knee injury. But Jensen, the unsung hero, may be more crucial to Utah's success. "When he leaves, Utah will miss him more than anyone else they have lost in the last five years," said BYU's Cleveland. "They'll miss him more than Keith Van Horn, more than Michael Doleac, more than Andre Miller. He's a terrific player." He's also single, something fairly unusual for a 23-year-old former Mormon missionary, so Majerus is trying to change that. The coach likes to chat up eligible women, hoping that some pretty waitress will be a match for his star forward. "I'm constantly trying to find a date for him," said the coach. "I know a wonderful girl now that I want him to take out."
Trying to fly higherIt's easy to scoff at the Central Connecticuts and Northern Iowas on Air Force's schedule, but give the Falcons some credit. They normally spend their non-conference season touring NAIA and Division II and III outposts, beating up on Adams State, Colorado-Colorado Springs and the like. The idea is to win some games and build some confidence for league play, where the Falcons are forever undersized. It generally works. Air Force is 15-6 the past two seasons in non-conference play, and 4-28 in conference games. This season, however, Air Force toughened its schedule with opponents like St. Louis, Long Beach State and Portland State, all Division I schools. The Falcons paid a price for it, going 5-7 in the preseason, but longtime coach Reggie Minton figures the experience may pay off during the Mountain West season. The competition helped freshman center Tom Bellairs blossom into an 8.6-rebound-per-game force inside, remarkable numbers for a 6-foot-6 pivotman. Minton hopes Bellairs' development will combine with the scoring provided by forward Tyron Wright (16.1 points) and guard Jarvis Croff (18.9) to help Air Force steal a few victories during the Mountain West season.
Schedule unfair?BYU president Merrill Bateman, athletic director Val Hale and coach Steve Cleveland have all written letters to the Mountain West protesting inequities in the league schedule that they say put the Cougars at a disadvantage. Cleveland is still steamed that the league moved up BYU's conference opener at UNLV by three days to Monday, January 10, just two days after a Cougar road game at Utah State. The change was made too late for BYU to reschedule its game with USU, and because the school prohibits competing or practicing on Sunday, the Cougars had no time to prepare for the Rebels. (Still, BYU won that game, 77-75.) The Cougars are also unhappy that the MWC schedule includes four consecutive road games. But their biggest complaint stems from ESPN's desire to schedule Utah for five "Big Monday" games. To accomodate those wishes, Utah's schedule has been split from that of BYU, its longtime schedule "partner." While BYU continues to play a regular Thursday-Saturday schedule, Utah mostly plays on Saturday and Monday. That means that schools that come to Utah always travel first to Provo, then move on to Salt Lake City, but never the reverse. So BYU has no games against teams that have played the Utes two nights earlier, but Utah has nine games against teams that have just played the Cougars. It's a tremendous disadvantage, said Cleveland, since his team always faces a fresh opponent that has had a week to prepare, while Utah rarely does. "And can you imagine a team that had to play a rough, physical game with Utah, coming to our building two nights later? They would be spent," Cleveland said. "This [schedule] will never happen again, if I have anything to say about it."
Worth notingKaspars Kambala, nearly invisible in losses to Cincinnati and BYU, emerged when UNLV needed him most. The junior center destroyed New Mexico's interior defense, shot 11 free throws, and collected career highs in both scoring (32 points) and rebounding (18). The Lobos had started a freshman, R.T. Guinn, on Kambala, but that didn't last long. ... Rebel newcomer Lou Kelly finally received official clearance to play, and he learned the UNLV playbook in one day. But he looked understandably rusty in his debut, a 98-73 win over Air Force. Kelly, a 6-5 swingman who transferred from Los Angeles City College, played 18 minutes but missed eight of his nine shots, for four points. He played only two minutes at New Mexico after injuring his foot. Phil Miller covers the Mountain West for the Salt Lake City Tribune. Check back every Wednesday for his latest CNNSI.com Insider.
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