Rebels look to make own noise in 'Pit'

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- During the season, New Mexico men's basketball head coach Fran Fraschilla has his players practice under the duress of fake crowd noise.

The team will practice calling out plays and using hand signals to communicate while piercing screams and cheers are piped over the sound system in the Lobos' University Arena, more commonly known as the Pit.

But the first-year head coach at New Mexico doesn't employ the tactic to prepare his players for a tough road game in a hostile environment -- he does it to help himself and his players defend their home court.

"You better have signals for all your plays because otherwise they're not able to hear you," Fraschilla said of playing in the notoriously loud Pit. "It can get deafening at times.

"We're hoping for that (tonight)."

Tonight at 9:05, the Lobos (9-8, 1-1 in the Mountain West) will host UNLV (10-4, 1-1) at the Pit in a Big Monday game that will be shown on ESPN.

Of UNLV's 13 players, only Mark Dickel, Kaspars Kambala, Donovan Stewart and Issiah Epps have experienced what it's like to play in the depths of the Pit.

"You can't really prepare them for this type of atmosphere," Dickel said. "The only thing you can say is to be prepared for something you've never experienced before.

"It's like you're playing a sixth man. Before, we've played in places that were loud. This is a completely different level. Every shot. Every possession, the fans are into it and the players really feed off of it."

The Rebels who haven't played in the Pit, including freshman Dalron Johnson, will soon find out why Sports Illustrated ranked the 18,018-capacity arena No. 13 on its top 20 venues of the 20th century in which to watch a sporting event. Duke University's Cameron Indoor Stadium, which nabbed the fourth spot, was the only other basketball facility on the list.

"They speak about this place like it's the worst (place to play)," Johnson said. "They told me the crowd is unbelievable.

"I didn't get any tips yet on how to handle it. They just told me to go out and play hard."

No matter how many fans do show up, it may not be enough for Johnson. When he takes to the floor, he will see a familiar face wearing a Lobos uniform, freshman Marlon Parmer. Parmer was Johnson's high school teammate at Verbum Dei High School in Los Angeles.

Johnson bumped into Parmer before the Rebels practiced on Sunday afternoon.

"No, I didn't get too friendly with him," Johnson said. "I told him we'll be friends after the game.

"I hope they sell out and 1,000 more people sneak in the building to watch. I love it. The bigger crowd motivates me and hypes me up."

That's the same crowd Fraschilla is counting on to help the Lobos to a victory.

At the Pit, the Lobos clearly boast one of the best home court advantages in college basketball. Heading into the season, the team was 470-105 at home and 71-3 the last four years.

This season, Fraschilla has had to find the right lineup to replace All-America center Kenny Thomas, who is currently with the Houston Rockets. Without Thomas, Fraschilla's team has been hurt by a lack of size inside that has forced him to play three guards.

The rebuilding process hasn't been easy and the team has already lost five at home this year. That's four more games than last year's team lost the entire season and enough to make Lobos fans revolt.

Now that the team is home for three consecutive conference games after a one-point victory at Colorado State in their Mountain West opener and a five-point loss at Wyoming, Fraschilla hopes the team can regain the full support of their rabid fans. New Mexico also has a huge road win at Arizona last month.

"It's important," Fraschilla said of the crowd. "I think this year, our program has been a work in progress and I think we've started to play a lot better these last three weeks.

"Coming into a big game like this on national TV, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing what kind of fan support we have.

To combat the rowdy fans who are sure to hamper communication for both teams, UNLV head coach Bill Bayno has devised his own signs using body language to instruct the Rebels.

Bayno says his main worry, however, are the players on the court.

Players such as Lobo swingman Lamont Long, forward Damion Walker and Parmer.

New Mexico thrives when Long has a big game and stumbles when the senior struggles. Long, a John R. Wooden Award finalist, is averaging 17.5 points and 5.1 rebounds a game.

"With a player like that, you just have to try to make the game tough on him," Bayno said. "You have to help out on defense when he drives through the lane.

"He's a pro player and I think our kids are up to the challenge."

According to Fraschilla, Parmer will face a supreme challenge in guarding Dickel, who is averaging 13.3 points and a MWC-leading 8.8 assists.

Fraschilla called Dickel "a human assist" and likened the combination of him and Kambala to the duo of Utah Jazz point guard John Stockton and power forward Karl Malone. Add those two players to shooting guard Trevor Diggs, who scored a career-high 28 points Saturday to help destroy Air Force, 98-73, and Fraschilla sees trouble.

An even bigger problem for the Lobos will be stopping UNLV big men Kambala, Johnson, Sylvester Dotson and Chris Richardson. Kambala leads the team with 18.4 points and 8.9 rebounds a game.

"With Kambala, he just overwhelms you with physical strength and he's been doing it for three years now," Fraschilla said. "You have to mix up your double teams.

"It's possible that we might have to play a zone because we haven't been able to stop anybody inside and it's a big concern of ours.

"They're dangerous. The one thing that makes UNLV potent, especially if Trevor (Diggs) is hitting 3s, is that they've got an excellent point guard.

"Dalron, I say this in a very complimentary way, he's kind of a garbage man now. He not only can knock down jump shots, but he's really good on the back side cleaning up the boards. If Trevor misses a shot or Dickel drives, they've got a guy like Dotson or Johnson to clean up."

To neutralize UNLV's size inside, Fraschilla said he will rotate many players on defense.

For the Rebels, a key will be for their big men to dominate inside and put pressure defensively on the Lobos. And if UNLV can play as well as it did against Air Force at Clune Arena, its biggest obstacle may be all the noise.

"It's going to be loud as hell in there," Richardson speculated.

Earplugs any one?

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