One by one its players filed off the "Paradise Discovered" tour bus in Manoa yesterday but the University of Nevada men's basketball team looked nothing like it had found paradise.

Chain gangs look less dour. Visits to the dentist office evoke more smiles.

The Western Athletic Conference season begins for most of the members tonight and at the Stan Sheriff Center, where Hawai'i awaits, it can be said the two-time defending regular season champion Wolf Pack is playing the part with grim sincerity.

Not that their head coach, Mark Fox, was inviting much hilarity this week with promises of a back-to-basics "boot camp" practice regimen. There was also the threat of lineup changes for good measure. And no media interviews — in Nevada or Hawai'i.

No more Mr. Nice Guy, either. Not coming off an 89-80 upset loss at St. Mary's Saturday, where Nevada had allowed an 18-0 run. Not after the 10-2 Wolf Pack, which was ranked No. 17 at Christmas, tumbled out of both of the national polls with a thud this week.

Fox, at 36, might be the youngest coach in the WAC, but he wasn't born yesterday. You don't want the free throw-shooting yips (does that sound familiar?), defensive struggles or rebounding woes of the non-conference season carrying over into the WAC and becoming continuing problems.

Hence, the heralded "return to fundamentals" and "buckling down" Fox prescribed. "We have to concentrate a little better and that's the key to some of the technical mistakes we've made," Fox said.

Clearly, you don't want to give anybody else in the WAC hope, especially when you are already wearing the considerable bull's-eye of the overwhelming preseason favorite.

Fox maintains "the conference season is like a marathon, not a sprint" over its 16-game course. But there is something to be said about not stumbling coming out of the starting blocks.

The Wolf Pack pulled off the rarity of a 9-0 road sweep in conference last year and UH, a team Fox voted to win the WAC this year, might be more than just the first road test this year. The Rainbow Warriors could also be the toughest. Just ask Utah State about last month's visit. Or reference Nevada's 0-7 record here until last year.

So even though the Wolf Pack is off to its best start since 1978-79, it isn't like Nevada finds itself in paradise today.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.