I wonder how many years they give CKK??!!

[Rebel_Luv]

I dont see anything that would give me hope. I think the recruiting by the end of the season ( we play the mostly the top half of the conference) will get to almost impossible to land quality transfers or solid HS players. What selling points do we have?? Unless CKK has a card up his sleeve. I see the wheels falling completely off. Giving the job to CKK was almost a impossible task. Especially the toxic UNLV environment. That is why we should of went after a sucessful mid-tier HC or lead assistant on a TOP 10 team or even go after a NBA or NCAA coach not coaching anymore. That worked pretty good for us. I use to get so mad about losing now i expect it. Most of us the post on here are diehard UNLV fans and 95% of us knew we had no chance against one of the weakest SDSU has had in years.

 

[shnoker]

Seriously I feel bad for him. He does not yet know how to assemble a roster and that will only get tougher with a horrible record in a Shit conference. He needs to bring in a couple tough transfers to improve next year. Also he needs an assistant who knows how to coach offense. Hope he can turn it around

 

[rebel5280]

I was hoping for the best with Kevin but the sun does seem to be setting on him rapidly and as already mentioned, he may not be able to right the ship with the transfer portal or HS recruits.. All we can hope is that Dad is watching and has a card up his sleeve to help his son get over this hump.

 

[bcvegaspt]

There may be a very pleasant surprise awaiting us this off-season.

Of course things can change but I’ve heard some positive talk.

 

[khokhol8]

Everyone needs to relax. Is it frustrating being a die-hard UNLV basketball fan? Of course! We all know where the program was at one point, the premier program in the whole country. CKK had to get 10 new players for this season...TEN! The cohesiveness just isn't going to be there. He will need some time. Let's see how year 3 is. The Rebels have shown some promise at times this year, they just haven't been consistent. I'll wait and watch the rest of this season and then see if there is improvement next season. Still might be the right guy

 

[LVRebel2000]

I'm not going to say that we should give guys 10 years, but in my opinion, unless we have some other home run coach lined up, we can't run guys out of town without a proper chance to even get things started. Or base performance on our expectations. The reality is, we've really only be good a few years since the Tark years. Even when Lon K. was winning, people were talking about getting rid of him because we weren't winning in the right way.

I didn't agree with the hire, but now that he's been hired, we have to at least give him a few years, especially as a first time head coach, to get the ball rolling. If we wanted to win right away, we should have hired Pitino.

 

[RebelScrub]

4 more years..that’s all.

Pretty soon a pro basketball team will come. Then it will be officially game over

We’re just watching our beloved university program die a slow death.

In 2022 it’s not anybody’s fault.

 

[unlv91]

I’d say 3 years at the most

 

[WarthogRebel]

Everyone needs to relax. Is it frustrating being a die-hard UNLV basketball fan? Of course! We all know where the program was at one point, the premier program in the whole country. CKK had to get 10 new players for this season...TEN! The cohesiveness just isn't going to be there. He will need some time. Let's see how year 3 is. The Rebels have shown some promise at times this year, they just haven't been consistent. I'll wait and watch the rest of this season and then see if there is improvement next season. Still might be the right guy

"Everyone needs to relax."

After getting completely bulldozed by SDSU I don't see how any Rebel fan can relax. Supporting a team that could very well post no more than 4 conference wins doesn't encourage any fan to relax. Realizing that bringing in P5 and lower tier leftovers won't cut it isn't relaxing. Making alowances for a coach that couldn't retain the good players from last years team isn't a way to relax. ( Why does anyone think he won't have to do it all over again??) Going to a venue that seats 17000 and only has 1500 isn't a way to relax. Seeing no more that 100 students at a game isn't a way to relax.

For me, it is starting to boarder on a mental disease. If I was sane I'd just walk away from this board, the newspaper, ESPN etc. and start watching hockey. But just like a crack addict I can't get away from it.

And I'm sure not ready to watch the team self destruct and just relax.

 

[Rebel_Luv]

"Everyone needs to relax."

After getting completely bulldozed by SDSU I don't see how any Rebel fan can relax. Supporting a team that could very well post no more than 4 conference wins doesn't encourage any fan to relax. Realizing that bringing in P5 and lower tier leftovers won't cut it isn't relaxing. Making alowances for a coach that couldn't retain the good players from last years team isn't a way to relax. ( Why does anyone think he won't have to do it all over again??) Going to a venue that seats 17000 and only has 1500 isn't a way to relax. Seeing no more that 100 students at a game isn't a way to relax.

For me, it is starting to boarder on a mental disease. If I was sane I'd just walk away from this board, the newspaper, ESPN etc. and start watching hockey. But just like a crack addict I can't get away from it.

And I'm sure not ready to watch the team self destruct and just relax.

To put in Pitinos' own word we are a sleeping giant. Unfortunately we are one that went in hibernation and may never come out.

 

[j. spilotro]

To put in Pitinos' own word we are a sleeping giant. Unfortunately we are one that went in hibernation and may never come out.

Sleeping giants pull upsets regularly. They don’t lose 5-10 games per year by double digits. They don’t lose a half dozen or more at home.

 

[Rebel_Luv]

Sleeping giants pull upsets regularly. They don’t lose 5-10 games per year by double digits. They don’t lose a half dozen or more at home.

Sleeping giants is exactly that. After he said that he also mentioned the talent level was down WAY down. LOL.Potential as in all the tools we need to win. Since that statement we have leapfroged in terms of what we can offer a student/athlete. Everything at our disposal. If UNLV invested in the program fans would come , $$ boosters would start to return and winning would come. Invest as in a homerun hire.

 

[j. spilotro]

Sleeping giants is exactly that. After he said that he also mentioned the talent level was down WAY down. LOL.Potential as in all the tools we need to win. Since that statement we have leapfroged in terms of what we can offer a student/athlete. Everything at our disposal. If UNLV invested in the program fans would come , $$ boosters would start to return and winning would come. Invest as in a homerun hire.

But we won’t do that. UNLV hoops is on what rung of university priorities? It used to be #1.

It’s distant now. And we won’t, imo, ever treat it as 1, 2, 3 …. and this didn’t happen overnight. It’s the slow slippery slope … people enabled it.

 

[76RunninRebel]

I'm not going to say that we should give guys 10 years, but in my opinion, unless we have some other home run coach lined up, we can't run guys out of town without a proper chance to even get things started. Or base performance on our expectations. The reality is, we've really only be good a few years since the Tark years. Even when Lon K. was winning, people were talking about getting rid of him because we weren't winning in the right way.

I didn't agree with the hire, but now that he's been hired, we have to at least give him a few years, especially as a first time head coach, to get the ball rolling. If we wanted to win right away, we should have hired Pitino.

I think this is spot on! We have to learn from our mistakes from the past, look how they handle another former player turned UNLV head coach, Dave Rice! That was horrible how they ended that with him, yes you gave him basically 5 years but let him finish the season for God sakes, he's a Rebel! Clearly the mistake was letting one booster have to much power, he wanted Rice gone and wanted to make sure that coach Rice couldn't get hot at the end of the season and make the tournament which then would make it really hard to fire him!

 

[j. spilotro]

I think this is spot on! We have to learn from our mistakes from the past, look how they handle another former player turned UNLV head coach, Dave Rice! That was horrible how they ended that with him, yes you gave him basically 5 years but let him finish the season for God sakes, he's a Rebel! Clearly the mistake was letting one booster have to much power, he wanted Rice gone and wanted to make sure that coach Rice couldn't get hot at the end of the season and make the tournament which then would make it really hard to fire him!

The issue started with only a three year contract. I think all first year coaches should get a five year deal. If you made a mistake, you have to eat some of it, so be pretty sure.

 

[76RunninRebel]

I'm with you on the hire, it wasn't my preferred choice either but since it's done and he is a former Rebel you got to give the guy at least 5 years to see if he has the program going in the right direction. Only if you know for sure you have a big/hot name coach lined up do you let him go before 5 years!

 

[Rebel_Luv]

I'm with you on the hire, it wasn't my preferred choice either but since it's done and he is a former Rebel you got to give the guy at least 5 years to see if he has the program going in the right direction. Only if you know for sure you have a big/hot name coach lined up do you let him go before 5 years!

Most coaches that are big/hot name coach only need 2 MAYBE 3 to prove thier worth. If you get worse as the season goes on. It usually a you problem. Rice got worse. Still would of liked him to have gotten 2 more years "IF" he was still going to recuit like he did. Since he recuited at such a high level. IF not they should of waited until the end of the year. OTZ got better in his first year with marginal talent. 2nd year he had his foot out the door. So i dont count that.

 

[76RunninRebel]

DRF completely messed up this hire, all she cared about was looking good on how she balanced the books for the athletic department! She was constantly looking to leave for a p5 job and could have offered to pay the new coach after TJ left 2.2-2.4 mill per year! They were paying TJ 1.6 mill per year( when they hired him it was said our max budget was 1.8 mill per yr) and I believe they received 3 mill for his buyout from Iowa state! I really thought with those available funds we had a good chance of landing a pretty good coach but instead she went pretty much the cheap route and got a guy who had no head coaching experience at the college or pro level! You know there was guys who had head coaching experience with success who would of came here but by her hiring KK she got all that extra money from the buyout and lowering of the annual pay for the head coach and put it into the department to look good!

 

[76RunninRebel]

Don't get me wrong, I want Kruger to succeed even if he wasn't my choice but there must of been better choices out there at the time!

 

[76RunninRebel]

If he isn't a former player does he even get offered the job? Of course not! If you were to tell me after TJ left we are going to hire a guy with no head coaching experience, only assistant experience that is in the single digits in years I would thought you were crazy!

 

[76RunninRebel]

Man I hope I'm wrong and Kevin is the guy and gets our program going again! I would hate for another former Rebel to get fired!

 

[j. spilotro]

If he isn't a former player does he even get offered the job? Of course not! If you were to tell me after TJ left we are going to hire a guy with no head coaching experience, only assistant experience that is in the single digits in years I would thought you were crazy!

I don’t think it was all former player. I don’t think other formers who are assistants (can’t think of many) would have had a shot. This had more to do with his dad’s name. I think he was groomed for the position here at UNLV. I think Otz bringing him on board was a long term plan.

I’m not against it if it works.

 

[Rebel_Luv]

I don’t think it was all former player. I don’t think other formers who are assistants (can’t think of many) would have had a shot. This had more to do with his dad’s name. I think he was groomed for the position here at UNLV. I think Otz bringing him on board was a long term plan.

I’m not against it if it works.

i would love to get a honest opinion from OTZ about KK. Was on his staff for 2 years. Never saw CKK do too much off the bench when he was a assistant. Maybe he did not want to step on any toes or just saw the writting was on the wall. Had to know he had the job before the season was over.

 

[Rebel1986]

The idea of already calling for the head of a coach that hasn't even had one season to recruit is pure stupidity! As for most coaches needing only a year or two to run around a program, I call BS on that. It is much easier to take over a high level program than to take over a program that is lucky to have a winning record, and in the case of UNLV, the shelve was empty and he was stuck with a rag tag group of transfers to fill out the first year, and we got what should be expected from the level of talent he was stuck with for his first season!

As for a top level coach, what do you think of the following first three seasons of this coach, and would you want a coach like this after three seasons at a major program?
17-13
10-17
11-17

 

[WarthogRebel]

DRF completely messed up this hire, all she cared about was looking good on how she balanced the books for the athletic department! She was constantly looking to leave for a p5 job and could have offered to pay the new coach after TJ left 2.2-2.4 mill per year! They were paying TJ 1.6 mill per year( when they hired him it was said our max budget was 1.8 mill per yr) and I believe they received 3 mill for his buyout from Iowa state! I really thought with those available funds we had a good chance of landing a pretty good coach but instead she went pretty much the cheap route and got a guy who had no head coaching experience at the college or pro level! You know there was guys who had head coaching experience with success who would of came here but by her hiring KK she got all that extra money from the buyout and lowering of the annual pay for the head coach and put it into the department to look good!

We shouldn't be paying more than $500,000 for a coach.

Wyoming is paying less than that and they are 15-2. Get a top coach from any one of the lower conferences. Loads of them are doing better than us in small gyms at small-town universities. Pick the top two programs in any lower division and their coach is doing better, with less, than our coaches have for the past 10 years+. Most of them are making @ $200,00 and would walk on fire for a half mil.

 

[Rebel_Luv]

The idea of already calling for the head of a coach that hasn't even had one season to recruit is pure stupidity! As for most coaches needing only a year or two to run around a program, I call BS on that. It is much easier to take over a high level program than to take over a program that is lucky to have a winning record, and in the case of UNLV, the shelve was empty and he was stuck with a rag tag group of transfers to fill out the first year, and we got what should be expected from the level of talent he was stuck with for his first season!

As for a top level coach, what do you think of the following first three seasons of this coach, and would you want a coach like this after three seasons at a major program?
17-13
10-17
11-17

Not calling for anybodys "head". I just get tired of this losing. Does not look promsing next year either. IMO. I could be wrong. I said mostly in 2-3 years. Coach K???? That was like 40 years ago. The game is completely different now. This last what dozen games will be very telling to me what direction this program is headed. If i could pick mystery X coach to lead us to the promise land. CKK would be in my TOP 5. I just want to see some glimse of hope! Have not seen much other than HOPEFULLY having Gilbert for 3 more years.

 

[WarthogRebel]

Not calling for anybodys "head". I just get tired of this losing. Does not look promsing next year either. IMO. I could be wrong. I said mostly in 2-3 years. Coach K???? That was like 40 years ago. The game is completely different now. This last what dozen games will be very telling to me what direction this program is headed. If i could pick mystery X coach to lead us to the promise land. CKK would be in my TOP 5. I just want to see some glimse of hope! Have not seen much other than HOPEFULLY having Gilbert for 3 more years.

"CKK would be in my TOP 5."

CKK would not be in my top 50. I would never hire a coach that hasn't been a successful head coach somewhere else.

 

[Rebel_Luv]

"CKK would be in my TOP 5."

CKK would not be in my top 50. I would never hire a coach that hasn't been a successful head coach somewhere else.

TOP 5 if he would be a program changing HC.

 

[NSU67]

I say, stop supporting. Stop attending. Turn on the Coach after half a season.
Fire him after 3 years. Lose almost all the players.
Get a new guy. Have him recruit a whole new team in a few weeks.
Contunue to stay home and refuse to support. Turn on the coach after half a season....

It has worked well before. Why not again?

 

[Runnin-J]

Funny how quickly we have changed our tune since the Michigan and Wichita State games. I thought he coached well and the players played with heart.

1st year coach, 10 new players...not sure who could have stepped in and made us fans happy right away. Could another coach have done better, for sure but this is UNLV and everything about the school has been a failure regarding this program since...lol, a long time!

 

[Rebel_Luv]

Funny how quickly we have changed our tune since the Michigan and Wichita State games. I thought he coached well and the players played with heart.

1st year coach, 10 new players...not sure who could have stepped in and made us fans happy right away. Could another coach have done better, for sure but this is UNLV and everything about the school has been a failure regarding this program since...lol, a long time!

I saw some promise also. Looked like everyone liked each other they played hard. Looks like night and day now. I think it might be some fire in the clubhouse or maybe they have gameplaned against us because now they have other games to look at.?

 

[j. spilotro]

Funny how quickly we have changed our tune since the Michigan and Wichita State games. I thought he coached well and the players played with heart.

1st year coach, 10 new players...not sure who could have stepped in and made us fans happy right away. Could another coach have done better, for sure but this is UNLV and everything about the school has been a failure regarding this program since...lol, a long time!

Yep. The tune changing is so fast around here. If we upset CSU, time for an extension, but a statue right next to Tark.

People that are on here that are ok with where we are at, or are confident UNLV is on its way back based upon what they’ve seen … they are the type that watch the Notebook with a couple boxes of Kleenex. Being a fan, I mean, it’s allowed to be like that … but if that’s your absolute reality … Or you choose that instead of opening your eyes, knowing it’s bad and will be bad but you ostrich your head because your psyche can’t deal with the heavy probabilities …. Or you choose that outlook for everything in life … you’re just a sappy fool. Which is fine, everyone has defense mechanisms to some degree. To me, looking in the mirror and accepting realities as they are is much more beneficial. At least my mind isn’t floating away in some far off land with Peter Pan sharing a cup of hope from a golden chalice, laughing because everything in the world is always good … blech. Pollyanna is the worst.

 

[JTthe2nd]

I dont see anything that would give me hope. I think the recruiting by the end of the season ( we play the mostly the top half of the conference) will get to almost impossible to land quality transfers or solid HS players. What selling points do we have?? Unless CKK has a card up his sleeve. I see the wheels falling completely off. Giving the job to CKK was almost a impossible task. Especially the toxic UNLV environment. That is why we should of went after a sucessful mid-tier HC or lead assistant on a TOP 10 team or even go after a NBA or NCAA coach not coaching anymore. That worked pretty good for us. I use to get so mad about losing now i expect it. Most of us the post on here are diehard UNLV fans and 95% of us knew we had no chance against one of the weakest SDSU has had in years.

I don't think recruiting to UNLV is hopeless. There will be lots of talented but disgruntled transfers seeking more opportunities. Would you rather play in bum fck Reno or Wyoming or in a happening metropolis like Vegas? Our facilities our awesome. CKK just needs to sell his vision of these guys being a part of something big. I still don't know what Dave Rice did to sway so much elite talent to play for us but we need it bad.

 

[shnoker]

We are a comatose giant. The admin has been terrible and asleep at the wheel for over a decade. Shit, I thought we were close in both sports when I went there almost 15 years ago. But ever since have hired less competent leadership and coaches every time.

I hope Kruger works out, but im scared of how bad it can get if he doesn’t.

 

[Rebel_Luv]

I don't think recruiting to UNLV is hopeless. There will be lots of talented but disgruntled transfers seeking more opportunities. Would you rather play in bum fck Reno or Wyoming or in a happening metropolis like Vegas? Our facilities our awesome. CKK just needs to sell his vision of these guys being a part of something big. I still don't know what Dave Rice did to sway so much elite talent to play for us but we need it bad.

We are so far from being competitive to a TOP 75 team. If we dont reload next year with substantial increase in talent we will be in for another long season. We are losing 3-4 significantly of our better players not including tranfers on a team that might win 15 games. We are losing our starting PG. Next year will me a Make or break year. Atleast for me.

 

[1Tripoda]

The idea of already calling for the head of a coach that hasn't even had one season to recruit is pure stupidity! As for most coaches needing only a year or two to run around a program, I call BS on that. It is much easier to take over a high level program than to take over a program that is lucky to have a winning record, and in the case of UNLV, the shelve was empty and he was stuck with a rag tag group of transfers to fill out the first year, and we got what should be expected from the level of talent he was stuck with for his first season!

As for a top level coach, what do you think of the following first three seasons of this coach, and would you want a coach like this after three seasons at a major program?
17-13
10-17
11-17

Duke's K

 

[j. spilotro]

We are so far from being competitive to a TOP 75 team. If we dont reload next year with substantial increase in talent we will be in for another long season. We are losing 3-4 significantly of our better players not including tranfers on a team that might win 15 games. We are losing our starting PG. Next year will me a Make or break year. Atleast for me.

Under Tark we were a top 10 program.

Under Rollie, top 50

Under Bayno, top 75

Under Spoon, top 75

Under Kruger, top 40

Under Rice, top 50

Under Menzies, top 200

Under Otz, top 200

Can’t comment on Kevin yet but we are nowhere near top 75, probably top 150 for this year.

My point is it has been awhile.

 

[WarthogRebel]

Under Tark we were a top 10 program.

Under Rollie, top 50

Under Bayno, top 75

Under Spoon, top 75

Under Kruger, top 40

Under Rice, top 50

Under Menzies, top 200

Under Otz, top 200

Can’t comment on Kevin yet but we are nowhere near top 75, probably top 150 for this year.

My point is it has been awhile.

Kenpom 123

 

[rebel5280]

Chris Mack is available!

 

[j. spilotro]

Chris Mack is available!

Have always liked him.