Hope we keep Kruger

[colonelreb]

I see his potential, I like what I see currently. I can’t say that I haven’t been frustrated from early games, however I feel he can turn this around as he keeps getting better players. Love the effort his players give him. I think he had to adapt mid season to fit the style of play that works for us and I credit him for that. So many bad 3 point shots taken at beginning of season. He has reined that in as the season progressed. We lack shooting, but we are playing physical and I like it. I don’t expect much for this season but I have a hope we will win each game and play strong to the end. Win or lose, I hope we can build an identity around a coach for once. I hope it is Kruger.

 

[OleRebel03]

Do anything to keep Dedan please

 

[cducker68]

If DJ stays Kruger stays imo...but these early season losses because of poor game management is killing keeping asses in the seats at T&M. .can't imagine another entire roster turnover on Kruger's watch.

 

[unlove]

I see his potential, I like what I see currently. I can’t say that I haven’t been frustrated from early games, however I feel he can turn this around as he keeps getting better players. Love the effort his players give him. I think he had to adapt mid season to fit the style of play that works for us and I credit him for that. So many bad 3 point shots taken at beginning of season. He has reined that in as the season progressed. We lack shooting, but we are playing physical and I like it. I don’t expect much for this season but I have a hope we will win each game and play strong to the end. Win or lose, I hope we can build an identity around a coach for once. I hope it is Kruger.

The best outcome for UNLV is for Kevin to turn the season and the program into a success. There is no [insert name of top coach] waiting to take the job nor can UNLV afford one. We should all be rooting for him to succeed. Admittedly that has been very hard to do at times this season. He’s done well over the last month rebuilding the offense. He needs to the finish the job this season. This team has the ability to make the MWCT championship game. I’m expecting at least the semis.

 

[lvrebalum2012]

I see his potential, I like what I see currently. I can’t say that I haven’t been frustrated from early games, however I feel he can turn this around as he keeps getting better players. Love the effort his players give him. I think he had to adapt mid season to fit the style of play that works for us and I credit him for that. So many bad 3 point shots taken at beginning of season. He has reined that in as the season progressed. We lack shooting, but we are playing physical and I like it. I don’t expect much for this season but I have a hope we will win each game and play strong to the end. Win or lose, I hope we can build an identity around a coach for once. I hope it is Kruger.

I agree with a lot of this, but man, it’s tough to move past the blowout loss to AFA at home. Can’t chalk that one up to early season woes. There’s some big/tough games coming up. He needs a strong finish for sure.

 

[WarthogRebel]

I don't care who is coach as long as there is as much money as possible going to NIL for players.

 

[Rebel1986]

They also came down to the final seconds to beat Fresno State which worries me in regards to up coming games verse CSU, SDSU, and at unr.

 

[jdlr33]

If DJ stays Kruger stays imo...but these early season losses because of poor game management is killing keeping asses in the seats at T&M. .can't imagine another entire roster turnover on Kruger's watch.

Total speculation #1 - DJ's dad said the strategy has always been to move up to a more challenging level asap so DJ is playing against a competition level that will force him to stretch and grow. He's one of the best PG's in the conference - he's climbed to the top of this mountain and it's time for a new challenge. I will not be surprised if he transfers to a high major program so he can challenge for the starting spot.

Total speculation #2- DJ's dad said that the main factor in coming to unlv was that the pieces were in place with other recruits coming in that if DJ came we would be an NCAA tournament team. I wonder if they are disappointed with the results to the point that they would look elsewhere for next year?

 

[unlove]

Total speculation #1 - DJ's dad said the strategy has always been to move up to a more challenging level asap so DJ is playing against a competition level that will force him to stretch and grow. He's one of the best PG's in the conference - he's climbed to the top of this mountain and it's time for a new challenge. I will not be surprised if he transfers to a high major program so he can challenge for the starting spot.

Total speculation #2- DJ's dad said that the main factor in coming to unlv was that the pieces were in place with other recruits coming in that if DJ came we would be an NCAA tournament team. I wonder if they are disappointed with the results to the point that they would look elsewhere for next year?

And are the incoming recruits for next year going to have UNLV take a significant step forward or keep us fighting for the middle of the MWC? Nothing I’ve read about our recruits indicates the former.

 

[rebel5280]

And are the incoming recruits for next year going to have UNLV take a significant step forward or keep us fighting for the middle of the MWC? Nothing I’ve read about our recruits indicates the former.

This means the transfer portal must be used to find better wing shooters and at least one “closer” to go with DJ for those UNLV scoring droughts in games and the “end of game” scenarios, where we need a guy who can score at all 3 levels on the floor. I think we need two guys like this to go with DJ honestly and what we have coming in seems pedestrian at best so far!

 

[j. spilotro]

I see his potential, I like what I see currently. I can’t say that I haven’t been frustrated from early games, however I feel he can turn this around as he keeps getting better players. Love the effort his players give him. I think he had to adapt mid season to fit the style of play that works for us and I credit him for that. So many bad 3 point shots taken at beginning of season. He has reined that in as the season progressed. We lack shooting, but we are playing physical and I like it. I don’t expect much for this season but I have a hope we will win each game and play strong to the end. Win or lose, I hope we can build an identity around a coach for once. I hope it is Kruger.

I’ve thought this the entire way, rather than just flip to a new coach without a real plan - you know, the typical plan UNLV has … I think the best course of action would be to retain him and have the NLI pool increase a lot - at the same time, he has to get much, much, much better at roster construct. Too much duplication, too many wasted spots on low to non-contributors. You will always have a couple of those … we have too many. For DJ not to have an adequate backup is shortsighted, a failure. To not have a team that can shoot at all, that’s a failure. To have expected “key contributors” give you little to nothing, that’s poor assessment.

I think that’s his weakest area. There are others but he needs to grow … if that stays the same, the results will, too.

 

[WarthogRebel]

I’ve thought this the entire way, rather than just flip to a new coach without a real plan - you know, the typical plan UNLV has … I think the best course of action would be to retain him and have the NLI pool increase a lot - at the same time, he has to get much, much, much better at roster construct. Too much duplication, too many wasted spots on low to non-contributors. You will always have a couple of those … we have too many. For DJ not to have an adequate backup is shortsighted, a failure. To not have a team that can shoot at all, that’s a failure. To have expected “key contributors” give you little to nothing, that’s poor assessment.

I think that’s his weakest area. There are others but he needs to grow … if that stays the same, the results will, too.

"For DJ not to have an adequate backup is shortsighted, a failure."

IMO, hicks was supposed to be the backup, but Hicks isn't a point and even if he was he's needed on the court for defense and a little offence. So yes, a fail.

 

[SilverSpoon]

I don't care who the basketball coach is next season. I only come to this board for the Taco challenges. 🌮

When does Foosball start?

 

[Masked_rebel]

Everyone always says "there's no money" then we go out and hire a coach with the highest salary we've paid someone almost each time... yeah we kind of went cheap with KK, but each time it rolls around, we play the "poor pauper" excuse of why we can't hire a competent coach to ourselves meanwhile programs in worse financial shapes or with lower expectations find guys that just win... see UNM, USU, CSU... so maybe instead of "no big name coach" argument we just say when the time comes, Harper will have the right guy lined up with the end game of winning and getting to tournament, rather than excuses for why we can't ever reach it again...

 

[rebelwithacause]

I will always root for Kevin

I cant pretend to know who the right coach is for UNLV BB moving forward -

Its not up to me
nor as a fan do I care to get involved

IM just a fan
Im gonna stay in my lane and cheer hard for UNLV and Kevin

 

[Rosegreen1]

I don’t know, I mean if you had a poll in the beginning of the season, 99% of fans would say CKK must make the postseason (NIT or NCAA) to continue. It’s unlikely that unlv reaches either, there is some thought to the CBI but don’t know if that moves the needle for anyone.

Fans are desperate to see some success, even small ones. A five game win streak doesn’t put us in the conversation for a tournament. We have a long ways to go to get there.

Unfortunately, this season has some real missed opportunities, just like in prior seasons. We were close to the NIT that first season, last year the wheels came off after a hot start. This year has been a mixed bag, missed opportunities.

Lastly, how many are going to renew for tickets next season if CKK doesn’t have a postseason appearance? Money will be the main driver, if the support is there, i could see a return. If not, adios.

 

[dcut03]

I will always root for Kevin

I cant pretend to know who the right coach is for UNLV BB moving forward -

Its not up to me
nor as a fan do I care to get involved

IM just a fan
Im gonna stay in my lane and cheer hard for UNLV and Kevin

I wish more felt the same way.

Once he was hire, he was hired. He is our coach. Hoping him to fail to get someone else in, someone who will 90% be disappointing to fans isn't great.

He is Rebel, he wants to be here. He wants UNLV to succeed.

There have been arguably historic lows this season. There has also been some pretty good highs. It kinda sucks for our players and loyal fans to watch our team go into a packed house for a conference game and steal a win then come home to crickets for our game. Do they deserve sellouts? Probably not. But definitely better than what they are getting.

 

[saulpaul21]

And are the incoming recruits for next year going to have UNLV take a significant step forward or keep us fighting for the middle of the MWC? Nothing I’ve read about our recruits indicates the former.

Evans looks good. But yes, we will need a few GOOD portal guys

 

[1Tripoda]

Evans looks good. But yes, we will need a few GOOD portal guys

What looks good about Evan?

 

[saulpaul21]

What looks good about Evan?

Seems a good athlete and seems he can shoot, which we need. Part of basketball is skill and we have been short on skill as a team.

 

[WarthogRebel]

Good size. Listed at 6'5" early in the year now list as 6'7". Looks coordinated. Can shoot and penetrate. As with all our freshman will most likely be brought on slow and get minutes as the year progresses.

James Evans - Basketball Recruiting - Player Profiles - ESPN

Learn about James Evans and other recruit player profiles on RecruitingNation.com.

www.espn.com

https://www.verbalcommits.com/players/james-evans

 

[Rebel_Luv]

I will always root for Kevin

I cant pretend to know who the right coach is for UNLV BB moving forward -

Its not up to me
nor as a fan do I care to get involved

IM just a fan
Im gonna stay in my lane and cheer hard for UNLV and Kevin

I want him to win as much as anybody else, but does he have the ability to get us to the point of drawing 10-12000 fans to the T&M. There is a reason there is only a few thousand fans a game and 10-15 MAX that post on this site regularly. He is a work in progress and how much longer do we have to wait until we see the finished product? Recruiting is only gonna get harder, Most of his recruits seems like they were gifted to him or locals that wanted to come back home..

 

[rebelwithacause]

I want him to win as much as anybody else, but does he have the ability to get us to the point of drawing 10-12000 fans to the T&M. There is a reason there is only a few thousand fans a game and 10-15 MAX that post on this site regularly. He is a work in progress and how much longer do we have to wait until we see the finished product? Recruiting is only gonna get harder, Most of his recruits seems like they were gifted to him or locals that wanted to come back home..

I don't know why we debate all this stuff - its not up to us and we really have an uninformed perspective as to how and why things work the way they do in the world of college basketball these days. I don't think we are qualified to objectively evaluate KKs coaching performance.

So I ask you ? Why do you worry about all that stuff ?? - sounds like you are the GM or something - You're in too deep my brother - enjoy the game- relax - Enjoy the game tonight - Cheer hard

 

[WarthogRebel]

I don't know why we debate all this stuff - its not up to us and we really have an uninformed perspective as to how and why things work the way they do in the world of college basketball these days. I don't think we are qualified to objectively evaluate KKs coaching performance.

So I ask you ? Why do you worry about all that stuff ?? - sounds like you are the GM or something - You're in too deep my brother - enjoy the game- relax - Enjoy the game tonight - Cheer hard

We debate all topics because it's a sports forum and that's what a sports form is. Debate - talk - conjecture - prediction - etc. Some people like to get in deep - others not at all.

 

[rebel5280]

We debate all topics because it's a sports forum and that's what a sports form is. Debate - talk - conjecture - prediction - etc. Some people like to get in deep - others not at all.

Could not have said it better!

 

[rebelzzz]

I don't think Kevin has what it takes to make UNLV much better than whatbee currently are. I think about as good as it gets under him is a top 3 in the mwc every 4-5 years and the rest of the time somewhere between 5-8. But I am not sure we fire hum right now. Mainly because who will the next coach be? Another Menzies type coach? Do we have money to bring anybody in worthwhile? If UNLV brings in another coach that is similar then why replace him?

 

[rebel5280]

I don't think Kevin has what it takes to make UNLV much better than whatbee currently are. I think about as good as it gets under him is a top 3 in the mwc every 4-5 years and the rest of the time somewhere between 5-8. But I am not sure we fire hum right now. Mainly because who will the next coach be? Another Menzies type coach? Do we have money to bring anybody in worthwhile? If UNLV brings in another coach that is similar then why replace him?

Don’t assume Harper has no plan, nobody knows what he is thinking and I believe after his hire of Odom, he is not thinking like this! Just because we don’t know who is next doesn’t mean anything, nobody around knew about Odom until he was mentioned and look how that turned out! We are seeing the height of Kevin’s potential and we all know its not good enough to take UNLV to the level of consistently being at the top of MWC let alone a nationally known program that can be top 25. This season, while good in moments, is a the best Kevin will do here!

 

[rebelzzz]

Don’t assume Harper has no plan, nobody knows what he is thinking and I believe after his hire of Odom, he is not thinking like this! Just because we don’t know who is next doesn’t mean anything, nobody around knew about Odom until he was mentioned and look how that turned out! We are seeing the height of Kevin’s potential and we all know its not good enough to take UNLV to the level of consistently being at the top of MWC let alone a nationally known program that can be top 25. This season, while good in moments, is a the best Kevin will do here!

While I agree with pretty much everything you said where is the money going to come from? It isn't just getting money to hire a coach that can push UNLV up a couple notches but he also has to consider what money it is going to take to hopefully keep Odom from leaving. I don't know for certain but my guess is there is if Odom has another impressive year Harper is going to have to extend and raise his contract quite a bit to even have a chance at keeping him. If Odom leaves ot will tale that money to bring in a new football coach. What kind of money does that leave to find a new basketball coach?

 

[Babalouie]

Don’t assume Harper has no plan, nobody knows what he is thinking and I believe after his hire of Odom, he is not thinking like this! Just because we don’t know who is next doesn’t mean anything, nobody around knew about Odom until he was mentioned and look how that turned out! We are seeing the height of Kevin’s potential and we all know its not good enough to take UNLV to the level of consistently being at the top of MWC let alone a nationally known program that can be top 25. This season, while good in moments, is a the best Kevin will do here!

Pretty much just your opinion or hope. I would say that many dont agree with your assessment, me for one.

 

[Masked_rebel]

While I agree with pretty much everything you said where is the money going to come from? It isn't just getting money to hire a coach that can push UNLV up a couple notches but he also has to consider what money it is going to take to hopefully keep Odom from leaving. I don't know for certain but my guess is there is if Odom has another impressive year Harper is going to have to extend and raise his contract quite a bit to even have a chance at keeping him. If Odom leaves ot will tale that money to bring in a new football coach. What kind of money does that leave to find a new basketball coach?

Don't worry where the money is coming from. It's always there. Odom will leave when the right job comes his way and no money we have will matter when that happens. It'll probably next year buy even if it is, look how much better off we are. Basketball will be the same way and the buckets of $$ are separate accounts. One doesn't take away from another with regards to paying one staff or another. We like to play the "poor pauper" card when it comes to coaches as an excuse for continuing to have a terrible program when the reverse is true. We just didnt use it well previously.

 

[RRebel]

Yea, so does every other school the in Mountain West.

 

[bcvegaspt]

The main question, in finding our "Basketball Odom," is if any coaches have come to the Mendenhall Center to tour the facility the way Odom toured the Football facility.

I'd love for CKK to be here next year based on merit. I'll hold to that since it will mean that we've made it to the NCAA Tournament.

 

[InZoneU]

I love BB. I still coach youth city rec BB. But it's time to move on for UNLV. FB is the most important thing to worry about and it always has been. This is the reason why we've struggled so much with identity. Too many people focused on the shiny ball of what we had in BB and thinking we are a 'basketball school'. Dumb AF.

The BB success will follow the FB success and that's just how it is. Deal.

 

[rebel5280]

We can have basketball success if we follow the blueprint that the football hire showed us! Those that think we should just keep with Kevin because the old tired excuses of no money or we don’t know who the next guy will be is dumb! We didn’t know Odom would be the guy before he was mentioned either and look how that turned out. We don’t need to maintain this current regime and the losing that comes with it because of the unknown, we just need to follow the blueprint right in front of our collective faces, Odom!

 

[PeccoleRanchRunner]

I appreciate Kruger talks and walks like he wants to be here unlike the previous 2 guys who viewed this job as a stepping stone. Until the last 5 minutes last night he's had this team playing at a high level recently. I think its fair he gets another season season to see how his recruits pan out.

 

[unlove]

We can have basketball success if we follow the blueprint that the football hire showed us! Those that think we should just keep with Kevin because the old tired excuses of no money or we don’t know who the next guy will be is dumb! We didn’t know Odom would be the guy before he was mentioned either and look how that turned out. We don’t need to maintain this current regime and the losing that comes with it because of the unknown, we just need to follow the blueprint right in front of our collective faces, Odom!

Most of us are saying that unless there’s a quality upgrade to replace CKK, there’s no reason to make the move and repeat the same cycle we’ve been in that has had us trending continually downward with each change (generally speaking). You’re saying allow Harp to make the move bc he’ll bring in someone better than CKK and improve the program. We’re saying the same thing, you’ve just inverted our comments. So we’re both dumb or smart, take your pick.

 

[RebelScrub]

We are screwed either way if we keep Kev or let him go..

 

[Masked_rebel]

We are screwed either way if we keep Kev or let him go..

We're a Football School now...

 

[billd99s]

No, we have to let Kevin go. Last night was a preview of MWC and SDSU. He has been unable to develop a game plan to get Thomas open. The only play for him was a so called double screen at the top of the key. Then he has to drive vs their centers to make a tough shot. He needs screens where he shoots off the dribble, not driving to the hoop. Hicks needed to be an option earlier in the season. He can light it up but there are no plays for him either. The Boone bros need someone to pass out to when they are doubled. That part of the game blew up because early season preparation for other three point shooters was cancelled for Webster and Lu Rod who both shoot line drive bricks most of the time. All of my observations are about scheme and using players to their best. He has failed because of a controlling the tempo mindset which makes DJ Thomas always bring the ball up and we never have a break with him taking a shot from the corner or wherever with someone else bringing the ball up.

 

[Rebel1986]

I love BB. I still coach youth city rec BB. But it's time to move on for UNLV. FB is the most important thing to worry about and it always has been. This is the reason why we've struggled so much with identity. Too many people focused on the shiny ball of what we had in BB and thinking we are a 'basketball school'. Dumb AF.

The BB success will follow the FB success and that's just how it is. Deal.

Not always. Just look at how bad the Michigan basketball team is even with a national championship in football.

Considering there is going to be a very large increase in football season ticket sales (still have not even opened up season ticket sales for new ticket holders - STUPID), they can use some of that money to also find a new basketball coach if Kruger ends up not meeting whatever the goals are set by the AD and school President.

For those that think we shouldn't take money from Football to help basketball, tell that to the basketball program that subsidized the football program for the last 40 plus years.