 | | Coach Kruger participated in a live chat at UNLVRebels.com on Dec. 8. |
UNLV Runnin' Rebel head coach Lon Kruger participated in a Live Chat session on Dec. 8 on UNLVRebels.com. The full transcript is below. |
 |
 |  | UNLV Moderator: Good morning Rebel fans. Sitting here with Coach Kruger for the next 40 minutes. Have a lot of good questions already. Please keep sending them in. Here we go. |
|
|
| Courtney(lv): How does it feel to have this many wins so far? |
 | | Lon Kruger: The guys are off to a good start. Winning games is nice, but more importantly, this group has made progress and learned from each win. Hopefully this attitude will allow them to continue their winning ways. |
|
|
| Brian (Las Vegas): what comparisons can you draw between this team, and the sweet 16 team? |
| | Lon Kruger: Similiar in that both had/have great attitude about working hard in practice. Different in that the Sweet 16 team was a little older, but I believe this team has more players that can make plays for each other and great depth. |
|
|
| Las Vegas: Hey Coach. I feel like the play of the big men has been better this year than in the past. What do you think about the play of your big men? |
| | Lon Kruger: Brice, Matt and Darris are doing a terrific job at the five spot. They are sharing the 40 minutes and averaging a double-double as a group. Not sure we could have projected that going into the season so we are very pleased with their contributions. |
|
|
| patrick escalante (las vegas): Hey coach What do u think of the new name we've givin wallace... The Scarlet Sniper! |
| | Lon Kruger: Like the name. Kendall has been our most consistent shooter and is also performing very well on the defensive end. Very happy for him and the contributions he is making to his squad. |
|
|
| Bill (Las Vegas): Congratulations on the teams success so far this season. It is early in the season - what are your thoughts on the rankings? And how do you make sure the guys are prepared every game and not focusing too much on rankings? |
| | Lon Kruger: It's nice for the players, fans and program to be ranked at this time. However, I do believe this group of players understands that you can't be complacent this early in the season and you have to make progress each day in practice. This group continues to work hard everyday and appears to understand the great challenges ahead. |
|
|
| Adam (arizona): Kansas State is a big game this weekend. They are good team, not to mention your alma mater. What are some of their strengths that you guys are preparing for this week? |
| | Lon Kruger: Kansas State is a very good basketball team. They will be the most physical team we will have played to this point and will have great balance of inside and outside depth. They will attempt to dictate with their physical play which will be great for our guys as that is an area in which we need to continue to improve. The atmosphere at the Orleans will be terrific as we appreciate the support of our crowds. |
|
|
| Tom (Las Vegas): Besides going far in the post-season, what are some long term goals for this team? What do they need to do in order to become a solid threat? |
| | Lon Kruger: Biggest area of concern for this squad is the low shooting-percentage from three-point range. The guys have been very unselfish with the ball and are creating good looks, but to this point, have not shot the three very well. As I have mentioned, we will need to improve our percentage in the fext few games or start shooting a lot fewer threes. Of course our hope is that we start making a few more from long-distance. |
|
|
| Becky (LV): Great to watch this year's team play! Excited for the rest of the season! What are something that has surprised you about this team so far this year? |
| | Lon Kruger: With so many new players, wasn't sure what our depth would be like. With the emergence and comfort level of freshmen Anthony Marshall and Justin Hawkins, our depth has been a pleasant surprise. At this point, we expect to continue playing 11 guys right into the conference season. |
|
|
| Jim (Henderson): Congrats on the start of the season, Coach. It's been fun, however, do you have any fears of fans' expectations getting too high? |
| | Lon Kruger: Realistically, fans' expectations probably are too high, but that is a healthy problem to have. Rebel fans love their basketball and their interest and support is very much appreciated. The high expectations are the result of the players getting off to a good start - and hopefully those expectations will motivate the players to continue making progress. |
|
|
| todd(las vegas): Coach congratulations for the great start and the exciting product you are putting on the floor. I have a couple questions for you. First what do you think of the talk about expanding the field of the tournament to 96? and Secondly with the pre confernce schedule winding down do you start to look at that first week of conference with 2 huge road games to open up the Mountain West? |
| | Lon Kruger: I like expanding the field to 96. There are more good players and good teams today than ever before and expansion of the tourney field would reward their efforts and make for an even broader base of excitement. At BYU, at New Mexico is a very tough way to open conference play. But we have never been too concerned about the order we play conference games because it all evens out in the long run. Besides, no need worrying about anything we can't control as the schedule is set by the conference office. |
|
| | UNLV Moderator: Hey there fans, we have Coach for 10 more minutes. If you have a question, we might be able to fit it in. |
|
|
| DOUG (Las Vegas): Hello Coach: Are my eyes deceiving me or did Brice come back this season leaner and meaner. It seems like he has lost some weight during the off season and became quicker and more agressive. |
| | Lon Kruger: Brice is in much better physical condition this year and that has resulted in a much more mobile and versatile player on the court. He is getting better results and I anticipate that will continue to improve throughout the year. |
|
|
| Greg (Greeley, CO): Coach - Really have enjoyed watching this years team. It is nice to see so many players contributing. I see alot of potential in Derrick, Justin, Anthony, and Chace. Can you talk about the difference quality depth has made this year. Thank you. |
| | Lon Kruger: The depth has been a key component in each of our wins to this point. Depth helps overcome injury or foul trouble and it is great to see different guys stepping forward to pick up the slack at different times. Also, the added advantage of healthy competition in practice each day as players continue to push to make eachother better. |
|
|
| Joe Bartoch (Canada): First of all, congratulations to Lon and all the team. Hopefully my question will spark the interest of the fans that have moved away, or are not from Las Vegas. How can fans across the nation help support the Runnin Rebels? Joe Bartoch (Class of '07) |
| | Lon Kruger: Hello, Joe. Hope your swimming career is progressing well. It's great to see that there is Rebel support from across the country (and in Canada). While our base of interest is Las Vegas and Clark County, it is obvious the Rebel brand goes nationwide. We attempt to provide updated information to fans across the nation as you can follow the Rebels on UNLVRebels.com as well as get the updates from CoachKruger.com and its emails. Thanks for the continued interest. Keep cheering for your Rebels. |
|
| | UNLV Moderator: We are almost finished. However, we did have a couple of questions about possible transfers at semester break. Per NCAA rules, we are not allowed to comment on students transferring from other institutions. |
|
| | Lon Kruger: Thanks for the time today. Hope to see you at the Orleans on Saturday. Thank you for your continued support. Go Rebels! |
|
|
|
