 | | UNLV head coach Lon Kruger held an online chat on Friday, Nov. 12. |
UNLV head men's basketball coach Lon Kruger held an online chat on Friday, Nov. 12. The full transcript of the chat is below. |
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 |  | UNLV Moderator: Hey fans, hope you are ready for Opening Night tonight... We already have some good questions for Coach. Keep them coming |
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| Damien (Las Vegas): Will you wear your gray uniforms during the regular season? |
 | | Lon Kruger: We'll wear gray occasionally. In fact, we did for the exhibition opener vs. Grand Canyon. |
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| Dougie (City): How important is it to have a strong season to continue to get top-noched recruits?! |
| | Lon Kruger: Success always improves recruiting possibilities. Players want to play in successful programs with other outstanding players. Our current players are always a key in our recruiting successes. |
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| Caitlin Peru IL: Coach, How do you expect the team to perform without Trevon and Kendall the first few games? |
| | Lon Kruger: Given performance in the exhibition games, all seems to be moving forward well. Obviously, the addition of Tre will add to our quality and depth. |
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| Saady, (Nazareth): Hello coach, What do think of about Karam Mashour? Is he going to have an impact on UNLV and on MWC in general? I played with Karam in Nazareth and he always left me and the all the players with our mouths open, from what you seen of him, can he do the same in college basketball in the years to come? In the end, I must say, UNLV is getting popular each day in Nazareth because of Karam, and we are all holding our hands to have a successful year and to get to the NCAA. Good luck Saady |
| | Lon Kruger: Teammates and coaches love Karam. Great attitude, great work ethic, great personality. At some point in the future, Karam will have a big impact on our program and the conference. The decision to redshirt or not this season will be Karam's and he will decide that prior to our opener tonight. We are 100% supportive either way. |
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| bruce (los angeles): How do you feel your team can improve after reaching the tournament finals last year? |
| | Lon Kruger: Veteran team. Experienced depth. Hope to be improved across the board. Tough schedule, tough conference, improvement is very necessary. |
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| Greg Greeley, CO: Coach - With the additions of Quintrell and Carlos many have talked about moving Chace to the three and having a bigger lineup. If this were to be done can you still play the kind of pressing and trapping man to man? Or do you have to have the three guard lineup and Chace at the 4 to accomplish this? Thanks Coach. |
| | Lon Kruger: Great to hear from you again, Greg. More flexibility with lineup size this year. Ability to go big should not inhibit our ability to extend full-court defensively. |
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| Anthony (Las Vegas): Hey Coach. In past years the team, despite its great defense, has struggled with rebounding. Do you think the addition of Carlos Lopez and Quintrell Thomas will help with this? |
| | Lon Kruger: Size should help, but also our perimeter guys have to help more aggressively on the boards. Generally, rebounding is an area that definitely needs improvement. |
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| | UNLV Moderator: Questions are flying in. We'll try to get to as many as we can. Thank you! |
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| Dennis (Las Vegas): What are your impressions of how Jasper has done early on playing PG? |
| | Lon Kruger: Derek has played consistently well throughout practice - whether at the point or wing. Great to see him feeling good about the health of his knee. |
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| michael - las vegas: excited for the season. but are worried at all about expectations being too high? |
| | Lon Kruger: Expectations are healthy. Much prefer the interest and high expectations. Generally they are based on having good players and we definitely like the guys we have on this squad. |
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| Dave (LV): Hey Coach. I'm sure you've heard a lot about fans wanting bigger guys in the lineup. That leads to my question. Is Chace better at the 3 or the 4? Thanks. |
| | Lon Kruger: Chace's ability gives us the option to go big or small - not something we have had in the last couple of seasons. Having that flexibility is great. |
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| linda (las vegas, nev): hi coach. excited for the seaosn to start!!! is it hard to have so much depth and find playing time for everyone? it seems like we have so many guys this year. we love our rebels! |
| | Lon Kruger: We do have quality depth which improves the strength of our team. Should be able to keep people fresh and more productive. |
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| Dave (Tuscon): Hello, Coach. Have always respected your style and your teams. My question is about one of our favorite people in Tuscon, Jim Livengood, your new AD. What type of impact has he had on your program and the department? You are fortunate to have him. I will always love my Wildcats, but with Jim at UNLV, I will root for the Rebels now as well. Thank you and good luck this season. Dave |
| | Lon Kruger: Jim is the perfect fit for our program. His energy and enthusiasm has positively affected everyone in our department and he aggressively reaches out into the community. He has been very favorably received on all fronts. |
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| mark (Arizona): Who will be your leader this year? |
| | Lon Kruger: With several veteran players, expect leadership to come from different sources. The experience of the junior and senior class is a real strength. |
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| Roger (Henderson): What role will the new practice facility play in recruiting? Good luck this year Coach! |
| | Lon Kruger: Unbelievably huge impact. Young prospects value having the practice facility available at any time and this facility will be hugely significant in our recruiting efforts. |
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| Ben (Las Vegas): Looks like we have a great team this year, Coach!! Seems like everyone is pretty excited. What are you doing to keep the guys in line and get them ready mentally for the year? |
| | Lon Kruger: This group appears pretty self-motivated given the disappointing loss in the NCAA Tournament last March. They worked hard in the off-season and appear very focused on the season ahead. |
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| Hank (Las Vegas): Is there anything you can do to stop Massmaba and Thomas from fouling so much. How do you work on that in practice. Besides that, really like what I see so far. Should be a good season. Go Rebels. |
| | Lon Kruger: Too many fouls from our big guys. Focusing on working earlier for good position defensively to reduce need for reaching and trying to catch up. |
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| Joe (Las Vegas): Is the school looking to continue the series with Kansas State and/or Louisville? |
| | Lon Kruger: We are in discussion with Kansas State presently and we are in the second year of the Louisville series which will continue into years three and four. |
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| Mike Garth (Las Vegas): Lon, Do you feel this is possably the deepest team you have had at UNLV since becoming the head coach, and if so where do you see this team in the mix with the bigger names come March? |
| | Lon Kruger: This team is the deepest athletic team we've had. Still need to be more physical on both ends. With improvement, hope to be in the middle of everything come March. |
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| Heidi (Las Vegas): Coach, I think a lot of fans want a big season this year for the Runnin' Rebels. But in the back of our minds, we are scared you might leave for another job if that happens again. Are you here to stay? We hope so! |
| | Lon Kruger: Barb and I love living in Las Vegas. People are great and they love Rebel basketball. Can't imagine living anywhere else. |
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| | UNLV Moderator: It's game day. We only have Coach for a few more minutes. Thanks for joining us. |
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| Kaylee (Las Vegas - 9): Hi Coach, will there be another Kids Day like last year? Will there be a mascot game? |
| | Lon Kruger: Hi Kaylee. Thanks for the question... Families attending games are a real strength of our crowds. Kids' Day with the mascot game is definitely a powerful attraction. This year, it will be Jan. 22 for our 1 p.m. game vs. New Mexico. |
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| jimmy (las vegas): Coach whats your opinion on the conference as of right now? You got SDSU having everybody back, BYU and New Mexico are also challenging for the title |
| | Lon Kruger: The conference will be the strongest it's ever been. Four teams that played in the NCAA Tournament will all be improved as will the other five in the league. The conference champion will be a very good basketball team. |
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| curtis (las vegas): Is justin hawkins capable of playing the point guard position after bellfield leaves? Or is more of a shooting guard? |
| | Lon Kruger: Justin is extremely versatile and his ability to play wing or point makes him invaluable to our team. Also, his awareness defensively is as good as anyone in the league. |
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| | Lon Kruger: Thanks for the questions. Hope to see you tonight. |
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| | UNLV Moderator: Hey Rebel fans. Thanks for joining us. Remember, Opening Night is tonight at 7:30 p.m. Get Your Reb On. |
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