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UNLV BB 2021 Season

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https://lasvegassun.com/news/2021/sep/30/unlv-basketball-takes-court-for-first-practice-und/

UNLV basketball takes court for first practice under Kevin Kruger

Meet the new coach - It seems like his players have already bought in. The two-hour session mixed normal opening-day excitement with an on-court intensity that should bode well for a defensive-minded team when the real games begin.

No rust for Nuga - Nuga is an explosive scorer (17.8 points per game last year) who had his 2020-21 campaign cut short due to a torn ACL in January, but he showed no noticeable rust on Wednesday as he flew around the court and dominated most of the proceedings. Nuga reported that his knee feels fine, but he’s still working his way back to being a full participant.

Athleticism is head-turning - Nuga isn’t the only exceptional athlete on the roster. As mentioned, Williams is capable of getting above the rim with ease, and Oklahoma transfer big man Victor Iwuakor looked as agile and explosive as advertised. Previous coach T.J. Otzelberger did not particularly emphasize raw athleticism on the recruiting trail, but Kruger clearly values physical traits. “We’re a lot more athletic,” Hamilton said. “We’ve got a lot of talent, a lot of guys that came from Power 5 schools. We’re going to be pretty good.”

Coleman is healthy - After just one practice, Kruger sounded very appreciative of everything Coleman brings to the table. “The best part about Marvin is he’s reliable,” Kruger said. “He’s somebody you can count on. He’s been here. When you say things and you talk with him, you understand each other because there’s that history. Having him come back was huge and we’re going to lean on him a lot for leadership and a steady hand.”

Team is 100% vaccinated - Kruger confirmed that the program is 100% vaccinated, meaning all players, coaches and team personnel have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

Kruger is comfortable with transfers - The goal, Kruger said, is to build a mature squad that is ready to compete physically with the rest of the Mountain West. “We’re hoping the experience and the age can shorten or lessen the gap in terms of time with each other,” Kruger said. “We’ve got guys that, being older on their second stop, the conversations are a lot more direct.”

Lon shadow - Toward the end of practice, former UNLV coach Lon Kruger made his way into the Mendenhall Center to observe. That figures to be a regular occurrence, as Kevin Kruger plans to welcome the wisdom of his recently retired father. “I have no hesitations or qualms about admitting that yeah, I’m going to bounce everything off of him. I wrote the first practice plan and after meeting with the coaches, [I asked him], ‘What would you do differently when you were coaching? What do you think of this? How would you explain that?’”

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The last Run it Back Episode featured Baby Kruger's coaching style, this one focuses on Carlin Hartman coaching the defense. For those who haven't heard of him yet, he was the associate HC for Daddy Kruger at Oklahoma and was rated the #3rd best assistant coach in the Big-12 in a poll by his peers. The athleticism on defense definitely seems ahead of Krugie's offense...their play-style will produce some grindy, low-scoring games until the offense catches up w/ recruiting. 

 

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2 minutes ago, quickdraw said:

The central theme I keep hearing about this team is effort and intensity. Hard nosed players.

 

I hope so but wouldn’t be too surprised seeing as that is the exact kind of player CKK was.

Seems to be the theme coming from reporters - more athletic guys 

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I’m just happy for NCAA basketball to get started again soon. Games being played 5 or 6 days a week to watch. Anything can happen at any time type of seasons. More Rebel games to go see. An entirely new staff and team (almost). A new HC that I actually like. Now if the T&M would up their game in the concessions department it would be perfect.

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