While Kruger tinkers, team goes in the tank
The other night I watched back-to-back documentaries on television, one on the pop group ABBA, the other on Apollo 13, both of which reminded me of UNLV basketball coach Lon Kruger.
Some big-time record producer said if you placed the parts of an ABBA song on a table, there would be only one way to arrange them back into an ABBA song, and that’s what made ABBA so successful.
Kruger should have been a big-time record producer. He takes parts from other people’s songs, their castoffs, and usually arranges them into 20-plus wins and a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
In 2006-07, he took an injury-prone leftover (Michael Umeh), an out-of-shape transfer (Wendell White), a two-headed monster (Joel Anthony and Gaston Essengue), a walk-on with frizzy hair (Curtis Terry) one good player whose mom wasn’t afraid to send him to Las Vegas (Wink Adams) and the kid sleeping down the hall (son Kevin Kruger) and beat second-seeded Wisconsin to advance to the Sweet 16. He won 30 games with those guys, and lost only seven.
I am convinced that had NASA put Lon Kruger in the same room with astronaut Ken Mattingly, they would have figured out how to fit a square peg into a round hole in half the time, and brought home the Apollo 13 crew with minimal consternation and wringing of hands.
Having said this, the 2010-11 Rebels have yet to do Kruger’s coaching chops justice. This could be their fault. Or it could be his.
These Rebels jack too many 3s. Their fault. Or Kruger’s, for allowing them to jack away.
They play too many guards, or too many centers. Or they play this center or that one, when they should be playing the other one. Jay Cutler couldn’t produce. Todd Collins is washed up. It’s time to give Caleb Hanie a chance.
Despite playing all those guards, the Rebels don’t press enough. They don’t get to the free-throw line enough. They don’t guard Jimmer Fredette enough.
The rotation is messed up. Carlos Lopez plays like Bill Russell for 12 minutes against New Mexico but when the game’s on the line, he’s sitting next to Red Auerbach. Anthony Marshall, arguably the team’s best player, has to fight for minutes with Tre’Von Willis, arguably the team’s best leader, when he should be getting some of Derrick Jasper’s time.
In 25 minutes against New Mexico, Jasper was 0-for-0 from the field and 0-for-0 from the line. He hasn’t been the same since he injured his knee. Or left Kentucky. But give him credit. Unlike Cutler, at least he’s trying to play through it.
Marshall should drive to the basket every chance he gets. He should not be jacking 3s, because he has made only seven, and missed 32. Quintrell Thomas, the latest UNLV big man who hasn’t panned out, was unstoppable at the tournament at Disneyland over Thanksgiving. But every time he commits a foul, he gets pulled off Space Mountain. So now he’s tentative when he should be aggressive.
Jasper is injured, Willis is injured, Kendall Wallace, who was personally responsible for UNLV wins at New Mexico and against Air Force last year, has been injured all year. Matt Shaw’s career literally went up in smoke when he tested positive for marijuana at last year’s NCAA Tournament. You think the Rebels could use a big guy who can knock down 3s right now? Or block out somebody and get a rebound?
The Rebels got blown out at home by Fredette which is one thing, and then got blown out at home by Colorado State, which is unacceptable. They seemed happy to have escaped with a home victory over a mediocre New Mexico team when they should have been disturbed by it.
The chemistry just isn’t there. The teamwork just isn’t there. The effort just isn’t there. Remember in 2007, when Wink or Curtis Terry would slap their palms on the floor, and immediately jump into somebody’s athletic supporter on defense?
When a couple of the Rebels slapped the floor against New Mexico on Saturday, that skinny guy with the Bob Marley dreadlocks knocked down a wide-open 3 that gave the Lobos the lead.
Before Christmas, the Rebels appeared a lock for the NCAA Tournament. Now they are looking more like a candidate to play some underachieving team in the NIT in an auxiliary field house, because the Black Eyed Peas have dibs on the big arena.
And yet, Kruger still has time to fit these square-peg Rebels back into their round holes.
The parts are on the table, waiting to be arranged into a platinum record. Or at least one that warrants a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament. Kruger’s done it before. He’ll probably do it again.
But as they play tonight in the distant desolation of Wyoming, these Rebels seem more like the crew of Apollo 13, wandering aimlessly, conserving power, waiting for mission control to bring them home.
Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Ron Kantowski can be reached at rkantowski@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0352.
