Wink sits

Wink Adams now officially possesses the most scrutinized abdomen in Las Vegas since an out-of shape Britney Spears made her not-so-triumphant return to the stage at the Video Music Awards at the Palms last year with her belly hanging out.
The senior guard doesn’t have the same problem, but his strained abdominal muscle continued to keep him out of UNLV’s basketball practice on Monday.
Afterward, several members of the media watched as athletic trainer Dave Tomchek worked Adams through a variety of exercises in an effort to rehab the injury and gauge the possibility of Adams playing in Wednesday’s game at Louisville.
For about 30 minutes, onlookers were transfixed on Adams jogging in a circle and bunny-hopping to half court and back.
Adams said his chances of playing remain the same as last week.
“(It’s about) 50/50,” he said. “Everything’s feeling good. If I can run full speed and defensive slide without hurting, I’ll definitely play.”
The defensive slide he referred to might be the real key. Of all the drills and maneuvers he went through on Monday, he said that drill was the one that hurt the most.
He says he’ll work closely with Tomchek to decide whether or not he can play against Louisville.
“It’s all up to Dave,” he said. “I’ll tell him how I feel and I’ll listen to what he has to say.”
Head coach Lon Kruger is waiting along with everyone else to find out the status of his leading scorer.
“He’s still day-to-day. He’s not able to run full speed yet,” Kruger said. “We have one more practice (Tuesday) and we’ll see where he is.”
Kruger dismissed the idea that even if Adams is ready to play, the team might hold him out to have him at 100 percent for the start of conference play.
“If he’s ready to play, he’ll play,” Kruger said.

Mitchell gets in extra work

Wink Adams wasn’t the only player working hard after practice on Monday.
Freshman DeShawn Mitchell worked on individual offensive moves with coach Lew Hill for quite some time after his teammates had gone to the locker room.
Tre’Von Willis also stayed for a bit to work with coach Greg Grensing on his pull-up jumper.

Kruger puts on a show

Former Rebel Kevin Kruger attended practice and took the court to shoot around when the team had finished for the day.
Kruger shot on the opposite end of the floor from where Adams was rehabbing.
His father, Lon, stood under the basket to rebound as Kevin moved all around the floor taking jumpers.
The elder Kruger didn’t have to move from right under the basket. Kevin made everything he put up.
During one span of about 10 shots during which he moved between the two elbows, he made every single one and only brushed the rim on one of the shots that dropped right through the net.
It was an unbelievable display.
From 3-point range, Kruger rarely missed throughout the nearly 20-minute jump-shooting clinic.
It makes one think that Lon probably wishes his son had more eligibility, or at least that he had a younger brother.