UNLV at Boise State

[Tolo]

On 1/8/2025 at 7:41 AM, Qwelish said:

Whenever UNLV gets curb stomped the full game is uploaded to the internet/YouTube within 24 hours.

But never the wins.

 

Trash.

So true....I still cant find a replay of the freaking LA bowl. 

[UNLV2001]

On 1/8/2025 at 4:20 PM, VincentVegaBond said:

Harper has gotten the job done big time in football but basketball is an entirely different story. I'm optimistic he will do well but is still a complete unknown in that domain at this time.

He can't do any worse than the incompetent clowns he replaced (neither could you or I even if we tried) but we should all be nervous, even with Harper, based on our abysmal history with UNLV basketball.

Thinking that now , the BB program being so far removed from the Tark era, that the shadow of Tark & his record has faded somewhat ..........I think that was a big reason UNLV & some fans had flailed away trying to resurrect the Tark era by going with a "Tark" guy ....... Tim Grg, Dave Rice, even Augmon's name coming up by some.

Still think UNLV has enough to offer that a good coach could come in here and win and turn this thing around............if Gonzaga can do it in the WCC (like UNLV did in the Big West /PCAA) the UNLV job can be brought back.............plus Spokane is a recruiting graveyard for the most part, where if a guy had a national program going here at UNLV could recruit 4 & 5 star guys inside a 30 mile radius 

This 2024/25 NBA season has the following NBA players from local LV area high schools 

Zach Collins - Gorman

Daishen Nix - Trinity International

Jaden Hardy - Coronado

Orlando Robinson - Centennial

Julian Strawther - Liberty 

[Tolo]

On 1/8/2025 at 1:52 PM, SleepingGiantFan said:

Yup. Soft as new-born baby's butt.

However, you guys keep turning over coaches and how much has that helped? Conclusion I draw is that it has to be something else besides coaching that's a problem. Incompetent athletic directors doing the hiring perhaps?

You are 100% correct. The lady who hired CKK is no longer our AD. Our new AD has not yet had the chance to hire a Men's BBall coach, and I'm sure he cant wait to do so.

[Qwelish]

On 1/8/2025 at 2:12 PM, SDSUfan said:

 

They can forward the finders fee to me.

Once upon a time this would have been a wet dream hire for UNLV. 

I don't think he'd be the right hire at this time, though.

 

[Qwelish]

On 1/8/2025 at 3:20 PM, Bigd said:

Maybe a bigger concern is that both Otzelberger and Menzies have been very successful at every other stop. 

Perhaps the coaches themselves aren't the issue, but it's a bigger institutional problem at this point?

I'm close to alone on this, but I don't think MM was unsuccessful here. He recruited well. 

His problem is he operated under the assumption that he had time to rebuild slowly, after taking over a complete dumpster fire. He lost virtually zero players to the portal and all his guys bought in. 

He scheduled too soft, had some key injuries and then ran into an opportunistic AD hire who wanted to make her own hire.

TJ was an outlier based on Zaon and Covid. I believe he would have had success here too, had he stayed. Also not sure he believed in UNLV, because his recruiting was very low level mid major level. Screw that guy.

 

[VincentVegaBond2]

On 1/8/2025 at 4:59 PM, Qwelish said:

I'm close to alone on this, but I don't think MM was unsuccessful here. He recruited well. 

His problem is he operated under the assumption that he had time to rebuild slowly, after taking over a complete dumpster fire. He lost virtually zero players to the portal and all his guys bought in. 

He scheduled too soft, had some key injuries and then ran into an opportunistic AD hire who wanted to make her own hire.

TJ was an outlier based on Zaon and Covid. I believe he would have had success here too, had he stayed. Also not sure he believed in UNLV, because his recruiting was very low level mid major level. Screw that guy.

 

I agree about Marv in that first of all, after the usual big names like Pitino that were initially thrown around, then the Beard fiasco, everyone was disappointed in the Marv hire and nobody wanted him as HC from day 1. That's almost impossible to overcome.

Also, he came into smoldering nuclear ashes of a program that had been nuked to high hell by Rice and TKM. He at least stabilized it and turned us back into a winning albeit mediocre program.

I'm clearly no fan of his but he did no worse for the program than his successors TJ and Kruger, and he came into an impossible situation.

[Qwelish]

On 1/8/2025 at 4:20 PM, VincentVegaBond said:

Harper has gotten the job done big time in football but basketball is an entirely different story. I'm optimistic he will do well but is still a complete unknown in that domain at this time.

He can't do any worse than the incompetent clowns he replaced (neither could you or I even if we tried) but we should all be nervous, even with Harper, based on our abysmal history with UNLV basketball.

I am not worried one single bit. I'm the most confident, to the point of over confidence. 

Not only that, but since KK is laying such an egg, the decision is looking easy at this point. So he has a lot of time to vette his guy behind the scenes.

All he has to do is follow his same template he's followed for football. Which means UNLV will not hire any ex players, assistant coaches, guys with no HC experience,  a winning record from a major conference and plenty of experience and name cache.

Basically a coach like Lon, or better.

I feel overconfident he'd nail the hire if he gets to make it.

I just don't know if KK will pull a rabbit out of his hat and get this team into the dance to save his job. It's still not out of the question. It's just unlikely. 

 

[kingpotato]

On 1/7/2025 at 7:38 PM, BSUTOP25 said:

They’re still new enough… haven’t been ruined by Duryea yet.

 

On 1/7/2025 at 10:01 PM, BSUTOP25 said:

Pearson Carmichael looks pretty good. I hope Duryea doesn’t ruin him.

This has nothing to do with reality. Boise's best run in basketball history has been since he arrived. And unless you cherry pick a couple anomalies, every player progresses from year to year. 

You listen too much to baggiefan, who had no issues with him in the two decades he spent there as an assistant coach… it was only when he was a HC that they soured on him. 

It's beyond a reach to say Duryea is ruining players. Boise is a development program and is annually one of the top MW teams, despite recruiting below most of the other top MW teams. Although, that's changing. Boise, the last few years, are recruiting better than they ever have.

[UNLV2001]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:14 PM, Qwelish said:

I am not worried one single bit. I'm the most confident, to the point of over confidence. 

Not only that, but since KK is laying such an egg, the decision is looking easy at this point. So he has a lot of time to vette his guy behind the scenes.

All he has to do is follow his same template he's followed for football. Which means UNLV will not hire any ex players, assistant coaches, guys with no HC experience,  a winning record from a major conference and plenty of experience and name cache.

Basically a coach like Lon, or better.

I feel overconfident he'd nail the hire if he gets to make it.

I just don't know if KK will pull a rabbit out of his hat and get this team into the dance to save his job. It's still not out of the question. It's just unlikely. 

 

A few things on KK :

1) He actually isn't doing bad from a W-L perspective. He's 67-46 (.593) - At a lot of MWC programs this would be halcyon days 

But

2) This season, for the most part, ( as noted from the LV Sun article,)  KK isn't beating many teams he's not supposed to beat and this season it's glaring. Overall KK is 7-6 vs ranked teams at UNLV & 0-2 this season.

3) Attendance has to be an issue. UNLV depends on revenue and that revenue has to be down big time with 'announced' attendance averaging 5,300 - That can't continue in an arena the size of the T&M. UNLV doesn't need sellouts, that only happened maybe 3 years in the 40 years the T&M has existed (1989/1991) 

4) The roster remake this season isn't nearly as good as the roster last season - There just isn't the key positional talent this season there was last season except for the PG position. Not sure what went wrong, but this season there's more bench talent than starting talent if you put this season's roster up against last season's roster. The step back has to be a concern, but is this something every coach risks in these days of massive roster turnover ?!?! I.e. Can you expect a coach to hit home runs on every transfer every season ?!?! 

It's seems weird cutting a coach loose who's 21 games over .500 after 3 1/2 seasons.........but there's just some extenuating things around the program that just seem out of kilter and maybe a change is the only way to reset the switch on the whole program.

Still think UNLV can do better than an untested assistant like KK was............go get an experienced guy who's done some good work and open the NIL wallets with the goal that UNLV's goal is to get to SDSU or Gonzaga levels 

[BSUTOP25]

On 1/8/2025 at 6:17 PM, kingpotato said:

 

This has nothing to do with reality. Boise's best run in basketball history has been since he arrived. And unless you cherry pick a couple anomalies, every player progresses from year to year. 

You listen too much to baggiefan, who had no issues with him in the two decades he spent there as an assistant coach… it was only when he was a HC that they soured on him. 

It's beyond a reach to say Duryea is ruining players. Boise is a development program and is annually one of the top MW teams, despite recruiting below most of the other top MW teams. Although, that's changing. Boise, the last few years, are recruiting better than they ever have.

We must be watching different sports. From my observation, Boise State is very mediocre when it comes to making in-game adjustments against smart coaches that have schemed against their offense. I appreciate this staff, the lone exception being Duryea who can’t call an effective offensive play from a time out even if his life depended on it.

[Qwelish]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:32 PM, UNLV2001 said:

A few things on KK :

1) He actually isn't doing bad from a W-L perspective. He's 67-46 (.593) - At a lot of MWC programs this would be halcyon days 

But

2) This season, for the most part, ( as noted from the LV Sun article,)  KK isn't beating many teams he's not supposed to beat and this season it's glaring. Overall KK is 7-6 vs ranked teams at UNLV & 0-2 this season.

3) Attendance has to be an issue. UNLV depends on revenue and that revenue has to be down big time with 'announced' attendance averaging 5,300 - That can't continue in an arena the size of the T&M. UNLV doesn't need sellouts, that only happened maybe 3 years in the 40 years the T&M has existed (1989/1991) 

4) The roster remake this season isn't nearly as good as the roster last season - There just isn't the key positional talent this season there was last season except for the PG position. Not sure what went wrong, but this season there's more bench talent than starting talent if you put this season's roster up against last season's roster. The step back has to be a concern, but is this something every coach risks in these days of massive roster turnover ?!?! I.e. Can you expect a coach to hit home runs on every transfer every season ?!?! 

It's seems weird cutting a coach loose who's 21 games over .500 after 3 1/2 seasons.........but there's just some extenuating things around the program that just seem out of kilter and maybe a change is the only way to reset the switch on the whole program.

Still think UNLV can do better than an untested assistant like KK was............go get an experienced guy who's done some good work and open the NIL wallets with the goal that UNLV's goal is to get to SDSU or Gonzaga levels 

Great points.

I don't think KKs WL record holds a ton of weight when it's only gotten UNLV into one postseason in four seasons. It just isn't good enough. I questioned earlier if two NITs in four seasons was good enough. I still do, to a degree, but I think UNLV would have to make a deep run, like final four or championship game. 

KK is the only coach since Rice who didn't take over a complete rebuild. But he's rebuilt each year by his own hand, based on how he's recruited. He ends up with thin rosters because he has too many misses in recruiting. So guys just sit, then leave and play well on better teams. It gives the impression that he doesn't know what he's doing.

UNLV is a national program, but KKs teams are too often uncompetitive with good teams outside the conference. SOS each year has been pretty weak, and although he posts winning records, his teams suffer multiple humiliating 20 & 30+ point losses each year. That trend has continued this season. Then UNLV fattens up the WL record beating bad and injured teams.

UNLV fans see through that. Hopefully AD EH will too.

[Qwelish]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:32 PM, UNLV2001 said:

The roster remake this season isn't nearly as good as the roster last season - There just isn't the key positional talent this season there was last season except for the PG position. Not sure what went wrong, but this season there's more bench talent than starting talent if you put this season's roster up against last season's roster.

Last years roster was an NCAA tournament roster. 

KK made the team play small and perimeter even after Hill got hurt. That should have forced him to play Whaley, but he did everything he could to not play Whaley. He even started an awful Cottrell and Nowell coming off an injury for more than half the season.

He tried to play 3 guards with JJ3, Webster and a freshman Hicks. All of that cost UNLV games and a tournament bid.

I don't even believe Whaley is hurt this year. He just doesn't like playing him. Which is crazy because the team absolutely needs him. But KK won't budge just like with Keyshawn Hall. 

KK sees the game one way, but has done a poor job recruiting to his philosophy. It's cost the team and its probably going to cost him. 

Maybe he'll learn more as an assistant somewhere. I don't think he's creative, flexible or experienced enough to utilize rosters that don't fit his perimeter oriented style.

Thats what UNLV needs to get it over the hump. A coach with creativity, flexibility and experience.

[Just_Chris]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:14 PM, Qwelish said:

I am not worried one single bit. I'm the most confident, to the point of over confidence. 

Not only that, but since KK is laying such an egg, the decision is looking easy at this point. So he has a lot of time to vette his guy behind the scenes.

All he has to do is follow his same template he's followed for football. Which means UNLV will not hire any ex players, assistant coaches, guys with no HC experience,  a winning record from a major conference and plenty of experience and name cache.

Basically a coach like Lon, or better.

I feel overconfident he'd nail the hire if he gets to make it.

I just don't know if KK will pull a rabbit out of his hat and get this team into the dance to save his job. It's still not out of the question. It's just unlikely. 

 

I'm racking my brain but those guys aren't just out there 

My initial thought was John Beilein but then I saw he's been out of coaching since 2020 although he's been on the Big 10 Network so he probably still has connections and isn't too far removed from coaching to be oblivious. 

 

[Spaztecs]

On 1/8/2025 at 12:46 PM, Buttermaker said:

I was going to ask if unlv even played D but didn't want to be mean...haha

What little I saw, it was apparent KK employed the infamous Matador defense.

[Spaztecs]

On 1/8/2025 at 3:33 PM, Qwelish said:

The athletic director who hired the last two UNLV football coaches, has yet to fire or hire a basketball coach at UNLV.

Mworst... prepare thine sphincters!!!!

 

Just in time to dominate the nMWC !

[Spaztecs]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:03 PM, Rebelcuff said:

Kevin is definitely gone because this is the 4th year of a 5 year contract. It's either give him an extension or fire him and he isn't getting an extension. Just wait to the day after the mwc tournament and politely fire him.

What names are being tossed around the Reb forums ?

[Spaztecs]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:52 PM, Qwelish said:

Once upon a time this would have been a wet dream hire for UNLV. 

I don't think he'd be the right hire at this time, though.

 

At this point in life he would be a great program analyst / Coach whisperer.

[Spaztecs]

On 1/8/2025 at 5:33 PM, UNLV2001 said:

Thinking that now , the BB program being so far removed from the Tark era, that the shadow of Tark & his record has faded somewhat ..........I think that was a big reason UNLV & some fans had flailed away trying to resurrect the Tark era by going with a "Tark" guy ....... Tim Grg, Dave Rice, even Augmon's name coming up by some.

Still think UNLV has enough to offer that a good coach could come in here and win and turn this thing around............if Gonzaga can do it in the WCC (like UNLV did in the Big West /PCAA) the UNLV job can be brought back.............plus Spokane is a recruiting graveyard for the most part, where if a guy had a national program going here at UNLV could recruit 4 & 5 star guys inside a 30 mile radius 

This 2024/25 NBA season has the following NBA players from local LV area high schools 

Zach Collins - Gorman

Daishen Nix - Trinity International

Jaden Hardy - Coronado

Orlando Robinson - Centennial

Julian Strawther - Liberty 

Why is that ?

SDSU got DeGourville and Compton from Vegas. Which I am grateful for. 

Why can't UNLV keep these guys home ?

[UNLV2001]

On 1/8/2025 at 7:55 PM, Spaztecs said:

Why is that ?

SDSU got DeGourville and Compton from Vegas. Which I am grateful for. 

Why can't UNLV keep these guys home ?

Lot's of times kids want to get away - It's why UNLV has San Diego & Fresno recruits 

[Spaztecs]

On 1/8/2025 at 7:04 PM, BSUTOP25 said:

We must be watching different sports. From my observation, Boise State is very mediocre when it comes to making in-game adjustments against smart coaches that have schemed against their offense. I appreciate this staff, the lone exception being Duryea who can’t call an effective offensive play from a time out even if his life depended on it.

Why isn't the Head Ball Coach calling the plays ?

Is Duryea the Coach in waiting ?