Kruger a calm leader

Walking the court and observing details, UNLV coach Lon Kruger treats every basketball practice as a serious exercise. He follows a strict schedule, concisely managing time and his players.

When freshman guard Kendall Wallace throws a bad pass, Kruger glares and instructs Wallace how to correct the error.

Senior guard Curtis Terry gets the same treatment a few moments later as Kruger steps forward and makes a karate-chop motion to show how the play should have been executed.

As junior forward Joe Darger sinks a 3-pointer from the corner, after a pass from Terry, Kruger claps and encourages.

"I don't yell very much. I don't get ticked off easily," Kruger said. "Some people might equate yelling with intensity, and that's not always the case."

Kruger is as intense as any coach can be, but he gets his message across matter-of-factly and without making a fool of himself.

In personality, he is the antithesis of Bob Knight. Both can be drill sergeants, though while Knight is a grizzly bear and a comic, Kruger is a gentleman and one who appreciates humor but rarely instigates it.

Kruger's steady hand of leadership has returned the Rebels to the NCAA Tournament, where coaches often take center stage.

UNLV (26-7) drew the No. 8 seed in the Midwest Region and plays No. 9 Kent State (28-6) at approximately 11:55 a.m. Thursday in a first-round game at the Qwest Center in Omaha, Neb.

Don't expect ESPN to replay clips from Kruger's news conference today as he cracks up the media with one-liners and mockingly displays his game face.

Before an NCAA Tournament game in 1992, when Knight was coach at Indiana, he feigned hitting one of his players with a bullwhip.

The even-keeled Kruger is not averse to giving players a tongue-lashing. He just rarely does it, but when it happens, it's not out of disrespect, and he usually gets the desired effect.

Kruger and Knight, now in semi-retirement as the winningest coach in college basketball history, are both proponents of man-to-man defense. Their teaching methods, however, are opposites.

"There are a lot of different ways to do it, and you can do it without yelling," Kruger said.

The Rebels under Kruger are successful mostly because they play defense with more aggression and intensity than their opponents. How does Kruger make that happen?

"He just yells at us behind closed doors," junior guard Wink Adams said, laughing. "Out here on the court, he's calm and everybody's calm. But if you get on his bad side, he gets on you behind closed doors.

"He keeps you playing defense the whole game. If we can do that, we're real effective, and that's how we win games."

UNLV ranks 40th in the nation in scoring defense (62.1 points per game) and 41st in field-goal percentage defense (.407).

On the offensive end, the Rebels are disciplined enough to rank seventh nationally in assist-to-turnover ratio (488 assists, 350 turnovers, 1.40 ratio).

"We do it on the court, but the coaches do it behind the scenes," Terry said. "I'm impressed with the different schemes Coach Kruger comes up with, the different ways he breaks down films and shows us there were bad things, but we can flip those into good things.

"His philosophy has always been the same. It's about tough, hard-nosed defense, and then running it back the other way. He's a great coach on the court and off the court."

This season has been one of the most challenging of Kruger's 22-year career. He lost five seniors from last year's Sweet 16 team, dismissed two players during this season and watched another player transfer. His tallest starter is the 6-foot-7-inch Darger.

Kruger said his fourth UNLV team probably has reached its maximum potential.

"I think the biggest challenge is, at times, we've just had trouble with big power-type teams," Kruger said. "This group was different in terms of size, of course, with our (center) shooting 3s and our point guard posting up a little bit.

"One thing about this team is every time we lined up, the potential for getting beat was there. I think we've tried to be specific with what our expectations are in terms of competing to get results that we want, and these guys have been great."

Contact reporter Matt Youmans at myoumans@reviewjournal.com or (702) 387-2907.