Coach says flaws can be fixed

Steve Guiremand

Friday, Dec. 10, 2004 | 9:49 a.m.

THE GAME: UNLV at Auburn.

WHEN: Sunday, noon.

WHERE: Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum, Auburn, Ala.

TV: None.

RADIO: 920-AM.

STORY LINE: Last game of the rodeo road trip against a team the Rebels beat by 13 last December at the Thomas & Mack.

Normally UNLV players spend about 20 minutes at the start of practice reviewing film of the game they played the night before.

But Thursday afternoon's film session going over the team's 86-78 loss at Pepperdine lasted closer to an hour.

"There were more plays to go over than on normal days, unfortunately," UNLV coach Lon Kruger said.

Kruger was asked what were some points of emphasis for his team to improve on based on what he's seen in a 2-3 start.

"There's so many areas," he said matter-of-factly.

"We've got to take better care of the ball," Kruger continued. "We've got to make better plays for each other. We've got to communicate more. We've got to talk more. ... It's just across the board."

Kruger pointed out that the Rebels had nine excellent scoring opportunities around the basket against the Waves, only to come up empty-handed each time.

"We got zero points from them," he said. "You give away nine big advantages like that ..."

He didn't need to finish the sentence.

"I think the bottom line is we've played five teams that are pretty equal to us, given where we're at and where those programs are at. Those five games could have gone either way. Every one of them. And we have not played good enough basketball to win all five.

"The encouraging part of that is what we have not done well is correctable. We've just got to keep our focus on getting better. Our focus here never strays from getting better each day."

The Rebels travel across the country to SEC territory to face Auburn (6-2) on Sunday afternoon to conclude their current four-game road trip.

"It doesn't get any easier with Auburn and then Oklahoma State at home (on Dec. 18)," junior forward Louis Amundson said. "We know we have to get better quickly. We have a lot of things to work on, but we'll get there."

Kruger said: "Auburn is playing with a lot of confidence. They're shooting the ball well. No question, it just keeps getting tougher."