GEORGE F. LEE / GLEE@STARBULLETIN.COM
Hawaii's Michael Kuebler came to Hawaii from Clackamas Community College, where he was teammates with Hawaii point guard Mark Campbell. Coach Riley Wallace likes Kuebler's touch from beyond the 3-point line.
Hawaii suits SAN DIEGO >> He is -- and always has been -- a shooter.
Kuebler fine
The junior guard and JC transfer
takes over McIntyre’s important
off-the-bench role
By Cindy Luis
cluis@starbulletin.comPure and simple. Simply pure.
Michael Kuebler has the shooter's mentality: The only bad shot is the one you passed up.
And as for launching them ... well, the aptly dubbed rainbow shot could have been named for him.
"I could camp out there all day behind the (3-point) line," said Kuebler, a junior guard in his first year with the Hawaii basketball team. "If the guys kick it out, then my job is to hit it.
"In our offense, there are a lot of opportunities to get a shot."
But there were few Division I schools willing to take a shot with the 6-foot-5 guard out of South Salem (Ore.) High. His dream was to play Division I, but when the only offers he got were from D-II schools, Kuebler decided to take his chances at -- and his game to -- the junior-college level.
At Clackamas (Ore.) Community College last season, he helped the Cougars to a third-place finish in the NAACC Tournament and was named the association's Southern Division MVP. He averaged 22.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists a game, shooting 53 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range.
Still, few schools came calling. The one that came in with the hardest sell -- Hawaii -- initially didn't have a scholarship.
Kuebler told the coaches he would walk on, he so wanted to be part of this Rainbow team.
"I liked everything about the place," said Kuebler, who is expecting to see considerable playing time in tonight's game here against San Diego State. "I liked the players, the coaches, the atmosphere, the location.
"I was willing to walk on, but it's nice to have the scholarship. Now I've got to prove I'm worth it and not make my past coaches look bad."
In Hawaii's first two games, he has averaged 14.5 points over 28 minutes. Kuebler lit things up in last Monday's exhibition win over Hawaii-Hilo, when he was 4 of 8 from 3-point range en route to a game-high 23 points.
Michael Kuebler
Height, weight: 6-foot-5, 185 pounds
Position: G/F
Class: Junior
Born: July 24, 1982, in Salem, Ore.
Last school: Clackamas Community College
"I'm getting more comfortable with the offense," said Kuebler. "Every once in a while I go brain-dead, but things are coming a lot more natural to me. It's getting to the point where I'm getting better reads on the defense.
"I like our system. Once you get it going, there's a lot of options. You just have to look for the different stuff."
Kuebler has played a lot of point guard in his life, but the offenses he's been involved in have allowed for the point to shoot. When current Rainbow Mark Campbell and Kuebler were teammates at Clackamas in 2000-01 and Campbell was injured, Kuebler slid into the point position and successfully ran the team.
That Kuebler was able to follow Campbell to Hawaii "was icing on the cake," said Kuebler. "It was nice to have a familiar (face) when I made my (recruiting) trip here. And when I was in Oregon, I knew he was pulling for me to come here."
Campbell told the UH coaches almost daily how much the team could use Kuebler. Clackamas coach Clif Wegner told the Star-Bulletin last spring, "if they don't take this kid, (assistant) Jackson Wheeler will still be my friend. He'll just be the dumbest one I have."
At the end of the spring recruiting period, the Rainbows had three players they wanted and just two scholarships. The two scholarships were offered to Weatherford (Texas) College teammates Vaidotas Peciukas and Emigijus Lukosius.
At that point, Kuebler told the UH coaches he'd be willing to pay his tuition with the hope of a scholarship next season. Instead, the scholarship opened up when Lukosius opted for Southwest Missouri State.
It's worked out well for the Rainbows. Kuebler has stepped into the role vacated by Mike McIntyre, a sparkplug of a shooter off the bench.
"He's a very good shooter and faster than he looks," said Rainbow coach Riley Wallace. "He's really picked up the offense quickly and has fit in from the beginning. It's looking more and more like he's McIntyre's replacement in terms of what he can do off the bench, quick scoring and defense.
"He's a shooter like Savo (last year's senior Predrag Savovic), but we're trying to replace Savo as a team."
Kuebler's quickness allows him to get open for shots and get down faster than opponents expect on defense. Last Monday, he capped Hilo's Ryan Abrahams from behind on a breakaway lay-up.
"Kube has played phenomenal," said Campbell. "What he's done hasn't surprised me because I knew what he was capable of. With him, looks are deceiving.
"He doesn't look like a quick guy, but he is. We've basically picked up another starter."
The move to Division I hasn't fazed Kuebler.
"It's a higher level, but I always felt I had the potential to be a D-I player," he said. "But there are lot more people watching your games now. That's when it hits you that you're not in junior college anymore.
"But you just go out and play the game like you've always played it. I'm more than happy so far here. And I know it's only going to get better."
His mother, Tracy, was expected at tonight's game. She'll notice that her son's uniform has his last name spelled correctly; for the first exhibition with EA Sports and the two games of the Hawaiian Airlines Tip-Off Tournament, his name was spelled "KEUBLER."
"Now that it's spelled right, I have no excuses anymore," he said. "I can't say that it's not me out there.
"I'm excited about playing San Diego State. It's our first road game and I don't know what to expect. It will be a challenge."
Kuebler said he doesn't feel pressure when out on the court with the ball in his hands.
"Every shot is a good one as long as it's in the offense," he said. "Maybe there's some pressure to hit the '3,' but it's nothing like (senior reserve guard) Lance Takaki gets. The minute he gets the ball, they want him to shoot it from full court. Now that is pressure."
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