[ UH BASKETBALL ]
UH’s Kuebler
a weapon, but
no longer a secretThe senior guard will be
a focal point for Hawaii basketball
DALLAS >> Sitting behind a table, baby-faced Michael Kuebler still has that unassuming look about him -- he appears to be a typical, quiet, polite, responsible kid next door, which is basically what he was growing up in Salem, Ore. He's the guy who cuts your lawn.
But standing behind a 3-point line, it's a different story. He's the guy who cuts up your defense.
Kuebler's a killer, and the secret's out. He's a slasher and a shooter.
Last season, his first with the Hawaii basketball team, Kuebler averaged 12.2 points per game and developed a reputation as a player for whom you must prepare to defend against.
"He's one of the most underrated players in the league," San Jose State coach Phil Johnson said at yesterday's Western Athletic Conference basketball media preview. "A guy you have to get ready for when you play them. He's a shooter and more. He can make plays. You have to really guard him and guard him well."
Tulsa guard Jason Parker saw two Kueblers last year.
"Early on he had to find his niche and was tentative. The second time we played them he was more of a scorer and comfortable in the offense," Parker said. "He's a really good shooter, typical Hawaii guard they've had the past couple years. Can pretty much do everything. Sometimes they put him at mid-post, have him posting up. That's hard to stop."
It will probably be even harder to stop this year, since Kuebler is stronger. He's added about 10 pounds of muscle to his 6-foot-5 frame and is up to 190. Kuebler knows he needs the bulk this year; with leading scorer Carl English gone, the points won't come as easily. It will be open season on the erstwhile stealthy hunter.
"I'm not going to be able to lurk in the shadows anymore, especially with Carl gone. Teams kind of focused on him last year," Kuebler said. "It was kind of my mentality going into the offseason (to gain muscle)."
Kuebler credits strength coach Tommy Heffernan for giving him a weight program, as well as motivation.
"You got a guy in there screaming in your face you're going to get the job done and that's what it takes sometimes. One of my issues was to get stronger and bigger," said Kuebler, who added that weight training was once a loathsome chore, but not now. "It's definitely one of those things that at first I was not too enthusiastic about. But then your body depends on it to get going and it makes the rest of the day go better."
UH coach Riley Wallace said Kuebler's game has more dimensions than most people realize.
"We didn't like Carl's defense, so we had Kuebler cover the tougher guy. He gives you effort," Wallace said. "We like what he does when he puts the ball on the floor, and he fits the mold of the other players personality-wise."
Kuebler's commitment to team concepts doesn't surprise Wallace. After all, this is a guy who said he would come to Hawaii as a walk-on for the first year if necessary out of Clackamas Community College in Oregon.
Kuebler was convinced by his former Clackamas teammate, Mark Campbell, that Hawaii is where he wanted to be. The former Rainbows point guard answered the tough questions, ones like "Are the coaches any good?"
"It definitely helped having a player you know to ask real questions to get straightforward answers and not hear what you want to hear," said Kuebler, who considered accepting invitations to walk on at Gonzaga and Oregon State, as well as scholarship offers from small schools. "I'm not saying the coaches are going to lie or anything, but it's good to have someone you can ask questions you don't really want to ask the coaches."
Still, it was an adjustment when Kuebler reported to Gym II to begin learning Wallace's flex offense. It's an attack some consider as old-fashioned and strictly choreographed as a formal waltz. But it often pays off with open 3-pointers and backdoor layups, results perfectly suited to Kuebler's skills.
But it took adjustment time; Clackamas was a free-wheeling unit that put up 96 points a game.
"Out of junior college it was quite a big difference. But (UH is) how my high school was. We'd go over plays hour after hour and get it down until we got it right," Kuebler said. "I think a lot of times last year I was able to penetrate and get to the basket more than people thought I would. I got comfortable with being a slasher. I did a lot of that in junior college. There it was get it however you could. Not too much of a structured offense."
Kuebler expects to play a lot at both scoring guard (two) and small forward (three) this year. He said there is a big difference between the two spots in Hawaii's offense.
"The three is more like working the paint, you set up at the free throw. With the two you're outside the 3-point line, handle the ball more and be creative. The three kind of orchestrates the offense," he said.
From now until the Nov. 17 opener, part of Kuebler's job as a returnee is to help teach the offense to newcomers, like Campbell and English and others did for him.
It's his turn to help train the next Kuebler, the next guy lurking in the shadows who can score 20 on any given night.
"I think we have more depth than last year. We've got five new scholarship guys who can play and we've got lots of experience from the guys we got back. I think we've got a lot more weapons than last year."
But one of them, Michael Kuebler, isn't a secret anymore.
