Latest Update on Wildcat-ex Ray Kraemer

Posted by Ed Davis

Our good friend in Nevada, Patrick Hosier, has sent the following information concerning Ray Kraemer, a former CCHS Wildcat basketball star who is now playing for the University of Nevada:

This information was during the 08/09 basketball season:

I haven't been updating the Ray Kraemer info because he's not seeing much playing time. Nevada is very young. We start 2 freshman, 2 sophomores and 1 senior. Ray is a junior this year, but he's a bit of a tweener as was discussed last year. He's 6'4, 200lb and in excellent shape. But he lacks lateral quickness and doesn't handle the ball well enough to play the SG position, and he's playing behind a couple of very good small forwards that are both 6'6 and over 210lb.

Ray's a good 3 point shooter, an outstanding free throw shooter (21-22 on the season) and a good rebounder, but opposing guards are too quick and opposing SFs are too big so it's his defense that limits his minutes IMHO. When Nevada plays zone he gets playing time, but the team only plays zone when there is foul trouble or the defense is getting abused by our opponent, so it doesn't happen often.

Ray's averaging 9.5 minutes, 3 pts, 1.6 rebounds and a very good 1.3 points per shot.  I don't expect Ray's status to change much next year as we lose one SG but have signed the nations #14 ranked SG from a HS in Seattle. Both of the SFs that play in front of Ray are also back next year. Still, I'll check in on occasion to let you know how he does.

This account was after the 08/09 season had ended:

It was a disappointing year for Ray Kraemer. He just didn't have the quickness and ball handling necessary for SG and he's a little small to play the SF. Nevada's SF's were 6'6 and 6'7 and both very good. The SG's were a senior and the starter from the previous year so there was no real opportunity for playing time.

The Pack is heading to Europe in a week for a 4 game trip through Spain and Italy and Ray gets to go on the trip but he won't get to play.

I'll try to throw you an update next season when we see what our new coach (he's been a Nevada assistant for 10 years) does with Ray. With the recent attrition within the program he might see more playing time next season. He'll be a senior so it's his last opportunity.

With Ray it all comes down to defense. If his lateral quickness is better he'll get a lot of minutes. But last year he fouled too often when guarding quick players and got abused by taller players. It's weird because he's fast, strong and jumps very well, he just doesn't have quickness. And he's a phenomenal shooter.

 

Thanks Patrick for your info and we will look forward to hearing more from you when the 09/10 basketball season rolls around.

Comments

[Patrick H]

Here's what should be a fun update on Ray Kraemer. Last night the University of Houston basketball team played the Wolf Pack in Reno and Ray had his best game as a player at Nevada.

Nevada won the game 112 to 99 (in regulation, no OT). We have a new coach this season (he's been an assistant at Nevada for 10 years, our two previous coaches are Trent Johnson, the current LSU HC and Mark Fox, the current Georgia HC) and the new guy, David Carter likes playing fast, so this is a big break from the Nevada teams of the last 10 years that walked the ball up the floor.

Anyway, here's Ray's stat line:
21 minutes, 7-9FG, 4-6 3PT, 3 Reb, 3 Assists, 0 Turnovers, 19 points.

We have very little depth as several recruits decommited and one player transferred when our coach left for $1.3million per year at Georgia. Ray is now the first guard off the bench and is just lighting it up. His shooting has been fantastic. We've played 3 games (Montana State, UNLV and Houston) and here are Ray's average stats to date:

21.3 Minutes, 10.7ppg, 1.7 Reb, 1.7 Assists, .7 TO, 64.7% FG, 50% FT, 61.5% 3Pt, 1.88 points per shot.

Don't pay attention to that FT % as Ray has only had 4 attempts and his career average is 83.3%.

Finally, if Ray had more lateral quickness and handled the ball a bit better he'd be an all conference player. He doesn't have the quickness to guard SGs or the size to guard SFs. But he knows his limitations and is a great team player. He's a senior this year, so let's all wish him the best.

I'm sure he enjoyed beating Houston last night so I thought I'd stop by and give you and update.

If you want to watch him play, Nevada plays at North Carolina one week from today on Sunday, November 29th. Sure, the Pack is going to take a beating, but we have some very good players that will try to rise to the challenge. I'll stop by later this season with an update.

[Patrick H]

I'm not sure of the level of interest, but you can view a video of Ray talking after the game here:

http://tinyurl.com/yzp55g6

Ray is in the middle. The player to Ray's left is Brandon Fields from Arlington Texas and Bowie high.

[Ed Davis]

Thanks for all the news on Ray. Sounds like he is having a good senior year. It will be interesting to see how he and the team play against North Carolina. Keep us informed on his progress this year.

[Dan Jensen]

Tulsa is a decent team but is in a slump and got pounded by Ray Kraemer and Nevada last night, 99-68. Kraemer played 16 minutes and did not miss from the floor, including a trio of threes, and scored 11 points. One of his three pointers was shown on local TV and brought some pride from this Clear Creek alumnus.

[Patrick H]

Hey, it's great you're following him a bit. Yes Ray has had two great games in a row after suffering a slump and struggling defensively. Nevada lost 110-104 to BYU two games ago and played well vs Tulsa giveing their coach the worst loss he's had in his 5 years or so that he's been in Tulsa (according to newspaper, I didn't look it up).

Ray was a combined 9/13 FGs, 7/9 3ptFGs, 7 reb and 0 turnovers vs BYU and Tulsa. On the season he's hitting 52.4% of his threes (22-42) and averaging about 19 minutes per game. He seems to have found his role and we have some high hopes for the rest of the season. Nevada is undefeated at home and all 5 road losses were vs top 100 rpi teams in mostly close games. The Pack even gave UNC a scare in Chapel hill for 3/4 of the game finally losing by 7.

[PatrickH]

Ray is really playing well. His defense has improved tremedously, and while he's still coming off the bench, he might soon become a starter if he keeps playing as he has the last several games. He's now averaging about 23 minutes a game. His hit 18 of his last 27 3pt shots and he's actually 4th in the nation in 3pt percentage. He's been amazing in clutch situations and opponents are now having to stick to him like glue on every possession. here's a feature on him in the Reno paper

http://www.rgj.com/article/20100116/SPORTS06/1160357/1018/SPORTS

It's too bad Ray is a senior as he's finally playing like we'd all hoped he would from the start.

[PatrickH]

Kraemer leading the nation:

I don't know if any of you have followed the growth in "tempo free" statistics for basketball used by Ken Pomeroy, Hollinger (ESPN), BBState Stats and such, but these stats measure how efficient a player is per possession. Ray Kraemer is currently the most efficient offensive player in the nation. A "possession" is any time a player ends a team's possession with a made shot, missed shot or a turnover.

Amazing.

[Buddy Carlisle]

It is great to read that Ray is playing so well. I remember well trying to convince some Div. 1 guys that Ray could play outside in college as he played inside for us at Creek. When I say inside, he wasn't really a back to the basket guy but he played defense against the other team's 4 or 5 man out of necessity. His ability to shoot the 3 and still go in and hammer dunks was really a nice combination.

Ray is a good guy too and I only wish I could go to Reno and watch him play. I might even make it to a casino or two, who knows!

[Patrick H]

I'd say the biggest limitation for Ray is his handle. He just doesn't handle the ball well enough to penetrate and create a shot...he's strictly catch and shoot though he spends at least as much time playing SG as SF due to our short bench. I thought his D was the biggest problem, but he's really improved this season as his playing time has increased.

If Carter had been the coach last year instead of Mark Fox, Ray might have seen a lot more action.

As for watching Ray, nearly every Nevada road game is on ESPN Fullcourt, but that's a little expensive. There are two games coming up on ESPNU: Jan. 30th at Hawaii and Feb. 6th at Utah State. The Utah State game is almost a must win for the Pack to win the conference title for the 6th time in 7 years...but Utah State, for those of you who don't follow mid-major hoops in the West, is almost unbeatable at home. They have one of if not THE best home record in the NCAA over the last 4 years or so. It should be a great game.

There's also an internet feed for every home game, but it's not great.

Finally, the Pack's ESPN Bracketbuster game in February is almost always one of those that gets televised so I expect he'll be on ESPN, ESPN2 or ESPNU for that game vs an opponent to be determined later.

[Patrick H]

This may be my last post on Ray. Nevada won their first round NIT game a few nights ago. The Pack won on the road at Wichita State, giving the Shockers their first home loss all season. WSU had the highest RPI of any team that didn't make the NCAA Tournament. Ray played 23 minutes, hit 2 of 3 shots (both 3pt shots naturally)and had a few rebounds.

Ray is 2nd in the nation in offensive efficiency and has hit 49.2% of his 3pt shots this season. For his career he made 45.1% of his threes. It's too bad coach Fox didn't use him as much as coach Carter did this year.

Anyway, Nevada play the University of Rhode Island in the second round of the NIT on Monday, March 22nd. The game is on ESPNU at 6pm Eastern.

Finally, somebody started a youtube site called the Nevada Basketball Institute and if you go to this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHvvy0FWOqg

you can see nearly every shot Ray ever made in a Nevada uniform. The music is rap with some not so savory lyrics, so turn it down if you sensitive to that. But the name of the song is "Make It Rain" which is quite fitting for a player with Ray's skills.

Take care Creek alumni, and we Pack fans feel very privileged to have had Ray with us for the last three years. I hope he remains part of the Reno community. And if he does anything noteworthy I'll report back.

[Patrick H]

I'm back sooner than expected. Here's a great article in the Reno paper about Ray:

http://tinyurl.com/yl896l9

It includes quotes from coach Buddy Carlisle.

Catch Ray and the Pack Monday night on ESPN2. Hopefully we can win that game and play UCONN in the next round of the NIT.

[Buddy Carlisle]

Thanks to Patrick for posting the link to the article about Ray. It is really neat to have one of your ex-players go on and be successful at the next level and life, in general. Sorry the Pack dropped a heart breaker in the second round at Rhode Island but Ray had a great career and graduates this May. He has invited me to attend graduation and I hope I can make it out there. Might have to venture into a casino or two while there!!!

[Patrick H]

Buddy, I've enjoyed following Ray's career and I hope my posts were intresting for everyone. Rooms are cheap in Reno and if you stay at the Eldorado or Silver Legacy you'll be close to the University. The Reno area is very scenic, Lake Tahoe is less than one hour away and the weather is beautiful in the spring. I hope you can make it.

[Dan Jensen]

xxx

[Dan Jensen]

Sorry for the test pattern there. I have not been able to post lately.