It's a moment that can be laughed at now, but at the time it was awkward epitomized.
During Wolf Pack basketball coach David Carter's first Timeout Luncheon of the season in November -- when the team flopped to an 0-2 start -- the third-year head coach asked the audience for questions.
Instead of opting for a question, the first booster to raise his hand went on a 5-minute diatribe about why he thought Carter was a horrible coach. The booster basically told Carter he was a few losses away from being fired.
"I know this team is going to the Mountain West next season," the booster said with a snarl. "I just hope you're still around to go with the team."
Carter, as amiable a coach as there is in the country, kept his cool. He finished the back-and-forth tit-for-tat in front of 150 stunned boosters with a final salvo: "I just hope you're here later this year when we go to the Big Dance."
While not many people believed in this Wolf Pack team -- which went 13-19 last season and finished tied for fifth in the WAC -- the Nevada coaches and players have steadfastly remained confident even after a rock start to the season, which included a season-opening 68-46 home loss to Missouri State.
Riding a nine-game winning streak, Nevada (12-3, 2-0 WAC) received a vote in one of the two national Top 25 polls Monday for the first time since the 2006-07 season. While many are surprised by the Wolf Pack's drastic turnaround this season, forward Dario Hunt isn't among that group.
"Not really," Hunt said when asked if he was surprised by the winning streak. "We've been around each other for a whole year. We trained in the offseason as hard as we could. We worked really hard. We knew with the talent we had, with the players we had, we could make a run like this. Last year was really tough. We were so young. We knew we had another chance to come back this year and prove we were better than everyone thought."
Carter said his team's confidence in itself stems from the work the players put in over the offseason. Still, even he's a little surprised the Wolf Pack has gone on such a long winning streak. After all, Nevada hasn't lost since the day after Thanksgiving, a stretch of six straight weeks.
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"I don't look at streaks," Carter said. "I just want us to get better. It's good to be on a roll like we are. But, as a head coach, you never look at the last game. You always look at the next game. Streaks are always going to end sometime. I just try to go game by game and get the guys focused on that next game. Did I see this streak coming? No. But I thought we were capable of playing well and having a good record."
Carter said his main goal now is keeping his players humble and hungry. He doesn't want his team to get too over-confident after its 2-0 start in WAC play, which included a win at Utah State, the Aggies' first WAC home loss since 2007. Senior forward Olek Czyz said the Wolf Pack will stay grounded and not start buying into any hype.
"I'm sure our coach will not let us do that," Czyz said. "He will stay on us and keep pushing us. We just really want to win. We want to go all the way and win a championship. That's our ultimate goal and everyone in this locker room wants to achieve that goal."
Said Carter: "I tell the guys every day that you haven't done anything but win games. Our goal is to win a championship and go to the postseason, and we haven't done that yet. You have to keep the big picture in sight. You can't start looking ahead or behind at what you did. You have to stay in the moment. You have to stay in today. We just have to keep two feet in today and just keep moving."
The Wolf Pack kicks off a four-game homestand Thursday against San Jose State (6-9, 0-1). Despite Nevada's extended stretch of good play, it has struggled to draw fans to Lawlor Events Center.
This year's average home attendance of 3,652 fans is the program's lowest this decade and down more than 20 percent from last season. Carter was asked Monday whether fans are waiting to buy in to his team.
"I don't know," Carter said. "I tell my team not to worry about that. I can't control that. It's something that we can't control. If they're waiting, I don't know what they're waiting for if they're not showing up. I'd love for them to be there. They're missing a great show and a great team. But we can't control that. I just tell the guys to come out and play every day, and the fans that are there, we really appreciate them."
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