Finishing up the Non-Conference Season

[Mark]

I think it would be a good time to reflect on our year to date.

Up to this point were 11-3 and 3-2 on the road.
After a banner season last year I think we all agreed that this season would not come with as many wins as last years. Everyone understood that last year yet some think the Lobos are above losing.
Can any of you argue that if I was to tell you we would be 12-3 heading into conferance you wouldn't take it? Considering we lost over 30 points from our starting rotation?
A player who lead the team in points, rebounds, and assists?
A player who was the heart and soul of the team? Personally I would have been sold. Does anyone remember the days of McKay? A team comprised of 2 walkons in the starting lineup? Granted they played their hearts out and I appreciated everyone of them but theres no question in the talent. Right now were bringing in some of the top talent from around the nation. Alford and staff have made We Are New Mexico a household name. Hes branded our state and University.
The greatest thing about about UNM is our fan base. It can also be the most destructive. So up to this point I thought it would be fun to look back and reflect at what we knew prior to the season and where those players are at now.

Players-

Dairese Gary-
Up to this point Dairese has had maybe the hardest job on the team.
Hes having to shoulder a lot of the work load for a young team. Alford obviously needs him in the game thus the extended mins and maybe being a little tired at the end of games. Either way Dairese is our bull dog who gets it done. Without Dairese last night we lose by 20+. His assists, points and leadership are invaluable. Hes also shooting the best FG% of his career. Up to this point you have to be pleased with his overall play. Hes 24 assists from becoming the MWC’s career leader! Thats big time!

Phillip McDonald-
There were 2 knocks on Phillip last year. Rebounding and driving.
This year hes addressed both of those areas with production. Maybe the biggest surprise to me was his athleticism. He showed a few glimpses last year but this year the guys been skying on some of these dunks. In our 2-3 losses Phil was a non factor. If that doesn't tell you how important he is then nothing will. I think teams are starting to key on him since Vegas. Hes a major piece to this puzzle.
Stat: 0-2 this season when he does not reach double figures, 9-0 when he does.


Kendall Williams-
What more can be said. He shows flashes of a star. Right now hes playing at a high level. What I mean is his decision making. I have yet to see one play where he looks scared or not sure what to do. He is down right impressive. This is the guy I saw in summer pickups. The future is very bright for him. Well, as long as he can get to the bus on time! ;)


AJ Hardeman-
As we all know AJ has been used at the 5 until this point. He looked like he was trying to figure out how to play with a true 5 the first few games. Now hes just starting to take over in the post again. Hes starting to show more of his range this year than he did in the past. Started a little slow but now he looks like hes ready to win the award of most improved again.

Alex Kirk-
I got a lot of flack when I said that Kirk should start this year. Hes had his ups and downs like most freshman. However, I think if you were to sit in on a coaches meeting I bet he would grade out pretty well considering. From what ive seen he has the most polished mid-range game of all the bigs. If I have one critique on Kirk is his free throw shooting. He was a great FT shooter in HS. He still leads the team in rounding. Drew is showing a higher number (1) in 1/3 of the games.


Bench-
If you look at production off the bench you think of a few. Sure everyone has had their spark but right now you think, Fenton, Drew, and Adams. Snells is the wild card and Bairstow has come in and really played some good mins.

Jamal Fenton-
Jamals mins per game are up 8 mins from last year and has doubled his point production from 3 to 6 PPG. Hes always up for a challenge and I think hes raised his game quiet a bit. Maybe challenging AJ for most improved on the team. Alford has said it himself.

Chad Adams-
What can you say about Chad. If theres one thing he HAD to work on this year was his outside shooting. Up to this point I cant think of his outside shooting being much better/worse than anyone else. Hes also brought his length and athleticism into play. Hes using his length to his advantage. While hes still more of a defensive player, hes working his way into an offensive player. Offense before defense.

Drew Gordon-
Hes averaging 8 and 6 in 5 games. Not bad for a player knocking off rust and has the single highest rebounding game this year. I take some blame but I really thought he would step in and be a major factor right away. Conference time is appropriate.

Tony Snell-
He has also come in at stretches and knocked down some big 3's at crucial times. At times hes been a good spark off the bench. I will say that I thought his game would translate a bit quicker but its obvious he needs to add some more weight to his frame. Hes a year away from really playing at a high level for 40 mins.
Its not the want, its the weight. Hes yet to show that cross over low dribble at the top of the key. Its crazy!

Cameron Bairstow-
Kind of flying below the radar but what hes doing is coming in and providing solid mins for the other bigs. For him its important to just maintain. Nothing fancy, just box out and rebound. Anything after that is a bonus. If that was the expectation I think hes done that. When your a freshman you just focus on doing what your told.Hes been very solid up to this point. Conference is another beast.

Emmanuel Negedu-
Still a unknown at this point concerning his health. He was really starting to come into his own. His presence on defense is going to hurt us without a doubt. Just say a prayer of whatever you do. He deserves it.

With one more game till conferance theres only one more "tune-up" game.
I think its important we dont overlook this team coming in and really finish will all guns blazing.
In my opinion I think this team is playing above their age. I still dont think were a cohesive unit but were well on the way heading into league.
I really, really, like this team!

[LoboAuto]

Nice RPS. Remember we are the 5th youngest team in the USA. We are only going to get better and better. The best is yet to come.

[Bloo]

Nice analysis. Good points, all, and would love to see your comments on Chad before I add anything.

[Mark]

It's in there. I copy and pasted the old one before I added Chad and Eman.

[Bloo]

OK, I see it now. Nice job!

[FoKuZ]

Do you see these kinda write ups at TRM or other sites??
Negative, thats why this sites so special =D

[Lobo13]

Great analysis RPS! This team is fine and so what if we have a very long road for an at large, we are still a team the Mwc will fear, and last I checked the title still comes through Albuquerque.

[timvracer]

Seriously... when I think of next year.... I get all GIDDY. It is simply amazing what this team is doing. While filling the Reese hole will not be trivial, the overall promise and talent of this team is in my view, better than I have ever seen in the past, ever. I've said it before, if we make the NCAA's this year, that is a huge victory - and a bonus, it certainly is not automatic, and I would argue we have one of the hardest MWC years EVER to be rebuilding with a young team - this conference is amazing for BBall right now.

We have more right now in UNM basketball than ever before... EVER. I wear my New Mexico colors pridefully out here in CA - which isn't easy! :-)

[wallyhopp]

I think other teams would have been afraid to play 5 OOC TRUE away games.. Not these guys. That number is pretty staggering. You would have to go back decades or longer to find a time when the lobos played that many away from Home. I'm guessing the 80s?

[timvracer]

Exactly.. super tough OOC schedule with so much on the road... despite what RPI may have to say. We'd CRUISE through Duke's OOC schedule....

I think other teams would have been afraid to play 5 OOC TRUE away games.. Not these guys. That number is pretty staggering. You would have to go back decades or longer to find a time when the lobos played that many away from Home. I'm guessing the 80s?

[LoboMike]

12-3 in the OOC will be a darn good start for this team, leaving work to be done for the MWC season. Which is fine because we have some great opportunities in league play considering how good the top of the conference is.

The problem with the OOC schedule was the home portion. We have travelled a lot and are battle-tested on the road, but we haven't even been challenged on our home court yet.

[wolf1960]

Great write, I can only add GO LOBOS gut it out. The fans appreciate your effort !!

[indwelling3]

RPS, you give a nice rundown on individual players, but what about the TEAM, the chemistry, the intangibles and the coaching to this point? In my book, it is the team that wins or loses ball games, not just individual players and their statistics. Thank you.

[Mark]

RPS, you give a nice rundown on individual players, but what about the TEAM, the chemistry, the intangibles and the coaching to this point? In my book, it is the team that wins or loses ball games, not just individual players and their statistics. Thank you.

Last paragraph. And if I really have to mention coaching your obviously not following.

[mikexom]

I really believe this team is capable of a top two finish in MWC regular season and a huge surprise in the tournament. SA is doing something this year he wasn't able to last year and what ultimately ended last year's run, that is develop a deep bench throughout the season. If you noticed Washington in the tournament did not have a great record or ranking but they had developed a deep bench (maybe at the expense of some victories) which we could not answer in the tournament, this year we are much along those lines and come tournament time, we are loaded for bear! (or Cougar, Ute, Rebels, Aztecs, whatever..). To be honest, during the regular season I think this may just be SDSU's year (lots of stuff coming together for them this year) but that will not be a given in the tourney!

[Roob]

I really believe this team is capable of a top two finish in MWC regular season and a huge surprise in the tournament. SA is doing something this year he wasn't able to last year and what ultimately ended last year's run, that is develop a deep bench throughout the season. If you noticed Washington in the tournament did not have a great record or ranking but they had developed a deep bench (maybe at the expense of some victories) which we could not answer in the tournament, this year we are much along those lines and come tournament time, we are loaded for bear! (or Cougar, Ute, Rebels, Aztecs, whatever..). To be honest, during the regular season I think this may just be SDSU's year (lots of stuff coming together for them this year) but that will not be a given in the tourney!

Great observation, Mike. I think the other thing he's doing in terms of sacrificing short term results, is over-emphasizing the inside game right now. Our 3 point attempts went from 16 to 24 per game down to 8 to 16 per game after Drew joined the team. I believe that Alford intentionally swung the pendulum over too far in order to help develop the inside game. And it's cost us a W or 2 as a result.

But that's okay. He's playing a game of chess with his moves planned well in advance. Once he's comfortable that the team has figured out how to integrate the inside scorers into the offense, he will allow the pendulum to swing back to where we see more of a balance. I think you'll see the team go back to where they are consistently shooting 12 to 20 treys per game - we won't go back to the levels established in the first 10 games, but we will definitely open it up more than what we've seen in the past 4 games.

[xraytube]

Very nice summary. Having watched the Lobos for 40yrs, we have never had a deep group like this one. I am cautiously optimistic about conference play. SDSU is the favorite, but I do not think they are as deep as we are. UNLV is a touch overrated. BYU is definitely overrated. They had one tough road game which they lost, UCLA. Not a top 20 team. I think we will finish 2nd in conference play. The deciding factor will be how they come together as a team which is a challenge with so many talented players and only 40 minutes to spread around.

[bgupton]

Overall summary was great! I am cautiously optimistic about conference play this year. I hope we make the NCAA tournament but i am trying not to get my hopes up.

I noticed people on here keep saying we are the 5th youngest team but everything i am reading says we are somewhere among the 40th youngest. Atleast that is what golobos always reports when they do the PDF before each game. So which is it?