Feb. 27, 2009
Lobo Basketball
What: Lobos at Colorado State
When/Where: 7 p.m., Saturday, Fort Collins
On The Air: 770-AM KKOB; no TV
Online: GameTracker on GoLobos.com
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The Colorado State Rams will see a familiar face Saturday when the New Mexico Lobos step into Moby Arena — Chad Toppert.
The Lobos will be looking at two Rams they did not see on Jan. 28 when UNM ran the Rams out of The Pit 68-50 — Marcus Walker and Harvey Perry, who did not play in that game.
The Rams have a pretty good idea of how to slow down Toppert. You don’t let him shake loose off screens. You don’t forget him in the transition game. You don’t forget him, period, or the 6-foot-7 Toppert will burn you with his long-range sniper power.
The Rams haven’t been too good at remembering Toppert. He has averaged 18 points in the last three games with CSU. The senior is playing with the poise of a senior.
The Lobos also know the answer for slowing down Walker, CSU’s leading scorer at 16.0, and Perry. You don’t slow them down.
“Walker is like a one-man transition guy. He’s extremely fast,” said Lobo coach Steve Alford. “CSU is playing faster and shooting a lot of threes and making more threes. They are playing very loose. They are a much more dangerous offense than what we saw the first time around.”
Of course, Walker is the difference. If the Lobos played in Fort Colins, Colo., without their leading scorer, that would mean they would be playing without Tony Danridge. That hurts. When a team is minus its top gun, that also allows the defense to make a shift that really makes things tough on a team. The shift UNM made on a Walker-less Ram team helped UNM hold the Rams to a season-low 50 points in The Pit.
Now, the Lobos have to shift back the other way and guard Walker. They also have to do it at Walker’s place. Alford says his Lobos might have no choice but to run a bit with the Rams, but UNM can control that tempo with rebounding and solid transition defense.
“We want to play fast, but we don’t want to get crazy with it,” said Alford. “There is a catch-22 or what’s a good shot and what’s a bad shot in transition.”
There is no catch-22 about the significance of UNM’s voyage to Moby Gym. It’s huge, if the Lobos want to catch league-leading Utah, which steps into The Pit this coming Tuesday in what has all the makings for a Pit sellout.
Why? Well, there could be a Mountain West title on the line, but mostly because it’s Utah.
“It’s just crazy. I’ve never seen it like this, back-and-forth,” Toppert said of the 2009 MWC race. “It`s nerve wracking, a little bit.”
Utah tops the conference at 11-2 followed by Brigham Young and New Mexico at 9-4. Those obviously are the two teams with the best chance to catch the Utes and that catching probably means a tie with 12-4 marks.
There is a good chance that part of UNM’s pre-game ritual Saturday might include watching the score coming out of Provo, Utah. The Utes are at BYU for a 3 p.m. clash on Saturday. It’s on CBS College Sports. Lobos will be sitting in the BYU section.
“If you’re rooting against somebody, I guess it’s Utah,” said Alford. “That’s the one team we don’t control our own destiny against. If you are looking at a league championship, you are looking at Utah losing. They have to lose at least one game, other than our game, for us to have a chance.”
If the Utes win at BYU, you have to figure the MWC title will go to Salt Lake City. The Utes would have to lose in The Pit to UNM and lose at home to a mediocre TCU. The Lobos’ final two games are vs. Utah and a tougher-than-it-looks finale at Wyoming.
Of course, all that juggling of what-ifs doesn’t mean much if the Lobos don’t take care of business at Colorado State. The Rams are 9-19 overall and 4-10 in the MWC and not a team that instantly gets your attention on paper. But Alford has his ways.
“They had Utah beat and Utah is leading our league by two games,” said Alford, referring to CSU’s overtime loss to Utah in Fort Collins. “CSU is just more potent now. They have more guys who can score and they are looking to score.
“We don’t have a margin of error where we can run away from people. Colorado State is a team that’s getting better and better. We can’t afford to look ahead. If we do that, we’ll get beat.
“I hope our guys understand that you can’t look past anyone. I hope they understand the magnitude of playing 40 minutes the way we need to play.”
Editor’s Note: Richard Stevens is a former Associate Sports Editor and sports columnist for The Albuquerque Tribune. You can reach him at rstevens50@comcast.net. Previous articles are available at The Richard Stevens Corner