Oct. 22, 2009
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
The challenge to repeat all the good things achieved by Steve Alford’s University of New Mexico Lobos in 2008-09 will be a tough challenge for his young Lobos of 2009-10 to duplicate.
New Mexico lost its top three scorers from a season ago and has to replace those top guns with a whole lot of youth and inexperience. Alford has only one senior and one junior who wore the Lobo jersey in 2008-09.
No big deal. The Lobos’ plan this season isn’t simply to repeat. It’s to aim higher and reach out for a few carrots of achievement dangling at the edge of their fingertips, but within the grasp of their talent, enthusiasm and work ethic.
“We know what we want,” said Dairese Gary, UNM’s junior point guard. “We’re willing to put in the work to get it.”
The Lobos got much of what they wanted in 2008-09 and missed a few things, too. They’ll reach again this season. The Lobos grabbed a share of the 2009 Mountain West Conference championship, rolled into postseason for the 21st time since 1984, and won 22 games.
The Lobos, like all MWC teams, prefer to be sole owners of the title. That’s a goal in the 2010 race. The Lobos also would like to exchange their 2009 ticket into the National Invitation Tournament for a 2010 ticket into the NCAA dance.
Again, it will be a challenge.
“We lost a lot in Tony (Tony Danridge), Top (Chad Toppert) and Daniel (Faris),” said Roman Martinez, Alford’s lone senior this season.
“And we are very young. What we have to do is mature as a team every week in practice and in every game, and take that responsibility seriously.
“We might be more athletic this year, but we lost a lot of experience. I would say depth is about the same because we’ll end up playing about the same number of guys. We play a lot of guys.”
The challenge to repeat as MWC champions will be daunting, to say the least. Gone are the three seniors who combined to play in 379 games and score more than 3,200 points from 2005-09. And, they all graduated in May of 2009.
“Those three seniors really stepped up and laid an incredible foundation for what we’re trying to do here,” said Alford. “They helped change the work ethic and the expectation level.”
The departed Lobos helped change things by buying into a system and a coach they believed in. They also produced on the court. Danridge, Faris and Toppert were the Lobos’ top-three scorers last season, combining to average 37.8 points while adding 13.7 rebounds per game. This is a major statistical loss to overcome.
“Those guys had a chunk of the points, but we have some guys who can score,” said Gary. “We just have to execute our offense and take the shots the coaches have planned for us.”
Said Martinez: “We have scorers. I think a key for us is how we guard and how tough we are. Mental toughness is defense and playing smart and taking good shots in tight situations.”
UNM enters the season facing an unusual roster scenario it has not seen in 24 years. The Lobos have only a single senior: Martinez, who is also the only returnee who averaged in double figures last season (10.6).
In 1985-86, stalwart forward Johnny Brown was the lone senior on the roster. This year the senior leadership duties fall on the shoulders of Martinez, a cerebral lefty, who probably possesses the most well rounded game on the UNM roster. The 6-foot-6 hustler tied Faris for team rebounding honors last year with a 6.4 per-game average.
“I’m going to come out and be that scrappy player again, but you are going to get more leadership out of me this year,” said Martinez. “I have no choice but to be a leader, but I’m also willing to accept the responsibility.”
Junior Dairese Gary |
Said Alford: “It’s different for him this year. He’s never been put in this position before. Now, he`s got to be a leader. That’s never easy, but I think he’s ready for that role. He’ll get help from Dairese.”
In Brown’s senior year 24 years ago, three seasoned and talented juniors surrounded him: Hunter Greene, Kelvin Scarborough and Mike Winters. That trio of juniors had played in a combined 187 games with a combined 94 starts. There was experience and leadership behind Brown.
A single returning junior joins Martinez: the 6-foot-1 Gary. The up side to that is Gary started as a freshman and sophomore – 62 consecutive starts entering 2009-10 – and is a leader by example and by position.
“That’s part of my responsibility being an upperclassman and a point guard,” said Gary. “I want my teammates to feed off my play and Ro (Martinez) also is the same type of hustle player, who can lead by example.
“We plan to do things to keep our team going, keep them playing hard, but I think because we are so young, everyone has to step up a bit.”
The Lobos have another junior in long-armed wing Darington Hobson, a transfer from the College of Eastern Utah. Hobson has yet to don a Lobo jersey or compete at the D-I level, but he led all scorers with 21 points in the recent Lobo Howl at the Santa Ana Star Center. Hobson is all-around good.
The remainder of Alford’s cast of scholarship Lobos are pups. There are four returning sophomores in 6-9 Will Brown, 6-2 Nate Garth, 6-8 A.J. Hardeman and 6-5 Phillip McDonald.
McDonald got in 33 starts last season, averaging 20.4 minutes a game. Garth got a solid 17.8 minutes a game usually backing up Gary at the point. Brown and Hardeman came off the bench and each averaged around nine minutes a game.
There are four incoming freshmen in 6-5 Curtis Dennis (redshirt), 6-6 Chad Adams, 5-8 Jamal Fenton and 6-9 Matt Staff. There’s also a walk-on in 6-0 freshman Kevin Nelson, the son of former Lobo Ron Nelson, who was an All-American at UNM in 1968.
Coach Steve Alford |
A solid shooter who could replace the 3-point void left by Toppert, Dennis got in a season of practice time last year and is familiar with Alford’s system. He has the potential to help UNM on the scoreboard.
Still, this might be the youngest Lobo lineup in school history. For sure, it’s the youngest group that Alford has coached in his 19 years as a head man.
“I thought we were young last year,” said Alford, the 2009 MWC Coach of The Year. “I guess now we are extremely young. It’s the youngest team I’ve ever coached. I have nine players who are sophomores or freshmen. I think the league will be young, too.”
Youth and inexperience will challenge the Lobos, but that was something the Lobos adapted to last season. UNM won the MWC title playing more freshmen (4) than any other league team.
The Lobos have another challenge in 2009-10 that they faced last season: no monster in the paint.
The Lobos are vertically challenged with only three players on the roster taller than 6-foot-8. UNM has good size on the perimeter, but will not be towering inside behind 6-9 Brown, 6-8 Hardeman and 6-9 Staff. These three Lobos are listed as forwards, but they often will be UNM`s final line of defense in the paint.
“We aren’t real big, but Daniel (Faris) wasn’t all that big either,” said Gary. “He outworked people under the boards, but we also outworked people all over. We just have to go out and do that again.”
If there is a staple to Alford’s program, it’s fielding a Lobo team that believes in honest effort in all aspects of the game. “Fans can expect us to play hard, get defensive stops and be a hard-nosed team,” said Martinez. “We are all about effort and toughness.”
When you play for Alford, toughness isn’t just diving after loose balls. It’s defense. It’s mental toughness, which can translate into taking care of the ball, taking high-percentage shots, believing you can win on the road, taking care of business in The Pit.
“I expect the effort on the defensive end and valuing the basketball to become mainstays in what we are trying to do with this program,” said Alford.
In 2008-09, those things were mainstays. That’s why UNM held it’s opponents to just under 41 percent shooting from the floor. That’s why the Lobos were undefeated (8-0) at home in MWC games, winning by an average of 17.7 points in The Pit.
That’s why Alford’s 14 road wins is a UNM record for road wins over a two-year stretch. UNM was 14-60 on the road in the seven seasons before Alford. The Lobos are 9-7 in MWC road games under Alford. UNM was 9-42 in MWC games in the seven seasons prior to Alford. This change is a significant statement about Alford’s program.
The 2009-10 schedule is a tough one. The Lobos play 19 homes games highlighted by non-conference contests against California, Creighton, Dayton, New Mexico State and Texas Tech.
The Lobos will also play five non-conference games away from The Pit for the fourth consecutive season, including a neutral-site clash against Texas A&M in Houston and visits to New Mexico State, Hawaii, University of San Diego and Oral Roberts. And then there are the always-tough road games of the Mountain West Conference.
“That’s a tough schedule when you only have one senior and one junior who played last year,” said Alford. “But the schedule does what we want it to do.
“There are some difficult challenges that should toughen and prepare our young guys for the demands of the Mountain West Conference. This isn’t supposed to be easy at the beginning because it’s not going to be easy at the end.”
The season of 2009-10 might throw a few challenges at the Lobo fans, too. The Pit is undergoing a $60 million renovation and will be expanded by 60,000 square feet. However, the project, designed to make University Arena one of the top collegiate venues in the nation, will not be completed until November of 2010.
One thing will remain the same though. The core of The Pit — the sunken cauldron of emotion surrounding the Bob King Court — will be 100 percent go. The Lobos also plan to give 100 percent effort.
“You are going to see a hard-nosed team that plays hard,” said Martinez. “Coach won’t let us play any other way.”
The obvious strength on this year’s team is the perimeter: the guard spots. Alford has tremendous talent, experience and versatility at the point behind Gary and Garth. They combined to average 41.7 minutes, 12.2 points and 7.2 assists. That’s a nice quarterback package.
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“I have no choice but to be a leader, but I’m also willing to accept the responsibility.” |
Martinez and McDonald give the Lobos established firepower on the edges of the UNM attack. Martinez averaged more minutes (30.6) than any Lobo last season except for Danridge. McDonald averaged 20.4 minutes. Martinez and McDonald combined to score 17.9 points per game. Look for the talented McDonald to help fill the scoring vacuum left by Danridge’s graduation.
Those two, plus Gary, give UNM a strong presence behind the 3-point line. Martinez actually had a better long-range percentage than Toppert last season. Dennis also has the potential to be a strong outside scorer for the Lobos.
“Our guards will be a strength again,” said Alford. “I like this team. We have a chance to be more athletic and we’re still going to be able to shoot the ball. We have a few missing pieces, but we love what the team is building up to.”
The inside game has the most to prove in 2009-10 and will be a key to UNM’s run toward titles and postseason play. Brown and Hardeman are strong and athletic, but also are young and inexperienced. They might prove to be more of a force by committee than a force of one.
The 6-9 Staff is in the same situation as the other first-year Lobos. It’s wait and see how quickly the Lobo freshmen adapt to the challenges of major college basketball.
“It’s different than high school,” said Gary. “It’s quicker and more physical and it’s a long season. Our young guys have to grow up in a hurry.”
Yeah, they have to grow up in a hurry for many reasons, but for one obvious one: They are going to be called upon in a hurry.