Jan. 10, 2012
Mountain West Conference – 2012 Men’s Basketball Preview
By Richard Stevens – Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
If there was ever any heavy-duty pressure on Steve Alford’s Lobos, the preseason No. 1 pick in the Mountain West, that pressure has shifted slightly.
But not by much. If you are a Steve Alford Lobo, the pressure and the expectations are internal forces of drive and passion.
But there no longer is a “Big Two” as in New Mexico and UNLV, the early teams to arise from the preseason mist clouding the Mountain West crystal ball.
For sure, there is still some fog waiting to clear, but – for now – there is a “Big Three” as in UNM, UNLV and San Diego State. There also are a lot of Mountain West wolves with the talent and the drive to nip at a few heels and maybe drag down some of those so-called leaders of the pack.
“I think (the league) is really strong,” said CSU Coach Tim Miles. “Every night in, every night out, in every gym, there is going to be a heck of a basketball game. There are no gimmies out there.”
Said Wyoming Coach Larry Shyatt: “This is great basketball.”
San Diego State (13-2) and UNLV (16-2) go into the Mountain race ranked. The 14-2 Lobos, riding a 12-game win streak, are receiving votes. The Mountain is one of three conferences (Big East, Big Ten) featuring no league team with a losing mark and the Mountain is on pace to end the non-conference slate with the league’s best-ever mark.
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MW’s TOP GUNS |
And all of the Mountain teams have been nasty in defending their home turf. The Mountain was 69-4 at home going into Tuesday night games. UNLV, Wyoming and Boise State were undefeated at home. UNM, SDSU, Air Force and Colorado State have lost only a single game in front of the home fans.
“It’s always been a great home-court league,” said UNLV coach David Rice. “It doesn’t get any harder than our opening game at San Diego State.” It looks like they (SDSU) haven’t missed a beat.”
The Lobos and the Rebels will get a quick and early taste of home-court cooking. The Lobos head to chilly Laramie eyeing a Shyatt-coached Wyoming team that is 11-0 in the AA Arena and obviously one of the surprise teams of the conference.
Shyatt is in his second go-around as the Cowboys head coach. He also was a former UNM assistant to former head man, Gary Colson.
The Aztecs were expected to skid down the Mountain a bit in 2012 having lost four sensational starters. That doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. “I knew San Diego State would not be as bad as everyone else projected,” said Air Force Coach Jeff Reynolds.
Said SDSU’s Brian Dutcher, SDSU’s associate head coach: “It’s a culture of winning. Our kids expect to win.”
UNLV’s Rice will take that statement a bit further. “Teams in our league are accustomed to winning,” he said.
A lot of MWC teams are on a roll heading toward Saturday’s league openers. Of course, when there are so many gaudy records in the Mountain, there has to be some teams rolling.
The 13-2 Aztecs have won 10 of 11 – or 13 of 15. They have four players in double figures going into Tuesday’s game with Chicago State: Chase Tapley (16.9), Jamaal Franklin (15.1), Xavier Thames (12.0) and James Rahon (10.2). The Aztecs don’t have a true, go-to center, but they score inside by committee. Their forte is to attack with aggressive athletes from the guard and wing spots.
The Aztecs have been without sophomore Thames, who averages 5.4 assists, but the 6-foot-3 transfer from Washington State is due back by UNLV time. He makes the Aztecs better.
SDSU will enter league wars coming off a string of cupcakes, but the Aztecs’ schedule before that was respectable: Baylor, Cal-Berkeley, Santa Barbara, Long Beach State, USC, Baylor. The Aztecs will see a big step up in intensity when the Vegas Rebs come to visit.
Wyoming’s Larry Shyatt — back in Laramie! |
“The level of intensity is greater by 10 times,” said Tapley. “You’re playing teams that kind of know your plays. Every game is going to be a barnburner.”
The Rebs are about to add a 6-9 former McDonalds All-American to their roster in Khem Birch, a transfer from Pittsburgh. The good news for the rest of the Mountain is he won’t be eligible until January of 2013. The bad news for the Mountain is UNLV is already loaded and has two of the league’s top scorers in Chace Stanback (14.8) and Mike Moser (14.2).
The Rebs are a team full of long, lean, hungry ballplayers. Stanback and Moser, both 6-foot-8, give the Rebs scoring with size, but UNLV, like UNM, has a lot of talent and quickness on the edge. The Rebs might not have the go-to inside player that the Lobos have in Drew Gordon, but the Rebs have a committee of Rebs, who like to attack the glass and are productive in the attack.
The Wyoming Cowboys have earned the dark horse role in the 2012 Mountain race. Wyoming doesn’t appear to have the pure talent of the Rebs, Lobos or Aztecs, so they try to win with team basketball and by winning all those fundamental battles that eventually move a scoreboard.
Wyoming takes care of the basketball. The `Pokes take good shots. They make free throws. They play defense. “Larry Shyatt of Wyoming has just dominated competition,” said CSU’s Miles.
Wyoming tops the Mountain in scoring defense yielding 52.1 points. The Cowboys do OK on the offensive end, too, scoring at a 67.2 clip. Wyoming’s pre-conference schedule might be void of the “wow” factor, but this is a program that needed to build some confidence. That seems to have happened.
The `Pokes are 14-2 after Monday’s 73-49 romp over Idaho State – the best Wyoming start since 1950-51. Wyoming shot 56 percent from the floor and should have some shooting confidence for Saturday’s game with New Mexico.
The `Pokes were picked in the preseason poll to finish sixth, ahead of TCU and Boise State. Wyoming’s 14-2 record – 11-0 in Arena-Auditorium – should get the Lobos’ attention, but Alford says his team emphasizes concentration on the next battle.
“Here, we don’t pay a lot of attention in trying to tier out the league from top, middle to bottom,” said Alford. “That will play itself out. We try to make sure our guys respect opponents and respect the game.”
Based on the Mountain’s non-conference success, it shouldn’t be difficult to respect any Mountain team. The league looks to be loaded. It’s possible the Mountain is top heavy with UNM, UNLV and SDSU, but — we’ll see!