Jan. 27, 2012
New Mexico Lobo Men’s Basketball — In The Pit
Saturday: 4 p.m., TCU Horned Frogs at New Mexico Lobos
On The Air: The Mtn-TV; 770-AM KKOB/Lobo Radio Network
GoLobos.com: Game Story, Lobo TV, Stats, Quotes, GameTracker
By Richard Stevens — Senior Writer/GoLobos.com
He calls it the “13 days of challenge,” and if GoLobos.com wasn’t a family-friendly path into the heart of Lobo athletics, we might change the word “challenge” to a word a little, well, hotter.
But the point is made.
Lobo coach Steve Alford is going to push his Lobos to a higher level and, if the Lobos are smart, they will go along for the ride. It has such a pretty ending.
“We told them this is going to be the 13 days of challenge,” said Alford, following UNM’s 85-52 slamming of Colorado State Wednesday in The Pit. “We’ve told them: `We don’t care if you’re sore, we don’t care if you’re banged up, that’s what basketball is at this level. You have to find a way.’
“I told them it’s going to be 13 days like they’ve never seen.”
What the 13 days of “challenge” does is carry the Lobos through games with Colorado State, TCU, Air Force and Boise State. That Baker’s Dozen is designed to push the Lobos through some grueling practices and to four consecutive wins heading into the midway point of the Mountain West race.
The wins are important. The improvement is just as important. What the second half of the MW represents is a chance at revenge and redemption for the league losses to San Diego State and UNLV.
It’s likely that UNM will not win the 2012 Mountain West regular-season crown without bringing down Aztecs in San Diego and Rebels in The Pit. For sure, those wins won’t come if the Lobos don’t continue to improve on the court. UNM opens the second half of the race with Wyoming, SDSU and UNLV.
|
“I told them it’s going to be 13 days like they’ve never seen.” |
“The past two days (Coach) has been preaching that the next 13 days are going to be the hardest times of our lives, but also the best times of our lives,” said Lobo Jamal Fenton.
Fenton says the 13 days of challenge are designed to bring the Lobos a Mountain title. But whether that goal is reached or missed, the improvement won’t go to waste. There is a Mountain West Tournament title to be won in Las Vegas. There is the probability of postseason glory.
This carrot that Alford dangles in front of his Lobos has several layers of good taste. The carrot also comes with a symbolic whip.
“It’s on and they know it,” said Alford. “I’m going to step on them as long as I have to step on them. I told them if they can come out of the next 13 days, then they’ll have the best six weeks that they’ve ever had in college basketball.”
The first days of Alford’s 13-day run produced some beautiful steps by his Lobos. The 33-point romp over CSU was impressive and emphatic. Ram coach Tim Miles said he felt like one of those teams brought in in early December to provide a guarantee win for the home team.
Yeah, it did look at lot like that. Alford probably will be happy if it looks a lot like that again when TCU visits the Pit on Saturday.
“Our guys reacted (to the challenge) even better than what we hoped,” said Alford. “This is just the beginning of it. Hopefully, we can improve on that on Saturday.”
It might be difficult to improve on that 85-52 pasting on the scoreboard — a 33-point margin is a whole lot of points. And TCU will bring a few additional problems.
The Horned Frogs won’t be mistaken as Aztecs or Rebels, but they might be more athletic, quicker — and taller — than the CSU Rams. Still, TCU lost in double overtime 95-89 in Fort Collins, Colo. So, the Ram team that lost to UNM by 33 points beat the Frogs by six points.
TCU also lost 83-59 at Southern Cal and were destroyed 101-78 at UNLV. The Frogs will not be favored in The Pit.
“We have to continue this beat,” said Alford. “It’s a four-game stretch here before we get to the midpoint and before we get to where we have a week off.
“It’s a TCU team that is playing well. They have won two in a row. They are athletic. They are big. They do a lot of good things and you have a team coming in here that has a little bit of confidence.”
The Horned Frogs are paced in scoring by Hank Torns (13.4), 6-foot-7 Garlon Green (10.7) and 6-9 Amric Fields (10.0). Thorns, a 5-foot-9 speedster senior, has upped his average to 16.5 in TCU’s four Mountain West games. Kyan Anderson, a 5-11 guard and heir apparent to Thorns, has raised his level of play in league games and is averaging 12.3 points.
J.R. Cadot, a 6-5 wing, can damage teams inside with his 6.7 average on the boards complimented by a 9.8 scoring average. TCU shoots at a 43.4 percent clip, but allows its opponents to score at a 46.2 rate.
Alford is expecting to see good things on the scoreboard Saturday, but he also is expecting to see a Lobo team with a nastier mindset.
“You don’t play one game (CSU) and all of a sudden develop toughness,” said Alford. “None of these steps are easy, but basketball is not easy at this level.”
Which is what the Lobos hope to show the Frogs on Saturday.
|
NEW MEXICO LOBOS 2011-12 ROSTER/STATISICS
| Possible Starters | HT | Position | Season Statistics |
21 – Tony Snell 6-7Wing12.9 Pts. – 3.2 Rebs
32 – Drew Gordon 6-9Post12.7 Pts. – 10.7 Rebs.
10 – Kendall Williams 6-3Guard11.8 Pts. – 4.3 Asts..
00 – A.J. Hardeman 6-8Forward4.6 Pts. – 3.8 Rebs.
03 – Hugh Greenwood 6-3Guard5.7 Pts. – 2.8 Asts.
| The NM Bench | HT | Position | Season Statistics |
13 – Jamal Fenton 5-9Guard7.3 Pts. – 2.9 Asts.
40 – Demetrius Walker 6-2Guard7.1 Pts. – 2.4 Rebs.
23 – Phillip McDonald 6-5Guard6.8 Pts. – 1.7 Rebs.
04 – Chad Adams 6-6Wing3.9 Pts. – 1.6 Rebs.
41 – Cameron Bairstow 6-9Post3.6 Pts. – 3.7 Rebs.
05 – Dominique Dunning 6-4Guard1.9 Pts. – 1.1 Rebs.
02 – Chris Perez 6-1Guard0.6 Pts. – 0.0 Rebs.