I'm not a fortune-teller, but the Mountain West Conference season champion and number one seed in the conference tournament might come down to a classic 90's showdown when the New Mexico Lobos host the Utah Utes on March 3.
With Utah (10-2) sitting alone in first place, four other teams in the Mountain West Conference are trying to catch-up. New Mexico (8-4), BYU (8-4) and San Diego State (8-4) are battling for second place, and UNLV (8-5) is only a half-game behind. Fortunately for the Lobos, their final four games gives New Mexico a legitimate chance to contend for first place.
The Lobos will try to use their remaining schedule as a weapon. Three out of New Mexico's final four games are against teams with losing records in conference play: TCU, Colorado State and Wyoming. Even with the Lobos' weak remaining schedule, they're still going to need help from other conference foes.
Before Utah heads to New Mexico, they have to play BYU and UNLV, which could give the Lobos a chance to catch-up. If Utah loses at all, the New Mexico vs. Utah match up could be for first place, depending on how other games around the conference play out. The Lobos will still need BYU and San Diego State to lose at least once.
If New Mexico wins out, they have a chance to take the conference season title and get an At-Large bid into the big dance. With a weak remaining schedule, the Lobos need to show they can take care of business.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
It aint an easy road game
The New Mexico Lobos travel to Provo, Utah this evening to take on the BYU Cougars in the hostel Mariott Center. The Lobos haven't won in Provo in eight straight visits. In past games, I've had to turn my head to keep my stomach steady when I've watched the Lobos play in Provo.
But it's a different team for the Lobos compared to the past teams. New Mexico already ended their six game losing streak to the Cougars on Jan. 17. with a 81-62 victory. The last time the Lobos held BYU under 70 points was back in 2005, when New Mexico lost 68-53.
Since the days of former New Mexico coach Dave Bliss, The Lobos have lived and died by the 3-point shot. But in the 2008-09 season, the Lobos are surviving with their defense. New Mexico leads the conference in defensive field goal percentage, holding opponents to 40 percent from the field. If the Lobos want to beat the Cougars, they have to play defense.
Besides out-defending the other team, the Lobos still has to outscore BYU, which could be a problem. The Lobos will have to go back to the old Bliss days of New Mexico basketball and live and die by the 3-pointer. Lucky for New Mexico, they lead the conference in 3-point field goal percentage and ranked eighth among the NCAA with 45.4 percent. On the road, New Mexico has
shot 43.5 percent from 3-point land, and 50.2 percent in conference play.
Tonight, when I turn on the New Mexico vs. BYU basketball game at 8 p.m. (M.S.T.) on the Mountain, hopefully I'll be able to keep my stomach steady.
But it's a different team for the Lobos compared to the past teams. New Mexico already ended their six game losing streak to the Cougars on Jan. 17. with a 81-62 victory. The last time the Lobos held BYU under 70 points was back in 2005, when New Mexico lost 68-53.
Since the days of former New Mexico coach Dave Bliss, The Lobos have lived and died by the 3-point shot. But in the 2008-09 season, the Lobos are surviving with their defense. New Mexico leads the conference in defensive field goal percentage, holding opponents to 40 percent from the field. If the Lobos want to beat the Cougars, they have to play defense.
Besides out-defending the other team, the Lobos still has to outscore BYU, which could be a problem. The Lobos will have to go back to the old Bliss days of New Mexico basketball and live and die by the 3-pointer. Lucky for New Mexico, they lead the conference in 3-point field goal percentage and ranked eighth among the NCAA with 45.4 percent. On the road, New Mexico has
shot 43.5 percent from 3-point land, and 50.2 percent in conference play.
Tonight, when I turn on the New Mexico vs. BYU basketball game at 8 p.m. (M.S.T.) on the Mountain, hopefully I'll be able to keep my stomach steady.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Lobos Showing some Swagger
Last season, The New Mexico Lobos men basketball team resurrected from the dead with a 24-9 record. They received a NIT invitation, where they loss to the California Golden Bears in the first round. Nonetheless, a good season.
Former Lobo J.R. Giddens led the Lobos with 16.3 ppg and 8.8 rpg last season, jump-starting his journey into the NBA. He was co-player of the year in the Mountain West Conference, and was the catalyst during the team's success.
At the beginning of the 2008-09 season, the Lobos looked vulnerable. J.R. Giddens wasn't there anymore, and it showed. The Lobos were lacking a go-to guy, and nobody looked like they wanted the job. Close games in Creighton, at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico, and at home against VCU exploited the Lobos' lack of leadership. Close games at San Diego State, UNLV, and Utah dropped the Lobos to fourth place in the Mountain West satndings heading into the halfway mark. The Lobos seemed to come up short in every big game.
It wasn't until New Mexico hosted the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV on the Feb. 7, that Lobo fans finally got a glimpse of a leader.
The Lobos were down at half, and fifth year player Tony Danridge had only taken one shot. New Mexico fans knew Danridge had take-over potential, especially since he was the most athletic and high-flying jumper on the team, probably in the league.
Lobos Head Coach Steve Alford knew his team wouldn't win unless Danridge stepped up.
"Tony was challenged the most at halftime and he responded." Alford said. "We told Tony that if he wasn't going to shoot, we weren't going to win."
Danridge went 9-12 from the field and hit the tying shot with 39 seconds left to send the game into overtime. He finished with 26 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lobos to a 73-69 victory.
It's what the team needed. It was the missing piece to the puzzle. Finally, Danridge made his mark on the team as a leader. Now he has to keep it consistent. Everybody is expecting the same determination to win that they saw from him against UNLV.
His performance might be his curse, or it might be his break-out game. Fan's expectations for Danridge are high. If the Lobos perform well in the rest of the season, the UNLV game will be marked as the game where the team unified.
Danridge doesn't need to be J.R. Giddens, he just needs to be a leader.
Former Lobo J.R. Giddens led the Lobos with 16.3 ppg and 8.8 rpg last season, jump-starting his journey into the NBA. He was co-player of the year in the Mountain West Conference, and was the catalyst during the team's success.
At the beginning of the 2008-09 season, the Lobos looked vulnerable. J.R. Giddens wasn't there anymore, and it showed. The Lobos were lacking a go-to guy, and nobody looked like they wanted the job. Close games in Creighton, at the Cancun Challenge in Mexico, and at home against VCU exploited the Lobos' lack of leadership. Close games at San Diego State, UNLV, and Utah dropped the Lobos to fourth place in the Mountain West satndings heading into the halfway mark. The Lobos seemed to come up short in every big game.
It wasn't until New Mexico hosted the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV on the Feb. 7, that Lobo fans finally got a glimpse of a leader.
The Lobos were down at half, and fifth year player Tony Danridge had only taken one shot. New Mexico fans knew Danridge had take-over potential, especially since he was the most athletic and high-flying jumper on the team, probably in the league.
Lobos Head Coach Steve Alford knew his team wouldn't win unless Danridge stepped up.
"Tony was challenged the most at halftime and he responded." Alford said. "We told Tony that if he wasn't going to shoot, we weren't going to win."
Danridge went 9-12 from the field and hit the tying shot with 39 seconds left to send the game into overtime. He finished with 26 points and nine rebounds to lead the Lobos to a 73-69 victory.
It's what the team needed. It was the missing piece to the puzzle. Finally, Danridge made his mark on the team as a leader. Now he has to keep it consistent. Everybody is expecting the same determination to win that they saw from him against UNLV.
His performance might be his curse, or it might be his break-out game. Fan's expectations for Danridge are high. If the Lobos perform well in the rest of the season, the UNLV game will be marked as the game where the team unified.
Danridge doesn't need to be J.R. Giddens, he just needs to be a leader.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Time to say goodbye to football
It's the day after the best day of the year. The day after the Superbowl. And even though college basketball is about to get interesting and baseball is right around the corner, football won't be back on the tube until August; that's depressing. Now football fans have to endure the six months of NFL draft coverage and the stories on football player's off-the-field squabbles.
Before we say goodbye to the most popular sport (ratings wise) in America, let's give thanks to all the beautiful and remarkable memories football has given fans in the 2008-09 season.
Let's start with college football. Thank you college football for another inconclusive season. Though Florida looked like the best team in the country, at least in the eyes of the BCS, nobody can conclusively say Florida (13-1) was better than USC (12-1), Texas (12-1) or even Utah (13-0). So many good teams and no constructive way to see who is the best (at least without major companies losing millions of dollars in promotions).
Even though there was no real winner in my eyes, there were many memories to make the season brilliant. Like Tebow's prediction, Texas Tech pretending to be a contender and Utah's beat down on Alabama. How could football get better?
Then the Superbowl happened. Pittsburgh vs. Arizona. Who picked Arizona at the beginning of the season to win the NFC? Who knew Kurt Warner was going to put up MVP numbers and play in his third Superbowl? One thing I did know, Larry Fitzgerald is unstoppable. He's fast, tall, athletic, and can catch anything thrown into his radius. But it wasn't the quarterback with the best numbers or the wide receiver with the best hands that prevailed.
It was Ben Roethisberger and Santonio Holmes that led the Pittsburgh Steelers to their sixth Superbowl. And while Pittsburgh's defense led the NFL in total defense, Roethisberger led his team in the fourth quarter all season. If he wasn't considered an elite quarterback in the NFL, he is now. 1/3 of Pittsburgh's wins came from fourth-quarter comebacks in the 2008-09 season. It would have been uncharacteristic for the Steelers not to finish the season with another comeback led by Roethisberger.
Thank you football for the great memories that you gave the fans all year. This is where we say goodbye until August. Goodbye football and thank you.
Before we say goodbye to the most popular sport (ratings wise) in America, let's give thanks to all the beautiful and remarkable memories football has given fans in the 2008-09 season.
Let's start with college football. Thank you college football for another inconclusive season. Though Florida looked like the best team in the country, at least in the eyes of the BCS, nobody can conclusively say Florida (13-1) was better than USC (12-1), Texas (12-1) or even Utah (13-0). So many good teams and no constructive way to see who is the best (at least without major companies losing millions of dollars in promotions).
Even though there was no real winner in my eyes, there were many memories to make the season brilliant. Like Tebow's prediction, Texas Tech pretending to be a contender and Utah's beat down on Alabama. How could football get better?
Then the Superbowl happened. Pittsburgh vs. Arizona. Who picked Arizona at the beginning of the season to win the NFC? Who knew Kurt Warner was going to put up MVP numbers and play in his third Superbowl? One thing I did know, Larry Fitzgerald is unstoppable. He's fast, tall, athletic, and can catch anything thrown into his radius. But it wasn't the quarterback with the best numbers or the wide receiver with the best hands that prevailed.
It was Ben Roethisberger and Santonio Holmes that led the Pittsburgh Steelers to their sixth Superbowl. And while Pittsburgh's defense led the NFL in total defense, Roethisberger led his team in the fourth quarter all season. If he wasn't considered an elite quarterback in the NFL, he is now. 1/3 of Pittsburgh's wins came from fourth-quarter comebacks in the 2008-09 season. It would have been uncharacteristic for the Steelers not to finish the season with another comeback led by Roethisberger.
Thank you football for the great memories that you gave the fans all year. This is where we say goodbye until August. Goodbye football and thank you.
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