I'll Be a Son of a Shark

[CoachC]

Nov 8: Our 2nd exhibition is against Kentucky Weslyan. We are looking for people to step up and become a part of our initial rotation. I definitely want to see some better rebounding and defense tonight.

Once again tonight our offense looked pretty smooth, and our rebounding was much better, especially in the 2nd half. Defensively we still stink at position defense, although it was better in the 2nd half. Impressive though is our ability to anticipate passes and get in the passing lanes turning them over 28 times with 18 steals. We took good care of the ball ourselves with a 19/10 a/to ratio.

Individually Terrance Taylor led us with 14 pts, 3 asts, 7 rebs and 2 stls in 22 minutes.
Steve Tatum impressed with 11 pts, 3 asts, and 3 rebs in 21 minutes.
And Michael Thompson had a solid game at the point with 10 pts, 6 asts, and just 2 turnovers in 22 minutes.

Quite a few others showed some ability to contribute in the rotation, but much is still up for grabs.

we win this one 74-59

[CoachC]

6-4 215 lb FR(R) G Pat Bullock
A big guard whose natural position is at the point, Pat has a lot of upside, and as he develops can learn to play the 2 or even the 3. We have decided to redshirt Pat this season to give him a chance to grow into his talent.

6-3 198 lb SO G Howie Conley
Howie played in 32 games as a freshman point guard averaging 4.6 mpg. He has good talent but hasn't learned to play to his strengths yet. With some hard work he may be able to get more minutes this season, but, for now, looks to be a fringe player in the rotation.

6-2 170 lb JR(R) G Clifford Durham
Limited to just 5 games in his first two seasons as a Lobo, Clifford has looked very good in practice and in the exhibitions, and has an excellent chance of being a part of the guard rotation this year. Has a very nice jumpshot.

6-6 207 lb FR(R) F Larry Guy
Larry seems to have benifited greatly from his redshirt year last season and has a very high upside. A bit undersized as a 4, he is still a strong rebounder and is learning to be a good defender. Tremendously athletic with a terrific intermediate jumpshot may find him getting minutes at the 3 this year. If he continues to work hard, he has a chance of finding his way into the rotation and be a big part of this team, but nothing is being handed to him.

6-9 275 lb SO C/F Inyo Jackson
Inyo had an impressive freshman campaign averaging 6.4 pts, 4.0 rebounds in 15.7 mpg. Still needs to work on his defense, but will certainly be part of the big man rotation once again this year. I'm looking forward to having 3 years with this talented young man.

6-7 216 lb FR F Kurt Lewis
A true freshman Kurt has a nice jumpshot out to 3, but the rest of his game needs a lot of work. Probably won't see a lot of minutes this year, but could develop into a decent player in the future.

6-7 232 lb SR(R) F/C Mark Madic
Played in 32 games a year ago, averaging 11.2 mpg. Mad will push freshmen Guy and Tatum for minutes in the rotation, and will see some minutes at the 5 out of necessity. Has solid rebounding and defensive fundamentals, but has struggled a bit thus far in practice with the system. We need his rebounding, so hopefully as he becomes more comfortable with the the way we'll play he'll find himself and have a productive season for us.

6-2 192 lb JR G Fernando Martin
The Lobos leading returning scorer Fernando has averaged 9.2 ppg and 26 mpg in his first two seasons. Our starting 2, he'll be looked upon to be a bigger scoring threat this season. He has terrific all around skills and can play the point ably if called upon to do so. We'll be looking for great things from Fernando over the next 2 years.

6-5 188 lb SO(R) G/F Nathan Stetson
After red-shirting for a year, Nathan played in just one game last season. He has shown some good all around abilities in practice and in the exhibitions thus far this season, however, and is very athletic. Nathan has an outstanding chance to be part of the perimeter rotation this year, and will get the chance to start at the 3 in the season opener.

6-8 218 lb FR F Steve Tatum
A true freshman, Steve impressed us in the exhibitions with his ability to look for his shot and play within himself offensively. He also has very good rebounding fundamentals. His defense lags behind the rest of his game, however, and he's going to have to work hard at being a better post defender. He has shown enough however, that he will be given an opportunity to be a part of the big man rotation and gets the starting nod for the season opener.

6-10 233 lb SR C Terrance Taylor
The Lobos 2nd leading returning scorer, Terrance has been a consistent performer as a starter all 3 seasons he has been here. Last season he averaged 9.0 PPG and 5.6 rpg, but has the potential to elevate his game and be an all-conference performer. With no real weaknesses in his game, any success we have this season will probably be dependent in large part due to Terrance stepping up as team captain and leading the way.

5-10 173 lb FR G Michael Thompson
You rarely see a true freshman point guard with Michael's talents already honed to such a high level. A true point guard, he has already earned a starter's role at the outset of the season. I believe he's going to be a very special player before he is finished here and will be an impact freshman in this league.

6-6 235 lb SR(R) F Kareem Williams
A 3 with the strength to play some 4, Kareem averaged 14.4 mpg last year, and he'll have the opportunity to be a part of the rotation once again. Consistency will be the key for him to get minutes.

6-8 229 lb JR F John Willis
A starter in each of his first 2 seasons, as with Kareem Williams, consistency has been the problem. With reasonably well developed all around skills at the 3 and 4 he has the potential to be a big part of the rotation, but to get the kind of minutes he is used to he is going to work hard. He seems to be struggling with the new system thus far. He is a hard worker though, so hopefully he'll be able to work things out. Thus far, in the 2 exhibitions, he has been able to show us very little.

5-11 172 lb JR G Tim Wilson
A transfer last year, Tim was the starting point guard in all 29 games he played, averaging 6.2 pts, 4.4 asts per game. He'll be an important part of the guard rotation again this year, but must cut down on the 4.2 to/g he averaged a year ago.

[CoachC]

Talk about trial by fire. We are no way ready to take on a ranked team this early in the season. Hopefully we won't embarrass ourselves and will learn more about our rotation moving forward. The winner of this game will play winner of Gonzaga vs St. John's. It's a bit surreal starting the season in the same place I ended it last year with a completely different team.

We shoot very well in the first half (57%), and play surprisingly good defense limiting them to 40.6 shooting and turning them over 9 times with 7 steals. The biggest problems were rebounding (14-16,1-7) and poor play from our point guards who looked a bit like deer in headlights against their pressure as we turned the ball over 13 times. In Thompson's case hopefully it was just freshman nerves and he'll settle down in the 2nd half. We ended the half with Martin playing point, and he showed poise, but it limits his offense.

We stay in contact, however and at the half trail just 30-32

We had far too many turnovers 26) and far too few rebounds(29-35,7-15) to really give us a chance in this one, but we did see some positive things. Our big men must get better with their post defense and getting to the boards though, and that's priority number 1. Their big man Polite was having his way with us in the 2nd half at the offensive end before fouling out. Our perimeter defense was very good though, and we did turn them over 19 times as well on 12 steals.

The heroes for us in this one were Stetson, who justified giving him the start at the 3 with 12 points, 2 asts, 4 rebs and a stl, and Clifford Durham was terrific off the bench with a team high 16 points, with 2 rebs and 2 stls. Martin added 10 pts. Thompson was a little bit better in the 2nd half after throwing up in the locker room at halftime, but 4 asts did not offset his 6 turnovers. Hopefully it was a matter of just getting that first game out of the way, and his nerves will be much less of a factor next time out. Tough game for a freshman point guard to have to endure with the highly effective pressure from the Sooners.

Final:
UNM 61 Oklahoma 69

[CoachC]

Nov 20: We received signed LOIs from all 3 of our recruits this week. Air Force is back in the polls after a 3-0 start, 15th in the AP poll, 14th in USA today Coaches poll.

[PointGuard]

Talk about trial by fire. We are no way ready to take on a ranked team this early in the season.

So...what you're saying is that it was just too Soon to take on the Sooners.

[CoachC]

We expect better things tonight in our home opener. The Dolphins are a deliberate team, and will pass the ball as long as it takes to get a good look for their 2 guard B.J. Reynolds who lit it up with 36 points in their win over Brown in their last outing. Keeping him in check and doing a better job on the boards tonight will be keys to the game for us.

Rebounding, rebounding, rebounding...or rather the lack of it...again. 'nuff said.
Taylor and Jackson have gone to the boards but are getting very very little help.

We trail at the half 32-36

Although we didn't do a very good job of defending Reynolds most of the game, who wound up with 20 pts for the Dolphins, and we still trailed at the 10 minute mark by 6, the crowd really came to life down the stretch, and even with this place only about 2/3 capacity in the opener they were extremely loud and we played off of them, and soon caught them and began pulling away. The Pit may be one of the most accurately named venues in the country. I'm just glad to be on this side of it.

The rebounding was a little better in the 2nd half mainly because of outstanding performances by Taylor and Jackson, but our guards are going to have to start doing a better job of going after loose balls. We also need some consistent performances off the bench in the front line. Madic and Willis gave us some help tonight, but they have got to do their share of rebounding as well. We continue to show a propensity for turning over the opposition however, even while playing almost no pressure defnse. We turn the Dolphins over 24 times with 11 steals while have a terrific 25/5 a/to ratio ourselves.

With both Thompson and Wilson in early foul trouble, Fernando Martin took over point guard duties and proved he can handle the position although it cuts into his point production.

Fernando had 13 pts, 8 asts, 2 stls and NO turnovers in 27 minutes.

Although not puking at halftime in this one Michael Thompson was still jittery and played just 11 minutes. For now he will probably move to the bench while we try to build his confidence.

Stetson had 9 points, 2 stls, but just 2 rebounds and is going to have to get to more lose balls at the 3. Unfortunately no one else is really distinguishing themselves at the position, so it's up to him to get the job done.

Tatum had just 1 rebound in 10 minutes tonight and also will be moving to the bench for now. Perhaps we've been expecting too much from our freshmen early.

Taylor was very good tonight with 11 points, 9 rebounds, and a steal.

off the bench, Inyo Jackson was a force, leading us with 18 points, and also added 2 asts, 8 rebs, and a steal. We need to find a way to play Taylor and Jackson more minutes together on the floor, but it won't be easy.

Durham had 9 points off the bench with 3 asts and a stl, but had no rebounds in 25 minutes at the 2. In that many minutes he should have found a couple of rebounds by accident.

Despite early foul trouble, Tim Wilson had a superb game with 5 points, 5 asts, 3 stls and no turnovers in 15 minutes, and will be given a chance to reclaim his starting position from last year.

Final:
UNM 76 Jacksonville 67

[CoachC]

So...what you're saying is that it was just too Soon to take on the Sooners.

yes, later for the Sooners would not have been so soon. But sooner or later, we were going to have to play someone like the Sooners later. Speaking of later, we play the Gators soon, and that's too soon of a later for the Gators. We might have been better off playing the Gators sooner and the Sooners later.

[CoachC]

Nov 23: Well our plans to change things up with the starting line-up have already had a hitch, as Tim Wilson is having some nasty back spasm and probably won't be available on the floor for at least 10 days or so. And since it doesn't rain enough in the desert, Durham had his instep stomped on in practice and will be day to day.

[CoachC]

Incidentally, in our first two games, Stetson and Durham who played almost never last season are averaging 51 minutes/g and are both in double figues, while Williams and Willis who averaged over 40 mpg combined last year have done next to nothing and are averaging just 11.5 mpg. I wonder what caused former coach Kimbrough to get fired?

[PointGuard]

If your Durham (Clifford) is related to my Durham (Randy), he comes from good stock...and that's no (Bull) Durham.