I'll Be a Son of a Shark

[Wayne23]

Whew! How far can we take all this?

[CoachC]

Stetson says you are talking through your hat.

[CoachC]

Back in New York to play the Bulls out of the MAC. With Miller not dressed and Durham doubtful we are very much undermanned and will be forced to play zone with a makeshift starting lineup. Martin will start at the point, Stetson will move to the two, with Willis and Jackson getting starts in the front line along with Taylor.

Very good team play and strong defense in the first half. With the injuries a few people who hadn't been playing a whole lot stepped up and gave us some quality minutes. Once again the one negative was rebounding. I'm starting to believe we may be the worst rebounding team in the nation.

at the half we lead 40-26

We don't back down in the 2nd half and even rebound much better (31-36, 10-7 for the game). Once again we show a great awareness of the passing lanes and turn them over 21 times on 11 steals. Our own a/to ratio is also a terrific 23/7. Turnover differential is allowing us to make up for our inadequacies on the defensive boards, but if we can start doing that too, this team can reach another level.

Terrance Taylor was terrific with his first double double of the season, and led us with 19 pts, 2 asts, 10 rebs, 1 stl, 1 blk.

Martin added 11 points, 3 asts, 3 rebs

Stetson seemed a bit discombobulated playing at the 2 tonight, but had 6 pts, 3 asts, and a steal. Once again though, Nathan had no rebounds in 21 minutes.

Inyo had an off night and had just 3 pts, 2 rebs in 14 minutes.

John Willis acquitted himself quite well at the defensive end in his first start of the year with 4 pts, 2 asts, 4 rebs and 5 stls.

Almost everyone we used off the bench tonight made positive contributions which was nice to see, especially without Miller and Durham. It was especially encouraging to see the freshmen Thompson(8 pts, 3 asts, no turnovers in 17 minutes), and Tatum(10 pts, 2 asts 3 rebs, 1 stl) play much better coming off the bench for the first time this season. That's the kind of response you want to see. Madic (8pts, 1 sts, 4 rebs, 2 stls),Williams(2 pts, 2 asts, 4 rebs, 1 stl), and Conley(4 pts, 5 asts, 1 reb, just 2 turnovers in 18 minutes) all played very well for us too. If our bench can play like that every night we are going to be in pretty good shape.

A nice win in our first true road game even with the injuries.

Final
UNM 75 Buffalo 62

[CoachC]

Nov 27: With 2 road losses this week Air Force falls right back out of the polls.

[CoachC]

The Flames lost most of the key players from their Big South championship team from a year ago, and have been struggling. Cliff Durham has fully recovered from his injury and will be available tonight. Tim Wilson still hasn't been able to practice and will not dress once again. We will use the same starting 5 as in the last game.

A strong first half where we even rebounded well, and again got a lot of positive contributions from a lot of people. We did put them at the line a few too many times in the first half, and I picked up my first T of the season. We also turned the ball over a few more times (7) than I like, but overall it was a positive first half performance.

At halftime we lead 38-31

While this game in no way qualified as a blow out, I can honestly say that we felt entirely in control of it for 40 minutes. We finally out rebound an opponent 32-25,10-3, we win the a/10 battle big again 20/12, 10/24 and came up with an absolutely amazing 20 steals. We do still need to cut down on some of the silly fouls though, but did a better job of that in the 2nd half.

We played 11 guys double digit minutes in this one, and every single one of them performed very well. It didn't matter which 5 guys were on the court tonight, we had no let down at all. With so many guys playing so well, it's pointless to try to run down all the individual stats, but here are a few highlights:
Martin led us with 14, Jackson added 10, and Durham 11 in just 14 minutes off the bench. Despite playing a season low 18 minutes, Taylor still led us in rebounding with 5, and Stetson finally got our message about going after loose balls and grabbed 4 boards. Larry Guy had his first significant minutes as a freshman and totally ignited the crowd with an incredible 7 steals in 15 minutes. His length and quickness will make him an exciting guy to watch for the next 4 years.

And then there's the crowd. It's just amazing how wild our fans get, and how loyal and supportive they are. Can't wait til we pack this place to the rafters. This is so much a different experience than what I had at G-W, and it's fun to coach again.

I do have one big dilemna now though, that every coach loves to have. With so much depth and so many guys playing so well, it's impossible to give people the minutes they deserve even among the starters. And Tim Wilson isn't even back yet. Competition for playing time is going to be heavy, and you love to see that. We can only hope that continues.

Final:
UNM 69 Liberty 53

[CoachC]

It's still early, but through 4 games we are forcing 22.0 TO per game (1st in nation) on 13.5 steals per game(also 1st in nation) all while playing very very little pressure and only bringing out the Amoeba Zone a couple times a game. These guys are going to love it as they get more familiar with it. We also lead the nation in assists per game at 20.8.

[CoachC]

Nov. 30: It's a good thing we have some emerging depth, because Terrance Taylor now has a banged up shoulder and is day-to-day and is doubtful for our next contest. That is a bit of a problem though because after Jackson and Madic we have no one else with any experience or size to play the 5. Most likely we'll have to try Willis or Williams there if the need arises. Wilson has begun light practice, but may still be a week away from returning.

[CoachC]

Back in New York again, this time on Lawn Guyland. If we keep scheduling so many trips to New York, the university is going to have to build us a transporter room or something. Given that the Blackbirds' lone victory was in their lone home game against Air Force and helped knock the Falcons out of the top 25, they aren't to be taken lightly. They have a balanced scoring attack, and take a lot of shots from the perimeter. Wilson and Taylor are both dressed tonight but doubtful. We'll have to play zone more than we like in order to protect our lack of depth in the post tonight, which unfortunately may play into their hands.
Tatum will get the start tonight in place of the injured Taylor.

We don't quite as well as we usually do in the first half, but we again rebounded very well, and have a +5 turnover advantage and have played good defense overall. And once again we are getting positive contributions from a lot of people.

At the half we lead 31-23

We shoot better in the 2nd half and continue to rebound and play defense. We play 11 deep again, and everyone made positive contributions, although our point guards struggled with the ball-handling midway through the 2nd half which allowed them to pull within 2 before we settled down and pulled away for good. For the 2nd straight game we out rebound an opponent even with out Taylor 36-27,10-9, and despite 15 turnovers and an inefficient a/to ratio of 13/15, we still wound up with a +2 differential in tos and had 9 steals.

Martin had 14 pts, 6 asts, Stetson 14 pts, 4 rebs, 3 stls, and Jackson had 8 pts, 10 rebounds, Tatum had 4 pts, 5 rebs, and 2 stls.

Off the bench, Madic was our leading scorer with 16 pts, 5 rebs, and Durham added 10.

We win going away

Final:
UNM 71 LIU 53

[CoachC]

Dec 3: Air Force dropped their 3rd straight on the road last night to Indiana, but Colorado St. upset #7 Texas A&M

[Wayne23]

HAY! U beet, LIU, my teem! I do not remembah coachin' dat game fowa sum reeson.