In a game that looked like the Lobos (24-6) would be able to advance comfortably to face the winner of Wyoming and Utah State, SDSU Aztecs (14-17) had different plans, as they came back to win the game in overtime 70-61. There are plenty of things to talk and think about this game, which ended the Lobos hopes for a trip to the NCAA Tournament. Here are some of the observation and thoughts that I gathered from media row in the Thomas & Mack:
Category: Lobo Basketball
Zach’s Reacts: WBB vs. AFA
The Lobos moved to 11-1 and 1-0 in MW play with a convincing 78-57 win over AFA in the MW opener for both teams. It was an opening night in the MW that saw every single home team take home a win. While there is very little that we can take from a single night of MW play, but here are some of my reactions and thoughts from Wednesday’s action in The PIT and around the MW:
MW 2018-19 Prediction Poll
Here is our Prediction Poll for the 2018-2019 MW Season. We are looking for more responses this year and decided to do a post on the website instead of just using Twitter. Both links are the same so you should be good to go at either spot.
Link below:
Zach’s Reacts: Lobos vs. Sac State
The Lobos extended their win streak to eight tonight with an 85-53 win over Sacramento State. The Lobos are now 9-1 and will look to close their non-conference schedule 11-1 with their games against Stephen F Austin (at home) and Long Beach State (on the road). There is plenty to talk about with this team right now, so here are my reactions from tonight’s game:
Zach’s Reacts: Lobos vs. North Texas
After dropping another home game to North Texas, the Lobos fell to 5-5 on the season and left plenty of questions and observations from my seat. This is the first of Zach’s Reacts, in which I will give his immediate post-game thoughts. Each paragraph will be a different topic and I hope that the order works.
Let’s Get WeirD: Schedule, Bold Predictions, and MW Picks
A new season brings new hopes, dreams, and expectations for Lobo Men’s Basketball Fans. This post mostly focuses on the first two. We’ll take a quick look at the non-conference schedule, make some bold predictions, and fill out our preseason MW ballots. Let’s do this.
Men’s Basketball Season Preview: 2018-2019
The time has finally come for year two of the Coach Paul Weir Era! After a promising first season, with the Lobo faithful buying into the Weir’s vision for the program, there is plenty of reason to be excited to the season to begin. There are a lot of interesting stories to watch as the season unfolds, as it promises to be a memorable one. Today, we look at some of the possible stories to watch, what we will have our eyes on, an overview of the roster, and how the Lobos could stand in the Mountain West and in the NCAA.
Corina Carter is a Lobo!
UNM Women’s Basketball got better today, as high school senior guard Corina Carter gave Coach Bradbury and the staff a verbal commitment while on her official visit this weekend. Carter, from San Antonio, TX, is ranked as a Top-100 player in the 2019 class and will help the team from day one in a Lobo uniform at either guard spot. The news is great for Bradbury and staff as it gives them their first high-level true point in their first few years at UNM.
Carter joins Autumn Watts (2019 post) in the Lobos’ 2019 class, as the Lobos have four scholarships open for the class with Nunn, Lines, McClure, and Moore graduating after the 2018-2019 season. This is a start to a great recruiting class that could very well be locked in November. The Lobos have also had 2019 Forward Azaria Robinson (Alaska) and 2019 wing Adriana Avent (Sacramento, CA) visit UNM on official visits and I would consider the Lobos the favorite for both players. Talent is coming to UNM and it is an exciting time for Coach Bradury and Co. Don’t sleep on this program on the rise.
The Difficulty of Scheduling: An UNM Story
Scheduling for Men’s Basketball has changed a lot over the last 10 plus years. Multi-team events (MTEs) have become vogue and have helped some schools form their schedules. These exempt tournaments are good things if you end up in a good MTE with potential good wins on your schedule, but if you end up having a bad three games in four days, you could find it difficult to be in the at-large conversation. At least, if you aren’t in a Big 6 conference (Power 5 + Big East). MTEs have shifted how Big 6 Conference teams plan the rest of their non-conference schedules, as they lose the need to go on the road for home and home matchups against non-regional, non-Big 6 teams. This has hurt teams in the non-Big 6, because the home games against Big 6 schools are uncommon and really only come into fruition if you are in a great recruiting location (Las Vegas, San Diego, and similar locations) or if you have a local player that went to a Big 6 school and their coach wants their player to have a homecoming game of sorts.
One school that has been affected by scheduling in recent years is UNM, who has been especially affected this year when their MTE fell through with both the Alaskan Shootout ending and the planned event with Saint Mary’s changing scope. Beyond that, they want to schedule good teams for home games and want to have a couple of home and homes with Big 6 schools each year. But that has become more difficult as well.
Paul Weir’s Ten Degrees of Separation: The Road from NMSU to UNM
In the spring of 2017, Paul Weir was named as the new head coach at UNM, filling the open position that was vacant after the firing of Craig Neal. While it is easy to say that Coach Weir was a great hire after his excellent first season as the Head Coach at NMSU, there were a few things that needed to happen for Coach Weir to even be considered for the position. In order to do so, we have to go back to early 2016 and look at the dominos that had to fall for UNM to hire Paul Weir: