The Legitimacy of New Mexico
By Rafael Uehara
Saturday’s – February, the 19th – game against 11th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas was a huge one for New Mexico. All eyes were finally on the Lobos as they had a chance to prove their worth on national television for a large audience. The whole university geared up for it as the atmosphere on ‘the Pit’ was fantastic in another display of what’s great about college sports. And the Lobos sure as hell didn’t disappoint.
New Mexico outscored Nevada Las Vegas, 39-18 in the second-half behind ONE turnover (they had nine giveaways opposite just eight field-goals in the first 20 minutes) and 22 points at the rim (they had just eight prior to intermission). Drew Gordon was phenomenal on the low post, finishing with 27 points and 20 rebounds and Tony Snell was also pretty great with a 12-point, 5-assist performance.
It was New Mexico’s second straight win over a TOP 15 team, as the Lobos had beaten 15th-ranked San Diego State on Wednesday – February, the 15th. With back-to-back impressive victories, UNM rose to ninth on Ken Pomeroy’s ratings and should be much higher on ESPN’s Basketball Power Index than the 22nd they entered the week placed. In terms of stuff the committee looks at, they are also well positioned as they arrived Saturday ranked 29th in RPI, according to RealTimeRPI.com, and should ascend after running over the 12th-ranked Running Rebels, despite a profile that isn’t that jaw-dropping overall as the Lobos have played just the 114th toughest schedule in the country and the Mountain West is just the ninth rated conference, despite all the hype, according to USA Today’s Jeff Sagarin.
But how legit is New Mexico?
To win the national title these days, the formula seems simple. You need to have a good zone defense to force opponents to play smart offense during the dogs days of March and go against the human instinct of feeling jacked up for being at the center of attention. You need good outside shooting to dismantle the zone defenses you will see yourself and have the ability to keep pace with eventual upset threats that just come at you gunning from 23-feet out and may get red hot. And, as of the last few years, you need an NBA player, capable of brining you that edge and ability to perhaps take over games when things seem to be going in the wrong direction.
Defensively, they are set. New Mexico owns some of the best rankings in the country stopping people; placed fourth in defensive efficiency (holding opponents to 85 points-per-100-possessions), sixth in shooting defense (holding opponents to 37.7% shooting), ninth in scoring defense (holding opponents to 57.9 points-per-game) and placed in the top-fourth of division one in turnovers-per-possession (forcing opponents to turn the ball over on 21.8% of their possessions), according to Team Rankings.
Saturday was a great example, in which they held the 14th highest scoring squad with the 27th most efficient offense to just 45 points in 40 minutes and 31.1% shooting, also forcing 17 turnovers.
Offensively, they aren’t a machine but have been able to generate enough to rank in the top-fourth in scoring (averaging 72.6 points-per-game) and in the top fifth in offensive efficiency (averaging 1.06 points-per-possession), again per Team Rankings. The Lobos do it through a well balanced inside-outside attack, ranking 16th in three-point field goal percentage and in the TOP 100 in three-point rate with five players shooting over 35% from beyond the arc (Kendall Williams, Tony Snell, Jamal Felton, Phillip McDonald and Chad Adams) and seven shooting over 30% (Demetrius Walker and Hugh Greenwood), meanwhile balancing it with quality post play from Gordon (51.2% shooting) and Snell (.620 effective field-goal percentage, 40th in the country). Their offense features some great ball movement (15th in assists-per-possession) in the constant search for the best look, with only ball security (205th in turnovers-per-possession, giving it away on 20.2% of their trips) as an Achilles’ heel.
While neither Gordon nor Snell are projected to be first-round picks in the upcoming NBA draft or will seriously contend for the Naismith Award, they are reliable consistent scorers who can take over a game in favor of New Mexico as damage done on San Diego State and Nevada Las Vegas exemplify.
The Post’s featured blogger Kyle Bradley, on BracketBlogCBB, had the Lobos as a ninth seed last Monday – February, the 13th – but I absolutely expect them to be higher this week, especially as the likes of Connecticut and Mississippi State continue to frustrate, underachieve and disappoint. It kind of doesn’t matter where they are seeded, though, because their style of play can give anyone in the country fits. A smart bracket, taking a chance here or there, should have New Mexico making the Final Four. That’s how legit they are.
Editor's Note: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara or reached via e-mail at rafael_uehara@live.com
Saturday’s – February, the 19th – game against 11th-ranked Nevada Las Vegas was a huge one for New Mexico. All eyes were finally on the Lobos as they had a chance to prove their worth on national television for a large audience. The whole university geared up for it as the atmosphere on ‘the Pit’ was fantastic in another display of what’s great about college sports. And the Lobos sure as hell didn’t disappoint.
New Mexico outscored Nevada Las Vegas, 39-18 in the second-half behind ONE turnover (they had nine giveaways opposite just eight field-goals in the first 20 minutes) and 22 points at the rim (they had just eight prior to intermission). Drew Gordon was phenomenal on the low post, finishing with 27 points and 20 rebounds and Tony Snell was also pretty great with a 12-point, 5-assist performance.
It was New Mexico’s second straight win over a TOP 15 team, as the Lobos had beaten 15th-ranked San Diego State on Wednesday – February, the 15th. With back-to-back impressive victories, UNM rose to ninth on Ken Pomeroy’s ratings and should be much higher on ESPN’s Basketball Power Index than the 22nd they entered the week placed. In terms of stuff the committee looks at, they are also well positioned as they arrived Saturday ranked 29th in RPI, according to RealTimeRPI.com, and should ascend after running over the 12th-ranked Running Rebels, despite a profile that isn’t that jaw-dropping overall as the Lobos have played just the 114th toughest schedule in the country and the Mountain West is just the ninth rated conference, despite all the hype, according to USA Today’s Jeff Sagarin.
But how legit is New Mexico?
To win the national title these days, the formula seems simple. You need to have a good zone defense to force opponents to play smart offense during the dogs days of March and go against the human instinct of feeling jacked up for being at the center of attention. You need good outside shooting to dismantle the zone defenses you will see yourself and have the ability to keep pace with eventual upset threats that just come at you gunning from 23-feet out and may get red hot. And, as of the last few years, you need an NBA player, capable of brining you that edge and ability to perhaps take over games when things seem to be going in the wrong direction.
Defensively, they are set. New Mexico owns some of the best rankings in the country stopping people; placed fourth in defensive efficiency (holding opponents to 85 points-per-100-possessions), sixth in shooting defense (holding opponents to 37.7% shooting), ninth in scoring defense (holding opponents to 57.9 points-per-game) and placed in the top-fourth of division one in turnovers-per-possession (forcing opponents to turn the ball over on 21.8% of their possessions), according to Team Rankings.
Saturday was a great example, in which they held the 14th highest scoring squad with the 27th most efficient offense to just 45 points in 40 minutes and 31.1% shooting, also forcing 17 turnovers.
Offensively, they aren’t a machine but have been able to generate enough to rank in the top-fourth in scoring (averaging 72.6 points-per-game) and in the top fifth in offensive efficiency (averaging 1.06 points-per-possession), again per Team Rankings. The Lobos do it through a well balanced inside-outside attack, ranking 16th in three-point field goal percentage and in the TOP 100 in three-point rate with five players shooting over 35% from beyond the arc (Kendall Williams, Tony Snell, Jamal Felton, Phillip McDonald and Chad Adams) and seven shooting over 30% (Demetrius Walker and Hugh Greenwood), meanwhile balancing it with quality post play from Gordon (51.2% shooting) and Snell (.620 effective field-goal percentage, 40th in the country). Their offense features some great ball movement (15th in assists-per-possession) in the constant search for the best look, with only ball security (205th in turnovers-per-possession, giving it away on 20.2% of their trips) as an Achilles’ heel.
While neither Gordon nor Snell are projected to be first-round picks in the upcoming NBA draft or will seriously contend for the Naismith Award, they are reliable consistent scorers who can take over a game in favor of New Mexico as damage done on San Diego State and Nevada Las Vegas exemplify.
The Post’s featured blogger Kyle Bradley, on BracketBlogCBB, had the Lobos as a ninth seed last Monday – February, the 13th – but I absolutely expect them to be higher this week, especially as the likes of Connecticut and Mississippi State continue to frustrate, underachieve and disappoint. It kind of doesn’t matter where they are seeded, though, because their style of play can give anyone in the country fits. A smart bracket, taking a chance here or there, should have New Mexico making the Final Four. That’s how legit they are.
Editor's Note: Rafael Uehara is the managing editor of 'The Basketball Post'. More of his work can be found here and he can be followed on twitter @rafael_uehara or reached via e-mail at rafael_uehara@live.com
Posted by Rafael Uehara at Sunday, February 19, 2012 11:53:38 AM 
Categories: NCAA
Tags: Rafael Uehara
Categories: NCAA
Tags: Rafael Uehara
Comments