The Lobo women’s basketball team went 2-0 during their exhibition season, winning games against two Division II schools in Fort Lewis (101-48) and Eastern New Mexico (89-70). The Lobos will officially kick off the Coach Mike Bradbury era Saturday afternoon against Fairleigh Dickinson. While there is little that we can take away from the first two exhibitions, we can look at the numbers each player had last season and try to guess what kind of growth we could see in each player. It will be difficult to see what the impact of Coach Bradbury’s system will be on each player, since his system is completely different to what Coach Sanchez ran, so each stat should be taken with a grain of salt.
Category: Lobo Basketball
Men’s Basketball Player Preview
Lobo basketball is back! Tonight, even! It’s a talented roster with a lot of returning players, including two first-team all-conference selections, so needless to say, we’re excited for this year. To get ready for it, we decided to look at the roster and see how the players did last year, based on some advanced statistics and broken down into guards, wings, and posts. From this, we can see where the strengths of each player are, and get some insight where they probably spent some time this summer improving.
Men’s Basketball is Worth Getting Excited About
The Lobo Howl is this Friday, which means that we are oh-so-close to seeing the Lobos take the court again. This team has a couple of legitimate stars, a lot of returning players, and some talented newcomers, which makes me feel like they have a real shot at returning to the NCAA Tournament this year. So it’s a little weird to me that it doesn’t feel like there’s the same level of excitement for this coming season as what I typically see from the fan base. Maybe that’s to be expected after a couple of relative down years, which have tempered some expectations, but I think this has the potential to be a very exciting year of Lobo Basketball. Here are a few reasons why:
Premature Thoughts on the Men’s Basketball Schedule
As we’re in a bit of a lull in terms of Lobo news, the release of the men’s basketball schedule for next year is a welcome sight (you can find it here). Also because we’re in a bit of a lull, we might as well overanalyze the schedule now. Of course, these thoughts should be taken with the usual caveat that we’re still five months away from any meaningful basketball being played, so it’s anyone’s guess as to what any of these teams will really look like in the future. Will basketball even still be played in the future? Probably!
How to Destroy Your Basketball Program in 7 Easy Steps
Dear intrepid athletic director, are you tired of this whole basketball thing? Are you sick of the effort it takes to field a competitive team, year in and year out? Well, have I got news for you! Thanks to the tireless research performed by the athletic department at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a new, state-of-the-art method has been developed that can decimate even the most proud of basketball programs. Yes, even those with a National Championship in their past! So without further ado, here are the 7 easy steps to destroy your basketball program:
Jalen Harris Signs with the Lobos
He committed over the weekend, but Jalen Harris to the Lobos didn’t become official until yesterday, when he put ink to paper and – more importantly – announced his signing on Twitter. The point guard out of Word of God Christian Academy in North Carolina takes up the last available scholarship and should help fill the void left by Cullen Neal’s transfer to Ole Miss. By the sounds of it, he’s a quick, pass-first point guard who is willing to score when needed, which sounds like a great fit for the Lobos. With those abilities, if he can get up to speed quickly, he should see plenty of action next season. So, what does his signing mean to the team as a whole?
Men’s Basketball: Players of the Game Results
Now that the NCAA Tournament is over and the dust is starting to settle, it seems as good a time as any to start looking back on this Lobo basketball season to take stock of the highs and lows they experienced, and ultimately start to get an idea of what the future might hold. First things first, we spent the entire season giving out points to the top players of each game, so it seems like we should probably see how that ended up going.
Thoughts On Yvonne Sanchez Firing
As I am sure you are well aware by now, Yvonne Sanchez was let go after five years as the head coach of the UNM women’s basketball team. She had her share of detractors when she was hired and later when she was extended, but I believe that it was simply a good hire that didn’t work out and that it was the right call to give her an extension. Clearly, the last five years haven’t gone as planned, neither for us as fans or for Coach Sanchez herself, which is what led to AD Paul Krebs deciding that a change needed to take place. While we don’t know what the future holds for the team right now, it is clear that Coach Sanchez helped mold the program to where it is today and helped create high expectations for both herself and every coach who follows her.
Cullen Neal to Transfer
News got out this morning that Cullen Neal has made the decision to transfer from the Lobos and play his two remaining college seasons elsewhere. Recently, there were rumblings about this potentially happening, so it’s not particularly surprising, but it is really disappointing to see. And maybe the worst part about it is that his decision is completely understandable.
Men’s Basketball vs. Nevada (MWCT) Recap
In college basketball, March brings about something that can go missing in February: hope. Teams that underperformed and teams that were overmatched earlier in the season are given one last chance to fulfill a dream and to make the NCAA Tournament. However, for 283 teams, that dream dies and each program is left trying to figure out what went wrong and where to go from there. Unfortunately, the Lobos are one of those teams. With their 64-62 loss to Nevada, their season is over and what could be a tumultuous offseason begins.