assistantsports@dailylobo.com
@JROppenheim
UNM men’s basketball head coach Steve Alford rejects the notion that the 2012-13 New Mexico team had a bad season, despite its early exit at the NCAA tournament last week.
The Lobos (29-6) entered the NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Championship as the No. 3 seed following title-winning runs in the Mountain West Conference regular season and tournament. Despite being a favorite to reach the Sweet 16, UNM was stunned by No. 14 seed Harvard in the second round.
During his end-of-season press conference Wednesday morning, Alford said his team’s one-and-done appearance at this year’s NCAAs was a letdown. However, he said it’s “ludicrous” that some people think the season-ending loss makes the year a disappointment.
“You can be upset. You can be down that we didn’t win an NCAA tournament game, that we didn’t get to this level or that level,” he said. “But that has no impact on what we did the four months prior to that.”
The Mountain West Conference put a league-record total of five teams — UNM, San Diego State, UNLV, Colorado State and Boise State — into the tournament, and four of those five received single-digit seeds. None survived the first week. Only San Diego State and Colorado State won games, but both lost third-round contests.
The conference was one of the best regular-season leagues nationwide, boasting the top standing in RPI heading into the NCAAs. But the MWC has never had much success at the Big Dance.
Since the league’s inception in 1999, its teams have made it to the Sweet 16 only four times.
Alford said the MWC has made “tremendous strides” to reach the level it has achieved since he became head coach, but it must fare better at the NCAAs in order to gain national recognition.
“If we want to compete with the big boys as far as leagues go, then we’ve got to do better in the NCAA tournament,” he said. “There’s not a coach that doesn’t want that to happen to their respective programs and the league.”
Many fans and media, locally and nationally, tend to consider the postseason the ultimate determining factor of a team’s success.
Alford, on the other hand, said it’s the body of work over a regular season that puts a team into a good position to make an NCAA run. Failing to progress beyond the second round “doesn’t devalue us” as a program or as a staff, he said.
Against Harvard, Alford said, the Lobos picked the worst day to play their worst game of the season. The Crimson took advantage of that fact and UNM lost 68-62 as a result. Alford said the loss left a bad taste in his mouth, but the coach credits that to March Madness. He pointed to other top teams, such as the West’s No. 1 seed Gonzaga and NCAA South’s No. 2 seed Georgetown, who were also eliminated in the first week.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
With regard to junior guard Tony Snell and his decision to try for the NBA draft, Alford said he and his staff would support Snell and help him as much as possible in that pursuit. Alford said he has no indication of what decision Snell will make, and he wouldn’t speculate where in the draft Snell could go. Snell has until April 16 to decide whether he will stay with UNM or pursue the NBA draft.
“He’s been terrific through three years and gotten better every year,” Alford said. “I think if he stays his senior year, he gets even better, but kids have to make those decisions. Families make those decisions.”
Alford also announced junior guard Demetrius Walker has left the team. Walker was suspended indefinitely March 4 for an undisclosed violation of team rules. Alford said he does not know what steps Walker will take next, and he did not discuss the matter further.
