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After Saturday’s basketball practice, first-year head coach Craig Neal said he caught himself looking around the court. Steve Alford wasn’t there.
It’s something Neal said he’ll have to get used to.
“It’s different; Steve’s not around,” said Neal after the second official day of practice for the 2013-14 season. “That’s not always easy, but it’s been an interesting 48 hours.”
Friday marked the first day all 14 Lobos have taken to the practice court at the Rudy Davalos Basketball Center. Once Tuesday’s work session concludes, they’ll have 16 days before their first public exhibition — the Lobo Howl, scheduled for Oct. 18.
The regular season opener is on Nov. 9 against Alabama A&M following two preseason exhibition games.
Introduced on April 2 to replace Alford as Lobo coach, Neal leads the defending Mountain West Conference regular-season and tournament champion team. Alford left UNM to take the same job at UCLA after a 29-win season and an NCAA tournament appearance.
UNM returns several key players from last year’s team, but Neal said having five new players means the team will have a learning curve to deal with as the season approaches, particularly in offensive development.
“The guys who have been here know most of it,” he said. “There are some new things we’re trying to do and it’s one of those things.
It’s a matter of getting through it. We’ve just got to work through it.”
The team is already eager to address some unfinished business after the way last season ended, said senior guard Kendall Williams. As a No. 3 seed in the NCAA tournament, UNM lost in stunning fashion to Harvard, a school known more for its academic endeavors than its basketball prowess.
Work on that unfinished business is now under way, Williams said.
“It’s just going to be up to us to be leaders, to get the new guys in,” he said. “Some of the guys didn’t get the bitter taste in their mouths that we still have in our mouths from last year. They’re still hungry to prove themselves, so there are different levels of hunger.”
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UNM has already garnered national attention as the favorite to win the Mountain West yet again and possibly make a run in the NCAAs. USA Today sports writer Scott Gleeson listed the Lobos as a mid-major team that could reach the Final Four, while CBS Sports analysts Doug Gottlieb, Jerry Palm and Jon Rothstein picked the Lobos to claim the league title.
“We’re always the target here, definitely how we’ve had so much success in this league lately,” junior center Alex Kirk said. “You can’t get overconfident and I think right now we’re focused on us.”
Cullen Neal at “70 percent”
Two months removed from an emergency appendectomy in Australia, freshman guard Cullen Neal has not yet returned to full strength. Craig Neal said his son is at about “70 percent” of where he was before the August exhibition tour down under.
“He probably needs some ear muffs from me yelling at him all the time,” the coach said. “He’ll get used to that.”
Kendall Williams said Cullen Neal has looked good in the early stages of practice, though he still needs to get his legs back underneath him.
That will take some time, Williams added.
“He’s put a lot of his weight back on,” he said. “Even putting weight back on, you have to build the strength. He’s been fighting through it, working hard and shooting the ball really well. He’s going to be productive for us and he’s going to continue to get better.”
Complete schedule to be televised
UNM filled the remaining gaps in its television schedule after MWC regional broadcast partner ROOT Sports announced Sept. 24 it will air seven Lobo basketball games.
In addition to the ROOT Sports broadcast, the ESPN family of networks has 16 regular-season games and the CBS family of networks has seven. CBS Sports Network also airs the Mountain West Basketball Championships’ first three rounds, while CBS will televise the title game.
This season marks the first time ROOT Sports will broadcast basketball games. The network has six UNM football games in 2013.
The complete men’s basketball schedule is available at www.golobos.com
