assistantsports@dailylobo.com
@JROppenheim
By the time the New Mexico men’s basketball team takes the floor against Charleston Southern on Sunday, it’ll be eight days since its season opener.
That suits head coach Craig Neal just fine. He said Friday afternoon has no concerns over ill effects from the layoff, granted by not playing a mid-week game.
In fact, he said the team benefitted from the extra time to help the younger players and newcomers become more acclimated to the system. Neal gave the team Wednesday off in addition to the ensuing Sunday after the Nov. 17 victory over Alabama A&M.
“The biggest thing for them, the new guys, is how they perform after an off day,” Neal said. “That’s been our biggest adjustment is trying to get them focused after an off day and what we do after games, preparing.”
The adjustment period does not solely impact the incoming players, but also younger guys who were a part of the team a year ago.
Cleveland “Pancake” Thomas started in the opener and will start again on Sunday. It’s a role Neal said takes some getting used to, much like Nick Banyard’s new position as the first big man to come off the bench. Neal added he’s trying to get Merv Lindsey and Devon Williams to play at a higher level.
That’s where the veterans step in to help with the process.
Senior guard Kendall Williams said he found himself in a similar situation when he played as a freshman. As a college student, Williams said it can be simple human nature to want to take it easy following a physical game the night before, but Williams said a day off from practice isn’t a day off to be lazy.
“It’s just preparation, preparation 24-7 in what we do. Sometimes preparation comes after the fact,” he said. “That took me a while to pick up, and it just happens. It happens with guys that are new to our system and new to this level of basketball.”
The early schedule does benefit the process. The bench saw significant minutes in the first two exhibition games and the opener, taking advantage of an early lead against Alabama A&M.
On Sunday, UNM hosts a Charleston Southern squad that’s proven to be an offensive threat. The Buccaneers threw down 131 points in its opener against Johnson University out of Knoxville Tenn., then scored another 95 against Delaware and 80 versus North Carolina-Wilmington.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Charleston Southern (2-1) doesn’t boast much size with no player taller than 6-foot-9 but are strong in guard play, Neal said. Two starting guards, juniors Saah Nimley and Matt Kennedy, averaged more than 15 points in three games.
Kennedy has started over Arlon Harper, last season’s top scorer who’s been dealing with injuries. Harper still has 11.5 points per game this season, seeing time off the bench. Three other reserves have at least 11 points per game as well.
Two Lobos on Wooden Award preseason watch list
The Los Angeles Athletic Club on Tuesday placed Williams and UNM center Alex Kirk on the Wooden Awards preseason watch list. The two join a group of 50 players as front runners for college basketball’s top individual honor.
For the first time, two UNM teammates are on the watch list.
“We got here at the same time, and we’ve been in the gym together for so long,” Kirk said. “To be able to experience that with your guard, that’s awesome. You really can’t get much better than that.”
Williams echoed similar sentiments.
“It’s a nice award, probably the most prestigious one in college that you can label,” he said. “Having it with your big man, someone who you’ve been here with for so long, it’s a good honor and it’s just something to set us up for a good year to come.”
Williams won the last year’s Mountain West Conference player of the year and this year’s preseason player of the year awards, and both Williams and Kirk could be contenders for the MWC’s top award at the end of the year.
In the season opener, Williams scored 17 points while Kirk posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Kentucky, ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press preseason Top 25, has four players on the watch list. The Lobos will see four players who also made the watch list in Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick and Kansas’s Joel Embiid, Wayne Selden Jr. and Andrew Wiggins.
The winner will be announced during an award ceremony event held April 11-12, 2014.
