Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Opening Line for Week One @ #11 OREGON
The University of New Mexico Lobos are poised to begin the 2010 football season on the road against the Mighty Ducks of the University of Oregon. The current line? Oregon is favored by 34.5 points.
For the betting-challenged folks out there, that means if you were to go to Las Vegas with the intent of betting on Oregon beating New Mexico, the Ducks would have to win by 35 points (!) in order for you to make some money. That's a five-touchdown difference!
My take? Oregon is the odds-on favorite to win the Pac-10 with nearly its entire roster (sans Heisman-contender and laptop-swiper Jeremiah Masoli) returning from a 10-3 season in which they played in the Rose Bowl. New Mexico is the odds-on favorite to finish last in the Mountain West Conference and won exactly one game all of last season. Not to mention the Lobos were outscored by an average margin of nearly 20 points last year, losing by 35 to Texas A&M, 34 to Tulsa, 31 to Utah and 41 to TCU. Oregon is much better than all of those schools with the possible exception of TCU.
I'm as big of a Lobo fan as you're going to find, but if I were a betting man my money would be on Oregon on September 4.
For the betting-challenged folks out there, that means if you were to go to Las Vegas with the intent of betting on Oregon beating New Mexico, the Ducks would have to win by 35 points (!) in order for you to make some money. That's a five-touchdown difference!
My take? Oregon is the odds-on favorite to win the Pac-10 with nearly its entire roster (sans Heisman-contender and laptop-swiper Jeremiah Masoli) returning from a 10-3 season in which they played in the Rose Bowl. New Mexico is the odds-on favorite to finish last in the Mountain West Conference and won exactly one game all of last season. Not to mention the Lobos were outscored by an average margin of nearly 20 points last year, losing by 35 to Texas A&M, 34 to Tulsa, 31 to Utah and 41 to TCU. Oregon is much better than all of those schools with the possible exception of TCU.
I'm as big of a Lobo fan as you're going to find, but if I were a betting man my money would be on Oregon on September 4.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday in Las Cruces
Last week, New Mexico did what was expected and held serve at home against the NMSU Aggies, 76-62, in front of 17,000 (mostly) rabid Lobo fans. Now, they venture into a building in which they haven't won since 2004 and the Aggies have not lost in all season.
It remains to be seen how good of a team New Mexico truly is this season. They have put together tremendous efforts like their blowout of Mississippi but seem to struggle with consistency. They've lost to a few teams that they shouldn't have, but at the same time they haven't been outclassed by anyone either.
The general consensus of the "experts" who have seen both the Lobos and the Aggies play is that the Aggies are much more athletic than the Lobos but are probably just a little too young to be a consistent winner. The Lobos apparently have the edge when it comes to physical play, hustle, and more consistent defense.
While I'm not ready to concede that NMSU has better athletes across the board, I'll take physical defense and rebounding over pure athleticism every time. When your shots aren't falling you need a player like Roman Martinez who at 6-6 195 isn't the biggest, strongest, or most athletic but always seems to be there for the putback or the hustle play diving for loose balls. Dairese Gary and Daniel Faris can also be classified as "hustle players."
The Aggies have some great players. Jahmar Young is as pure of a shooter as I've seen in a while, and he and Gibson form a great backcourt tandem. But the Aggies lack something other than experience: Toughness. That's something the Lobos have in spades. Will it be enough in Las Cruces? Only time will tell.
MY PREDICTION
UNM 69
NMSU 66
It remains to be seen how good of a team New Mexico truly is this season. They have put together tremendous efforts like their blowout of Mississippi but seem to struggle with consistency. They've lost to a few teams that they shouldn't have, but at the same time they haven't been outclassed by anyone either.
The general consensus of the "experts" who have seen both the Lobos and the Aggies play is that the Aggies are much more athletic than the Lobos but are probably just a little too young to be a consistent winner. The Lobos apparently have the edge when it comes to physical play, hustle, and more consistent defense.
While I'm not ready to concede that NMSU has better athletes across the board, I'll take physical defense and rebounding over pure athleticism every time. When your shots aren't falling you need a player like Roman Martinez who at 6-6 195 isn't the biggest, strongest, or most athletic but always seems to be there for the putback or the hustle play diving for loose balls. Dairese Gary and Daniel Faris can also be classified as "hustle players."
The Aggies have some great players. Jahmar Young is as pure of a shooter as I've seen in a while, and he and Gibson form a great backcourt tandem. But the Aggies lack something other than experience: Toughness. That's something the Lobos have in spades. Will it be enough in Las Cruces? Only time will tell.
MY PREDICTION
UNM 69
NMSU 66
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Future Lobo Matt Staff
With the verbal commitment of Matt Staff, it looks like the Lobos' 2009 recruiting class is set in stone with Chad Adams and Jamaal Fenton also already committed.
The following link will take you to a highlight reel of Matt Staff. It's a pretty extensive reel, and it gives you an idea of what he does well. Obviously, he can hit the three ball. He got open multiple times by running backdoor cuts and he finished strong several times in traffic. He even showed some ability to drive the ball in, pull up, and score. One thing he did not do, however, was post up with his back to the basket. His game appears to be similar to Chad Toppert but with a little bit more ability to create and he's also a bit bigger than Chad.
http://www.collegeballorbust.com/clients/2115/highlights
The following link will take you to a highlight reel of Matt Staff. It's a pretty extensive reel, and it gives you an idea of what he does well. Obviously, he can hit the three ball. He got open multiple times by running backdoor cuts and he finished strong several times in traffic. He even showed some ability to drive the ball in, pull up, and score. One thing he did not do, however, was post up with his back to the basket. His game appears to be similar to Chad Toppert but with a little bit more ability to create and he's also a bit bigger than Chad.
http://www.collegeballorbust.com/clients/2115/highlights
Monday, May 12, 2008
Breaking News: 2009 Commitment
As reported by the Albuquerque Journal, Houston forward Matt Staff has verbally committed to play for the Lobos!
More info forthcoming!
More info forthcoming!
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Too-Early Basketball Outlook: What We Know
I know it's only May, but it's as good of a time as any to take a look at next year's team.
We can count on this production from these players based on their previous years' performance and as seniors they're unlikely to make a HUGE jump in productivity. These three guys will likely be our Big Three in terms of scoring and leadership and if we're going to have a good season all three of these guys will have to have good seasons.
1. Chad Toppert will shoot 45% from three and average 10-12 points and 4 rebounds per game. Chad made small improvements across the board from his sophomore to junior season (9.5 pts to 10.3, 2.6 reb to 3.2, .7 ast to 1.5, 46% 3P% to 48%) so I'd expect similar small improvements. What Chad needs to work on the most is his consistency and concentration at the free throw line.
2. Daniel Faris will shoot 50% from the field and average 10-12 points and 4-6 rebounds per game. Daniel will be the only proven scorer in the block for us, and until the new guys get adjusted I'd expect him to play a ton of minutes.
3. Tony Danridge will shoot 50% from the field and average 12-15 points per game. Tony's output is the most difficult to predict because he's coming off an injury year, but from all accounts he has been injury-free since at least January and it's been reported that he's looked like the same player, if not better.
What we know
We can count on this production from these players based on their previous years' performance and as seniors they're unlikely to make a HUGE jump in productivity. These three guys will likely be our Big Three in terms of scoring and leadership and if we're going to have a good season all three of these guys will have to have good seasons.
1. Chad Toppert will shoot 45% from three and average 10-12 points and 4 rebounds per game. Chad made small improvements across the board from his sophomore to junior season (9.5 pts to 10.3, 2.6 reb to 3.2, .7 ast to 1.5, 46% 3P% to 48%) so I'd expect similar small improvements. What Chad needs to work on the most is his consistency and concentration at the free throw line.
2. Daniel Faris will shoot 50% from the field and average 10-12 points and 4-6 rebounds per game. Daniel will be the only proven scorer in the block for us, and until the new guys get adjusted I'd expect him to play a ton of minutes.
3. Tony Danridge will shoot 50% from the field and average 12-15 points per game. Tony's output is the most difficult to predict because he's coming off an injury year, but from all accounts he has been injury-free since at least January and it's been reported that he's looked like the same player, if not better.
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