Young and restless
LOBOS LEANING ON YOUNGSTERS Weir, Lobo basketball starting to rely more and more on freshman class
Freshmen already are providing energy and more to the UNM men’s basketball team
Through four UNM Lobo basketball games, there seems to be a pretty consistent theme of questions Paul Weir gets at postgame press conferences.
He’s regularly asked about the play of senior guards Anthony Mathis and Dane Kuiper, who on more than one occasion have come up big in key moments of games.
“The reality is we need more than just them,” Weir said Saturday when the same line of questioning came up after his team beat the UTEP Miners moments earlier in Dreamstyle Arena — The Pit.
During that UTEP game, Weir found himself standing on the sidelines thinking far more about the three freshmen who played key minutes in that game, including two starters.
“I think a lot was said about UTEP and their youth, and I’m looking out there at Drue (Drinnon) and Tavian (Percy) and Jordan (Arroyo) and it’s like, ‘Man, we have youth, too,’” said Weir. “I think people just assume that we’re this veteran-oriented team, but we’re young. There’s a lot of young kids out there that are making a lot of youthful mistakes.
“I’m glad they’re getting the minutes that they are. They’re so much further ahead. If you think about some of our young guys and where they were last year ... (this year’s freshman class is) so much further ahead as a group. Hopefully that serves us well as the season unfolds.”
In Saturday’s game, Drinnon started at point guard, played 11 minutes and had four points, two offensive rebounds and four assists while also hitting both of his free throws.
Arroyo, a walk-on from Atrisco Heritage, also got the start, playing 10 minutes with two points and a block. And Percy, who played a total of just three minutes in UNM’s first two games and did not get into
the Nov. 17 loss to New Mexico State, played 10 minutes against UTEP, had two points, an offensive rebound, a block and steal while quite visibly being one of the most active defenders on the court while he played.
And that was why, instead of talking about himself after a game, Mathis took the time Saturday night to give the young players, and Percy in particular, some public praise.
“I’m super proud of Tavian because I’ve been in his position as a freshman not playing,” said Mathis, who played sparingly as a freshman in the 2015-16 season and even less as a sophomore in the 2016-17 season. “I’ve been talking to him a lot. You’ve got to stay ready and I’m so proud of him and what he did tonight.”
ON MAKUACH: One of last year’s freshmen who, the second half of the season, developed into a budding star at the forward position for the Lobos (3-1) was Makuach Maluach.
Now a sophomore playing guard, said to be his more natural position, Maluach has been off to a rough start this season — a season that came with lofty expectations.
Saturday, against UTEP, he was moved back to the “4” spot during the game and away from the guard position he had been playing and, again, flourished.
“Makuach was, on the fly, moved back to his old position tonight,” Weir said. “We slid him over to the 4. I thought when he first went there, he created some offense for us when we really, really needed it. Then we just left him there the rest of the game . ... That’s the player that we all know. He just hasn’t quite shown that this year.”
With the 6-7 Maluach matched up again with slower, though larger defenders, he scored 13 points and set season highs in blocks (three), rebounds (four) and 3-pointers made (three).
“I just try to go over there and be aggressive,” said Maluach. “The last two or three games I’ve been real passive and turned the ball over a lot. I just wanted to be more aggressive. The change (of position), I am quicker than most of the 4s, so that really helped.”
RANKINGS: The NCAA, after years of criticism for using the RPI as a criteria for its men’s basketball NCAA Tournament selections, implemented this season a new formula. The general parameters suggest the rankings will weigh more heavily than before such factors as road wins and offensive and defensive efficiency as opposed to just winning and losing.
The new NET rankings then divide teams into four “quadrants” that help the committee determine how good wins or losses are, with a quadrant 1 opponent being team ranked the highest and quadrant 4 being the teams ranked the lowest.
The first batch of the new NET ratings were released Monday with more heavy criticism. Having such a small sample size of games has the rankings, according to many national pundits, appear out of whack.
Nevertheless, the NCAA released the rankings.
The Lobos, as of Tuesday’s updated ranking (they are updated daily), rank 214th out 353 Division I teams. UNM is 0-1 against quadrant 3 teams and 3-0 against quadrant 4. They have not played a quadrant 1 or 2 opponent, though each of the next four opponents could end the season counting as at least quadrant 2 games.
The 4-1 New Mexico State Aggies are ranked 156th (1-1 in Q3 games, 2-0 in Q4). Their win against Eastern New Mexico doesn’t count for NET rankings.