MW EXPERIENCE PLAYS A BIG ROLE FOR SDSU AND ITS FOES
Veteran teams have edge with valuable, learned know-how
There were two men’s basketball coaching openings in the Mountain West last spring, and how they were filled tells you a lot about a conference that spans two time zones, six states and elevation changes ranging from sea level to 7,000 feet.
Wyoming hired Jeff Linder, who most recently was at nearby Northern Colorado but spent six seasons on Leon Rice’s staff at Boise
State.
Air Force hired, or rehired, Joe Scott, who coached the Falcons for four seasons in the formative years of the Mountain West.
Familiarity first. Fluency first.
The game and its rules are the same, but everything else about the Mountain West can be different. The travel, the weather, the altitude, the remote destinations, the referees, the style of play, the vibe, the feel.
Or put another way: The learning curve is as steep as the Front Range.
Athletic directors know that, often learning the hard way, and it’s no coincidence that six of the last seven head coaching hires had previous experience in the conference. Utah State’s Craig Smith and Colorado State’s Niko Medved worked under Tim Miles at CSU. Fresno State’s Justin Hutson had been an assistant at SDSU and UNLV. Nevada’s Steve Alford averaged 26 wins in six seasons at New Mexico.
Only four of the 11 programs have a head coach without previous Mountain West experience. One is Boise State, where Leon Rice is in his 11th season. Another is New Mexico, where Paul Weir quickly added Dave Pilipovich to his staff after Air Force fired him last spring.
UNLV went outside for T.J. Otzelberger; he’s 18-19 in one-plus season with the Rebels. San Jose State hired Colorado assistant Jean Prioleau; he’s 16-81.
“You have to understand what it is to play at altitude, you have to understand how difficult the travel is in this league,” said SDSU coach Brian Dutcher, an assistant
on Steve Fisher’s staff for 18 years before moving to the top spot. “I mean, most of these programs aren’t chartering places. We’re jumping on a commercial f light, then busing two hours to play.
“We’re fortunate enough to be near a recruiting base (in Southern California). But if you’re in Laramie, you’re in Albuquerque, you’re in Logan, you have to travel and decide where you’re going to bring your players in from. That takes a certain amount of experience to understand this league, where you’re going to get your players from and how to build a winning program. …. That’s what makes it such a challenge.”
The challenge begins anew for the defending champs Saturday afternoon with their Mountain West opener against Colorado State (1 p.m., CBS). The Aztecs are 6-1 and just outside the Associated Press Top 25, and the game is at Viejas Arena. But in this most unique of conferences, icy roads are always around the next corner.
A team-by-team look at the Mountain West, in predicted order of finish from the preseason media poll (records updated through Thursday; statistics through Wednesday):
SDSU
Last season: 30-2 (17-1, first in
Mountain West)
This season: 6-1 (0-0)
Coach: Brian Dutcher (fourth year)
Key players: F Matt Mitchell (15.4 ppg), G Jordan Schakel (13.0 ppg, .955 FT), C Nathan Mensah (10.1 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 2.1 bpg)
Outlook: If the Aztecs can navigate the next six games against Colorado State (home), Nevada (home) and Utah State (away), watch out. The 10 after that are all against teams picked to finish in the bottom five of the conference. The offensive punch of Malachi Flynn is absent, but they compensate with intangibles: depth, experience, toughness, winning culture. They are statistically the ninth most experienced team in Division I and maybe No. 1 if you count only rotation players — the top eight in minutes played are all juniors or seniors. That undoubtedly has been a factor in their fast start. The question now is whether that continues, or younger teams start to catch up.
Boise State
Last season: 20-12 (11-7, T5) This season: 7-1 (3-0)
Coach: Leon Rice (11th year) Key players: G Derrick Alston Jr. (16.9 ppg, .474 3FG), G RayJ Dennis (13.0 ppg, 4.6 apg, 2.3 spg), F Abu Kigab (12.4 ppg, 2.3 spg)
Outlook: The Broncos were missing a few key pieces and got no points from Alston in the opener at No. 5 Houston, and got beat soundly. Since then, they have shown why they’re considered the most likely challenger to SDSU for the conference title. The six straight Ws include 74-70 at BYU (which won at Viejas Arena) plus 22- and 37-point routs of New Mexico. Opponents are shooting just 34 percent in the six-game streak, which should become 14 with their next eight games coming against bottom-tier teams. And Arizona transfer Devonaire Doutrive has yet to make his debut. Who’s better, Broncos or Aztecs? They don’t meet until the final (scheduled) week of the regular season at Viejas Arena.
Utah State
Last season: 26-8 (12-6, T2) This season: 6-3 (3-0)
Coach: Craig Smith (third year) Key players: C Neemias Queta (11.6 ppg, 8.9 rpg, 2.6 bpg), F Justin Bean (11.8 ppg, 8.8 rpg), G Marco Anthony (13.4 ppg)
Outlook: The Aggies have arguably the best front line in the conference, with double-double machines Queta and Bean. How far they go depends on a backcourt that lost Sam Merrill (Milwaukee Bucks) and Abel Porter (transferred to Ohio State before a heart condition ended his career). The replacements are Anthony, a Virginia transfer, and freshman Rollie Worster, the two-time Montana prep player of the year. The early results are promising. They’re averaging a combined 25.3 points. All three losses have come against top
100 teams in Kenpom, including 6764 at home to BYU. Kenpom rates Utah State (80) as the third-best Mountain West team behind San Diego State (22) and Boise State (72).
UNLV
Last season: 17-15 (12-6, T2) This season: 1-4 (0-0)
Coach: T.J. Otzelberger (second year)
Key players: G Bryce Hamilton (20.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 4.0 apg), G David Jenkins Jr. (13.2 ppg), G Caleb Grill (13.6 ppg, 2.2 spg, .415 3FG)
Outlook: It would be easy to say the Rebels are a victim of a brutal schedule, losing all three in the “Maui” Invitational held in Asheville, N.C., against North Carolina, Alabama and Davidson (all top 75 in Kenpom). But then how do you explain the 91-78 drubbing at home against Montana State? There are plenty of offensive weapons with the return of Hamilton plus the additions of Jenkins and Grill. The problem is at the other end, where the Rebels rank 179th in defensive efficiency because opponents are shooting a torrid 37.9 percent behind the arc. A COVID-19 pause since Dec. 15 hasn’t helped, either, forcing the postponement of four conference games (including two against SDSU).
Colorado State
Last season: 20-12 (11-7, T5) This season: 5-1 (2-0)
Coach: Niko Medved (third year)
Key players: F David Roddy (16.2 ppg, 9.5 rpg), G Isaiah Stevens (14.3 ppg), G Kendle Moore (9.7 ppg)
Outlook: The Rams didn’t play a game until Dec. 12 because of COVID-19 issues, then were held to their second lowest point total in the shot clock era in a 53-33 loss at Saint Mary’s. But they have stabilized since, handing Santa Clara its first loss and sweeping Fresno State by a combined 44 points. Nico Carvacho, one of the best rebounding bigs in college basketball, exhausted his eligibility. “I don’t think you replace a guy like Nico,” Medved said. “You don’t reinvent yourself, but maybe we’ll do other things better.” One way is to go small, with 6-foot-5, 252-pound David Roddy — the most versatile
Mountain West player not named Matt Mitchell — at center plus four other perimeter shooters.
Nevada
Last season: 19-12 (12-6, T2) This season: 7-3 (2-1)
Coach: Steve Alford (second year)
Key players: G Grant Sherfield (13.7 ppg, 5.4 apg), G Desmond Cambridge Jr. (14.4 ppg), F Zane Meeks (10.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg)
Outlook: The Wolf Pack might have been title contenders if junior guard Jalen Harris and his conference-leading 25.3 points per game returned, but he stayed in the NBA Draft and was a second-round pick of the Toronto Raptors. A pair of transfers (Sherfield from Wichita State, Cambridge from Brown) has helped fill the void in a backcourt that also lost seniors Jazz Johnson and Lindsey Drew, and Oregon State 7-0 transfer Warren Washington (Mission Hills High) brings needed size up front. Still, they rank 321st nationally in Div. I experience and average 14.2 turnovers. They got blown out at home against USF, struggled at USD, then lost at home against Air Force. That screams middle of the pack.
New Mexico
Last season: 19-14, (7-11, T7) This season: 3-3 (0-3)
Coach: Paul Weir (fourth year) Key players: G Makuach Maluach (15.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg), F Rod Brown (10.0 ppg), F Valdir Manuel (7.6 ppg)
Outlook: The Lobos are one of two orphaned programs in the Mountain West after moving five hours east to a junior college outside Lubbock, Texas, because New Mexico pandemic regulations preclude them from practicing or playing in the state. “Not playing basketball in the state of New Mexico is un-New Mexican,” Weir said in November. They have only one Div. I win, against a Rice team rated 258th in Kenpom, and were drilled by a combined 59 points in two conference games at Boise State. Much of last season’s talented but turbulent roster is gone. Maluach is the only returnee who started more than two games last season. Can they become a spoiler once they jell?
Fresno State
Last season: 11-19 (7-11, T7) This season: 2-2 (0-2)
Coach: Justin Hutson (third year)
Key players: F Orlando Robinson (15.8 ppg, 11.5 rpg), G Isaiah Hill (11.3 ppg), G Deon Stroud (11.3 ppg)
Outlook: The Bulldogs haven’t had to relocate like New Mexico and San Jose State, but they’ll give both a run for Mountain West program most impacted by the pandemic. Who else can say they’ve endured three separate two-week pauses? They had six nonconference games canceled and didn’t play a Div. I opponent until the conference opener at Colorado State on Dec. 28. That would be difficult even for a veteran team; now consider Hutson has 10 new players, relying heavily on transfers from Tulsa (Hill), UTEP (Stroud) and DePaul (Devin Gage). One thing they can do is cause matchup problems with three 7-footers in the rotation: Robinson (7-0), Braxton Meah (7-1) and Assane Diouf (7-2).
Wyoming
Last season: 9-24 (2-16, 11th) This season: 6-1 (0-0)
Coach: Jeff Linder (first year) Key players: G Hunter Maldonado (15.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 6.9 apg), G Marcus Williams (17.9 ppg, 4.6 apg, .534 FG), G Kenny Foster (13.2 ppg)
Outlook: Linder has the Cowboys winning again, but we won’t find out how good they really are until the end of January, when they start an eight-game stretch against teams all picked in the upper half of the conference. Their best win so far came against an Oregon State team projected last in the Pac-12, and the other five are against teams rated 236th or below in Kenpom. The loss is at home to No. 221 Texas Southern. Maldonado is one of the conference’s best all-around players, and Williams is the early leader for Mountain West freshman of the year. They struggle to guard anyone but they’re doing a lot of things right: averaging just 10.4 turnovers and shooting 38.4 percent on 3s, both Mountain West bests.
Air Force
Last season: 12-20 (5-13, ninth) This season: 3-4 (1-2)
Coach: Joe Scott (first year) Key players: G A.J. Walker (12.8 ppg), G Chris Joyce (14.5 ppg, 37.3 mpg), F Keaton Van Soelen (9.0 ppg, 38.3 mpg)
Outlook: Scott returns to the Academy after a 16-year hiatus, and the basketball program is in worse shape than when he left. The Falcons went 22-7 and reached the NCAA Tournament in the final season before Scott was hired away by Princeton. Now he comes back to a 12-20 squad that lost four starters and six seniors. It almost lost Walker, too, entering the transfer portal before Scott convinced him to stay. His predecessor, Pilipovich, sped up the offense to where the Falcons ranked 147th nationally in tempo and 76th in overall efficiency last season. Scott prefers old-school Princeton offense; these Falcons are 356th in tempo (out of 357 Div. I programs) and averaging just 58.0 points.
San Jose State
Last season: 7-24 (3-15, 10th) This season: 1-5 (0-3)
Coach: Jean Prioleau (fourth year)
Key players: G Richard Washington (22.0 ppg), F Omari Moore (9.2 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.8 bpg)
Outlook: You thought they were bad before? Wait till you see this edition, which as of this week no longer has all-conference guard Seneca Knight, who opted out for the remainder of the season for COVID-19 reasons and is expected to transfer. They also can’t practice or play in Santa Clara County. The lone win came against Div. II Fresno Pacific. Three of the losses have been by 33, 35 and 45 points. They rank last in the Mountain West in scoring defense, field-goal percentage, defensive field-goal percentage, assists, steals, rebounding margin and turnover margin. Prioleau is in the fourth year of a five-year contract worth $400,000 per season, but the buyout drops to $200,000 in the spring.