Layups no sure thing for Lobos
Point-blank misses have been costly in recent losses
In a Feb. 2 loss at Fresno State, the UNM Lobos missed 29 3-pointers, nearly a program record for most missed shots from beyond the arc in one game.
While the Lobos do have shooters, and value the 3-point shot as much as just about any team in the Mountain West Conference, the team also realizes that for the offense to reach its full potential, it needs to spread the floor. To do that, it needs an inside-out approach that takes advantage of what it believes are two of the league’s more gifted offensive post players in 6-foot-10 Carlton Bragg and 6-9 Corey Manigault and the mismatch potential 6-9 wing Vance Jackson creates when he attacks the rim.
“I think that’s our offensive game plan probably in general,” UNM Lobos coach Paul Weir said Saturday night after his Lobos took only 17 3-point shots in a rematch loss to the Bulldogs in Dreamstyle Arena — the Pit.
Basically, if you have offensively gifted post players, run an offense that uses them to get some points at the rim, right? Get some easy layups to open up the 3-point shot. Sounds simple enough. But this wouldn’t be the 2018-19 Lobo men’s basketball team if it were truly that simple, would it?
As the Lobos on Saturday missed 12 more layups in an 81-73 loss to Fresno State, they continue to be one of the worst 2-point shooting teams in the Mountain West Conference and rank 242nd out of 353 Division I teams at 2-point shooting.
It isn’t as though these are all layup-line
attempts. They are contested and in traffic versus tough defense and around shot blockers. All those things play a part, sure. Still, Weir says film shows 11 missed layups he considered makable or relatively uncontested in the Feb. 2 loss at Fresno State and nine more in Saturday’s rematch.
“Those missed layups — they break your back,” Weir said. “And we missed a bunch at the beginning of the game and a bunch there at the end of the game, as well. To beat a team like this, you’ve got to be able to make layups.”
And it wasn’t just Saturday. The Lobos have been missing enough makable layups lately that the question actually needs to be asked if they are actually worth trying for any longer.
“It’s a good question. It’s something we’re starting to discuss because our field goal percentages of a few of our bigs are nose diving right now,” said Weir on Saturday. “We have to start to evaluate if that’s still a good shot for us. Corey’s obviously playing really well right now around the rim, but field goal percentages in conference play for our other bigs, it’s struggling. And that’s something that we’re going to have to evaluate specifically with regards to the field goal percentages and the fouls drawn and kind of where exactly does that leave us at the end of the day.
“Right now, I feel great about them, but the numbers are the numbers and we’ve got to find a way to either convert those more or, quite frankly, move away from those.”
UNM’s three primary bigs — Manigault, Bragg and Jackson, who plays inside and out — drew 16 fouls on Saturday, putting Fresno State in foul trouble by trying to score around the rim. So, while there’s benefit to trying to score at the rim even when the shots aren’t falling, the number of point-blank misses for UNM is a growing concern.
UNM is 2-5 in its last seven games. Here’s how the Lobos are converting layups (not all 2-point shooting, just actual layups) in the two wins vs. the five losses:
In two wins: 67.6 percent (23-of-34) on layups
In five losses: 43.9 percent (36-of-82) on layups
A NUMBER TO KNOW: The combined announced attendance for the two Division I men’s basketball games played Saturday in New Mexico was 24,383 — 12,494 for Fresno State at UNM in Dreamstyle Arena — the Pit and 11,889 announced in Las Cruces for Seattle at New Mexico State in the Pan American Center.