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Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Danridge Feeling Healthy

By Mark Smith
Journal Staff Write
          Looks good.
        Feels great.
        Ready to explode.
        For University of New Mexico men's basketball senior Tony Danridge, it's a pretty simple formula right now.
        "I'm ready," says Danridge, who suffered a broken leg just about this time last year. "The leg feels great and I'm just out here playing. My teammates are pushing me, and it's healed real well."
        Danridge was penciled in to be one of the Lobos' stars last season under first-year coach Steve Alford. But he broke the fibula in his left leg during a pick-up game just before the start of official practice.
        The Lobos had hoped Danridge would make it back by December, but that didn't happen. The injury took longer to heal than expected, Danridge struggled to get back into playing shape and — truth be told — UNM was playing quite nicely without him.
        Why fix it if it ain't broke, right?
        Furthermore, redshirting Danridge for the entire 2007-08 season gave him an entire year when the Lobos would need him more.
        Like now.
        J.R. Giddens, who led the Lobos to a 24-9 record while grabbing Mountain West Conference co-Player of the Year honors, is now a Boston Celtic. Gone, too, are 2007-08 senior guards Jamaal Smith and Darren Prentice.
        Added to the roster are nine freshmen.
        "With J.R. gone, it will definitely be a collective effort trying to replace him — from the seniors all the way to the freshman," says Chad Toppert, who along with Danridge and Daniel Faris are the team's three seniors. "J.R. was a heckuva player, and it's going to be hard to replace him. Getting Tony back is a major help."
        The 6-foot-5 Danridge, a human highlight reel of a dunk specialist, was third team all-Mountain West Conference as a junior in 2006-07. He averaged 12.5 points and 2.5 rebounds a game that season and developed a sweet jump shot to go with his explosiveness, making him a nightmare matchup.
        But despite being about the same size as Giddens, and despite playing a similar position, the two are very different players.
        "That true — and we weren't as deep with J.R. (when he) was a senior," Alford says. "He probably had more experienced guys with him. And, like you said, they are different players.
        "But I think Tony really benefited from watching how we dealt with J.R., one of the stars on the team with the pressure of scoring, playing a lot, guarding the team's best opponent. I hope he learned a lot by watching how J.R. handled that and how we handled J.R."
        Danridge says Giddens "did a great job, and I learned a lot from him. But I'm not him. ... I'm just going to try and lead by example — open my mouth up a little bit — lead and try help us get some wins."
        Danridge, an extremely quiet and polite son of a pastor, apparently opened his mouth a bit too much while he was injured. He says he beefed up to 235 last year, but is now back to 213.
        Danridge says the year away not only took a toll on him physically, but emotionally as well.
        And he's hoping to use that to his advantage.
        "It was tough sitting out, but my teammates would always help me get through it," he says. "Any time I felt down or depressed, they always helped me through all that.
        "This year, I don't really have any personal goals. I just want to win, that's the thing. I just want to win as many games as we can."
        With Danridge back, the Lobos will be favored to win plenty. But much could depend on how quickly he gets his timing back and how aggressive he remains.
        Alford said he's confident the San Bernardino, Calif. product is ready for a big year.
        "I haven't seen any ill effects from the leg," Alford says. "He's really played well (in individual workouts). The two things we've talked to him about, and what need the most from him, are defensive and board play. That will be crucial for us, because we know we lost a lot of that in J.R.
        "And there's a third thing, that's the intangible, and that's his leadership ability. That's what we've got to continue to monitor and work on."