Still, They Are Motivating

The UNM Lobos had their dancing shoes on Monday.

During the team’s annual media day, players tap-danced around questions of preseason polls – of which seemingly all national media are predicting UNM will finish from third and fifth in the Mountain West Conference, decidedly behind league favorites UNLV and San Diego State.

	2012-13 predicted finishes for the Lobo men’s basketball team in the nine-team MWC: MWC predictions USA Today — 3rd Athlon — 4th Lindy’s — 5th

Several players said they ignore the preseason rankings and magazines, then promptly went on to point out the Lobos are rarely picked to win the league title and how it always serves as motivation for the team whose season motto is “Drive for Five,” referencing the four regular season or tournament titles the Lobos have racked up under sixth-year coach Steve Alford.

“Honestly we’ve all been laughing at it,” junior guard Demetrius Walker said. “Last year we won it … and we have a very veteran team whose used to winning. We’re not going to change that this year.”

While many conferences around the country have already released preseason media and coaches polls, the Mountain West just sent out ballots Monday. Those ballots are due back in the league office on Thursday, but many national publications have already chimed in.

USA Today’s Sports Weekly picked the Lobos to finish third in the league, Athlon fourth and Lindy’s fifth. All three selected junior guard Kendall Williams to be a preseason all-league first-team selection.

Interestingly, Lindy’s, which has the lowest preseason regard for the Lobos, was the only one of those publications that picked junior swingman Tony Snell as a first-team selection.

It’s all part of the game for Alford.

“I don’t think we’ll be picked to win it, but we’ve only been picked to win it one year any way,” Alford said. “We want to be in the mix at the end.”

The Lobos were picked by many to win last year’s league title and did so. That, according to Alford, was unique. For most of his tenure in Albuquerque, Alford has been used to low expectations outside the program.

Still, while he acknowledged he’ll likely post preseason polls in the locker room, he also said he and his staff don’t need to use such tactics the same way as in years past.

“Four years ago the program needed a different kind of motivation,” Alford said. “Now, five years in it, there is a blueprint for success. There is a championship demeanor in our locker room. So our guys understand that.”

He added even freshmen like Cleveland Thomas and Nick Banyard enter the program coming off state prep titles in Louisiana and Texas, respectively.

Senior guard Jamal Fenton agreed there is a championship mentality in the locker room.

“Like coach always says, they never pick us and then we end up winning like always,” Fenton said. “Eventually they’ll get the picture because that just gives us motivation in practice and in the games.”

ESPN TOURNAMENT DEAL: The Lobos recently entered into a four-year agreement to play in early-season November tournaments owned by ESPN through the 2016-17 season .

“We thought moving forward that instead of scrambling every year to get a tournament to get in, we thought that going four years out would be the best way to go,” assistant coach Duane Broussard said.

The Lobos will play in the Charleston (South Carolina) Classic in 2013; the Puerto Rico Tip-Off in 2014; the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii in 2015; and the DirecTV Classic (formerly the Anaheim Classic) in California in 2016.

The Lobos play this season in the Paradise Jam tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands Nov. 16-19, an even sponsored by Basketball Travelers, Inc.


— This article appeared on page D1 of the Albuquerque Journal