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Thursday, October 30, 2008

UNM's Ro Knows Basketball

By Mark Smith
Journal Staff Writer
      Roman Martinez is a basketball player.
       Considering he's on a basketball scholarship at the University of New Mexico, that comes in handy.
       Many collegiate hoopsters, however, aren't true basketball players. They are simply extraordinary athletes.
       Gifted leapers.
       Bruising strong men.
       Cheetah-like speedsters.
       The game is filled with those types.
       But good old-fashioned, gritty, heady hoopsters are becoming more and more a rarity at all levels of the game.
       Which is why Martinez is a breath of fresh air in a sweaty Davalos basketball practice center.
       “Ro knows how to play the game,” says UNM second-year coach Steve Alford. “We talk about it all the time when we go recruiting, and sometimes that's the hardest thing to read … does (a player) really know how to play? Ro just knows how to play. If you're in the right place at the right time, that means you know how to play. The ball comes to you a lot.”
       Martinez, a slender 6-foot-6 junior forward out of El Paso, has never had glossy stats at UNM. Chances are, he never will.
       But he will always be consistent, play his tail off and make players around him better.
       “When I see Roman play, I get energized,” says senior center Daniel Faris. “I see him get on the ground, take a charge; that gets me going. It makes me work that much harder to do some of the same things he does.”
       What Martinez did last season was start 24 of 33 games and average 7.0 points, 3.9 and 2.0 assists a game. He also drew 13 charges.
       This season, with a highly touted class of six scholarship freshmen on the squad, his biggest asset will be his leadership. Martinez says he realizes he's not a Kobe Bryant-type of athlete — but that's fine with him.
       “This year, we have a lot of athletic freshmen, so I have to work even harder,” he says. “That's something I've always taken pride in; I try to work hard, and I try is to get everyone to do that. Because if a slow Mexican, who's not as athletic can do it … they see that as a freshman, and maybe they can use that as an example.”
       And it's not like Martinez is some Rudy-type of hard-working walk-on. Make no mistake — he's a player. And Alford is quite aware of that.
       “He knows how to make the extra pass, he's in the right place defensively,” Alford says. “… It's hard to find kids like that. I'd take 13 of those every year.
       “We've got an awful lot of possibilities with the starting lineup, and right now I couldn't give you five. But if you had to ink in a lineup today, one name that would be in is Martinez. He's been that good in practice.”
       Martinez, who doesn't have an official dunk in his collegiate career — but says he will change that this season — comes with a basketball pedigree. His grandfather, Francisco Martinez, was an all-league player at New Mexico State and played for Mexico's 1936 Olympic team in Berlin, which took the bronze medal.
       Growing up in El Paso, Martinez became quite familiar with New Mexico basketball. It didn't hurt that his father, Eddie, is from Los Alamos.
       He says playing for the Lobos is an honor.
       “I play with a passion and it's because I really believe it's a privilege to play here,” says Martinez, who is majoring in business administration and is a standout student. “It's a privilege to play in front of this great crowd, it's a privilege to play in front of these coaches. I come to every practice as if it were my last, and I try to set an example for my teammates. For me its a team sport.”
       HUSH, HUSH SWEET SCRIMMAGE: The Lobos will have a scrimmage against Arizona State on Saturday in Albuquerque, but nobody is allowed to attend — not fans, not media. No statistics or score will be kept.
       The scrimmage replaces one of two exhibition games NCAA teams are allowed. By rule, Alford is not permitted to even comment on the scrimmage.
       LOCAL TV PICKS UP GAMES: KASY (Channel 50) will air five Lobo men's games and three women's this season.
       The station will broadcast men's home games against Western New Mexico (exhibition), Grambling and Central Florida, and road games at San Diego and Texas Tech.
       The San Diego game will be produced by 4SD in San Diego, while the game with the Red Raiders is produced by the Texas Tech Television Network.
       Scott Stiegler will provide the play-by-play, and former Lobo Hunter Greene will do color for the games played in the Pit. They will not do the road games.
       New Mexico has a total of 23 games on TV this season.
       On Wednesday, a UNM sports information department spokesman said there is still no television scheduled for the Lobos' two games in Cancun Nov. 29-30.
       On the women's side, KASY will air the Lobos' nonconference home matchups against UTEP, UNLV and San Diego State.
       Stiegler will also provide play-by-play for the Lobo women's games, with former Lobo Abbie Letz adding the color analysis.
       Stiegler told the Journal that he will still do the UNM men's post-game call-in shows on KKOB-AM (770).
       

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