Lobos adopting a swifter offense

The New Mexico men’s basketball team has had an up and down offseason but hopes to fix many of the issues that have been the reason for the inconsistency.

This past week was one of the few times this season that all 15 players dressed for practice and took part in drills.

Freshman guard Sam Longwood was recovering from an illness that he sustained late last week. Junior forward Jordan Goodman also participated in practice after he had been sidelined because of an offseason knee surgery that the Lobo staff did not approve.

Goodman appeared to have injured his upper left leg during sprints in practice on Wednesday afternoon. He did not partake in any further drills but did not leave the practice area.

UNM head coach Craig Neal said Goodman will not play on Friday and he is still day-to-day. He said he can’t blame Goodman for the injuries, but he has to work twice as hard to get back to 100 percent healthy.

“He’s got a really long way to go,” he said. “It’s hard; it’s not his fault. It’s hard to pick up everything.”

Neal said Friday’s exhibition game against the Adams State Grizzlies will be a little different than their game against Western New Mexico, primarily in the pace of play.

“They play fast, so it will be an interesting game for us,” he said. “They play the way we want to play sometimes, so it will be a good challenge for our guys. It will give us another barometer of where we are as a team.”

The Lobos are integrating a faster-paced offense this season, which is good for multiple players on the roster.

Senior guard Deshawn Delaney is used to playing this way, but he struggled in last Saturday’s 89-45 win against the Mustangs. He shot just 3-10, 1-5 from a 3-point range, and had three turnovers.

Fellow senior guard Hugh Greenwood, however, seemed to like his new scoring role as he went 7-11 from the floor, shot 4-7 from a 3-point range and tallied zero turnovers.

Neal said he was pleased with how redshirt sophomore Devon Williams played.

“I thought he did exactly what I wanted him to do except for the turnover late in the game where he tried to dribble it up,” he said. “He’s just has to realize that at that position we just need somebody to play the right way and don’t do any more than he should.”

The Lobos will not show a lot to the Grizzlies, as they hope to keep a lot of their game plan under wraps for the start of the season.

Kyle Tomasi is a sports reporter for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter 
@KyTo22.