In his first two years as head coach, Craig Neal didn’t want to give too much away schematically during the exhibition schedule. That led to fairly straightforward contests.
That will change this time around. Neal said he and the Lobos will treat this week’s exhibition schedule like any other regular-season game. He hopes it will prevent a slow start to the regular 2015-16 campaign.
“I think we didn't want to show too much and then we got off to slow starts in our first three or four games,” Neal said leading up to Tuesday’s 7 p.m. exhibition against Colorado State-Pueblo. “We didn't have an opportunity to work on things that we're going to run, work on schemes we're going to do. I'm just going into it and act like we're starting.”
Expect to see some things out of the Lobos they will utilize throughout the season, Neal said, although others might not be.
Part of it has to do with developing chemistry early. Three players – guard Cullen Neal, guard Elijah Brown and forward Tim Williams – have only practice since last year and not seen in-game action due to injury or eligibility requirements. Another component to treating the exhibition like every other game is to get the newer players up to speed to what Neal wants to run, he said.
Neal said he doesn’t want to repeat the sluggish play the Lobos have seen out of the gate over the last couple years. Last year in particular UNM opened the season losing three of its first six games.
“I'm not going to go out and be real vanilla,” Craig Neal said. “I think I've got to get this group that hasn't played a lot together acclimated to what we're going to do and how we're going to play.”
Tuesday will be the first realistic setting for teams playing under the new 30-second shot clock, which the NCAA implemented over the summer.
In his first year two years ago, Neal tried to increase the tempo of play but backed off that style because he had a strong low-post presence in big men Cameron Bairstow and Alex Kirk. This year’s squad has the players to play an up-tempo offense, Neal said, which could help now that five seconds have been taken off the shot clock.
The big question regarding the shot clock change for all teams, Neal said, will come on the defensive end. The change came primarily to bolster scoring across the board, but Neal said he doesn’t necessarily see how it helps in that regard.
“I don't know if coaches are really going get to pressure because you don't want to give people a lot more wood to penetrate,” Neal said. “If people do a soft press back to zone, they're going to take a lot of time off the clock and make you shoot jump shots. And that's not easy.”
The Lobos have been running drills to adjust to the new clock, Neal said, like running full-court activities with less time on the clock.
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In addition to the influx of shooters like guard Brown, Hunter and Anthony Mathis – along with the return of Cullen Neal – Craig Neal said other players like guards Xavier Adams and Sam Logwood have worked on improving their shooting as well.
The head coach said so far no single freshman has really stood out, saying people have taken notice to Mathis’s shooting abilities, Hunter’s quickness and center Nikola Scekic’s size. With that said, Neal called guard/forward Dane Kupier the sleeper for the incoming class who no one in the media or elsewhere are talking about.
“He was the first one to commit. He was player of the year in Arizona and they had a lot of good players in Arizona,” Neal said. “I just think he's that guy. It's why I recruited him. I just think he's the guy who's going to surprise people.”
After Tuesday’s exhibition with CSU-Pueblo, the Lobos host Rogers State out of Oklahoma for the second preseason game Friday at 7 p.m. The regular season begins Nov 13 against Texas Souther.
J.R. Oppenheim is the managing editor for the Daily Lobo. Contact him at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
