And here Alice began to get rather sleepy, and went on saying to herself, in a dreamy. “Let me alone!” “Serpent, I say again!” repeated the Pigeon. The Kansas City Chiefs have already dealt with one game postponement this season due to positive COVID-19 cases. The news came down yesterday afternoon that the Chiefs’ Week 6 game against Buffalo Bills on “Thursday Night Football” has tentatively been moved to Sunday.
- Game Pigeon Keeps Saying Waiting For Opponent Night
- Game Pigeon Keeps Saying Waiting For Opponent Every
The Kansas City Chiefs have already dealt with one game postponement this season due to positive COVID-19 cases. The news came down yesterday afternoon that the Chiefs’ Week 6 game against Buffalo Bills on “Thursday Night Football” has tentatively been moved to Sunday.
Given all the uncertainty surrounding potential game delays and the 2020 season in general, the coaching staff in Kansas City has learned to be adaptive. For defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, he’s essentially forgotten about what’s considered a routine week in the NFL.
“I’m smiling because there’s been nothing routine about this year,” Spagnuolo told reporters on Thursday. “The defensive coaches and I were talking about how we have not had a normal Sunday to Sunday game week. We haven’t had one. Not even going back to training camp and with that Thursday night game. It’s just exactly what you said. I’m not sure what normal is. You could say normal from last year. I guess maybe we’re kind of getting used to it. We’re in the chaos. Be calm and poised in the chaotic circumstances we’re in and be ready to roll. Just have to stay flexible, right?”
As for Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, he has some experience with games being rescheduled. He was on the Minnesota Vikings staff back in 2010 when they had a number of reschedules due to severe weather. There was a Sunday night game against the Philadelphia Eagles that was delayed until Tuesday due to a massive snowstorm in Philadelphia. He’s learned to keep an open mind about these things since then, he’s also learned to take advantage of the extra time by getting some rest.
“One thing you learn in this profession is to always remain flexible, especially with everything that we’re dealing with,” Bieniemy explained. “With what happened this particular week, though, I’m not a guy that’s going to look ahead because one thing I want to do, I always want to focus on the task. Our staff will start ahead, I just want to make sure that I’ve got all these particular plays and situations in my head, so I don’t cloud that particular vision. But I’ve got to let you in on a little secret, I took a nap, and it felt damn good.”
While the team did get an extra day to rest and prepare, on the other end they get a shorter week, with one less day to recover and prepare for the next opponent. It presents a challenge for the coaches and players.
“So, we played on Monday night, hey, a national crowd, we got to play and put on a performance,” Bieniemy said. “I know everybody wasn’t happy with the performance, but a win is a win. But the next thing, hey, we lose a day, it’s okay, we grind. This is what we do. We get back to it and it’s all about the Raiders right now. And one more thing, it’s all about the Raiders and we’re one week from kickoff against Buffalo.”
The team will focus on what they can control for the time being and that isn’t when the games are played. They can focus on how they prepare for the next week. Right now, that means getting prepared to face a Las Vegas Raiders team that is hungry for a win in Kansas City.
Lobos point guard Jeremiah Francis, left, and forward Bayron Matos, right, defend Rice Owl Chris Mullins (24) during Sunday’s game in Houston. (Photo courtesy Maria Lysaker for UNM Athletics)
Here are a few extra notes, quotes, stats, videos and whatever else I could empty out of the old notebook that didn’t fit into print after the Lobos’ 72-61 road win over Rice on Sunday in Houston:They actually played!
There are 357 Division I men’s college basketball teams.
If you take away the eight in the Ivy League, which decided as a conference not to play this season due to COVID-19, there were just 26 left that had not played a game entering Sunday.
The Lobos were more than happy to make it 24 on Sunday — becoming the last in the 11-team Mountain West to play a game (San Jose State’s first was Friday, Colorado State’s was Saturday).
UNM, as has been heavily reported at this point, had a late start to the season as full team practices and games are currently prohibited in New Mexico due to a public health order. After relocating to West Texas to practice at South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, and also playing and practicing some in Lubbock, Texas, there were more than a few worries about whether Sunday’s game would really ever get here.
“To be totally honest with you, you just keep waiting for the other shoe to drop,” admitted Lobos coach Paul Weir. “We’ve been down the road so many different times and I’ve had to have some really difficult conversations with the guys (about the delays to UNM’s season). But we tested Friday evening and when the test results came back on Saturday, and we were all negative, it was kind of that moment of like, ‘Oh my gosh, this might actually happen.’ I think until that point, even the players were probably skeptical that this might actually take place.
“So, it’s an amazing feeling. I told the guys after the game, how proud I am of them to be able to go out and compete this way given all the different things that they’ve had to go through. We just need to enjoy this and savor it and and ride this journey for as long as it’ll go.”
Freshman forward Bayron Matos left his prep school in December 2019 to enroll last season at UNM, though he redshirted and did not play a game, meaning the Dominican Republic native had a full year since his last game.
“It was hard,” he said Sunday, after the 6-foot-9 forward had 10 points and five rebounds in his college debut. “Like, my mind was going crazy. My family back home kept calling me. That was hard seeing your friends playing games hopping I see your friends playing games, you don’t even know when you play your first game, when you’re going to start to practice. But, you know, I stayed positive and believed in the program and (knew) that everything would go well.”
Gamer in print
Here’s the game story that posted online Sunday afternoon and was published in Monday’s Albuquerque Journal:
A number to know: 100
Sunday was college game No. 100 for Lobos senior Makuach Maluach.
That probably explains why he was so good and some of this teammates on the Lobos, with a roster of so many new players (12 had never played a game for UNM before Sunday). I asked Maluach after the game if he was nervous at all.
“Nah, pretty calm,” he said. “You know, I have a lot of games under my belt. So you know, just same mindset, same routine. Just come in and compete and try and get a win.”
Up Next
Tuesday, also at Rice’s Tudor Fieldhouse, the Lobos will host NAIA Our Lady of the Lake at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed on YouTube (I have not seen a link to what YouTube channel it will be on, yet).
Our Lady of the Lake is a name college basketball fans are probably aware of, a regular in the non-conference time of the season picking up a handful of games vs. Division I programs. This season, the Saints have already played four Division I teams, including beating the Sun Belt’s Texas State on Saturday.
The Saints lost to Rice on Nov. 28, 103-64.
RIP, Aggie legend
New Mexico State University basketball legend Jimmy Collins, one of the stars of the 1970 Final Four Aggies team, has passed away, his family announced on Sunday.
He was 74.
RIP, Jimmy.
We lost a great one today 🙏
Rest in peace, Jimmy. #AggieUp
📰 | https://t.co/bsF3XOLkxBpic.twitter.com/YRWfwGuChG
— NM State Aggies (@NMStateAggies) December 13, 2020
Jimmy Collins, Coach and Sam Lacey are together again ❤️🙏
There's one heck of a game being played up in heaven. #AggieUppic.twitter.com/Yl2zxRWpm8
— NM State MBB (@NMStateMBB) December 13, 2020
More on Maluach
While the gamer I wrote was Makuach Maluach heavy (why wouldn’t it be with his scoring 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds?), it’s worth again just taking a look at some numbers surrounding Maluach’s performance, career and what’s coming up…
Sunday stat line:
• 23 points
• 12 rebounds (6 offensive)
• 8-14 FGs (2-2 3FGs); 5-6 FTs
Career stat updates:
• 100th game played Sunday
• His 23 points Sunday give him 982 for his career, pulling him within 18 of becoming the 35th Lobos to score 1,000 points in a college career.
Maluach with his first three of the season to put the Lobos up by 12, 50-38. Maluach leads the Lobos with 15 points. 9 mins left. #GoLobospic.twitter.com/YFXTgaUjvY
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) December 13, 2020
A number to know: 19
The Lobos pulled down 19 offensive rebounds on Sunday, tied for the second most in the Paul Weir era of Lobo basketball. The team has a goal this season each game to grab 10 more offensive rebounds than their opponent.
“Our goal is to be plus-10 on the offensive boards,” Lobos coach Paul Weir said. “We were plus-9 tonight, which was a perfect. … A big part of our identity is going to be being able to rebound the ball. It’s been a big part of our preseason emphasis.”
The Lobos had four players grab three or more offensive boards: Maluach (6), Rod Brown (4), Valdir Manuel (3), Bayron Matos (3).
As mentioned above, the 19 rebounds tie for the second most a Lobos team has had under Weir. The top four offensive rebound totals in the Weir era are:
• 26 – In a loss Feb. 26, 2019, at San Jose State
• 19 – In a win Sunday at Rice
• 19 – In a win vs. UC-Davis on Dec. 29, 2019
• 19 – In a win vs. Omaha on Nov. 14, 2017
The flip side of a lot of offensive rebounds is that the team has to miss a lot of shots to get a lot of offensive rebounds. But, nevertheless, it was an impressive performance on Sunday. Which leads us to the next note…
Stop the count!
The Lobos’ 19 rebounds, coupled with Rice’s 20 defensive rebounds, gave UNM an offensive rebounding percentage of 48.7%.
As of Sunday night, in an extremely small sample size, that’s a figure good enough to lead all of Division I college basketball.
Stop the count.
The UNM Lobos have the best offensive rebounding % in the nation per KenPom at 48.7%.
The Lobos had 19 offensive boards Sunday and outrebounded the Owls overall 49-30. pic.twitter.com/l2exwOKlZs
Game Pigeon Keeps Saying Waiting For Opponent Night
— Geoff Grammer (@GeoffGrammer) December 13, 2020
He said it
“That’s what the quarantine will get you to do, man. It gets you to do some stuff people are not accustomed to. …
“I love my guys. Emmanuel (Kuac) brought it up, saying you should try something with your hair, so I was like, ‘Let’s do it.’ So he did it.”
–Lobos senior Makuach Maluach on the decision to color a patch of his hair red before the season opener — the first time in four seasons at UNM he has done that with his hair.
Meanwhile, in Boise…
Boise State is waiting for the Lobos for both teams to open Mountain West play Dec. 21 and 23.
Sunday, in the Broncos’ last game before UNM, Weber State’s Dillon Jones accidentally punched referee Rick Batsell in a celebration of a hard drive to the rim in which he scored and was fouled.
OUCH! 😬
Weber State’s Dillon Jones accidentally punches referee Rick Batsell while celebrating vs. Boise State. pic.twitter.com/VzPs7CfibF
— Heat Check CBB (@HeatCheckCBB) December 13, 2020
Around the Mountain
Sunday saw four Mountain West hoops games with Monday bringing three more…
SUNDAY:
• Drake 81, Air Force 53
• New Mexico 72, Rice 61
• Boise State 70, Weber State 59
• Cal Poly 75, San Jose State 71
MONDAY:
• Northern Arizona at Colorado State, 6 p.m.
• Nevada at San Diego, 7 p.m.
• Pepperdine at UNLV, 7:30 p.m.
A couple of the new guys
Here’s an assist from junior college transfer Rod Brown to fellow junior college transfer Saquan Singleton for an early bucket in Sunday’s game. Both were in the starting lineup for the Lobos.
Brown feeds Singleton to close the gap! #GoLobospic.twitter.com/ulEuXZLtnK
— Lobo Basketball (@UNMLoboMBB) December 13, 2020
Plus/minus stats
Here are the Lobos’ plus/minus stats for Sunday’s game at Rice with +/-, player name and minutes played in parenthasis:
+22 Emmanuel Kuac (20:12)
+9 Jeremiah Francis (29:21)
+9 Keith McGee (15:26)
+8 Makuach Maluach (28:04)
+5 Saquan Singleton (24:50)
+5 Clay Patterson (2:01)
+4 Valdir Manuel (13:17)
+2 Rod Brown (24:31)
+2 Kurt Wegscheider (10:29)
-3 Javonte Johnson (9:33)
-6 Bayron Matos (22:16)
Final stats
Here is a link to the final stats from Sunday’s game: UNM 72, Rice 61
And if you prefer the more traditional looking version, here you go: UNM 72, Rice 61
Oh, those 3s…
UNM could struggle to shoot from the outside this season, and on Sunday that showed up with a 4-of-17 (23.5%) showing.
And on the other side, Lobo fans may have been having flashbacks early as the Lobo defense was still getting lit up from beyond the arc, as it seams to do with regularity the past couple seasons.
Game Pigeon Keeps Saying Waiting For Opponent Every
Rice hit 13-of-35 3-pointers (37.1%), but just 7-of-22 (31.8%) in the second half.
The Lobos certainly can’t be happy with giving up 13 3-pointers a game, but if an opponent needs 35 attempts to get there and take just 21 2-pointers, it’s probably because they are either A) incapable of scoring inside on the Lobos, which is a good sign, or B) trailing in the game and trying to make a come back, which would also be a good sign for the Lobos.
Then again, teams could just be hitting a ton of 3’s on the Lobos because the Lobos aren’t defending the line very well.
DNP: COVID
UNM’s 7-foot-1 center Assane N’Diaye did not play for the Lobos on Sunday due to what the university simply described as COVID-19 issues.
While the Journal confirmed N’Diaye doesn’t currently have COVID-19, the program isn’t saying publicly if he had it in the past and this is related to that or if his absence is related to contact tracing matters involving him having been in contact with somebody with COVID-19.
There is no public timetable on his return to the team.
DNP: Coaches decisions
These Lobo players did not play on Sunday, but not due to COVID, just coaches decision:
• Freshman guard Isaiah Marin
• Redshirt-freshman guard Daniel Headdings (walk-on)
• Sophomore forward Logan Padgett (walk-on)
• Freshman guard Nolan Dorsey
• Freshman guard Eloy Medina (walk-on)
• Junior forward Jordan Arroyo (walk-on)
Until next time…
No empty arena pic for me like this column usually concludes with after every game I cover. Such is the way of a crazy COVID-19 reality this year.
I hope to be back in the arenas covering games in person soon enough, but for now I’ll keep doing so from afar and still keep trying to bring you all as much of the extra tid bits I can manage to find on the team so many of you are still trying to get to know.