14: New Mexico
The soft-spoken Lobos will let a strong inside game do
their talking
The Lobos' 6'8", 255-pound forward, Kenny Thomas, has evoked
premature comparisons with Karl Malone, endured the high
school nickname Baby Shaq and, if he has the sort of junior
season everyone is predicting for him this year, will lead
New Mexico to the WAC title
and far into the NCAA tournament. Just don't expect Thomas to
wax rhapsodic about any of it. "Coach [Dave] Bliss is
always telling me I should talk more," Thomas says
quietly, pulling a large hand down one side of his face.
"But...." He smiles amiably and
shrugs.
Like Shaquille O'Neal, Thomas grew up under the watchful
eye of a no-nonsense Army man.
Unlike O'Neal, Thomas is unflinchingly quiet. He says he
prepares for games by "praying on my own, reading the
Bible." Growing up, Thomas moved from one military
base to another (including stops in Georgia, Germany, Texas
and New Mexico) with his parents, Calvin and Patricia. But
unlike a lot of big kids who gain
self-confidence from basketball and blossom because of it, Thomas remained
unsure of himself. Even as
his game improved in high school and there was talk that he
was a cinch to get a college
scholarship, he says, "I didn't think I was good
enough." Now he's similarly reluctant to believe he's
bound for the NBA—"Haven't done it yet," he
says—despite the
fact that he's on most
preseason All-America lists.
So, coming from Thomas, it's an emphatic endorsement of
this year's Lobos when he says, "Well, we can be real
good." With four starters returning, New Mexico can
improve on last season's 25-8 record, especially if it can
raise its game a notch on the
road, where all eight of its losses occurred. Thomas should
improve on his 1996-97
averages of 13.9 points and 6.9 boards a game while
continuing to play unselfishly
alongside forward Clayton Shields, a spindly
6'8" senior who averaged 15.5 points last year and
converted a school-record 96
three-pointers.
Guard Charles Smith, the Lobos'
alltime leading scorer, was a first-round draft pick of the
Miami Heat, but, Bliss says, watch out for Smith's
replacement, sophomore Lamont Long. A
6'4" whippet, Long shares three traits with Thomas: a
laconic temperament, star-caliber talent and a bemused
disregard for Bliss's admonishments to get more
"hyped" for games. "People say that when I
come down the court and dunk on someone, they can't
tell if I scored or someone just died," Long says.
"But that's just the way I
am.''
|
Last Year | 25-8 |
|
Returning Starters | 4 |
| Points Per Game '96-97 | 75.8 |
| PPG By All Returning Players | 52.6 | If Long, Shields and Thomas all play to their abilities,
the Lobos' taciturn stars can let their actions on the
court do their
talking for
them.—Johnette Howard
Next: Connecticut
|
