Nov. 20—There are four UNM Lobos who played regular minutes last season.
They are Donovan Dent, Tru Washington, Mustapha Amzil and Nelly Junior Joseph and each is now a starter. Nothing is changing there anytime soon.
But the “3” spot — call it the third guard, the wing, the small forward or just the 3 — remains unsettled through four games of the season.
And as the Grambling State Tigers come to the Pit on Thursday night, Richard Pitino isn’t saying if he’s yet made a decision on whether to start Filip Borovicanin or C.J. Noland.
Arizona transfer Borovicanin, who’s started all the games so far, is a 6-foot-9 versatile guard who has yet to assert himself in games the way he has in practices. North Texas transfer Noland, a 6-4 senior, has thus far provided a scoring punch and veteran presence off the bench. However, his relative lack of height brings the Lobos back to what they were last season: A team that could be vulnerable to bigger backcourts.
Sunday in New York, Borovicanin played nine first half minutes, though you could hardly tell. He had zero points, zero rebounds, zero shot attempts and other than one turnover, would have an 0-fer statline. He played zero minutes in the second half.
Noland got the start in his place to start the second half, finishing the game with 15 points, three assists, four offensive rebounds and three steals in 28 minutes.
“We’ll see,” Pitino said Wednesday when asked if Noland would get the start moving forward. “I think (Noland) … did a lot of good things. St. John’s is aggressive, pressure you. You’ve got to take them off the bounce a little bit. And C.J. did that. I think he’s probably a little more comfortable with that than Filip is. That’s why we went with it.
“But with that, we gave up a little size and that obviously hurt us on the glass as well. So we’ll continue to evaluate it. I don’t It’s not like a quarterback situation where you have to put one on the bench. All options will be certainly available.”
The Lobos didn’t just struggle with rebounding on Sunday in Madison Square Garden, they were embarrassed on the glass. The Red Storm outrebounded them 49-32 and their 22 offensive rebounds (57.9 offensive rebound rate) was the fifth highest an opponent has posted against UNM since at least the 1996-97 season, according to KenPom.com.
Borovicanin, who didn’t get big minutes in two seasons at Arizona, has in practice show a great offensive skill set — an ability to shoot from the outside, handle the ball in transition and his 6-9 frame is a mismatch for most team’s guards. But he’s also not been aggressive or assertive this season. Since a solid six-point, three-assist game in UNM’s 77-64 win over UCLA on Nov. 8, Borovicanin in the next two games had zero points, one rebound, two turnovers. He has yet to attempt a free throw this season.
Pitino was asked if the SWAC-level opponent that the Lobos will be heavily favored against would be a good time to get Borovicanin going.
“If Filip gets that opportunity, we want him to take advantage of it,” Pitino said. “(He) works his butt off, and he’ll have his chances, like everybody else.”
Noland’s been ready whenever the Pitino has called his number. He’s the only player on the roster who has at least one 3-pointer made, one assist, one rebound and one steal in every game and he’s drawing fouls at a high rate (6.4 per 40 minutes played), leading to 14 made free throws, just behind high-volume offensive threats Donovan Dent (17) and Nelly Junior Jospeh (16).
St. John’s game-planned to stop Dent and Junior Joseph, meaning others had an opportunity to step into that offensive spotlight. Amzil and Noland were clearly not intimidated by Madison Square Garden or a national television audience, combining for 31 points.
“C.J. and me, we’re older guys on the team. We’ve been through it,” Amzil said. “Filip, it’s his first year really playing (big minutes) at the college level. So, obviously C.J. was more prepared for that game. I would say we have a lot of guys ready to get some buckets. We do it in practice every day. It’s just a matter of the mindset they have and being ready to go, when the game starts.”
The Lobos know they’ll be at their best if Borovicanin emerges in games like they’ve all seen him do in practice.
“I don’t know if he’s nervous or if he’s just in his own head. He’s a good player. I just try to remind him that,” Amzil said. “He’s done a lot of things before college, playing overseas and stuff. He definitely has the package. He’s a a tall guard. I tell him all the time, nobody can stop you if you just use your body. … I think it’s just something takes a little bit of time.”
ONE MORE ON ST. JOHN’S: Pitino was clearly not happy with the result of Sunday’s loss to St. John’s, but more than once on Wednesday when asked by reporters about the game he emphasized how much good he thinks will come from the experience.
“Oh, I saw a lot of positive,” Pitino said. “That was a great experience. It was a true road game. The fans that were able to travel all the way from Albuquerque to go experience that was awesome. Felt like almost like a Sweet 16 game, because you’re in an NBA arena, you got about 95% of their fans, and you got 5% of our fans are trying to be loud. The lights were very, very bright. That is a top 20 team. We cut it to four (in the second half). We battled. We did a lot of good things, so absolutely, a lot of positives, and we’ll be better from that game.”
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