Nevada guard Grant Sherfield (25) shoots as Utah State guard Marco Anthony (44) defends during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Friday, Feb. 26, 2021, in Logan, Utah. (Eli Lucero/The Herald Journal via AP, Pool)
Sports Fodder . . . Grant Sherfield’s chance of winning the Mountain West Player of the Year award might have evaporated with the Nevada Wolf Pack’s two losses at Utah State last week. There is no question that Sherfield is one of the best basketball players in the conference. He leads the Mountain West in assists (6.2), steals (1.6), free throw shooting (.870) and assist-to-turnover ratio (2.3) and is second in scoring (18.0). But the Wolf Pack will finish fifth in the Mountain West regular season standings this year. The conference’s Player of the Year has gone to a player on a team that has finished first or second in the regular season in 20 of the previous 21 Mountain West seasons. The only exception has been Ruben Douglas, whose New Mexico Lobos finished seventh in the 2002-03 eight-team Mountain West. The head coaches vote for the postseason awards and, well, coaches like to see winners get rewarded because winning is how they get rewarded.
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Sherfield, though, could still win the award. San Diego State has already clinched first place but the Aztecs play unselfish basketball and don’t have a standout player with standout stats. Colorado State could finish second and the Rams have a Sherfield-like player in Isaiah Stevens. But Sherfield, who will take on Stevens on Friday at Lawlor Events Center in the Pack’s final regular season game, has outplayed Stevens in almost every category. Sherfield’s numbers are very similar to last year’s Player of the Year, Malachi Flynn of San Diego State. Flynn averaged 17.6 points, 5.1 assists and 1.8 steals to beat out the Pack’s Jalen Harris for the award. But Flynn’s Aztecs finished first in the regular season and the Pack finished tied for second, five games back of the Aztecs. Harris was named the Newcomer of the Year, an award that Sherfield might also get this year. The preseason Player of the Year this year was Boise State’s Derrick Alston. But Alston, a solid-but-not-dominating player, was outplayed in his two games against the Pack and Sherfield in early February.
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The most dominating player in the Mountain West is Utah State’s Neemias Queta, a fact the Wolf Pack found out last week. The 7-foot center leads the conference in rebounding (9.7), blocks (2.9) and shooting percentage (.565) and also averages 14.8 points, 2.9 assists and 1.2 steals a game. And he torched the Pack for 36 points, 30 rebounds, four blocks, eight assists and two steals (Sherfield had 17 points, 13 assists, 12 turnovers and shot 6-of-21 in the two games). He’s the most impressive physical talent in the conference, someone who could compete at least defensively in the NBA right now. If Sherfield doesn’t win the award, Pack fans shouldn’t protest too much if Queta gets it.
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San Diego State has finished its regular season with a 14-3 league record, tied with Colorado State. Colorado State has one game remaining in the regular season on Friday at Nevada. A Colorado State victory on Friday, therefore, should give the Rams the regular season title. Wrong. San Diego State has been credited with two additional forfeit victories over New Mexico, though (for some reason) the victories are not reflected in the official conference standings. Yes, just when you thought this COVID season couldn’t become any more weird we might have a Mountain West champion at 14-3 ahead of a team that finishes 15-3. The Aztecs get credited for two victories over New Mexico because the Lobos forfeited the games because of injuries and not because of COVID-19 issues. That is something that should have gotten New Mexico kicked out of the Mountain West. It is an embarrassment to the entire league, though it is almost impossible to embarrass a league that once sent two of its teams to the same football bowl game. The Lobos, who haven’t been able to play a single game in their home state this season because of COVID-19 issues, are a dumpster fire this year and have already fired coach Paul Weir. They should have played those two games against San Diego State with four football players, a tennis player, a couple chess club members, two soccer players and the kid who picks up the towels. You just know that if Steve Alford was still the Lobos coach, Alford would have suited up the team manager in fine Hoosiers tradition, just like coach Norman Dale with Ollie McLellan.
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The Wolf Pack’s first Mountain West tournament game will be against the No. 4 seed on Thursday in Las Vegas. The opponent, it appears, will be either Utah State or Boise State. Boise State is 14-6 and done with its regular season but Utah State is 13-4 and has two games left. The Pack lost twice to Utah State on the road and beat Boise State twice at home. But forget that. It’s anybody’s guess which team Alford and the Pack would rather play. Boise, though, might be running out of gas. The Broncos just lost to Fresno State this week and will take a three-game losing streak to Las Vegas. The Pack knows it can beat Boise State.
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ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, though, believes Boise State will be in the 68-team field for the NCAA tournament, one of the eight that takes part in the four play-in games. Also in the tournament from the Mountain West, according to Lunardi, will be Colorado State and San Diego State. No Wolf Pack. No Utah State. Lunardi predicts Colorado State will win the Mountain West tournament. Of course, nobody knows anything about how this college basketball postseason will play out. Who knows if the tournament will actually play all of its scheduled games? Don’t be shocked if the Pack plays Utah State in the Mountain West title game.
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Yes, the Wolf Pack just might find itself in the Mountain West tournament title game next Saturday. Forget what happened last week at Utah State. The Pack was playing its first games in almost three weeks at arguably the toughest gym in the Mountain West for a visitor. Strange things always happen to visiting teams in Logan, Utah. Expect the Pack team that beat Boise State twice in early February to show up at the Mountain West tournament. That Pack team can beat any team in the Mountain West.
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The Wolf Pack, though, desperately needs to win at least one tournament game next week after what happened last year. Last year’s silly loss to No. 11-seed Wyoming in the Mountain West tournament last year was embarrassing and unforgivable. That Pack team, after all, had Harris, Jazz Johnson, Lindsey Drew and Nisre Zouzoua. This year’s team has Sherfield, Desmond Cambridge and Forrest Gump’s you-never-know-what-you’re-gonna-get box of chocolates. Last year’s Mountain West tourney wasn’t Steve Alford’s finest hour.
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Make no mistake, Alford is treated like he is James Naismith up on Virginia Street and his job will never be in jeopardy. But Alford does need to start proving that he can win meaningful games away from Lawlor Events Center. Alford has a solid 33-21 record over the last two seasons at Nevada but 21 of those victories and just five of the losses have come at Lawlor. Alford’s Pack is 8-14 on an opponent’s home court and 12-16 overall away from Lawlor. Alford’s Pack still doesn’t really have a signature win away from home against a quality team. All of this could change next week at Las Vegas.
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Major League Baseball deserves praise for finally instituting a Lou Gehrig Day. Yes, the day (every June 2) is about eight decades too late but baseball has been known to resist change before. The former New York Yankee hit .340 for his career with 493 homers, 1,995 RBI and once held the record for most consecutive games played at 2,130 (broken by Cal Ripken Jr.) and grand slams at 16 (broken by Alex Rodriguez). Gehrig, of course, is also remembered for his battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disease he died from on June 2, 1941 at the age of 41. June 2 is also the day his consecutive games streak began. Another possible date for Lou Gehrig Day might have been July 4, the day he gave his unforgettable “Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth” speech in 1939. July 4 would have been an appropriate day to honor Gehrig, since he is the son of immigrant parents who beat the odds to become a true American hero and eventually a role model for everyone who has ever battled a life threatening disease. But MLB likes to sell its red white and blue hats on July 4.
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