Busting Brackets
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Mountain West Basketball: 5 biggest questions for rest of 2019-20 season

By Tristan Freeman

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 28: Jordan Schakel #20, Yanni Wetzell #5 and KJ Feagin #10 of the San Diego State Aztecs celebrate after teammate Joel Mensah (not pictured) #35 dunked against the Creighton Bluejays during the 2019 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 28, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Aztecs defeated the Bluejays 83-52. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 28: Jordan Schakel #20, Yanni Wetzell #5 and KJ Feagin #10 of the San Diego State Aztecs celebrate after teammate Joel Mensah (not pictured) #35 dunked against the Creighton Bluejays during the 2019 Continental Tire Las Vegas Invitational basketball tournament at the Orleans Arena on November 28, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Aztecs defeated the Bluejays 83-52. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 26: Keith McGee #3 of the New Mexico Lobos (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 26: Keith McGee #3 of the New Mexico Lobos (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) /

2. Can New Mexico survive potential sanctions to both Carlton Bragg and JJ Caldwell?

*For those unaware, the two names above have been held from team activities from unspecified reasons Although rumors and speculation have reported, all accusations and are treated as “alleged” for the player athletes.

Hope

In short, no. I am not sure New Mexico had a great shot at a tournament bid before the suspensions and they certainly don’t now. They are probably the 4th or 5th best team in the conference now, but at least they held their players accountable.

Winnick

I don’t think so. Caldwell is a key for them most certainly, as their lead guard and top assist man. However, I think the much bigger loss is Bragg. He had been on fire recently, averaging 17.8 PPG and 13.8 RPG over his last five games, all Lobo victories.

I was very high on New Mexico before the suspension news. If Caldwell and Bragg do come back into the mix, I would have them as a sleeper to win the conference tournament. For me, the biggest key is Vance Jackson. He’s fallen off a cliff from a strong end to last season and is shooting a putrid 22.6% from three this season. If he takes on a bigger role alongside Ja’Quan Lyle moving forward, they can still be a Top 4 team in the Mountain West.

Salcido

Yes. Last week, we got to see Zane Martin & Corey Manigault stepping up in the starting rotation, scoring at least 19 points each in the absence of Bragg and Caldwell. Head coach Paul Weir said himself that on any other Lobos roster, these guys would be starting. Yet, because of the depth of this season’s roster, they weren’t in the starting rotation. It doesn’t look like Caldwell will be back soon, but with what’s been painted of Carlton Bragg’s situation thus far, I’d figure he will be back at some point. Along with JaQuan Lyle, Bragg been an absolute monster on both sides of the ball.

The ‘Bos have some easy games on the schedule for the coming weeks: This buys them some time to get things sorted out. On top of that, the eligibility of Vante Hendrix provides some cushion. I believe he put up 14 points in his debut, coming off the bench. That’s a great sign if Hendrix can stay in the rotation and click with his teammates. The absence of Caldwell and Bragg hurts – Bragg, perhaps, a little more – But, I think New Mexico will be okay. We will see what happens over the next few weeks.

Vaccaro

The short answer to this question is “absolutely not”. If UNM doesn’t have Carlton Bragg I can’t see them really being competitive against the top teams in the Mountain West. In fact, they wouldn’t have even beaten a short-handed NMSU last weekend without him. They can survive losing JJ Caldwell because Vante Jackson seems to have become eligible at the perfect time. UNM’s guard play shouldn’t take too much of a hit because they have their most talented group of guards we’ve seen since Kendall Williams graduated.

Their big man rotation isn’t quite as deep. In fact, they only have three forwards on the roster even with Bragg and one of the other two hasn’t played even without Bragg. Corey Manigault has been great in his expanded role, but we haven’t seen him take on the particularly tough competition yet. The fact that he’s the only big man playing right now will become a huge problem if he gets into foul trouble against either SDSU or Utah State, who both have size. Bragg has been great this season, averaging double-digit rebounds and giving UNM a reliable scoring presence inside the paint.

Without him, their offense will become one-dimensional against the top teams in the conference and their defense just hasn’t been good enough this season to carry them if the offense stalls. Given what has been reported about Caldwell, it seems extremely unlikely that we’ll see him back this year, but I’m hoping UNM gets Bragg back soon so this team can continue to rebuild the program and the fanbase. I also have tickets to the SDSU-UNM matchup at the Pit at the end of January, which will be a much more interesting game with Bragg than without him. If UNM gets him back before then, they might actually have a chance to win their first Mountain West regular-season title since the 2012-13 season.