New Mexico Basketball: Lobos should be excited about Jaelen House

House’s defensive presence will always be felt

Yes, I may have criticized House’s play on the offensive end in the article that I referenced in the last slide, but I did feel the need to rave about his constant activity and amazing instincts on the defensive end.

Before going into detail about House’s struggles offensively, I stated that “House was able to earn the playing time he did by becoming one of the best on-ball defenders in the country. Whenever House is on the floor, he makes it a priority to make opposing guards make quick decisions with the ball. House’s infectious energy always seems like it causes his teammates to pick up their defensive intensity when they see him (House) get up in his man. I think House is really the lethal defender that he is because he never stops moving his feet.”

"“House is able to play mind games with his opponents, and not only make them feel like they are getting somewhere with the ball (when they really aren’t), but also affect their vision. He often forces them to throw unassertive passes just because they no longer want the pressure of having to function with an energetic guard in their face 24/7.”"

Did any of that change in 2020-21? Of course not, and as a matter of fact, one could argue that House took his on-ball defensive tenacity up a notch as a sophomore. He reminds me a lot of former Boston College star guard, Kyran Bowman, who has the same mentality when it comes to playing individual defense.

For the two guards, it’s all about picking up their opponents as soon as the ball is inbounded to them, anticipating which side they are going to attack with their first dribble, sprinting to the areas on the floor where their opponents accelerate to while dribbling up the floor (with their hands straight up), and testing to see how tight their handle is by occasionally jabbing at them in the backcourt and/or half-court.

New Mexico finished 213th in points allowed per game last season (71.7), and I think that because it’s fairly easy for House to elevate the play of his teammates defensively, the Lobos should be much more connected and locked in on that end of the floor in 2021-22.

Trust me when I say that Lobo fans will quickly recognize that if House is unable to turn his opponents over on his own, he will give his teammates a chance to step in and take the ball out of the hands of shaky/out of control ball-handlers. It would be foolish to sleep on his ability to wreak havoc as an off-ball defender as well, considering that he has a knack for sliding over and stripping the ball away from ball-handlers who impulsively bring the ball down as they are preparing to leave their feet.

Essentially, House is a ball hawk who has always comprehended how to generate turnovers and cause his opponents to question their ball-handling capabilities moving forward (which is why he came away with at least one steal in 15 different outings last season). I’m not always able to make promises regarding any player, but I can assure you that House will put his fingerprints on games that don’t feature stellar offensive performances from him.

With House already being a well-known defensive specialist and showing promise as an offensive player in 2020-21, I don’t see why he wouldn’t thrive at New Mexico this upcoming season and possibly help the Lobos get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. He is currently on the rise, and if he commits to putting his best foot forward and aggressively attacking his junior season, he’ll undoubtedly be a highly productive player in a New Mexico uniform.

Be prepared for House to wake a lot of people up this year and show that he is a better player than many individuals give him credit for.