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Men's basketball: Giddens looks up to McKay despite tiffs

By Jeremy Fowler
Friday, January 26, 2007

J.R. Giddens takes painful steps off the court after spraining his ankle against BYU. Giddens has missed games this season because of the injury, but he's also been benched by Ritchie McKay for reasons unrelated to the ankle.

Jake Schoellkopf/Associated Press

J.R. Giddens takes painful steps off the court after spraining his ankle against BYU. Giddens has missed games this season because of the injury, but he's also been benched by Ritchie McKay for reasons unrelated to the ankle.

Let's just say Ritchie McKay and his best player aren't exactly walking on beaches together these days.

J.R. Giddens says that's OK.

The University of New Mexico guard admitted he hasn't agreed with some of his coach's choices to teach him lessons, "but it's usually for the best."

The disagreement includes McKay not starting the junior in Wednesday's 70-49 loss to BYU in The Pit because, as McKay says, five players played better and harder than Giddens during practices. Giddens finished 0-of-5 from the field for zero points and two turnovers before re-injuring his sprained left ankle in the second half and leaving the game. He said he expects to play Saturday against UNLV.

McKay hasn't started Giddens - the leading scorer at 16.8 points per game - for two games this season, once in December against North Carolina A&T for "not paying attention to detail."

Giddens describes his relationship with his coach as "pretty good, but confusing at times." He still doesn't understand Wednesday's move to the bench.

"I know he's not out to hurt me," said Giddens, whose body language showed dejection during Wednesday's game. "I felt a little thrown off last night because I didn't start, but oh well. We don't always understand each other, but we can talk to each other and tell each other what's on our minds. That makes it productive.

"I trust Coach completely. That doesn't mean I'll always do it with a smile on my face."

McKay didn't return two phone messages left by The Tribune on Thursday.

A perpetual subplot with Lobos basketball is whether Giddens and McKay can coalesce. Giddens still can't seem to shrug the "selfish" label that haunted him as a Kansas guard, while McKay isn't afraid to discipline.

Here's a breakdown of the saga that is the McKay-Giddens relationship:

McKay didn't play Giddens for the first half of a mid-December win over North Carolina A&T, prompting Giddens to yell to teammates from the top of The Pit ramp at halftime: "I'm busting my (butt), and this is what he does!"

The Lobos Coaches Show on Channel Four shows Giddens punching a locker after McKay makes Giddens apologize three times to teammate Jamaal Smith for an on-court spat between the two. "I apologized once, then twice," Giddens said. "I didn't feel I had to apologize three times, but Jamaal and I reconciled."

Giddens gets kicked out of several practices last season for acting up. Giddens hasn't been ejected from any practices open to the media this season, though he'll certainly show disgust and swat basketballs here and there.

Not that he is the easiest player to accommodate.

Giddens admitted he can act a little "crazy and silly" on the court and can be "too sensitive."

McKay will often place Giddens in adverse situations to test his resilience, Giddens said. Learning to embrace those moves is the challenge.

"(McKay) might move me to second team in practice to see if I can bring a team back from behind," Giddens said. "He'll try to keep me on my toes. Sometimes I need to be more ready for that."

Despite player-coach discord, Giddens said he's prepared to shed the labels that haunt him.

"Ultimately, I know people have lived a longer life than me, so coaches and elders and parents have a lot to offer," Giddens said.

Worried?: Lobos commitment Ty Abbott of Desert Vista High School said he's "kind of worried" about the discontent with McKay and the status of the UNM program.

The plan is to invest in the Lobos and remain faithful that McKay will stay at season's end, Abbott said.

"Coach is the biggest reason I'm coming, so I think they can still turn it around," said Abbott, a Phoenix native. "If there's a change, then you have to give the next coach a chance."

At least Abbott doesn't have to worry about one of his teams, as the Desert Vista Thunder are 21-1 in Class 5A Arizona ball. Abbott averages 16.5 points per game.

Mickey McConnell, also a Phoenix-area guard out of Dobson High, is the other high school player who signed with UNM in November. Western Oklahoma Junior College forward Reggie Huffman has orally committed to sign in April.