Pest in the Pit: Here's how Lobo House is getting even better defensively

Geoff Grammer, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·4 min read

Dec. 10—Jaelen House obviously has the speed and skills to steal the show on offense at just about any point of a game.

But so far this season for the 8-0 New Mexico Lobos, in case you haven't noticed, the 6-foot guard has actually started to scratch the surface of elite-level on-ball defensive ability.

As the Lobos prepare to host UT-San Antonio Saturday in the Pit, House ranks first in the Mountain West Conference and fourth in the nation in steals per game (3.0), and his steal rate of 6.4% ranks No. 5 in the country per KenPom.com.

"I'm just taking it more personal, you know?" House said. "I don't want my man to score on me. So that's really all that is — just trying to shut him down."

Maybe more impressive than the steals alone is that the Pit's pest has seen his foul-rate drop — he recorded 3.5 fouls per 40 minutes played last season and is at 3.1 this season — as he's actually amped up his aggressive defense thanks to picking his spots better.

But while the steals and fouls are ways to look at a stat sheet and quantify how House's defense has improved, teammates and head coach offer other anecdotal examples of it.

Lobo point guard Donovan Dent has had a blast and has the potential to be one of the best freshmen out West. But he admits practices aren't always very enjoyable thanks to House, who he said is as good an on-ball defender as he's ever faced.

"It's very annoying in practice having to counter all that," Dent said of House's quick feet and high-energy, aggressive defense. "I swear I beat him, and he just slides there, beats me to the spot and I'm like, 'This dude's fast as heck.'"

Pitino said House's decision-making on when to take chances on defense — and how those chances affect the other four defenders on the court having to leave their man to help out — has been impressive.

"We want him to be aggressive, but he can't put us in a scramble situation by gambling," Pitino said. "... Pick your spots of where you can get steals and do those things, because he is an elite level on-ball defender."

Even if the Lobos only play just one game in the Mountain West tournament and no postseason after that, House is on pace for 93 steals in 31 games, which would easily break Hunter Greene's Lobo season record of 84 steals (in 35 games) set in 1986-87.

FROM DEEP: UTSA (5-3) ranks 25th in the country (out of 363 Division I teams) in percentage of 3-point shots attempted (46.7% are from beyond the arc). UTSA is one of three opponents in a four-game span for the Lobos who rank in the top 25 in the country in terms of 3-point shooting volume along with Northern Colorado (22nd) and Monday's short-notice opponent, San Francisco (sixth).

KUAC UPDATE: Senior wing Emmanuel Kuac, who broke his left leg in a game Jan. 8 in the Pit, missed the last game with a strained right calf. Pitino wasn't optimistic he'd play Saturday.

"I think it's gonna be a little while," Pitino said. "... I always thought I can't really look at him until probably January, mid-January. He's made great progress. I don't think it's rare to have some setbacks with this type of process."

AS FOR FORSLING: Sophomore center Sebastian Forsling, who had a series of injuries and ailments since returning in August from playing over the summer for Sweden's junior national team, is coming off his best game of the season Tuesday against Western New Mexico with six points, five rebounds and a block in 16 minutes.

But he also had four fouls and looked a step slow on several of those. After the game, he said he's probably 80 to 85% healthy. How much difference is that final 15% making?

"It's a big gap," Forsling said.

"It's so big, because I know how good I can be and what I can do, and I know what it takes a lot to do it. And I've had so many setbacks."

SATURDAY: UTSA at UNM men, 2 p.m., 770 AM/96.3 FM, themw.com (streaming)