Lobos, Miners renew rivalry
Rebounding still an issue for UNM, while UTEP has yet to beat a D-I opponent
EL PASO — One team is on Game No. 8 of its rebuilding/rebranding project under a new, young head coach.
One is on Game No. 2 under a placeholder/interim coach after an abrupt, postgame retirement of its well-known, but increasingly ineffective coach earlier this week.
This isn’t exactly what fans of the UTEP Miners and New Mexico Lobos (3-4) had in mind when they clamored for years to renew the regional rivalry, but there is no less urgency tonight as the two teams square off at 7 in the Don Haskins Center.
UTEP head coach Tim Floyd announced his retirement on Monday night in a postgame press conference after losing to Lamar — the same day the school’s new athletic director was formally introduced. The Miners (1-6 after a Thursday night loss to New Mexico State) named Phil Johnson, a longtime Floyd wingman, as its interim head coach.
Lobos head coach Paul Weir is quite familiar with both, having swept UTEP in his two games as New Mexico State’s head coach last year and having seen that Battle of Interstate 10 rivalry turn one-sided in recent years. The Aggies went 9-3 in Weir’s final six seasons at NMSU (five as an assistant, one as head coach).
Despite the one-sided nature of that rivalry, Weir said he has a lot of respect for the Miners coaches and learned plenty by scouting them so closely through the years.
“Phil’s an amazing coach,” said Weir. “... I’ve coached against a lot of coaches and learned a lot in that process and Tim Floyd was one of the best. There are things I still do to this day that I stole from him. Amazing coach. Obviously sad to see anyone walk away. I wish him all the best.”
Johnson was more of the defensive coach, so Weir said he doesn’t anticipate much changing on that side of the ball. Weir said there could be some tweaks on offense. Regardless, Weir isn’t as concerned about the Miners as he is with his own team.
“Our team is really about us,” said Weir. “We don’t dwell a lot on what the other team can do. It’s about us trying to put our imprint on the game.”
And through seven games, it’s become painfully obvious what the primary concern for the Lobos is.
“We can talk about a million different things,” Weir said. “We’ve got to find a way to rebound better to be the team we want to be . ...
“I’ve got to start thinking of different ways to teach rebounding. Obviously what I’m doing isn’t having the kind of impact it needs to have, and it is, to me, right now, probably our biggest deficiency.”
But is it really just about the coaching? The Lobos do repeated rebounding drills in practice, but also have just two healthy big men playing (6-foot-9 senior Joe Furstinger and 6-10 freshman Vladimir Pinchuk).
Weir’s 2016-17 Aggies, which utilized the same rebounding drills, ranked 21st (of 351) in the nation in offensive rebounding rate, but had “elite rebounders,” he said, in Eli Chuha and Jemerrio Jones.
Now, UNM ranks 342nd (of 351) in opponent’s offensive rebounding percentage. UNM’s Division I opponents are grabbing 39.0 percent of all their own missed shots, according to the statistical website KenPom.com. The national average is 29.3 percent.
On the other hand, UTEP has yet to beat a Division I opponent because it has some issues, too. The Miners rank 342nd in offensive rebounding percentage (19.6 percent) and are expected to be without the injured 7-foot-1 leading scorer and rebounder Matt Willms. NO TV, BUT: Tonight’s game won’t be televised, but can be viewed, for a price, online at CUSA.tv. The Conference USA digital networks allows for one-time viewing pricing options or for monthly subscriptions.