Friends Weir, Menzies ready to face off
Tonight’s UNM-UNLV game in Las Vegas reunites coaches
A familiar name lit up across the screen of Paul Weir’s phone last week.
Marvin Menzies, the head coach at UNLV, who a little more than a decade ago interviewed Weir in a Las Cruces Cattle Baron restaurant before the duo teamed for one of the more productive decades of New Mexico State basketball, had to let his friend and former assistant coach know something.
He isn’t particularly looking forward to him this week in Las Vegas, Nev.
“He texted me a few days ago saying he really doesn’t want to play the game because somebody has to lose,” Weir said.
For the first time after working together at NMSU for nine seasons before Menzies took the UNLV job a season ago and Weir succeeded him as the Aggies coach and now runs the Lobos program, the two will coach against each other tonight in the Thomas & Mack Center.
And, not all that surprising to those who know the two, Weir insists he has an easier time blocking out the emotion of that relationship as it relates to the game.
“I really don’t look at games like that,” said Weir. “I go out. I try to coach this team the best that I can. I focus on what I can control. I don’t really think much about fans or auxiliary things. That’s really not just a token response, it’s the truth. I go into games and if I even start to think about things like that, I have to re-center myself and say, ‘Paul, you’ve got to coach this team. What do we need to do right now? What’s going on in the game? How can we adjust? Who’s on the bench? Who’s in the game?’
“That’s my job when I’m out there — to be constantly thinking about the game and what I can do to best coach that game. If I start worrying about things that are going on ... it just takes away my ability to coach.”
What you need to know about the Lobos: Logwood and Simons are not expected to play; there has yet to be any definitive timetable on their return, though Simons has practiced this week. UNM has been rather consistent in league play, ranking fifth in offensive efficiency and fifth in defensive efficiency through its six games. UNM is 24th in the country in forcing turnovers per possession while UNLV’s offense ranks 219th in committing them. That could be an opening for the Lobos, who again will face a team that could cause problems with its size.
What you need to know about the Rebels: The numbers suggest UNLV hasn’t been nearly as good in four Mountain West games as in its 13 nonconference games. The stat that most clearly illustrates the discrepancy is effective field-goal percentage defense, which reflects a weighted number for 3-pointers over 2-pointers. UNLV ranks No. 20 in the nation, holding opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 45.6. But in four conference games, the Rebels are 10th in the 11-team league as opponents have an effective FG percentage of 54.7. The national average is 50.8.