UNM-UNLV game reunites Weir, Menzies

While they might be against each other tonight, the two have made it clear they are pulling for each other to succeed.

Weir’s rebuild at UNM (8-11, 3-3 Mountain West), after a near depletion of the roster, is like what Menzies had to fight through last season with UNLV. The Rebels (13-4, 2-2) finished his first season in Sin City as the 11th seed in the 11-team MWC tournament in March.

And, like the two were there for each other last season, as Menzies fought through that rough start, the two remain there for each other this season as the UNLV fan base grows a little uneasy with the Rebels lessthan-stellar start to league play.

In October, Weir shared how some of the conversations the two would have a year ago are pretty similar to ones they still have, just with the roles reversed.

“I think we both consider ourselves really lucky,” Weir said. “We would talk a lot last year during the season and no matter what was going on, at the end, I would say, ‘But coach, you’re the head coach at UNLV.’ And now, he just says, ‘But Paul, you’re the coach at UNM.’

“I want nothing more than for him to turn that program around and I think he wants the same for me.” OK, BUT REALLY? So they’re still friends. But working for Menzies for years should help Weir now, right?

“He probably knows more about me than I know about him to be honest with you,” Weir said.

HE SAID IT: “The reality is for us to do the things we all want to do,” Weir said on Monday, “everyone has to play well. We have eight bullets in the chamber, and we can’t have one bullet not fire. Joe (Furstinger) has to have a great game. The guards have to make shots. We have to stay out of foul trouble. The point guards can’t turn over the ball. Whatever the top five or six things are (on the scouting report), we have to nail on all those.”