Lobos hope to rebound
Mathis preparing all offseason for PG
UNM hopes dreary week ends in winning fashion against Aztecs
Even at full strength, there was never any question about the thinnest spot on the Lobos roster was going to be this season.
Paul Weir’s second season, despite all the promise, was going to be light on ball handlers and, more specifically, point guards.
When JaQuan Lyle, who started at point guard at Ohio State before transferring to UNM, was lost for the season two days into official practices with a ruptured Achilles, the margin for error dropped.
Then came the recent high ankle sprain suffered by freshman Drue Drinnon, which is expected to leave him out of action for Tuesday’s season opener at Cal State Northridge.
So, how do the injuries affect senior sharpshooter Anthony Mathis, who exploded on the scene last season with 98 3-pointers and is recognized as one of the country’s best shooters after flourishing off the ball — and not as a point guard?
Actually, this was what Weir was preparing for since summer workouts began.
“Nothing (changes) right now for Anthony,” Weir said. “Anthony is a point guard. Has been one here for a while. It’s been him, Keith and Drue kind of sharing
a lot of reps, so it doesn’t really change a ton for him . ... It just dictates a little bit more that Anthony is probably playing a little more point guard than he was before.”
The Lobos coaching staff is hopeful Mathis’ shooting percentage won’t drop dramatically from having to get his shot off from the point guard position.
Weir acknowledged because of a lack of depth at the position now, Mathis and McGee likely won’t be on the floor much at the same time. In his high-tempo offense, the point guard will need to rest at times and if they play together, there would be no time for the two to rest.
“Will it happen?” Weir asked rhetorically about Mathis and McGee being on the court simultaneously. “Maybe, but not something right now that I’m expecting to be a heavy dose of.”
SCRIMMAGE: So, about that scrimmage one week ago in the Pit.
The NCAA allows all Division I programs to hold two non-regular season competitions that don’t count on the program’s record. They can either be an exhibition game that fans can attend and must be played like a regular game with game officials and official scoring, or a closed-door scrimmage where there is allowance for coaches to play more than 40 minutes or set up special in-game scenarios to work on.
The NCAA used to require the scrimmages to not only be private, but coaches weren’t allowed to talk publicly about them. That rule changed before last season and stats and comments can now be made after the fact — if the coaches agree to do so.
Last Saturday (Oct. 27), the Lobos hosted Northern Arizona in a scrimmage in the Pit that Weir said both coaches agreed not to release either video or stats from. But in general terms, Weir did say the Lobos offense was strong. The defense? Not so much. “Defensively, we weren’t really where I wanted us to be or expected us to be,” said Weir. “So that’s really been a point of emphasis to us since then and really going into each day . ... We’ve got to become a better defensive team, particularly by Tuesday when we go to Northridge.”
IN SHAPE? Asked how in shape his team is entering the season, Weir said, “Better than last year.” He then attempted to quantify the answer. “If they were a 6 at last year heading into the season conditioning wise,” Weir said, “they are a 7.5 or 8 right now.”
FOOTBALL SITUATION: With the preface of the question being a comparison to the news this week coming out of the Lobo football team in which a player (Evah Tohi) has been suspended after allegedly punching, and hospitalizing, teammate David Brown, Weir was asked how he approaches warning his players of such situations when he can’t monitor them 24 hours a day.
Weir said he doesn’t know the specifics of the Lobo football situation, but he does address such issues daily with his team.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say that after yesterday’s practice, and the day before that, and the day before that, I’m always trying to give them some kind of a social conduct message,” Weir said. “Whether it’s something about women, whether it’s something about substances, partying, whatever it may be — loco parentis (in the place of a parent)— however you want to frame it. That’s part of my job as well, trying to constantly communicate to them things to think about when they leave my world. I do it as often as I possibly can.”