UNM coach Weir sees good matchup in Air Force game
Coaches suit up to teach team Air Force’s Princeton style of play
ALBUQUERQUE — Scan through the latest statistical figures released by the Mountain West Conference and it requires a little digging to find New Mexico.
As the conference slate begins Wednesday night with the Lobo men’s basketball team hosting Air Force in The Pit, UNM ranks near the bottom in nearly every major defensive category. The Lobos are last in defensive rebounding. Last in shooting
percentage. Last in scoring. Next to last in opponents’ 3-point shooting.
More than that, according to head coach Paul Weir, they’re just not good at stopping anyone in one-on-one situations.
Enter Air Force, a team that’s not great at exploiting teams in the individual sense, and not known for scrapping the playbook to go start a playground show-me fest against anyone. The Falcons (6-6) have historically run a Princeton offense that packs things in and uses an array of picks and screens to get open looks in a patient half-court game.
“Theoretically it’s a good matchup for us from the stand-
point that our weakness defensively right now is one-on-one,” Weir said.
The Lobos (5-8) have been vulnerable in that sense by sheer virtue of their pressing, hurry-up pace that often leaves the back end of its defense alone to stop multiple people. If one person up top can’t make a stop, the person in back is usually left alone to do it.
Air Force does anything but attack in the open court. They’ll settle in after crossing midcourt, taking the time to shift the defense away from the point of entry and then make a move. It’s a style that’s as much a part of the team’s identity as its blue uniforms.
Generally it’s not exactly a shock to UNM’s system since the Lobos and Air Force meet at least two times a year in conference play. What the Falcons want to do is no secret.
The problem is UNM’s roster has only four players with any kind of experience from last season. More than half of the Lobos’ rotation has never taken the floor against the Falcons. It makes them hard to prepare for and, what’s more, a logistical headache in practices leading into the game.
It’s why Weir had his assistant coaches suit up and run scout team plays in Air Force’s likeness on Tuesday.
“I always like competing against the coaches, it’s always fun” said Lobos senior Joe Furstinger.
Most of the drills were less than full speed and didn’t mimic Air Force’s penchant for taking charges in the post or physical play in the backcourt. What it did do was give the Lobos a chance to see their coaches’ competitive side. Furstinger said that assistant Jerome Robinson, an all-conference guard in his playing days at Bradley, was the best among them.
“We needed to find five guys that at least could understand what Air Force does and then practice guarding it,” Weir said. “The coaches were going to do a better job than the players because half of them wouldn’t really know what’s going on.”
As much confusion as the Falcons bring to the table, they do so without a lot of size in the low post. The team’s tallest player is 6-foot-9 junior Dane Norman, a reserve who plays fewer than 10 minutes a game and has scored fewer points (33) and grabbed fewer rebounds (18) this season than the 6-9 Furstinger has in the last two games.
Despite all that, the Falcons have still managed to outrebound its opponents while keeping the scoring relatively low. Air Force opponents average just 68 points, 12 fewer than what UNM averages every time out. The Falcons also challenge teams to shoot the 3 rather than dump the ball into the post.
Weir likes the challenge, albeit from a team whose approach is as different as his own club’s.
“Outside of us, it’s probably the most distinct style,” Weir said of where the Falcons fit in the MWC kaleidoscope of schematic approaches. “Or maybe we’re just both different in styles of play. I think we try to accomplish what they do, particularly this season for us. We’re just doing it in different ways. They’re obviously very methodical.”
GAME NOTES
Three straight? It’s no secret that Furstinger tends to feast on teams with a lack of size in the paint. The Falcons’ biggest threat down low is Frank Toohey, a 6-7 senior listed a center who has started 11 games and 7.1 points and 3.8 rebounds. It goes to figure that Big Joe could have his third straight breakout game.
In wins over Rice and Prairie View A&M, he scored a combined 39 points and 22 rebounds. It leaves the Lobos on the verge of their first three-game winning streak of the Weir era.
Updates: Weir said there’s still no news on the status of forward Connor MacDougall, the Lobo big man who has yet to appear since getting hurt in the exhibition opener.