On the run
New UNM basketball coach Paul Weir expects his team to run and sets the bar high with up-tempo drills
UNM basketball coach stresses up-tempo game
They ran.
And pressed.
And ran some more.
The University of New Mexico men’s basketball team — the eight on campus who, for now, are set to return for the 2017-18 season — ran through a highpaced, crash-course practice Saturday afternoon with new head coach Paul Weir.
None made it through the day without some struggle.
“Not very good,” Weir said when asked about the conditioning of the team. “But that’s not all on them. This time of year, nobody is in very good shape, especially to do what I want us to do. This wasn’t about testing the conditioning, so much, but kind of setting the bar for what we can all expect.”
Be it with four-on-four scrimmaging, some high-paced two-on-one pressing/ trapping drills or even aggressive oneon-one full-court drills — yes, one-onone full court — it was clear that, at least for now, Weir is absolutely committed to returning the team to the run-and-gun, pressing ways of yesteryear.
The former New Mexico State coach did, after all, reference both Norm Ellenberger and Neil McCarthy in his April 11 introductory press conference as coaches who used a style of play he envisions for his Lobos.
“I feel like we’ll be in the best shape
we’ve been in the past few years,” said senior-to-be Sam Logwood, a forward who had asked to transfer before the March 31 firing of Craig Neal but decided to stay at UNM after meeting with Weir.
“It’s a big adjustment so far. It hasn’t been easy, but we’re all on board with what we’re doing right now. It’s going to be hard work, but I like his philosophy and how he envisions us playing. I think it’ll work for us.”
In addition to several one-onone meetings between player and coach, a handful of individual workouts and small group workouts, the Lobos held two full-squad practices in the past couple of weeks since Weir was hired.
“It was as much about me getting to know them and evaluate them on the court in person as it was about them getting to know me and how I want us to play,” Weir said. “Now we’ll go from here and see how we feel everything fits.”
Weir plans a round of player meetings today for feedback on what both each player and the coach now see as their roles on the team.
For the most part, Weir anticipates congruent opinions between himself and players. But, with the reality that there might still be some disagreement, he adds, “there could still be movement” on a roster that, as of Saturday, consisted of eight players on campus and two signed players (Polk State College junior college transfer Troy Simons and Akron graduate transfer Antino Jackson) for the coming season.
That leaves three open scholarships for the 2017-18 season (the NCAA allows 13) after two players from the past season exhausted their eligibility and three plan to transfer (Elijah Brown, Xavier Adams and Jalen Harris).
Saturday, in what was the second and final practice Weir plans for the spring, eight Lobos participated: Logwood, Dane Kuiper, Damien Jefferson, Anthony Mathis (he also had asked to transfer, but he and UNM have since decided he will return), Jordan Hunter, Connor MacDougall, Joe Furstinger and Aher Uguak.
“What I’ve told them is when we come back on June 5 (the day summer school starts), that’s us,” Weir said. “We’re all in at that point — no ‘one foot in, one foot out.’ Whoever is with us on June 5, we’re two feet in and moving forward together. By then, we’ll all have had a chance to understand what we envision the roles to be and what work needs to get done to get to what we envision.”
Along with Weir, the other coach running the practice was Chris Harriman. Recently hired Mark Hsu was on the recruiting trail, and Harriman flew out after practice to do the same. One assistant coaching vacancy remains, though Weir doesn’t have any immediate plans to fill it in the coming weeks.
THE OLD GUYS: Former Lobos Tim Williams and Brown were at Saturday’s practice watching their former teammates.
Williams exhausted his eligibility and is preparing for a professional career.
Brown, who in the past two weeks has made recruiting visits to Iowa State, Northwestern, Gonzaga and Oregon, hopes to have a decision in the next week or so, he said.
Brown is done with coursework for his degree in Communications with a minor in Psychology. He will be a graduate transfer and immediately eligible to play this coming season.