UNLV looking to play better defense against New Mexico Highlands
UNLV coach Marvin Menzies came away from Tuesday’s 96-80 exhibition victory over Dakota Wesleyan believing his basketball team had taken a step back on defense.
Watching video only confirmed that belief.
“My instincts were pretty dead on in terms of our lack of attention to detail defensively, especially from a fundamental execution standpoint,” Menzies said. “It was basically stance off the ball, basic things like jumping to the ball, foot placement and a host of other things that we do in our defensive shell where we teach our fundamentals. There was just a lot of game slippage with it. There were some nerves and some guys who were really eager to play someone else, and adrenaline got the best of them a little bit.
“But they looked really good the last couple of days (in practice), so I’m hoping there’s some carry-over.”
That will be determined when the Rebels play New Mexico Highlands — a Division II school from Las Vegas, New Mexico — at 7 p.m. Friday at the Thomas & Mack Center. The teams met during the regular season last year, with the Rebels rolling 107-45.
This is the Rebels’ last exhibition game before they open the season Nov. 11 at home against South Alabama. The starting five UNLV puts on the court against New Mexico Highlands probably will be the one that faces South Alabama.
Junior forward Dwayne Morgan (hip) and freshman forward Cheickna Dembele (right heel) remain out.
“They’re still in rehab mode,” Menzies said. “It looks like we’re going to get them both back. I’m just not sure of an exact time frame. I’m not optimistic about having them for Friday (against South Alabama), but who knows? We’ll evaluate them on Wednesday and Thursday of next week and have a better feel.”
When the Rebels eventually get back the 6-foot-8-inch Morgan and 6-11 Dembele, it will change the look of their frontcourt. Christian Jones, a 6-7 senior, is playing the post for now.
No matter who is in the game, expect the Rebels to push the ball and again flirt with the 100-point mark. It’s on the other side at which they want to perform substantially better than when they let Division II NAIA Wesleyan hit 80 points.
Sophomore guard Jalen Poyser said he would like to see “better defense, communicating better, not allowing people to get in the key, playing a little more physical, letting people know that we’re here. Offense will take care of itself. Defense is the main focus.”
If video confirmed Menzies’ initial impression about the defensive struggles, he also remain convinced what he saw was correctable.
“The question really is how long will it take to correct them?” Menzies said. “A lot of that depends on how well (the player) embraces information and how quick they learn new things.
“We’ve already seen marked improvement over the last couple of days. Hopefully, you’ll see us step forward just from Tuesday to Friday.”
Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow @markanderson6 on Twitter.