Rebels catching on to Menzies’ defensive scheme

By Mike Grimala (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016 | 2 a.m.

Team defense has been a key factor in both of UNLV’s wins this season, as the Rebels held UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton to a combined 38.8 percent from the field (45-of-116) while forcing the two opponents to commit 29 turnovers. For a young team learning a new defensive scheme, those numbers are impressive.

But there’s another crucial defensive category in which coach Marvin Menzies believes there is still a lot room for improvement, though you won’t find it listed anywhere in the box score.

“Deflections are a defensive measuring tool to track activity,” Menzies said. “That’s a really big deal in our system.”

While not an official stat, coaches have been recording “deflections” for years. The concept is simple: Defensive players can record a deflection in any number of ways, all in the name of getting a hand on the ball and causing havoc for the offense. Actions included under the standard definition would be tipping a pass, blocking a shot, stealing the ball, poking the ball away from a dribbler or volleying an offensive rebound back out to the perimeter.

Rick Pitino is widely credited with popularizing the term, and Menzies credits his mentor for showing him the importance of deflections when he was an assistant under Pitino at Louisville from 2005-07.

“There was a direct correlation to wins and losses to when you had a certain amount of deflections,” Menzies said. “If you had 35 deflections and held your opponent under 38.5 field-goal percentage, when you had those two together I believe we won over 96 percent of our games as we tracked it [at Louisville]. So that’s very important to our team, to reach that 35 goal.”

The Rebels haven’t managed to hit the 35-deflection mark yet, but they’re getting the hang of it. In Saturday’s 77-68 win over Cal State Fullerton, UNLV unofficially recorded 28 deflections, with sophomore forward Dwayne Morgan and sophomore guard Jalen Poyser leading the way with six apiece.

At its core, a deflection is the result of effort, and Menzies is working to instill that attitude in his players. He wants the hunt for deflections to become second nature, so he preaches it every day, shows his players video of their deflections and even tracks the stat in practice.

Menzies believes the players are buying in.

“The kids are taking ownership of it,” Menzies said. “They’re taking pride in it. They’ll come off the court and say, 'Hey coach, did you get my deflection?' It’s something they can get a little competitive about, especially once it becomes ingrained in the players that this is something that’s being emphasized.”

The Rebels will get to bare their defensive fangs tonight, when Northern Arizona comes to the Thomas & Mack Center as part of the Global Sports Classic. NAU has committed 75 turnovers through five games (15.0 per game, 248th in the nation), and the Lumberjacks are shooting just 36.5 percent from the field (337th in the nation). With offense proving to be such a struggle for Northern Arizona, deflection opportunities should be plentiful.

And if the Rebels manage to get their hands on 35 deflections, the numbers say they'll win.