Just curious, as I have not seen this pop up on our boards given the history.

(03-19-2019 02:33 PM)RunnerBall Wrote:  Just curious, as I have not seen this pop up on our boards given the history.

It was about the right time considering the UNLV fan's expectations. Menzies is a good coach who probably could have made UNLV a MWC contender with time. He has a winning record for a reason; solid coach, great recruiter. However, Menzies was never going to get UNLV back on a national level; beating P6 programs like North Carolina and Kansas like under Tark. Menzies is just not good enough to out coach those programs consistently; if ever. The UNLV fans want a proven coach like Rick Pitino.

Menzies can make a typical mid-major better; just not quick enough or high enough for a program like UNLV; which has been at the top of the mountain; NCAA Champions.

I voted that the timing was about right, but that's based on the program and not necessarily the job Menzies has done. His MWC finishes went from last place to T6th to T4th over three seasons. His conference win totals went from 4 to 8 to 11 in that same amount of time. Everything looks like it was trending in the right way for the program, but UNLV athletics could very easily be in a dog fight for donor dollars with NHL now in the neighborhood and NFL on the way.

(03-19-2019 03:41 PM)gleadley Wrote:  I voted that the timing was about right, but that's based on the program and not necessarily the job Menzies has done. His MWC finishes went from last place to T6th to T4th over three seasons. His conference win totals went from 4 to 8 to 11 in that same amount of time. Everything looks like it was trending in the right way for the program, but UNLV athletics could very easily be in a dog fight for donor dollars with NHL now in the neighborhood and NFL on the way.

UNLV is going from the only show in town to third inline. It'll never be like it use to be.

The Golden Knights are killing it and the Raiders have a cult of personality. The window’s closed for UNLV to relive their dynasty days and they should adjust expectations accordingly.

Menzies is a good coach who had UNLV trending upward. He needs a better fit.

(03-19-2019 06:25 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  The Golden Knights are killing it and the Raiders have a cult of personality. The window’s closed for UNLV to relive their dynasty days and they should adjust expectations accordingly.

Menzies is a good coach who had UNLV trending upward. He needs a better fit.

I would question just how good of a coach Menzies is. What was his most memorable non-conference win? Menzies had the UNLV job because Chris Beard changed his mind when he got a better offer. Beard is a very good coach. Chris Jans is a very good coach. Menzies is okay. He was 48-48 at UNLV, which is really not trending upward

In 2017-2018, UNLV had a basketball budget of $5.7 million and averaged 10,093 in attendance. In 2013, UNLV was 14th in the nation in average attendance of 15,196. 2013 was also the last season that UNLV made the NCAA Tournament. If they are going to compete for fans in the Vegas, they need a quality coach, a Chris Beard or Chris Jans type of coach. UNLV cannot accept being mediocre in basketball. They have to win.

Menzies best non-conference win at NMSU was probably against Southern Mississippi when they came to the PAC undefeated. However, Southern Mississippi petered out later in the season and wound up going to the NIT. Menzies best win(s) at NMSU were his team's performance in the 2010 WAC tournament. The Aggies beat Nevada in Reno in the semifinals and Utah State in the Championship. That season, NMSU almost upset Michigan State in the NCAA tournament.

(03-19-2019 10:06 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(03-19-2019 06:25 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  The Golden Knights are killing it and the Raiders have a cult of personality. The window’s closed for UNLV to relive their dynasty days and they should adjust expectations accordingly.

Menzies is a good coach who had UNLV trending upward. He needs a better fit.

I would question just how good of a coach Menzies is. What was his most memorable non-conference win? Menzies had the UNLV job because Chris Beard changed his mind when he got a better offer. Beard is a very good coach. Chris Jans is a very good coach. Menzies is okay. He was 48-48 at UNLV, which is really not trending upward

In 2017-2018, UNLV had a basketball budget of $5.7 million and averaged 10,093 in attendance. In 2013, UNLV was 14th in the nation in average attendance of 15,196. 2013 was also the last season that UNLV made the NCAA Tournament. If they are going to compete for fans in the Vegas, they need a quality coach, a Chris Beard or Chris Jans type of coach. UNLV cannot accept being mediocre in basketball. They have to win.

Exactly. I never liked him as our coach and I’m glad UNLV had no choice but to take him from us. Almost 10 years with no signature win at all. More people talk about his almost wins than actual wins. If he was still our coach we wouldn’t be winning titles anymore.

(03-20-2019 12:03 AM)Trod0 Wrote:  

(03-19-2019 10:06 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(03-19-2019 06:25 PM)IWokeUpLikeThis Wrote:  The Golden Knights are killing it and the Raiders have a cult of personality. The window’s closed for UNLV to relive their dynasty days and they should adjust expectations accordingly.

Menzies is a good coach who had UNLV trending upward. He needs a better fit.

I would question just how good of a coach Menzies is. What was his most memorable non-conference win? Menzies had the UNLV job because Chris Beard changed his mind when he got a better offer. Beard is a very good coach. Chris Jans is a very good coach. Menzies is okay. He was 48-48 at UNLV, which is really not trending upward

In 2017-2018, UNLV had a basketball budget of $5.7 million and averaged 10,093 in attendance. In 2013, UNLV was 14th in the nation in average attendance of 15,196. 2013 was also the last season that UNLV made the NCAA Tournament. If they are going to compete for fans in the Vegas, they need a quality coach, a Chris Beard or Chris Jans type of coach. UNLV cannot accept being mediocre in basketball. They have to win.

Exactly. I never liked him as our coach and I’m glad UNLV had no choice but to take him from us. Almost 10 years with no signature win at all. More people talk about his almost wins than actual wins. If he was still our coach we wouldn’t be winning titles anymore.

The initial advantage NMSU had over the rest of the current WAC was shrinking season by season while Menzies was at the helm. The coaches and recruiting are much better in today's WAC than when Menzies' teams dominated. The irony is NMSU's current players don't strike fear in the rest of the WAC like Menzies' players, Sim Bhullar, Chili Nephawe, Daniel Mullings, and Pascal Siakam. Yet, the current Aggie teams under Jans are more dominating.

I voted that the timing was about right. In reality, I think they should have given him one more year. I realize 3 years is the current going rate, but his first year was almost a throw away. He absolutely was trending in the right direction but I don't think he could have taken UNLV much further. I thank him for all he did at NMSU but am so happy that he left.

I also voted timing was about right. A lot of votes for “fired too soon”. I’d like to hear their opinions on why.

UNLV is a super proud but out of touch athletic program. I know they see the writing on the wall with the NHL currently there and with the NFL starting there shortly but if UNLV could trust in what MM was doing he would have built something that could withstand the pro sports influx. UNLV picked MM as a last option so I furred he wasn't going to last to long but I felt they burned a guy who bailed them out. UNLV hasn't won a league championship in 19 years, a league tournament in 8 years and haven't been to the big dance in 6 years and haven't won a NCAA Tournament game since 2008. MM 1st year at UNLV he has to replace 7 players from an 18-15 team and has 11, 20, 17 wins in each of his 3 years. Anyways MM will get scoped up he's a quality recruiter and is able to coach but I feel he needs time to get his program going.

(03-20-2019 04:10 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  UNLV is a super proud but out of touch athletic program. I know they see the writing on the wall with the NHL currently there and with the NFL starting there shortly but if UNLV could trust in what MM was doing he would have built something that could withstand the pro sports influx. UNLV picked MM as a last option so I furred he wasn't going to last to long but I felt they burned a guy who bailed them out. UNLV hasn't won a league championship in 19 years, a league tournament in 8 years and haven't been to the big dance in 6 years and haven't won a NCAA Tournament game since 2008. MM 1st year at UNLV he has to replace 7 players from an 18-15 team and has 11, 20, 17 wins in each of his 3 years. Anyways MM will get scoped up he's a quality recruiter and is able to coach but I feel he needs time to get his program going.

The attendance at UNLV this season averaged 8,722 per game. Down from 10,093 in 2017-2018. Down from 15,196 in 2013. Just being in Vegas, you have other options. With an NHL team, an NFL team on the way, a WNBA team, and UNLV Football moving into the new Raider venue, it just looks like UNLV basketball offers nothing but memories. It looks like Sears or JC Penny's.

Menzies was overrated. He went 3-15 against UNM. He never beat a power conference school in nine seasons at NMSU. Jans is 4-0 against UNM in two seasons and has four wins over power conference schools.
The UNLV athletic department needs to stop the bleeding and hire a coach that will turn it around. That can compete with San Diego State, Utah State and Nevada. In three seasons at UNLV, Menzies was 3-17 against those three rivals. With a basketball budget that is $5.7 million, they can afford to hire a good coach.

(03-20-2019 06:15 PM)SoCalBobcat78 Wrote:  

(03-20-2019 04:10 PM)Lopes87 Wrote:  UNLV is a super proud but out of touch athletic program. I know they see the writing on the wall with the NHL currently there and with the NFL starting there shortly but if UNLV could trust in what MM was doing he would have built something that could withstand the pro sports influx. UNLV picked MM as a last option so I furred he wasn't going to last to long but I felt they burned a guy who bailed them out. UNLV hasn't won a league championship in 19 years, a league tournament in 8 years and haven't been to the big dance in 6 years and haven't won a NCAA Tournament game since 2008. MM 1st year at UNLV he has to replace 7 players from an 18-15 team and has 11, 20, 17 wins in each of his 3 years. Anyways MM will get scoped up he's a quality recruiter and is able to coach but I feel he needs time to get his program going.

The attendance at UNLV this season averaged 8,722 per game. Down from 10,093 in 2017-2018. Down from 15,196 in 2013. Just being in Vegas, you have other options. With an NHL team, an NFL team on the way, a WNBA team, and UNLV Football moving into the new Raider venue, it just looks like UNLV basketball offers nothing but memories. It looks like Sears or JC Penny's.

Menzies was overrated. He went 3-15 against UNM. He never beat a power conference school in nine seasons at NMSU. Jans is 4-0 against UNM in two seasons and has four wins over power conference schools.
The UNLV athletic department needs to stop the bleeding and hire a coach that will turn it around. That can compete with San Diego State, Utah State and Nevada. In three seasons at UNLV, Menzies was 3-17 against those three rivals. With a basketball budget that is $5.7 million, they can afford to hire a good coach.

As I have said, Menzies is a "good" not great coach who is an excellent recruiter. For most mid-major programs, he would have them trending up in the win totals. But he is limited as to the level of his success. He will beat the teams he is supposed to beat but most definitely lose to the ones where it requires a higher level of X&Os coaching. He simply wins by placing better athletes (more natural talent) on the court than his opponent. However, Menzies is slow moving in his personnel development. He is lucky if he gets his players to reach their potential in under three full seasons. Consequently, his teams play disjointed for a while; committing a lot of careless turnovers. The one thing Menzies' teams do well is rebound; mainly because he recruits a lot of size and athleticism. However, in many cases, his big men are "projects" with raw physical talent. Another issue with Menzies teams, is he fails to value perimeter shooting skill across the board with his guards; rather choosing to recruit a few designated role players who are sharp shooter.

I was surprised that he was fired. They improved every from a total train wreck. I figured another year.


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For those interested:

(03-27-2019 11:46 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  For those interested:

In my opinion if UNLV was going to hire T. J. Otzelberger from South Dakota State, the Rebel administration should have kept Menzies. He had the program moving in the right direction; as slow as it might be. I don't see Otzelberger as a splash hire. He has been the SDSU head coach for only three years; essentially taking over a strong Jackrabbit program left by Scott Nagy (now at Wright State). South Dakota State's best player Mike Daum wasn't even recruited by Otzelberger.

In my opinion, Menzies greatest detraction as a head coach is his demeanor. He is too laid back and affable in public. He doesn't exude intensity when coaching. In this regard, Menzies might have lost touch with his Rebel fan base. This is why I think the Rebel Administration wanted a coaching change. I'm not sure Otzelberger will produce much better results than Menzies but he will give the Rebel fans base the impression he is trying harder.

(03-27-2019 12:27 PM)NMSUPistolPete Wrote:  

(03-27-2019 11:46 AM)CrimsonPhantom Wrote:  For those interested:

In my opinion if UNLV was going to hire T. J. Otzelberger from South Dakota State, the Rebel administration should have kept Menzies. He had the program moving in the right direction; as slow as it might be. I don't see Otzelberger as a splash hire. He has been the SDSU head coach for only three years; essentially taking over a strong Jackrabbit program left by Scott Nagy (now at Wright State). South Dakota State's best player Mike Daum wasn't even recruited by Otzelberger.

In my opinion, Menzies greatest detraction as a head coach is his demeanor. He is too laid back and affable in public. He doesn't exude intensity when coaching. In this regard, Menzies might have lost touch with his Rebel fan base. This is why I think the Rebel Administration wanted a coaching change. I'm not sure Otzelberger will produce much better results than Menzies but he will give the Rebel fans base the impression he is trying harder.

Its official: https://www.unlv.edu/news/release/unlv-n...head-coach

I hope he takes the Idaho State job.


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Otzelberger lost to 325-ish Western Illinois in the Summit Quarterfinals of his best player in program history’s senior year. That’s not an upgrade over Menzies.