Basketball Team

[Chanson]

So I have been to all the home games. We all agree that this team has the most hustle than teams of the past.
That being said, we need to keep the intensity & develop some kind of offense. No sense in picking kids apart like I normally do. Coach knows he needs to bring some scoring to the table. I love our coach & he knows exactly what is needed. He'll be here for a while since he needs to keep his family in our schools. He won't be getting calls from anyone, because he just can't put up a winning season. Yes he won last year with Terry's recruits. We'll see what he can put together next year.

[SisyphusMiner]

Thus ends another dissatisfying year for men's sports.

 I will only pick on one player specifically, and that is Givance.  He's not a good point guard.  He's way too sloppy and his A/TO ratio is not good at 1.4:1.  He is the best 3P shooter on the team.   He's listed as a senior but I'm not sure what that means anymore.  We need a better point guard as priority #1.  If Golding doesn't see that or can't get one, that's a real problem.

Turnovers were just as big an issue for us as shooting IMO.  We averaged 15.8 per game while our smothering defense generated 16.8 per game.  All that exhausting hustle creating turnovers doesn't do a lot of good if you are generating your own almost as fast.

I take it back, also Solomon.  He had the 2nd most turnovers in spite of not being a PG.  Unfortunate because I kind of like him.  Both Givance and Solomon generated nearly one turnover per 10 minutes of play.   

[Minermojo]

I just hope that he could see this board so that he (Golding) could learn. LOL

Kidding aside I would like for him to look at shooting percentages and not total points. Yesterday in the news there was this kid from a NM school that went 8 for 8 in his shooting. He doesn't have a very nice delivery but if he was 100% then that's what really matters. I hope that Golding saw the sports news last night. We need a shooter or better yet shooters because if we only have one that one will be double teamed throughout the game.

Percentages Golding, percentage is the key.

This reminded me of the Butler team that beat the Miners in Denver who were supposed to go high in the dance. We could NEVER get close to them throughout the game because EVERY BUTLER PLAYER COULD SHOOT LIGHTS OUT! So needless to say we got beat in the first game. That's the year that Butler went really high in the tourney and it was because they were great shooters. I believe that they came in second but I'm not sure.

[SisyphusMiner]

Yes, Butler lost in the championship game.  We could have made a deep run ourselves

[MinerInWisconsin]

I just hope that he could see this board so that he (Golding) could learn. LOL

Kidding aside I would like for him to look at shooting percentages and not total points. Yesterday in the news there was this kid from a NM school that went 8 for 8 in his shooting. He doesn't have a very nice delivery but if he was 100% then that's what really matters. I hope that Golding saw the sports news last night. We need a shooter or better yet shooters because if we only have one that one will be double teamed throughout the game.

Percentages Golding, percentage is the key.

This reminded me of the Butler team that beat the Miners in Denver who were supposed to go high in the dance. We could NEVER get close to them throughout the game because EVERY BUTLER PLAYER COULD SHOOT LIGHTS OUT! So needless to say we got beat in the first game. That's the year that Butler went really high in the tourney and it was because they were great shooters. I believe that they came in second but I'm not sure.

To your point about needing shooters, Golding agrees with you. He was quoted by Broaddus of espn600 that "we need shooters." He should have been well aware of that before this season started and better have a few on board before next season. Bad 3pt and FT shooting cost the Miners 5 or 6 games. Maybe more.

[kyyote]

I'm a bit concerned that he seems surprised at that needing shooters thing.  Leaving me to ask if he knew that he needed shooters but misjudged the players he recruited, or was he surprised to find that he needs players who can shoot at this level-that defensive hustle and steals without being able to take advantage of them isn't enough. I figure it almost has to be the first.  It isn't like he only had two or three scholarships opened up.  He swung and missed 10 times without finding or looking for a shooter.  Julyan Stone shot about like Givance, but he played NBA level defense and handled the ball quite well.  And he had Culpepper to do the shooting for both of them.

The season is over and I ask myself about the progress of the individual players.  Sibley reverted.  I don't even know how that happens.  Onyema improved in controlling himself on defense but I am not that sure I saw what I want offensively.  Solomon gained confidence as the season wore on.  Hardy looked like he would have been riding the bench at S. Miss and about the same for the nmsu kid. I stand by what I said before.  Golding has the players playing as hard as they can play for him.  But, we are what we are, and he is the coach who had the luxury of fielding his team.  It may get better next year.  May.   

[Minermojo]

It's funny and ironic that sometimes the people (coaches) that should see what the layman sees they don't. I would love for him to honestly tell us what he saw was missing or will he just makes excuses for the players and most importantly "him". He needs to see the game as the spectator does and honestly there are spectators that know the game well because they study it or have played it at different levels and could teach him a thing or two. Some things that are so obvious that they're staring him in the face and he still misses it, you know like when you're looking for some contraption or product and it's right in front of your face and you still don't see it.

He's like the typical politician that only sees HIS viewpoint and screw anyone else.

[kyyote]

Golding had 10 players leave.  Crazy year with the portal.  But I now question it a little bit.  Did they want to go or were they told that was best for them.  Some of them made sense.  Boum and Verhoeven got a chance to show their wares.  But I tried to decide if the team got better or worse.  Take Kalu, Sibley, and Onyema out of the mix as they were already there.  You tell me.

Future

So, this is the team.  I am very interested to see if everyone stays or goes.   Keeping in mind that our schools are now feeder schools to the big 5, perhaps the measure of the team is if anyone else wants the players.  Did anyone show that they should make the jump?  That leaves me wondering if Golding runs them all off and tries again, or does he believe that if they all return, they will be better enough to win.  I would ask you if you believe we have the talent on hand but just needed a year in order to win the conference championship, or will next year be another year of competing so that we can say we compete.  It is unanimous.  Everyone agrees that we need basketball players that can shoot-and make their shots.  As far as I can figure, Givance was the only senior and that doesn't mean he leaves.  So, do we even have openings for shooter(s)?
 

[SisyphusMiner]

 At a minimum we need a news starting PG and SG.

[kyyote]

Givance was a Senior.  Four point gpa working on his masters.  Four years at Evansville.  I think he has used up his eligibility, although I don't know what is what since covid. 
Will be Seniors

Hardy G
Dos Anjos F
Zachary G
McKinney G
Solomon F

Juniors

Lemus G
Sibley F
Kalu F
Levesque G
Onyema F
Frazier F
Hamilon F

Soph

Holmes G

RS Fresh

Sumlin G

The Transfer Portal is starting to pickup in numbers daily.  I haven't seen any of these guys names yet and after the mass exodus last year I now think it was a clean slate set for Golding.  I think he has Givance's replacement in Sumlin.  Supposedly, Elijah Jones, a hs kid who committed to ECU transferred to UTEP at the beginning of Jan.  But I don't know about that one.

Anyway, I think this is the team, basically for next year.  But I am just guessing and my guess may not be as good as anybody else's.

As soon as I post this I find that KROD reported 2 days ago that Sibley has entered.  They say there may be as many as five openings. 
They also mentoned a bunch of possible players that might be ok and they are all being recruited by teams we used to consider lower level teams. 

[Chanson]

McKinney was out in the middle of the season. Golding gave him his walking papers, because he was always giving attitude. What do you expect from a NM St Transfer. High maintenance, little shit.

[SisyphusMiner]

y'all saw that Onyema is transferring?   I think the Golding experiment is over.  I'm ready to try Hardaway

[kyyote]

I?m not sure we could get him at this point. We may now be below his starting level. But if we could it might be able to show that we want to compete and not just play. I?m afraid that would go against what ever we are trying to do at UTEP.