basketball

[Chanson]

Well...still no defense for the back door. Got to hand it to UNT for studying film & dominating the offensive paint in scoring & our turn overs were our demise. We had better percentages all around with FT, 3s, rebounds, etc.
I'm not upset by any means. We needed someone to step up besides the usuals, but no one stepped up.
Golding- I thought he did well. He just doesn't have the players to drive & dominate the paint.
Boum- did well. He needs help.
JB- also did well, but can't do it all.
Saterfield- no show
Saucy- helped on D, but still was sloppy.
Clardy- what can I say. He is in to give a breather.
Hollins- hustled & did his job.
Sibley- coach is waiting for him to figure it out. 4pts & 4 rebs. Meh
Onyema- still learning. He won't be effective until his Jr year.
Verho- I think he allowed too much even though he is labeled a defender. I think he got out muscled. Golding & company need to help him with a stronger opponent.

This was a well coached UNT team that has had a while to build. We will get there. Just need a few other pieces.

[SisyphusMiner]

A couple additional comments.

Lots of turnovers by Bienemy.  Uncharacteristic but the only offense we had in the first half so trying too hard.

Hollins did well overall and was the only guy that could play physically with their bigs.  Sibley and Verho are so skinny.
Onyema seemed a bit lost.

Satterfield just stands in the corner.  Guarding him is the same as guarding a fencepost.  He got beaten badly off the dribble drive several times.  This is why at the end Golding was swapping him and Clardy between O and D.

We really could use Kennedy, his D and boards.  We need some beef inside.  Sibley needs to find a couple cheeseburgers.


I would estimate physical crowd around 2000, Miners contingent around 250.  Typical years in the past (pre-covid) I'd say about 3500 fans max, with about 1000 of those Miners fans.

[Chanson]

The Miners would have probably won if they cut the turn overs in half. That UNT defense was good & forced UTEP to make mistakes. You are right, Sisy, Kennedy would have been a big help.
If he comes back this year, he will be super rusty.
As I have said before, Kennedy should Medical Red Shirt & stay for another 3yrs.
Now, off to play Marshall at home. If UTEP plays like they have been this past month, they will beat them handily.

Go Miners

[SisyphusMiner]

Kennedy and Agnew are the only two defenders that can consistently stay between their guy and the basket.  Boum not bad but does get beat sometimes.  Bienemy hit or miss.  Seems to have the capability, but maybe loses focus or something?

Kennedy out and Agnew a huge liability offensively.

[SisyphusMiner]

And having watched a game in person, I hate CUSA officiating

[Chanson]

Saw recruit chatter on other site.
4☆ 6'5" Che Evans SG will have all 4yrs & 2☆ 6'7" dos Santos SF will be a Soph.
All hoping & praying KJ Lewis considers UTEP. Well, he won't come here. He will more than likely go to Ŧ. Why, because he has had 2 unofficial visits & will ha e his 1st official visit this week.
Also talk about 6'9" Khalfani Hill. He was a CRT recruit & with his disconnect with social media & the UTEP program, I don't think he'll come.
CJG doesn't show any recruiting that we know of.
Scolly's opening up I see 3 possibly 4. Maring, Giffa, & Hollins look to be the 3 out. Not sure about White.
Anyway, hope CJG find that big manly man he's looking for. I don't think he'll have an issue finding Guards & Forwards.

[kyyote]

I think we tend to see recruiting as it used to maybe have been.  College coaches knew high school coaches and AAU teams and all of that and built relationships to land commitments and those commitments solidified (or not) those relationships.  Some of that is still very true, but some of it has changed dramatically.  Up and down movements from cartels and the lower level conferences has become perhaps the more important relationships.  If you are Golding and have three scholarships available do you retain one in case either a lower level player or a cartel that needs to land somewhere falls into your lap?  Do, you let some players find a place, maybe help them in lower division schools to finish up to open up spots?  As fans do we look for those kinds of players to become available to become potential Miners?  The transfer portal?  There are a couple of forwards at Tech and I think they owe us one.  One already spent his first year at utsa and maybe he would like to come back down and play and the other might get a real chance to play immediately.  I am somewhat tongue in cheek but in a way that is now how we have to look.  Efe Odigie?  Would it be a trade up or down from Troy?

Also, we do still have to maintain academic progress standards, right?  Cam Clardy was a damned good player in an area full of damned good players.  Expect him to be fine.  He is a Business major and was on the Commissioner's Honor Roll 20-21.  I would expect that he is a player who will want to get the degree.  Bonke Maring is from the same high school and is 6' 11".  He should be working on his rebounding and stuffing.  That should be his new nickname, Bonke "No Turkey, Just the Stuffing!" Maring.  He is 6 feet and eleven inches tall.

Gilles isn't moving up or down.  Smart kid.
C-USA Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll (2019, 2020, 2021)
NABC Outstanding Academic Achievement (2020) 

[SisyphusMiner]

I think you are on to something about recruiting.  Things are different now and I'm not sure we understand what's changed but the coaches that can figure it out faster will benefit.

I haven't talked much about Clardy but I think he has a shot at being a solid player.  He has good handles and good D.  No clue if he can score.

Not so sure about Maring.  He has pretty good vision for passing when he gets the ball up around the elbow.  But he's not much good at anything else it seems. 

100% Giffa won't be here next year.

[kyyote]

I think that there is a subculture based on basketball around the country and even the world that those who live in it understand in ways we don't even know to think of.  There are players who are actual students, looking to get a college degree and there are players who are honing their games for the pros.  Then there are those who are at the edge.  Even the big cartels have to make academic progress, too though.  When I mentioned the forwards from Tech those are very likely needed to keep grade points up for their team.  There are players who play and players who practice and get straight A's.  And the people in that subculture know who are which.  They are moving and staying based on much different criteria than what we fans look at.  The French kid is a coach's son.  Is he here as a conduit, to learn the game to join his father in the business of coaching, or is he a serious student looking to get a degree in the field of his choice.  I will bet $5 that he gets good grades.

So, I think we look at our players as to which group they fit in.  The grades players, those who practice and keep academic progress high, those who play to become players or coaches in the future-those who see basketball as their future, and pros honing their games.  We usually don't have to worry too awfully much about these players anymore.  Not like when Haskins was in his glory days.  This is a new world.  All of Haskins greats would have played a year or two  and transferred to cartels.  Williams is Brandon Wolfrum(sp).  So if we look at JB, I would guess that he wants to stay in basketball.  His good year may be enough to see about playing in the cartels again or maybe he needs another year. I think Boum is one of the players at the edge.  Basketball could be his life or he could realize that the degree is his key to the future. 
So, look for those who want basketball enough to move up.  Look for A students.  Do we need any or are we good academically.  They stay for that reason.  Then we look at the players that are playing basketball to get degrees and the players at the edge.  Also, keep it in mind for future.  For instance, Maring is 6'11" tall.  I think it may be safe to say that he is looking at basketball as maybe his future.  Is that pros or coaching.  Size is size.  He is head and shoulders ahead of most players just by being that tall.  If he were to get any good at all-he's gone.  I think we learn that if UTEP has a good big man he will be harvested quickly by the cartels.  Guards are so plentiful that the cartels don't need ours.  JB might have trouble moving back up. 

[Chanson]

Not much to report. The only kids that did wortha damn were Boum & JB. All others, including Golding were terrible. Shame on them for losing against the worst team in CUSA.
All the more for Kennedy to stay out until next season & take a med redshirt.

[SisyphusMiner]

Thought TV had a really bad game.  Even though Onyema got lost a bunch, I might have played him more anyway.

Sibley had 10 boards.  Next closed, Bienemy at 4

really though, they shot 50% from 3 and we shot 22%.  Most of them weren't bad shots.

Boum doesn't have good handles, and turns it over way too much.  that's not gonna change

[kyyote]

Could it be that Marshall was allowed to concentrate on perimeter defense because they didn't have to worry about the paint?  Seems that their big man had everything under control just by himself;
o/d  reb     pf     a      to     blks  stl     pts
3-8   11   1   1   2   0   0   17

TV, Hollins, Kalu, Onyema, and Sibley;
4/13  17    8      5      4       0      4      17

Free Throws;
Mar  15-23   UTEP  20-23    but remember that 8 points UTEP got were technical foul gifts.  Take away those and we shot just 12 of 15 free throws. 

I think this was a bad loss and may hurt our chances for an at large invitation to the big dance. 

[Chanson]

No way are Miners ready for an at large invitation for the big dance. Maybe in a few years with some help with a couple of bigs.

[kyyote]

That was supposed to be a joke. lol

[SisyphusMiner]

Yeah, I agree, at this point we will need to win the CUSA tourney to get an invite...