Basketball Team

[SisyphusMiner]

If you are a freshman I would not hold it against them.  They have just left home and out of their comfort zone.  An upperclassman should at a minimum tell coaches.  But then maybe some did.  Their coaching staff has issues.

[kyyote]

The players may be Boy Scouts. I don?t care. This doesn?t mean that UTEP has to be their place to redeem themselves. We need to stay clean.

[SisyphusMiner]

I watched nearly all of the UNT game.  Coaching is fine.  McCasland is a very good coach and Golding went toe to toe with him.  I go back to what i said a while back.  If we could shoot threes anything like an acceptable 33% we'd be near the top of the conference.  You simply cannot win the modern game with an average 27% and your top players barely cracking 30% from 3.

[Chanson]

Great game against N TX. The free-throws kept us in the game. My question is, how do U lose in overtime with 2 of their players having fouled out? I feel Gilding kept his players in too long & didn't sub properly. Which comes down to being outcoached.

[SisyphusMiner]

I kind of agree but not sure that was really an option.  You saw what happened when he put Lemus in.  And when he put Ham in.

For sure when you play that intense of D you have to do lots of subbing.   If I remember 40 minutes of Hell correctly Richardson was subbing constantly.  But I don?t know that?s an option for us.  We aren?t deep.

It came down to UNT hit edam near every shot in OT and we couldn?t score.  We shot 20% from 3.

I won?t argue with you that McCasland is a better coach.  He?s excellent and I wish we had him.  But UNT would have lost badly if they had shot 20% from 3.  We get looks but I think our legs are tired.

So I guess I?m saying it?s not the Xs and Os it?s the awful recruiting that doomed this season

[Chanson]

Im glad we agree that recruiting was an issue this year. Golding brought in much needed grit, but failed with basketball IQ & shooting.
Where we see it different is the depth. Golding recruited deep with grit & defense is what all the Miners are good at. Our legs got tired towards the end of regulation which allowed N.TX to come back. Fouling would have been a better option than allowing them to get hot. If the players can't close, it is up to the coach to close. Floyd would have won that game with these players. We are 11th out of 1e teams in the conference. That is embarrassing. The year is over & Golding has more work to do now than he he did when he took the job. I hope he overcomes, because I really like this guy.

[SisyphusMiner]

I was just typing a followup when you posted.   We are ranked # 348 in FT percentage and #352 in 3 point percentage.   Out of 352 teams.   There is no strategy that can overcome this.   

Pound it inside, they foul and we miss FTs.   Drive and draw a foul and we miss FTs.   Shoot 3s and we miss. 

Most of our 3's are open shots.  All of our FTs are.   It's a miracle we have the record we do.   Maybe Golding is a good coach and maybe he's not, but he doesn't have anyone that can hit shots and at some point you have to score.

It's a lot like watching Dimel ball.  Play good D, slow it down, keep it close.  But when your best QB throws it in the dirt or over the WRs head about half the time, it's tough to overcome that with coaching.  Dimel needs to recruit a QB that can play his style and score.   Golding needs to recruit guards that can play tough D but still score.

[Minermojo]

Like I've said before and I'll repeat again, don't recruit players who score a lot, recruit players based on their percentage of shots made, not shot taken. Also, I stated that we need a woman coach who can teach these kids the fundamentals of free throw shooting.

Jeepers, no one listens to me...and I have supervisory experience in a life and death scenario occupation. Like Jeb said, please clap. LOL

No seriously, like I've also stated before, coaching is not all Xs and Os, it common sense too. If you don't have it you'll lose.

[SisyphusMiner]

Women are better free throw shooters.  But I'm not sure that's something that a woman can teach to a man.  I honestly think it's a gender difference.  I believe women are just better at things that take muscle memory and focus vs athleticism.

I've actually seen success sometimes telling a player to shoot free throws lefty.  It forces them to slow down, concentrate, and really pay attention to form.

[Minermojo]

Women are better free throw shooters.  But I'm not sure that's something that a woman can teach to a man.  I honestly think it's a gender difference.  I believe women are just better at things that take muscle memory and focus vs athleticism.

I've actually seen success sometimes telling a player to shoot free throws lefty.  It forces them to slow down, concentrate, and really pay attention to form.

I'm willing to accept that as an alternative but will coaches listen? Esa es la pregunta, "that's the question"?

[SisyphusMiner]

OK, after last night I am beginning to have some concerns about coaching.  20 point lead midway through 2nd half and it's a nailbiter at the end?  Unprepared for the press even though that's something this opponent is known for?

[SisyphusMiner]

Then again, maybe it's just that we don't have a point guard.

[Austintacious]

An interesting article in the Austin American Statesman quoted Coach Reese, Hall of Fame Swimming Coach, who won multiple swimming national championships.  It was something to the effect that you can't tire out your team in practice just before a competition and expect them to be sharp and ready on game day.  This is the advice he gave to Rodney Terry recently.  I wonder if the Miners getting tired at the end of games and allowing the other teams to catch up are affected by this.  Is Golding holding too hard a practice the days before games?

[kyyote]

I think it has a lot to do with it. I think he has them burning up those legs playing defense. But shooting is done with the legs. I think it is one reason we shoot so bad from long range and free throws.
The defense should generate fast break points. But if it isn?t a throw down jam we get bogged down in the paint-because we can?t hit open shots from the outside. And our defensive intensity has a lot to do with that. Free throws to seal the game on dead legs.
Haskins played defense to get layups and offense designed to wear out the other team?s defense and give his players time to save his player?s legs. Golding doesn?t seem to understand balance. He is so much into defensive intensity.

[SisyphusMiner]

I think you can do it you just need a lot more depth to keep legs fresh.  You have to sub guys out every couple minutes.  Even if PT is 2:1 in favor of your starters you gotta let their legs recover.

Without that depth of bench we may be beating ourselves.