Miners Basketball

[kyyote]

As I watched UTEP play LMU I thought how they were probably good guys and all, trying really hard, hands up and getting into passing lanes working themselves just as hard as Golding does on the sidelines.  But I couldn't get the thought out of my mind that they just aren't the really good players we have all been used to over so many years.  I'm not even going to mention The Bear's teams.  Think what a Barbee team would do to this team.  Good teams have two or three really good players and solid support.  Floyd complained about it and it got exponentially worse since then, that players were moving around and recruiting was becoming harder, especially for the smaller schools. 

We cut our teeth on Haskins defense.  But, it was different and for a different purpose entirely.  We have no offense, and our players can't generate their own.  Our team is a middle of the conference team in what we would have laughed at 5 years ago.  And ten years ago we were in a real C-USA.  One last thought.  If you are a talented basketball player do you want to come play for Golding?  Show off your running skills.  Or maybe go play basketball?

I think we will win 14-16 games in a very weak conference.  I wonder if we will ever play in the NCAA Tournament again. 

[SisyphusMiner]

>> I wonder if we will ever play in the NCAA Tournament again.

I really wish you hadn't asked that question.  It's weird that in football you can be just 50/50 and get in a bowl but in basketball you can have an outstanding record but not get in unless you win your tournament -- unless you're a crappy P5 team destined to bow out in the first round.

Golding is clearly not a great recruiter.  He's OK but not spectacular in the other areas.  His window for recruiting higher than his skills was immediately after beating UT, and that didn't materialize.  So yeah, he's better than Dimel in his respective sport, but he's not going to get us to the promised land.  It takes someone that can hit the transfer portal hard and build something out of what's there.

But it still sucks because even if you are perpetually in the top 2-3 in conference you still might only go to the tourney every few years and get a really bad seed because that's just how it is now.  The cartels are killing all college sports except for themselves.

[kyyote]

We have had numerous chances/opportunities to climb the ladder and join the top like everyone else and we have gone in the opposite direction.  The people making decisions have done this.  The question is why?  For those of you out of town, you could get lost in the new buildings.  El Paso has got more expensive new housing than you can shake a stick at.  We aren't hat in hand poor dirt farmers barely able to feed the children.  The thing that bothers me is the stupidity of it all.  The missing 30,000 fans would easily pay for the needed winning to have kept us up.  Half of the teams we played with to packed stadiums and bragging about attendance at our house are now playing in power conferences and the other half are just a half step below it.  We are barely alive. 

[Minermojo]

Your post is right on. Now, if the powers that be, i.e, the prez and the AD listened maybe we'd get somewhere.

[Alaska Miner]

I definitely feel y?all?s frustration, and it is warranted. However, I think (hope) some of the doom predicting may be a bit early. No question the Loyola Marymount game was a very poor showing, but they played Bradley closer, and they?re a better team than LMU. I don?t feel I?ve seen enough of this team to determine whether the LMU game was a good predictor, or just a fluke. Even good teams have bad nights, so I?m going to just hope that it was just a bad night, and they learned a lot from it.  If I?m wrong, then yes, we?re in for another rough season.
Nonetheless, Go Miners!

[SisyphusMiner]

Fair point Alaska.
I think from what I've seen that the west coast refs stopping play every 3 seconds really took our guys out of any kind of rhythm.  They need an open running game to get into the vibe of it.  We don't seem to be great at half court slow pace.

When the game has some energy and flow our guys seem to really dig that and feed off it.

Unfortunately, if this is true then every team that plays us will try to make it an ugly foul fest.

[SisyphusMiner]

Sticking with my analysis.  These guys are still fun to watch because they do hustle hard all game and play with heart.   But they can't run a half court offense.  All another team has to do is keep us out of transition and it's a tossup.  It's going to be a long season, and looks like Golding just can't get what he needs recruiting-wise to succeed.  I really wanted him to, and I like him, but just like with football the recruiting landscape has changed and we need someone that knows how to operate in the current environment

It means every year we're basically putting a pickup team together of whoever's available.

[Minermojo]

The only thing you need is to place a large guy under the basket to swat the layups down to beat the Miners. Everyone is doing it now, they know Goldings MO.

[SisyphusMiner]

10 games in, looking over the stats.

There's one solid mature player on the team.  Tae Hardy.   He is one of two players with an acceptable 3 pt shooting percent at 41.2%.  He is one of 3 players with an acceptable assist to turnover ratio of 2.3 : 1

Zid Powell only has two stats that make him worth being on the court -- 2nd leading rebounder and high steal rate.   But his A/TO ration is ~1:1 -- not acceptable for a point guard.   He can't hit the broadside of a barn shooting from 3.

Only other player that has a decent 3 shooting %?  Elijah Jones.  Course he's only shot 13.  And he turns it over a lot.

Frazier has decent stats except he needs to either stop shooting 3s or start making them.
Solomon has OK stat lines for his position.  would be nice to get more rebounds out of him.

Know who has a pretty nice stat line for minutes played?  Terrell.

I do think Jones and Terrell show lots of promise for freshmen.

[kyyote]

Hardy is the best we have and he couldn?t get the pt at s miss. Keep in mind that all of their stats were absolutely padded in three games that were fucking jokes!  I just shake my head at what has been allowed to happen to UTEP athletics. We haven?t slipped. We have stepped into an elevator shaft. And it isn?t bad luck. It is for a reason.
We are fired up about the enthusiasm of our new coach. My fingers are crossed. But I think what will happen is that we will drop to the level of an Austin Peay. Now more than ever, players are going to go where they have a chance to win and play for a winner.   We have shown that we are shopping at the dollar general and showing off our new stuff to try and impress young men.
I hate that UTEP has allowed us to get this bad! 

[Minermojo]

"There's one solid mature player on the team.  Tae Hardy.   He is one of two players with an acceptable 3 pt shooting percent at 41.2%.  He is one of 3 players with an acceptable assist to turnover ratio of 2.3 : 1"

...and with this he'll very surely be joining the portal crowd. Who wants to play for a team of losers? The only good thing you get out of it is an education. It's very likely Hardy wouldn't be Nba material anyway so who knows he might just stick it through.

[SisyphusMiner]

He's a senior so the only way he can keep playing is as a graduate transfer.  I think.  I don't really know anymore.

[MinerInWisconsin]

He's a senior so the only way he can keep playing is as a graduate transfer.  I think.  I don't really know anymore.

If he has any eligibility left he could transfer as a grad student. I have no idea if this his last or not.

[MinerInWisconsin]

Hardy is the best we have and he couldn?t get the pt at s miss. Keep in mind that all of their stats were absolutely padded in three games that were fucking jokes!  I just shake my head at what has been allowed to happen to UTEP athletics. We haven?t slipped. We have stepped into an elevator shaft. And it isn?t bad luck. It is for a reason.
We are fired up about the enthusiasm of our new coach. My fingers are crossed. But I think what will happen is that we will drop to the level of an Austin Peay. Now more than ever, players are going to go where they have a chance to win and play for a winner.   We have shown that we are shopping at the dollar general and showing off our new stuff to try and impress young men.
I hate that UTEP has allowed us to get this bad!

Curious as to what you mean by not bad luck but on purpose.

When Golding was hired most in the EP media and most fans thought it was a good hire. A few that know college ball well were worried about his recruiting ability. Looks like they had good reason to worry. UTEP pays well for basketball coaches so we should have done better.

Our new football coach will bring an exciting brand of ball but no way to no if he will succeed where so many others have failed. His whole staff is young and full of piss and vinegar. How is considered bad to buy out the old coach and hire a young, energetic, offense minded coach?

[kyyote]

I suspect that grades or something connected to academics has been a ?priority ? or something like that for quite awhile. In that the coaches have been perhaps disadvantaged because of it. All things being equal, academic standards just slightly higher than your opponents may be all it takes to be the difference. I may be wrong. I just don?t believe in bad luck. I also have watched all around us movement up as we fall farther down. I see feeble attempts to correct. I hear Wilson talk about athletics being the front porch and under her it looks like we live in a shack. But I figure the grades are great. I?m old and tired of being patient. I?m cranky and I want to see a no doubt big time push to get going up and stop the slow death.