This is rather obvious and far from earth shattering, but it seems to me that job of a college basketball coach breaks down into two separate tasks:
1. Assemble the best talent possible.
2. Create a team from this talent that is better than the sum of its (hopefully impressive) parts.
Task 1 obviously points to recruiting, but player retention is a big part of this task as well. Coach Floyd, who came in with the reputation as a fantastic recruiter, has had numerous issues with this task while here at UTEP, which have been well documented on the site. These problems include the recruits who signed but never made it to campus, the recruits who made it to campus but never played, and the players who left early, whether it be by their own decision or by the decision of the coaching staff.
There are numerous sub tasks that make up task 2: player development, creating team chemistry, game preparation and strategy, and making the proper in game adjustments, to name a few. Despite falling short of what we expected in task number 1, Floyd has still fielded some talented teams, meaning that we could still be successful if he was proved to be adept at task 2. This is another area where we expected Floyd to excel, and an area in which his mentor, Don Haskins, was a master. Unfortunately, I can only think of two teams that Floyd has had here at UTEP that played better than the sums of their respective parts: the 2013-14 team, and the 2015-16 team. To make matters worse, each of these teams only played that way for about half a season, and in each case it came when the team was in crisis.
In 2013-14 we had a talented team, but didn’t always play that way to start the season. Julian Washburn was his usual self defensively, but lacked any aggressiveness on offense. Bo was his usual inconsistent self, and CJ Cooper had a horrible start to the year. On the positive side Vince was a welcome addition, but we only really had a chance to win when McKenzie Moore, that team’s best player, played, and played well. When Moore, Ragland, and Crosgile were dismissed from the team the season appeared to be over, and they played that way for the first couple of games after that. Fortunately, the team was able to come together and bought into everything that Floyd was selling. Additionally, Bo finally played with purpose and determination every game, Julian became more aggressive on offensive, and Cooper found his shot. If the gambling scandal had never happened, and the team had played with that chemistry and intensity all year long, 2013-14 would have been something special.
Last year we were perhaps the worst team in Div 1 to start the season, losing to the likes SE LA, MD Eastern Shore, and NAU. Floyd’s seat had to be feeling pretty hot. Then, again, with the team in crisis, Floyd was able to get them to play with more intensity, and to play together. They no longer solely relied on DA and Omega to carry them, as Willms, Thomas, and the rest of the team really stepped up their games. I won’t necessarily say that last year’s team would have been special if they had played with this chemistry and intensity, and with Winn, the entire year, but they would have had a very good season.
Now we come to this year. Will Floyd finally have a team that plays smart, plays well, and brings the intensity every game? I certainly hope so. If they do, we will be successful this season, despite the preseason departures. But there is a reason that so many are concerned after the Sul Ross exhibition game. Yes, it was an exhibition, and I will agree that it is too early to hit the panic button. Still, thanks to the Costa Rica trip, this team has had more time to practice, and has already had some games against other opponents to work on line ups and chemistry. Yet we were barely able to beat the mighty Lobos. If our players had played theirs in a pick-up game we would have waxed the floor with them, as our players are vastly more talented. The close score indicates that Sul Ross was able to play as more than the sum of their parts, while we played as less than the sum of ours. It is definitely too early to press the panic button, but Floyd needs to get this situation corrected – and soon.
