Roster

[Chanson]

Looked at a lot if video on our kids & here is what I think about our players & team.
Bieniemy- solid PG with good ball skills who can find the open man. He needs to improve on his shooting.
Giffa- also good ball skills and good defense. We shall see about shooting.
Boum- great scorer. Needs to work on control
Saterfield- defense, rebounding, & toughness is what he does well. Scoring looks OK, but on JUCO level
Agnew- also has control issues like Boum, but he is a spark plug on D & an OK rebounder
Kennedy- super athleticism & energy & a good rebounder. Needs to find a way to score
Sibley- like Kennedy has energy & athleticism. OK jumper & lane driving. D is a big ?
Maring- height & shot bocking are good, but footwork & short jumper Needs work
Onyema- hungry kid that can jump out of the building, but his D, footwork, & Bball IQ needs work
Verhoeven- good at rebounding & protecting the paint, needs work on scoring
White- he has height for a guard, but that's all I know
Overall I give the team a B-. We have a guy who can coach and some very good athleticism. I hope we can put it together.

[SisyphusMiner]

Can we distribute a little of TV and JB basketball IQ amongst the rest?

I have said this already, but I'm so hoping we can create isolation opportunities for Boum to shoot and for Kennedy and Onyema to drive the lane.

[Chanson]

Williams posted he will be going to Texas Tech. I think that is best case scenario for him. I wish him all the luck in the world.

[kyyote]

I wish him well. He is now part of the past. I wish those who lay it on the line for UTEP the very best and that includes those who chose to remain to do their best, here at UTEP.  I respect those who never considered leaving and those who opened the door to check but found that home was here.
By the way, I want to be the first one to say that I think we will see an entirely different Verhoeven. I think he is going to play with much more aggression and looking to impose his will. He had to dever to Williams.  Now he will become the force. There is a reason he stayed and it wasn?t to be a second banana anymore. He was told to be ready to be a man. The man. That is why Boum is going to be better, too. Each player who stayed will be much better. Coach is going to return a balance to the offense that was all screwed up under Terry. That balance, matched with discipline and precision is going to be a fricken fiesta for fans and even more so for the players. The Miners are going to be very good.

[Minermojo]

I agree Ky. Golding is a players coach who knows how to get the best out of his players and he knows the Xs and Os unlike the last coach which I can't even remember his name. Ah Terry, now I remembered was/is mainly a recruiter but not a REAL coach. He's like the third stringer on a team only there if the others are hurt or missing. I wish him luck but I'm glad he's gone as we would never have had amounted to anything with him at the helm.

I can't wait for August when we start seeing all the sports teams.

[SisyphusMiner]

I hope the best for BW.  Next up.

 I hope Golding can implement an offense that makes the best use of the talent we have.  Open looks for Boum and Saterfield, one on one facing the basket opportunities for Kennedy, Onyema, and Sibley.

[Chanson]

I was watching vids of Sibley & doing comparisons to Williams. If you think Sibley is replacing Williams, you are dead wrong. They both are completely different players.
Sibley- long, lean, quick, can jump out of the building, has good lift when shooting, OK shooter, can run & down the floor all night, and has lots of energy. Taking an educated guess that his D is piss poor, however the kid is quick to pass out when doubled.
Williams- great at posting up, strong, pivots well, better at defending the post, is pretty good at rebounding, & is a master with his back to the rim. Downsides are he disappears often & gets in foul trouble.

This is a classic case of PF v SF. While UTEP doesn't have a proven PF, Golding likes to play fast and 2 SF instead of a PF is what we are going to see.
While Sibley doesn't have the experience of Williams, his athleticism & ability to pass makes up for it. UTEP's defense will need to be tight to make up for strength in the middle. I'm curious what other players Golding will bring. Fans keep complaining we don't have enough size, but that is a very old school way of looking at the game. The game is quicker & long shooting. Just ask Baylor.

[Chanson]

Take a look at the attachment I found on Twitter. Missing White, Bieniemy, & Giffa. Good to see them bonding. Kids are looking fit.

[SisyphusMiner]

New player announced.  incoming freshman.  6-9 Kevin Kalu.  Goes hard to the hole, appears to rebound aggresively.  We will see how he adjusts over time, don't expect too much from a freshman.  But we needed more warm bodies in the paint.

[Chanson]

I saw some of his vids. The kid is strong. If Golding puts him in this year, his primary job will be to rebound & keep the paint clear. He will foul hard & early, because he is not ised to the speed of D1 play.
I also figured that any kid Goldings between now & game time will not be starter quality. I like our team. Again, the only starter that didn't return was Williams. While we lost some inside scoring, we gained speed & perimeter shooting.

[Chanson]

This Hollins transfer is a great pick up. 6'6" athletic kid with 1yr of eligibility. We have a serious team. We had a serious team last year, but didn't have the coaching support to bring it together. Can Golding do it? Well...he's off to a good start.

[Minermojo]

Man, I can't wait 'til basketball season. It's looking like we might have a bonafide good team, anyway, I'm hoping. I would love to see my Miners go dancing this year. That's my goal for them.

[Chanson]

While football continues to be looking like they are much improved, I want to go over the roster especially since it looks like Golding is done recruiting for this season. Here is a brief analysis on each player and where I think they should line up in regards to starting.
Senior
Hollins 6'6" The kid brings great experience from a very good Oregon St team. Kid can do it all and may start at SF.
Junior
Boum 6'3" This is our best scoring threat that can rebound. Energy is through the roof. Needs to improve long ball.
Bieniemy 6'5" Good control and vision. Needs to use his long body to drive and improve on shot percentage.
Agnew 6'2" Defense and energy is his forte. Will always be a backup unless his shooting & free throws improve.
Verho 6'9" Defending & rebounding was his strength, but it looks like Golding working on his scoring. We shall see.
Sophomore
Kennedy 6'5" Very athletic and good defense. Needs to find out how to score or he will be playing back up.
Saterfield 6'4" I hear the kid scores lights out and defends well. If he keeps it up, he will start.
Maring 6'10" Won't be an impact player yet, but I hear his athleticism & strength is good. He will learn a lot this year.
Freshies
Sibley 6'8" I like to compare to JWash. While his offense is better his D may need some help. Long wing player.
Onyema 6'8" I got word he may have grown a bit more and is closer to 6'10". I like him as our future PF. Keep working young man, because those explosive dunks have us all excited.
Giffa 6'1" I've seen he has good ball skills and is quick. He'll be a good back up to Bieniemy or may beat him if he can score. UTEP needs a PG that can score.
Kalu 6'9" The kid is strong and defends the paint well. He'll need to catch up with D1 speed. He might red shirt.

As I have said before, the only starter we lost was Williams. Verho will fill a little of his scoring while SF/SG should make up the rest. I like multiple scoring options than just Williams & Boum. New kids I saw can score now are Saterfield, Sibley, & Hollins.

Starters:
C   Verho- if Onyema, Mering, & Kalu are behind, Verho will get that position. He may move to PF if he can score
SF Hollins- Don't think Golding will play a true PF most of the time. Hollins will play O from the wing & help D in paint
SF Kennedy- D, rebounding, & energy he wins. If he continues offensive woes, Sibley may get the nod to start
SG Boum- No brainer. He's our best player
PG Bieniemy- Good control, long, & got better on D as the season went on. He needs to step up scoring

I feel Hollins/Sibley/Kennedy will rotate at SF while Boum/Saterfield/Bieniemy will rotate as guards. Agnew may never start, but is the perfect 6th man. Giffa may turn some heads, but I don't think he or Kalu are ready for D1 speed at this time. Onyema & Maring will get there chances when we need to play big.

There will be more offensive outlets for Golding than Terry had. Actually Terry did have many scorers, he just didn't know how to run a better offense to set up the weapons he had. I'm thinking Golding has plans for all positions scoring, which may screw Kennedy out of a starting position if he doesn't shoot or drive better.
Golding defense is a quick swarming defense. He will rotate out a lot of kids, because defense requires so much energy. I'm also willing to bet Golding uses a 9-10 man rotation average come conference play.

I'm not expecting any post season play, but I better see an improved identity than what Terry had. I also don't see us playing against Kansas very well. I'm just hoping 1 or 2 players will make a name for themselves after that game.

The 2 new players I have my eyes on are Saterfield & Sibley. I think those 2 have fantastic talent. The player I expect to see better improvement on is Verho. If he can get to double digit scoring more often than not, he will impact this team. The player that may see more bench than before is Kennedy. I hope I'm wrong, but I think we have seen his ceiling. Without scoring & Golding's swarming defense, he may be on the transfer portal if he can't find a way to score.

There you have it. I can't wait until the season starts. 

[SisyphusMiner]

Curious whether your comments regarding the new kids are based on seeing them play on campus?

I feel like Bienemy has a lot more potential than he was allowed to show within our previous offense.
Both Saterfield or Kennedy should get a lot of PT.  There should be a lot of substitutions.  It may just be who is hot on a given day.

[Chanson]

I did not see them play live. My analysis is based on YouTube vids, kidd annual average numbers, & the very few contacts I have on campus.