I don’t know him. I’m just basing my opinion on things like refusing to let Hamilton out of his LOI, spats with other coaches like Enfield and Alford, and his bizarre and defensive verbal attack on Kappy.
Morons on Wikipedia insist 43 is retired. I guess they've never actually been in the arena.
UTEP Miners men's basketball - Wikipedia
en.m.wikipedia.org
This is no disrespect on Julyan Stone. I loved the guy. He was a very good passer, and in my mind was one of the three best defensive players that I have personally seen at UTEP (the other two being Juden Smith and Julian Washburn). Stone, however, was not a good shooter/scorer.
Jackson’s first year was 05-06. None of those guys were on that team.
This reminds me of a quote from Charles Barkley back when he was playing: "All you ever hear is that Magic and Bird are the only ones who make their teammates better. My thing is, who is it easier to make better—James Worthy, Kevin McHale, or Jayson Williams."
Yeah, he had them his last two years. I'm not talking about his first year. I'm talking about his whole body of work. I thought it then, and looking back, still think it. Its just my .02.
I agree with a lot of what you said. Play making wasn't a role DJ fulfilled. He scored. And as I stated from the beginning, he had a knack for scoring. However, there is room for both, and that can be what sets someone apart as making teammates better. Especially when so much attention goes to one specific player.
I can see this being true for all players before 2012 or 13. But If we apply those same metrics to any players since or going forward, we won't every retire another number because most great players are going to chase the money. They won't stay for more than a couple of years.
Yeah I mentioned that earlier. I would be okay with a 1 year player getting a retired number, but they would have to be a very significant player. Conference POY, along with national accolades, and a NCAA tournament run at a minimum.
Unfortunately for him, I think it had to do with timing. UTEP had that run into the sweet 16 the year before he got there and never made the tournament while he played. Expectations were still high at the time. He was another really good scorer.
Yeah, you're right. He was amazing to see play. He should get more love from UTEP than he does. Timing not withstanding, he represented the Miners well and still does, coaching and teaching in Sweden. Seems like a standup person.
ballacademy.eu
Yeah. They did make the NIT when it meant something. Unfortunately he was not drafted. Ironically, George Banks was drafted that year
I agree, to an extent. I think that Jim Barnes is the most dominant player in Miner history, and certainly deserves to have his number retired. The fact that Archibald, Hardaway, and Davis had better NBA careers is irrelevant to the fact that he had a better collegiate career. However, I do believe Archibald's and Hardaway's NBA careers add credence to the fact that they were each the best players at their positions for their class, strengthening their already strong case for retiring their UTEP jerseys. Davis had a strong, but not spectacular, UTEP career. Had DJ become a multi-time NBA All Star I guarantee you that there would be a strong push to retire his jersey.
Nolan Richardsons jersey is retired. Would you say he met that criteria as a player?
You can say that now? At the time i absolutely thought that he was the right hire, and expected a return to the NCAA Tournament. But the only time he came close to making the NCAA Tournament he did it with Barbee's players. His best conference finish was tied for 2nd (twice), otherwise his teams finished 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 8th, and he was 1-5 when he stepped down his final season. He never won a game in his two NIT appearances and one CBI appearance. His outbursts against Enfield and Kaplowitz were embarrassing. He tossed aside the players he recruited like pairs of unwashed socks, then whined when the ones he wanted to keep transferred of their own volition. He was more successful than Terry and Golding, but significantly less successful than Gillispie, Sadler, and Barbee. What I at first believed to be a home run hire end up being a strikeout.
Statistically it's hard to make the argument for his jersey to be retired. I never saw Richardson play, but will say that he certainly benefitted from his post UTEP success, in his case as a coach. He averaged 21 ppg his first season, but, at the insistence of Haskins, became more of a defensive stopper than a scorer his final two seasons. I don't know if there is anyone left on this board who actually saw him play and could whether or not he deserved to have his jersey retired based solely on his on court performance.
He was the right hire. He wanted to be back here. He was a great assistant here and recruiter. Marcus Fizer mentioned that Floyd always talked about UTEP and his desire to return. He was the most accomplished coach we could possibly land and said yes. The results didn’t play out but at the time he was 100% the person we needed to hire. Also the way he handled Hamilton backing out of his commitment was perfect. He stood up for and defended UTEP
Jason Rabedeaux, a hot shot assistant coach at Oklahoma, seemed like a good hire a the time. Tim Floyd seemed line a great hire at the time. Rodney Terry and Joe Golding, both successful coaches at other schools, seemed like the right hires at the time. Rabedeaux and Floyd left with their teams a mess and never made the NCAA Tournament. Despite having great talent Terry never had a winning record, and the jury is still out on Golding, though most here aren't as high on his stock as you are. Hindsight gives us the chance to recognize that decisions that seemed right at the time weren't actually the best decisions. Floyd and the others are examples of this. Floyd certainly was not the right hire.
This is why UTEP can’t have nice things. People still defending a guy who made more than Barbee, Sadler, and Gillispie, but of course produced less. The guy quit in the middle of the season, literally wasting a season of everyone’s time.
I think he’d had enough. Between Hamilton pulling a late switch a roo as well as lack of fan support
So all things considered at the time, you would not have hired Tim Floyd? Cmon
No one was more excited at the time of his hire than I was. But, if I could go back then knowing what I know now, and be the one in Bob Stull's seat, of course I wouldn't hire him. Why would I knowingly hire a guy who would bring us less success than our previous three coaches?
But but he left us with Phil “a head coach on the bench” Johnson!
Yes he did. He gave us a few other quality recruits (Omega Harris, Dominic Artis, Julian Washburn). But a few good recruits mean nothing if you don't have the desired results on the court. He made the NIT in his first year, but with Barbee's players. Over the next 7 seasons with his own recruits he achieved one NIT, one CBI, and had three losing seasons. If that's what you want in a coach then your standards are much lower than mine.
Gambled on recruits who did not belong on college soil. Hunter proves to be a Miner legend until UTEP pulls a pendejada and mom says get the hell out of there! ESPN was extremely skeptical on national radio about him going to UTEP. Fans told ESPN to F off; ESPN proved to be right. Rallied an extremely loyal booster fan base and in mid major's on up, that's a good thing. As Mike Price said, UTEP doesn't pay a million, but they make sure the coach feels like he is. Floyd had his cocoon and it ruptured. He and Stull did a legit presser but was an actual hit job on Kap due to Kap's questioning of the direction of the program under Floyd. He pissed off parents of players. He was fun to hate by our opponents and UTEP opponents used the hate to their advantage like ECU arena staff making an actual officer come get Floyd and escort him to locker room after being tossed.
Still not saying to retire his jersey
Fili was very very good. We were really spoiled for so many years with amazing PGs. Jeep. Tim. Prince. Fili. Stone.
You need to release stuff like this in April through August, not during the season!
