Let's all pretend we're Floyd....

[utep2step]

....and dealing with the right here and right now and not mumbling like the old man at the park bench feeding the pigeons wondering what if he had his players to stayed committed all four years like he has been doing the past few months to the media.

This post is to compliment Chanson's excellent thread I read over at Kyyote's. I highly recommend you read it if you love UTEP basketball.

Floyd has three players who can play the highest level of college ball: Artis, Winn and Omega.

He has three other starters, or part of the starting rotation, who struggle at times, but do their best, to play at this level of college basketball: Touchet, Flaggert and Wilms.

Who compliments who?

I for one, would not put in Flaggert with Artis. These two do not compliment each other on the court and D.A. sometimes could be seen and/or heard yelling at Flaggert last year. D.A. plays at another higher level, Flaggert does not. Match Artis with Harris and give Cameron or one of the very athletic, but younger, guns a try with D.A. and let D.A. make the younger player get acclimated to his style. Give it try Floyd, you have nothing to lose! Touchet spells D.A. because Artis is prone to get into foul trouble from time to time. However, you can put Touchet with Flaggert because Touchet loves to drive the ball most of the time and needs a relief valve and Flaggert is that player. Those two play well together.

No brainer: Harris and Winn should be together on the court as much as possible. They're buddies off the court and they are the Tony Romo & Jason Witten of UTEP hoops on the court. They play the same fast pace game and read each other like a book. That's not a good thing, that's a great thing and the best combo, one-two punch Floyd has, IMO.

Barnes is going to be a stud, Thomas is coming along nicely: Floyd has no choice but to play Barnes a lot. Wilms isn't going to make the whole season. Winn needs help in the paint. Opponents are going to immediately double or triple him when he gets it down low. Barnes appears to be UTEP's bruiser and can help alleviate some of that pressure away from Winn. Thomas and Barnes are two different type of players. Either start Thomas or Barnes with Winn but not all three at the same time. Floyd needs to "rope a dope" his opponents for the long haul in the paint and can't afford immediate foul trouble with all three in there at the same time, plus that can create rotation quagmires because the bench isn't deep with veterans. Just keep Wilms on the bench at tip off and let him spell the others. It's not a matter of fairness, but a matter of reality because Wilms is just to injury prone and his foot can't take a whole game at this level.

Artis, Harris, Winn, Thomas (or Barnes), Cameron. There are my starting five to start the season. Cameron is a crap shoot but Floyd needs to develop a guard ASAP, because D.A. is gone after this year and let him get used to playing with Harris (who takes over the driver seat next year, if he stays eligible). Also, get Barnes out there and get the minutes now. He is way to talented sitting on the bench. He and Thomas have the potential to do great things down the road, no matter if Floyd is here or not. I'm talking about Antonio Davis & Greg Foster type potential.

 

[Lil_Train]

Good comments 2step. A few more below-

*Artis, Winn, and Harris are clearly our best players. None are without major question marks, but they do have a ton of games under their belts, and should be able to provide some level of stability to the team based on their experience. I'm not sure I would consider any of them all-conference type players based on last year, but I am hoping they can improve to that level this year.

*Flaggert, Touchet, and Willms, in my opinion, are strictly role players who on a good team, should only be getting spot minutes. In Flaggert's case, on offense, he is strictly a spot up shooter, period. He brings zero ability to attack the defense off the dribble. On defense, he lacks the lateral quickness to defend active wing players and is a poor rebounder. I do realize he picks up some charges, but he has a real problem staying between his own man and the basket. In Touchet's case, he has similar issues as Flaggert. While he does seem to penetrate the defense better, he is quite often, unable to finish. He is clearly not a PG (not a backup either), IMO. Apparently, the staff thinks as much having recruited three "true" PGs in Barrett, Magee, and Gilyard. We already know the story on Willms, so no need to go into those details.

*While Jones (not Barnes) and Thomas look promising, I'm not sure I would compare them to Davis and Foster. To me, Thomas is a completely different player than Davis (assuming that was the comparison). Davis was a guy who could defend, rebound and dunk (he was really good at all three of those as a pro, especially). Physically, Davis was about 6'10. On the other hand, Thomas is a more finesse three. He is also closer to 6'7" as well. Just different types of players. I do think Jones *could * evolve into a Foster type player in time, but he has a long way to go.

*I think Cameron looks like the next most likely freshman who can contribute. While I would not say he is the next JWash, his defense alone may lead to some minutes off the bench. Like you mentioned, he could potentially steal more minutes from Flaggert based on the particular matchup. Unfortunately, his offensive game looks to be a major work in progress, however, physically he looks capable of competing at this level.

 

[jdubb66]

I was surprised by how big Barnes looked. Looked bigger than Cameron.

 

[unihorn]

I don't get what Floyd sees in Flaggert. The guy plays with his head in the clouds. He's NOT a spot up shooter unless no one is within ten feet of him. He gets his shot off so slow I wonder if the guy is stoned. I agree with OP's point re: playing the more talented freshmen.

 

[STexMiner]

You whippersnappers better get of my lawn!!