There have been a number of posts on the men's basketball team and Coach Floyd over the past few days, I thought that rather than post a separate portions of my thoughts to a number of different threads, I would consolidate them in one thread.
It's a rebuilding year: We lost our top three players from last year, and four of our top seven. Additionally, we entered the season with one of our top seven from last year battling injuries, and another ineligible for the first semester. We are counting on six players who had never played a second of Miner basketball entering into this season to play significant roles on this year's team. It should have been obvious to everyone entering into the season that this was going to be a rebuilding year. It was obvious to the coaches - if you don't believe me, check the out of conference schedule. Now even those of us who realized that this is a rebuilding year allowed ourselves to believe that it might be something more after the comeback against CSU, but we've all had to return to reality quite quickly.
A legitimate question is, "Rebuilding from what?" Had we at least competed for a conference championship, and made an NCAA Tournament or two recently, I don't think that anyone would have a major heartache with going through a rebuilding year in Floyd's sixth season. The problem is that we are rebuilding after receiving a CBI and an NIT appearance the last two years, both blow out losses. That does make this season a bit hard to swallow.
Our guards are our strength: I was initially skeptical when we Artis decided to transfer here. Sure, he was a highly rated recruit out of high school, with at least one analyst saying that he barely missed out on making the McDonald's All American team. But just like the high school valedictorian that's carrying a 2.0 in college, that doesn't mean a whole lot if you don't produce at the next level, and DA's stats at Oregon were rather pedestrian. Then he came and played in the scrimmage, the exhibitions, and the first four games of the season, and he completely won me over. Also winning me over was Lee Moore, who seemed to be able to score in a variety of ways from multiple places all over the court. Teaming these two up with Morris, and with the expected arrival of Omega Harris, I was confident that we would had one of the twenty or so best backcourts in the country.
And then the level of competition improved. Dramatically. And Artis and Moore, whom I honestly expected to easily handle the tougher competition, have struggled mightily, and Morris has been inconsistent. These problems are compounded by the fact that the backcourt still is our strength. Hooper has developed some nice moves in the post, and we all like Winn, but that's pretty much all we've got up front. We need our backcourt to play fantastic each and every game to have a chance to win, and they haven't done that the past three games. The result: three blowout losses. We need these guys to step up.
Saviors: As things have gone south fans have tried to look for some hope to turn things around. Omega Harris is one the guys that some are looking to as a savior. I really like Omega, he has outstanding physical tools, and showed some flashes of brilliance last year. He also, at times, looked like the freshman he was. Now there is an old expression, "The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores", and I believe that there is a really good chance that Omega might be much improved after having a year's experience under his belt. But I'm certainly not looking for him to be a savior for two main reasons:
1. He is in Floyd's doghouse, and, more importantly,
2. He does nothing to shore up our most glaring weakness, our inside play.
Which leads us to our other savior, Buddha Jones. The 6-10, highly ranked freshman may seem to fit the bill of what we need, but not so fast. This is a kid who averaged 4 points and 3.3 boards a game against the likes of Loyola, Texas State, and Alcorn State. How, again, is he ready to help us when we play against a tough frontcourt?
Then there is the would be savior, Matt Willms. Willms averaged 5.2 ppg and 4.3 rpg last year, and has never remotely looked like the all-conference type of player that Floyd promised when he brought him in. Of course he would have helped some if he had been healthy this season, but not enough, in my opinion, to make much of a difference in the last three games.
"We have the number 12 recruiting class in the country!": I honestly get irritated every time I read this quote. Saying that Clark Francis of Hoop Scoop rated our class as the 12th best in the country is a true statement, and good data. But so many here have taken this one analyst's ratings to heart, presenting it as gospel that there are only 11 programs in the country that have a better recruiting class than ours. Where were we ranked by Rivals? Scout? ESPN? Any of the other myriad of websites that rank college basketball recruiting classes? Also, the only way to truly rank recruiting classes is to wait four or five years out, see how the players have actually performed, and then decide the goodness of that class, which will still be subjective. Now I have no problem with the way that recruiting classes are ranked now, I used to use the same type of conjecture to evaluate how well past UTEP staff's had done in recruiting years ago. But again, to take one analyst's subjective opinion as gospel just doesn't make sense to me.
Floyd's recruiting prowess: Coach Floyd has proven himself to be great recruiter in his career. He did a tremendous job recruiting back when he was an assistant to Coach Haskins, and also as a head coach at Idaho, New Orleans, Iowa State, and USC. But as a head coach at UTEP, well, not so much. Floyd has had six recruiting classes while here at UTEP. Do you know the name of the best HS guard that he has recruited that completed his eligibility here at UTEP? CJ Cooper. I was hoping that Omega Harris would supplant him in a few years, but, if reports on this board are correct, that might not happen. When Morris completes his eligibility at the end of this season, he will become only the second backcourt player that Floyd has recruited (HS, JC, or transfer) to complete his eligibility here at UTEP. In SIX classes. I fully expect DA and Moore to join him and Cooper the following season, but WOW. Floyd has had a little more success in the frontcourt, but it's certainly nothing to brag about.
How long do you give Floyd to produce?: Like some others have said in other threads, I have been a HUGE Floyd fan for a long time. I was ecstatic when he was named head coach, worrying my coworkers by screaming out loud at my desk when I heard the news. But I have been very disappointed so far in his tenure here as head coach. So my question for everyone is this: how long do you give him to produce before you will call for him to be replaced?
I said during the offseason, when I already knew that this would be a rebuilding year, that I wasn't ready to call for Floyd's head yet, and I'll stick with that. However, if by next season, when Willms should be back, when our freshman bigs will have a year under their belt, when Artis and Moore return for their senior season, and Harris (hopefully) is a junior, we had better make the NCAA Tournament. Or, at least, have me frothing at the mouth cussing out the selection committee on how they screwed us. If not, my patience will have worn out.
I know that there are some that have already run out of patience. I assume some are giving him this season. Others might give him a lifetime time pass. I'm interested to read what others think.
It's a rebuilding year: We lost our top three players from last year, and four of our top seven. Additionally, we entered the season with one of our top seven from last year battling injuries, and another ineligible for the first semester. We are counting on six players who had never played a second of Miner basketball entering into this season to play significant roles on this year's team. It should have been obvious to everyone entering into the season that this was going to be a rebuilding year. It was obvious to the coaches - if you don't believe me, check the out of conference schedule. Now even those of us who realized that this is a rebuilding year allowed ourselves to believe that it might be something more after the comeback against CSU, but we've all had to return to reality quite quickly.
A legitimate question is, "Rebuilding from what?" Had we at least competed for a conference championship, and made an NCAA Tournament or two recently, I don't think that anyone would have a major heartache with going through a rebuilding year in Floyd's sixth season. The problem is that we are rebuilding after receiving a CBI and an NIT appearance the last two years, both blow out losses. That does make this season a bit hard to swallow.
Our guards are our strength: I was initially skeptical when we Artis decided to transfer here. Sure, he was a highly rated recruit out of high school, with at least one analyst saying that he barely missed out on making the McDonald's All American team. But just like the high school valedictorian that's carrying a 2.0 in college, that doesn't mean a whole lot if you don't produce at the next level, and DA's stats at Oregon were rather pedestrian. Then he came and played in the scrimmage, the exhibitions, and the first four games of the season, and he completely won me over. Also winning me over was Lee Moore, who seemed to be able to score in a variety of ways from multiple places all over the court. Teaming these two up with Morris, and with the expected arrival of Omega Harris, I was confident that we would had one of the twenty or so best backcourts in the country.
And then the level of competition improved. Dramatically. And Artis and Moore, whom I honestly expected to easily handle the tougher competition, have struggled mightily, and Morris has been inconsistent. These problems are compounded by the fact that the backcourt still is our strength. Hooper has developed some nice moves in the post, and we all like Winn, but that's pretty much all we've got up front. We need our backcourt to play fantastic each and every game to have a chance to win, and they haven't done that the past three games. The result: three blowout losses. We need these guys to step up.
Saviors: As things have gone south fans have tried to look for some hope to turn things around. Omega Harris is one the guys that some are looking to as a savior. I really like Omega, he has outstanding physical tools, and showed some flashes of brilliance last year. He also, at times, looked like the freshman he was. Now there is an old expression, "The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores", and I believe that there is a really good chance that Omega might be much improved after having a year's experience under his belt. But I'm certainly not looking for him to be a savior for two main reasons:
1. He is in Floyd's doghouse, and, more importantly,
2. He does nothing to shore up our most glaring weakness, our inside play.
Which leads us to our other savior, Buddha Jones. The 6-10, highly ranked freshman may seem to fit the bill of what we need, but not so fast. This is a kid who averaged 4 points and 3.3 boards a game against the likes of Loyola, Texas State, and Alcorn State. How, again, is he ready to help us when we play against a tough frontcourt?
Then there is the would be savior, Matt Willms. Willms averaged 5.2 ppg and 4.3 rpg last year, and has never remotely looked like the all-conference type of player that Floyd promised when he brought him in. Of course he would have helped some if he had been healthy this season, but not enough, in my opinion, to make much of a difference in the last three games.
"We have the number 12 recruiting class in the country!": I honestly get irritated every time I read this quote. Saying that Clark Francis of Hoop Scoop rated our class as the 12th best in the country is a true statement, and good data. But so many here have taken this one analyst's ratings to heart, presenting it as gospel that there are only 11 programs in the country that have a better recruiting class than ours. Where were we ranked by Rivals? Scout? ESPN? Any of the other myriad of websites that rank college basketball recruiting classes? Also, the only way to truly rank recruiting classes is to wait four or five years out, see how the players have actually performed, and then decide the goodness of that class, which will still be subjective. Now I have no problem with the way that recruiting classes are ranked now, I used to use the same type of conjecture to evaluate how well past UTEP staff's had done in recruiting years ago. But again, to take one analyst's subjective opinion as gospel just doesn't make sense to me.
Floyd's recruiting prowess: Coach Floyd has proven himself to be great recruiter in his career. He did a tremendous job recruiting back when he was an assistant to Coach Haskins, and also as a head coach at Idaho, New Orleans, Iowa State, and USC. But as a head coach at UTEP, well, not so much. Floyd has had six recruiting classes while here at UTEP. Do you know the name of the best HS guard that he has recruited that completed his eligibility here at UTEP? CJ Cooper. I was hoping that Omega Harris would supplant him in a few years, but, if reports on this board are correct, that might not happen. When Morris completes his eligibility at the end of this season, he will become only the second backcourt player that Floyd has recruited (HS, JC, or transfer) to complete his eligibility here at UTEP. In SIX classes. I fully expect DA and Moore to join him and Cooper the following season, but WOW. Floyd has had a little more success in the frontcourt, but it's certainly nothing to brag about.
How long do you give Floyd to produce?: Like some others have said in other threads, I have been a HUGE Floyd fan for a long time. I was ecstatic when he was named head coach, worrying my coworkers by screaming out loud at my desk when I heard the news. But I have been very disappointed so far in his tenure here as head coach. So my question for everyone is this: how long do you give him to produce before you will call for him to be replaced?
I said during the offseason, when I already knew that this would be a rebuilding year, that I wasn't ready to call for Floyd's head yet, and I'll stick with that. However, if by next season, when Willms should be back, when our freshman bigs will have a year under their belt, when Artis and Moore return for their senior season, and Harris (hopefully) is a junior, we had better make the NCAA Tournament. Or, at least, have me frothing at the mouth cussing out the selection committee on how they screwed us. If not, my patience will have worn out.
I know that there are some that have already run out of patience. I assume some are giving him this season. Others might give him a lifetime time pass. I'm interested to read what others think.
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