UTEP has a poor marketing department and has no vision.
Miners vs. ttu
- Thread starter unihorn
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UTEP has a poor marketing department and has no vision.
It was obvious up to that point in the game that Williams and Edwards where the cream of the crop, both who didn't play there/UTEP last year. Lathon was awesome in the last 8 minutes of the game, he scored 14 points in the second half.
Thanks Stan! I appreciate the first hand impressions. Anyone else?
From listening to the KROD stream, here is what I took away from last night:
- I was impressed with the defensive effort and rebounding. Tech is a disciplined, well coached team, and to beat them on the boards is quite an accomplishment.
- At the end of last season, a lot of us were hoping to sign a graduate transfer guard that could provide veteran leadership and outside shooting. As the offseason wore on and such players continued to sign elsewhere, it looked like we were going to miss out. Then Edwards came along, and so far it looks like our prayers were answered. We don't win last night without him.
- Williams is as advertised. He will wreck havoc in CUSA.
- There were many of our players that seemed to be pressing last night, especially offensively: Hawkins, Boum, Vila, Tarke, Verhoeven, and, for three quarters of the game, Lathon. Fortunately Lathon finally let the game come to him in the last ten minutes of the game, and was instrumental in the win. In order to have the kind of depth we expect, the rest of the players will need to step it up like Lathon finally did. The good news is that last night was just the first exhibition.
- Terry coached the first half of last night's game like it was an exhibition, dividing minutes among a number of players. In the second half, however, he was playing for the win, substituting much less frequently.
- Down the stretch Terry went with a lineup of Williams, Vila, Boum, Edwards, and Lathon. If the next game was the Aggie game, that would probably be the starting five. Between now and then, however, we have another exhibition with Grand Canyon, and New Mexico Highlands. While the latter is an official game, it should be enough of a cakewalk that Terry will be able to continue to play with lineups. Our starting five is still very much in flux.
- Last night we essentially had three guys scoring points for us. I expect others to step up as the season goes along, and we need them to.
- Terry definitely needs to get the turnover thing under control. Again, it was just the first exhibition of the season, so he has plenty of time.
- I believe that last night was a good win, but let's be careful not to overstate its significance. Tech is in a reload mode. They lost a lot, and brought in a some great new talent. They're a good team, but not yet what they were last year. And yes, this was just a exhibition. Still, they are a much more talented team than we are used to seeing at the stage in the season, and I really enjoyed listening to us win.
Oh, one more thing. Last night, during the game, I was able to view the stats from the official website. This morning I can't seem to find them. If I try to click the stats for the Tech game, it takes me to the New Mexico Highlands game. Does anyone have a working link for the stats from last night?
Thanks. So sounds like Boum, Tarke, Verhoeven and Stroud didn’t show a whole lot last night.
Aside from scoring 14 points in the 2nd half, did Lathon facilitate well last night? Did he drive and dish any?
No, in fact it boggles my mind that there's nothing on the UTEP website about the game. It's annoying as hell.
He's not wrong though. It's great UTEP won, but the athletics department does so little to engage new fans. It makes no sense.
Yes, Lathon had two clutch three-pointers, and his slashing to the basket got him a nice 8 for 10 from the line.
Its was a exhibition game and first game they played toghether. Give them some time. They also did just play against one of the best defenses in the country.
Boum got screwed with a couple early fouls which one was a poop call which sent him to the bench early. Let's no forget it took Hawk and Lathon a while to get going last year.
Lathon is a hell of a player - he just simply is not a natural point guard in that he doesn’t control the game in the manner of a Fili, Prince, Tim, Dominic etc. He also doesn’t facilitate and he is turnover prone. Again, great player, simply not a point. I posted last month that this was my main concern about the team as all the other ingredients are there.
That being said, our defense was vicious. Lathon can guard as can Boum. Villa adds another dimension if you can get past Williams. This is elite level talent that is on the floor.
That being said, our defense was vicious. Lathon can guard as can Boum. Villa adds another dimension if you can get past Williams. This is elite level talent that is on the floor.
An exhibition against Tech to raise funds for the shooting victims is pretty damn good marketing.
Agree on Lathon, and he is the key to this team. Definitely needs to cut down on the turnovers (6) for starters. He made the huge shots down the stretch, so you have to give him a ton of credit. Defensively, it sounded like he was solid, as expected.
Excellent write ups Stan and Maniac! You guys pretty much summarized what happened, but the cool thing for me is how good and proud this game made me feel when it was done.
Also, just a few things that I took away from the game:
I was happy with the turn out. The intro, the fire, the atmosphere and the anticipation were all cool. I even liked the constant music. This exhibition was better than most regular games over the past few years. UTEP played really strong down the stretch
Regarding the players, I knew Williams was good, but when he came from the back side to block that shot half way up the backboard, I was like "daaaamn". Not more than a minute later he put Tech and the whole arena on notice with that throw down on the block. Dude is decisive, athletic and uses both hands. He us a finisher. I was impressed. Like Stan said, a better Vince Hunter. He is a real PF, not a center in a SF body. Reminds me a lot of Paul Millsap.
I was really happy when we signed the 'shot maker' Edwards. He was so smooth and poised last night. Boy can he rain down the 3. I dont expect him to shoot 75%, but he is the answer to what we were looking for.
I liked Vila. When he starts hitting those 3s then look out!
Boum's shot was flat, but he played a good all around game.
Lathon was Lathon. All over the place and a killer at the end.
Our free throw shooting was tremendous. Defense was strong!
Negatives were turnovers, missed 3s by Vila and lack of SF contribution. Efe still needs to work on his temper and jumping ability. Tarke is so strong, but needs to be able to finish with one hand.
I think overall we are looking at a 3 guard lineup for the near future with some SF play based on matchups or fouls. Williams, Vila and Odigie will be the main front line rotation with Verhoeven coming in for defense. I think Eze does redshirt. When Archie comes back things may change, but for now I think we are definitely at least 7 deep with a lot of talent 8-11.
Also, just a few things that I took away from the game:
I was happy with the turn out. The intro, the fire, the atmosphere and the anticipation were all cool. I even liked the constant music. This exhibition was better than most regular games over the past few years. UTEP played really strong down the stretch
Regarding the players, I knew Williams was good, but when he came from the back side to block that shot half way up the backboard, I was like "daaaamn". Not more than a minute later he put Tech and the whole arena on notice with that throw down on the block. Dude is decisive, athletic and uses both hands. He us a finisher. I was impressed. Like Stan said, a better Vince Hunter. He is a real PF, not a center in a SF body. Reminds me a lot of Paul Millsap.
I was really happy when we signed the 'shot maker' Edwards. He was so smooth and poised last night. Boy can he rain down the 3. I dont expect him to shoot 75%, but he is the answer to what we were looking for.
I liked Vila. When he starts hitting those 3s then look out!
Boum's shot was flat, but he played a good all around game.
Lathon was Lathon. All over the place and a killer at the end.
Our free throw shooting was tremendous. Defense was strong!
Negatives were turnovers, missed 3s by Vila and lack of SF contribution. Efe still needs to work on his temper and jumping ability. Tarke is so strong, but needs to be able to finish with one hand.
I think overall we are looking at a 3 guard lineup for the near future with some SF play based on matchups or fouls. Williams, Vila and Odigie will be the main front line rotation with Verhoeven coming in for defense. I think Eze does redshirt. When Archie comes back things may change, but for now I think we are definitely at least 7 deep with a lot of talent 8-11.
Some comments on the defense. The big difference is this team's ability to switch across the board. They also do a very good job with defending picks. The guards are also able to stop dribble penetration. The ability to switch without the fear of a major mismatch is the key difference. With gilyard last year there were mismatches all the time. This team is really long which also helps to apply pressure on the ball and make entry passes into the post .
And less than 5,000 showed up and the school has no stats about it the next day, so interested fans can look at them.
It’s Keonte Kennedy. He transferred from Xavier and has to sit out this season.
This win should create some preseason buzz that’ll help attendance to non conference games.
I don’t see what the big deal with the attendance is. Last season TT was coming off an elite 8 run and they had less than 3k for their exhibition against us. I think 4600 is a good number.
I agree with everything you said. Regarding your last statement, I agree Texas Tech is reloading this year, but if I’m not mistaken they were in rebuild mode last year and they smoked us.
there is a huge difference
1) utep coming to play texas tech is NOT a big deal to big 12 fans because they see teams like kansas......... utep.... who rarely gets to see teams like this in their building much less a team coming off a national championship appearance
2) this was to benefit the tragedy in el paso.... You would expect more people just because of this ...
3) There has been a lot of excitement building about this team and this was the first chance to get to see them..
Can we all agree that most UTEP fans are:
1. Cheap
2. Bandwagon
In this context, the attendance last night was pretty good.
This^^^. The reality is, this is where we’ve landed.
PURPLE...the guy you couldn’t let go of is largely to blame for this predicament about which you are complaining. 7-8 years of Floyd had a very negative effect on attendance. You’d complain about people complaining about CTF and look at you now. Complaining about the results largely created by Floyd. You hung on to the very end. You should have nothing to complain about.
Perhaps, but if remember correctly, you were ready for him to go before he actually did. Am I correct?
A lot of the olds I know were in Floyd's camp. I was doubting, but what turned me against him was his tantrum against Kappy. I then realized he’d lost it.
Fans are fed up with UTEP athletics right now and aren't going to support teams until they finally see some results. Saturday's victory was a much needed step in the right direction to bring fans back.
Not bandwagon. UTEP averaged more fans per game than Texas Tech and a lot of other Power Conference teams a few years ago. Hanging on to Floyd, losing, and bad home schedule doesn't draw fans. Sorry, this isn't 30 years ago.
Bandwagon fans buy tickets and merchandise. Price had attendance at 35k at one point. Yes, 35,000. BG had the place rockin and people were wanting to buy the handicap spots just to stand and for UTEP Womens Basketball NIT run as well.
I'm not going to dispute this, in fact, I agree with it. But these are not the only reasons for last night's attendance. We on this board are so caught up on all of the comings, goings, and rumors surrounding UTEP Athletics, that we sometimes fail to realize how pathetic the athletic department is at promoting itself. I guarantee that most El Pasoans had no idea that the Miners were scrimmaging the NCAA Tournament runners up, and have no idea about the fact that the basketball roster is completely retooled. I say this without having been to El Paso since early June of last year. How, then, do I know that UTEP did a poor job of promoting this game? The athletic department has always sucked at self promotion. I'm sure that nothing has changed.
Maybe being an occasionally boom, but mostly bust, program is the best we can be now.
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