UTEP Basketball early prediction for 2023/2024 season.

[axingfools1]

I'm all for giving coaches some time, but I've got to see something that shows me a coach can make a few adjustments when things are not going/his or her way (assumed competency and understanding the basics of the sport). Good coaches can make adjustments and get their players to comply. Capable recruiting doesn't hurt either.

I feel like Golding pulled a rabbit out of hat against UT, but now has us standing around for more tricks.

 

[MineroFanatico]

I'm all for giving coaches some time, but I've got to see something that shows me a coach can make a few adjustments when things are not going/his or her way (assumed competency and understanding the basics of the sport). Good coaches can make adjustments and get their players to comply. Capable recruiting doesn't hurt either.

I feel like Golding pulled a rabbit out of hat against UT, but now has us standing around for more tricks.

That may be so, but it does not explain the steady improvement that ACU had as a whole while he was head coach. They were a 10 win team when he took over and then went to the dance 2 out of his last 3 years. I’m not a Joe Golding apologist. I’m a UTEP fan. I do however think he is a good coach and needs a break or two to go his way recruiting wise.

We are not far from being a pretty good team. Kent State is being talked about as one of the best mid majors and we took them to the wire. UAB may not be as strong as originally thought but they’re still considered a top mid major, and we took them to the wire.

Looking at things objectively, we are a couple shooters, several free throw percentage points and maybe a point guard who takes better care of the ball away from having 2-3 losses instead of 8, or whatever we have right now.

People can call these excuses. I don’t care. I think they’re legit reasons that he is trying to work through. We’re not quite there but we’re not far off either.

I think it’s fair to question Golding’s lack of adjustments. The ONE I’m perplexed about is the amount of 3s he allows guys to jack up. That one has me scratching my head.

Whatever. I’ve probably said all this before. We each see things how we see them. I’ll stop.

 

[Dmanminer]

Due to the limitations on offense, what do you all expect Golding to do? Granted he recruited these players, but I suspect he was hoping for others.
We have to give him some credit to get the effort from these players that he gets.

 

[axingfools1]

That may be so, but it does not explain the steady improvement that ACU had as a whole while he was head coach. They were a 10 win team when he took over and then went to the dance 2 out of his last 3 years. I’m not a Joe Golding apologist. I’m a UTEP fan. I do however think he is a good coach and needs a break or two to go his way recruiting wise.

We are not far from being a pretty good team. Kent State is being talked about as one of the best mid majors and we took them to the wire. UAB may not be as strong as originally thought but they’re still considered a top mid major, and we took them to the wire.

Looking at things objectively, we are a couple shooters, several free throw percentage points and maybe a point guard who takes better care of the ball away from having 2-3 losses instead of 8, or whatever we have right now.

People can call these excuses. I don’t care. I think they’re legit reasons that he is trying to work through. We’re not quite there but we’re not far off either.

I think it’s fair to question Golding’s lack of adjustments. The ONE I’m perplexed about is the amount of 3s he allows guys to jack up. That one has me scratching my head.

Whatever. I’ve probably said all this before. We each see things how we see them. I’ll stop.

Yes. He has us so close to being a winning team, but we are not. This is exactly where his coaching knowledge and history of recent winning at ACU could be putting us over that hump. Time will tell...

 

[MineroFanatico]

Due to the limitations on offense, what do you all expect Golding to do? Granted he recruited these players, but I suspect he was hoping for others.
We have to give him some credit to get the effort from these players that he gets.

Exactly. Golding is well aware of the limitations he’s working with. I’m sure he recruited hard for some better players. It hasn’t panned out that way yet. The fact he can keep up with some of these teams with the guys he has reveals how good of a coach he is imo. It’s personnel, not coaching.

 

[axingfools1]

Exactly. Golding is well aware of the limitations he’s working with. I’m sure he recruited hard for some better players. It hasn’t panned out that way yet. The fact he can keep up with some of these teams with the guys he has reveals how good of a coach he is imo. It’s personnel, not coaching.

Well I hope you are right. I just want to win. Tired of the shit show. My 9 year old daughter went to the line for 1st time in her life today (in a game) and made 1 of 2. Do you think that with the new NIL Golding can recruit well enough??

 

[MineroFanatico]

Well I hope you are right. I just want to win. Tired of the shit show. My 9 year old daughter went to the line for 1st time in her life today (in a game) and made 1 of 2. Do you think that with the new NIL Golding can recruit well enough??

I’m with you, axing. I just wanna win too. Don’t care who it’s with. I’d prefer it be with Golding because he’s current, which “might” indicate sooner rather than later.

Yes, I’m banking on the new NIL helping his recruiting. If it doesn’t help, I’ll be ready to move on. Good Xs and Os only goes so far without the Joes.

Sounds like you have a little Lady Miner in the making. I would imagine in a year or so she’ll be making free throws at a higher clip than 3/4 of our current Miner team.

 

[Lil_Train]

I’m with you, axing. I just wanna win too. Don’t care who it’s with. I’d prefer it be with Golding because he’s current, which “might” indicate sooner rather than later.

Yes, I’m banking on the new NIL helping his recruiting. If it doesn’t help, I’ll be ready to move on. Good Xs and Os only goes so far without the Joes.

Sounds like you have a little Lady Miner in the making. I would imagine in a year or so she’ll be making free throws at a higher clip than 3/4 of our current Miner team.

Speaking of winning, who are our must keep guys for next year?

 

[miner1liner]

All of you have made interesting comments, suggestions etc. We all want the same result and don't really care how or who. We want to regain the responsibility we once had and winning is answer. As mentioned earlier, 3pt shooting is #1 on my list. The only way this current squad can correct the problem is for Golding to put a limit to the free reign they have. All those air balls and clunkers are nothing more turnovers.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Speaking of winning, who are our must keep guys for next year?

Man, good question and this may sound ridonk, but the system that Golding runs, I think we need to hold onto the majority of our guys. I’d say 8-9 guys.

If I had to identify those guys, it’d be something like this:
Onyema - keep
Kalu - keep
Hamilton - either way
Frazier - keep
Solomon - keep
McKinney - keep
Hardy - keep

Then one or two of:
Sibley - either way
Dos Anjos -either way
Lemus - either way

Don’t care if we lose:
Zachery - get rid

Don’t know enough about:
Sumlin - ?

We lose:
Givance - adios

 

[MineroFanatico]

What about you, lil_train, who do we need to hold onto in your opinion?

 

[Lil_Train]

Man, good question and this may sound ridonk, but the system that Golding runs, I think we need to hold onto the majority of our guys. I’d say 8-9 guys.

If I had to identify those guys, it’d be something like this:
Onyema - keep
Kalu - keep
Hamilton - either way
Frazier - keep
Solomon - keep
McKinney - keep
Hardy - keep

Then one or two of:
Sibley - either way
Dos Anjos -either way
Lemus - either way

Don’t care if we lose:
Zachery - get rid

Don’t know enough about:
Sumlin - ?

We lose:
Givance - adios

Yep. That pretty much aligns to what I was thinking as well. At this point, i would probably side with keeping Hamilton. He is the only true five currently on the team. We know Golding has already added three early, so we are two over. In my opinion, Golding needs to obviously add a dynamic, experienced point guard first off. In addition, I would like to see him add a true scoring SF to push/add to Frazier. If things play out correctly, Golding may only have 2/3 spots to fill late. I do think a team with that personnel could compete very well in the new CUSA.

 

[groundrounds]

Man, good question and this may sound ridonk, but the system that Golding runs, I think we need to hold onto the majority of our guys. I’d say 8-9 guys.

If I had to identify those guys, it’d be something like this:
Onyema - keep
Kalu - keep
Hamilton - either way
Frazier - keep
Solomon - keep
McKinney - keep
Hardy - keep

Then one or two of:
Sibley - either way
Dos Anjos -either way
Lemus - either way

Don’t care if we lose:
Zachery - get rid

Don’t know enough about:
Sumlin - ?

We lose:
Givance - adios

Good observations.
I'd move Hamilton into the keep category. He's gonna develop into a better player and he's a good shooter with a big body. Needs to get with the UTEP track coach and gain some more wind in the off season.

Sibley is an excellent defender which is why he gets so much playing time. He's a keeper, you just can't tell by the stats.

Zachary is already gone isn't he?

Dos Anjos and Lemus...I'll reserve judgement until we get to tourney time. There is still a lot of season still left.

I said last season that Kalu would become a Miner Great and he has improved immensely. I'd say he's our most improved of the 3 returning players. But gotta give a lot of credit to Onyema for learning how not to be a foul machine. We have a very good big man coach in Jeremy Cox. Hope he doesn't get hired away. He is an important asset.

This is a good team with a lot of heart. They always play hard and leave it all on the floor. Defense is very good and that's what Miner fans love. Heck, we've had 6 OTs so far.

I think Golding is letting them take open 3s hoping the guys will get some confidence up by tourney time. And the shooting percentage seems to be slowly creeping up. We just scored 82 in a road game that we lost by 1. But if they don't start hitting from downtown, expect Golding to put the brakes on the 3 in the tourney.

I like this team.

 

[TxRdKiller]

Speaking of winning, who are our must keep guys for next year?

Z
Kalu
Big Ham
Soloman
Frazier

For me, everyone else can stay or go but that said:

Must go:

Zachary
Sibley

 

[MineroFanatico]

Good observations.
I'd move Hamilton into the keep category. He's gonna develop into a better player and he's a good shooter with a big body. Needs to get with the UTEP track coach and gain some more wind in the off season.

Sibley is an excellent defender which is why he gets so much playing time. He's a keeper, you just can't tell by the stats.

Zachary is already gone isn't he?

Dos Anjos and Lemus...I'll reserve judgement until we get to tourney time. There is still a lot of season still left.

I said last season that Kalu would become a Miner Great and he has improved immensely. I'd say he's our most improved of the 3 returning players. But gotta give a lot of credit to Onyema for learning how not to be a foul machine. We have a very good big man coach in Jeremy Cox. Hope he doesn't get hired away. He is an important asset.

This is a good team with a lot of heart. They always play hard and leave it all on the floor. Defense is very good and that's what Miner fans love. Heck, we've had 6 OTs so far.

I think Golding is letting them take open 3s hoping the guys will get some confidence up by tourney time. And the shooting percentage seems to be slowly creeping up. We just scored 82 in a road game that we lost by 1. But if they don't start hitting from downtown, expect Golding to put the brakes on the 3 in the tourney.

I like this team.

That’s a good point. I think you’re probably right about the 3s.

Also, I do have Hamilton in my keep group, but I figured if we lose one of our bigs, since he has contributed so little up to this point in terms of minutes/stats, I would hope it’s him that goes of the 3. I do think he has the biggest upside of all the bigs.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Yep. That pretty much aligns to what I was thinking as well. At this point, i would probably side with keeping Hamilton. He is the only true five currently on the team. We know Golding has already added three early, so we are two over. In my opinion, Golding needs to obviously add a dynamic, experienced point guard first off. In addition, I would like to see him add a true scoring SF to push/add to Frazier. If things play out correctly, Golding may only have 2/3 spots to fill late. I do think a team with that personnel could compete very well in the new CUSA.

This ^^^. Totally agree.

 

[Lil_Train]

Z
Kalu
Big Ham
Soloman
Frazier

For me, everyone else can stay or go but that said:

Must go:

Zachary
Sibley

I think you have to keep Hardy. He is tough as nails, and is an underrated leader.

 

[MineroFanatico]

I think you have to keep Hardy. He is tough as nails, and is an underrated leader.

Yep. Hardy is invaluable. I also think McKinney has so much potential. Love how he glides to the rim. He’s also a superb pick pocket. Feel like he can be an asset if he would just stay in one place long enough to pick up a system and find his place in it. Hopefully it’s in Golding’s system.

 

[groundrounds]

I think you have to keep Hardy. He is tough as nails, and is an underrated leader.

Agreed. We've got some good guards and McKinney is tough. We'll see if Golding can keep the core of these players in tact. If so, we'll be in a good place next season.

 

[Lil_Train]

Yep. Hardy is invaluable. I also think McKinney has so much potential. Love how he glides to the rim. He’s also a superb pick pocket. Feel like he can be an asset if he would just stay in one place long enough to pick up a system and find his place in it. Hopefully it’s in Golding’s system.

I read that starting this year, a second transfer to another D1 school would be more difficult (no waiver). If so, that may work in our favor with some of these guys.

 

[PickMyAxe915]

Onyema - keep
Kalu - keep
Hamilton - keep
Frazier - keep
Solomon - whatever
McKinney - whatever (great athlete)
Hardy - whatever
Sibley - bye
Dos Anjos - whatever
Lemus - bye
Zachery - bye

We need a guy who can score and we need a solid PG (or two). We need shooters. I like the big men we have honestly.

 

[axingfools1]

Keep Z, Kalu, Solomon, Dos Anjos, Frazier, Hardy and McKinney.

Not sure what's up with Sibley, but I can't see him staying as a bench player

Keep Sumlin and the 3 recruits.

Grab a starting PG and a shooter!

 

[groundrounds]

And keep in mind that Golding ball requires 10 deep. He wants 2 teams that can be interchangable.

 

[picks up]

It doesn’t - to current day recruits. Winning the 66 title doesn’t matter 2 fvcks to these players. Being successful in the 80s doesn’t matter either to them.

Why does UTEP pay their basketball coach $350,000 more than FAU does? Expectations and perception. It’s not my fault you’re okay with underperforming and seeing teams with tiny gyms be better than UTEP.

You're making a false assumption. I am absolutely not okay with the state of athletics. Just pointing out the hypocrisy in the point you made on this thread and the points that you always make.

Maybe I'm not the pessimistic person you are, but I'm certainly not optimistic on UTEP. As a matter of fact, I've been more pessimistic the last couple of years than I've ever been as a UTEP fan and I think my posts reflect that.

 

[picks up]

Speaking of winning, who are our must keep guys for next year?

I like the bigs and McKinney. The guards need an overhaul

 

[MinerFan79]

Who’s to say Gillespie could do that again? Sometimes thing’s just fall into place. He is a good coach but doesn’t mean it will always be a winner! Look at what happened in Kentucky.

Even worse, Look what happened to him a Tech

 

[develman]

We aren't a good shooting team from three and the free-throw line. Having said that not one D1 coach is going to ask players not to take open shots, just saying. Not shooting 3's is not an option. Not to mention that wouldn't help recruiting, to have a coach who doesn't let you shoot. We just have to get better through practice or replacement.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

You always say our history doesn’t matter to today’s recruit, so you can’t have it both ways. Either we’re on equal footing with FAU in this modern landscape, or our history does mean something. Which is it? I’m not sure you know yourself as you seem to play both sides of that argument. Just sayin.

I’m not saying he should be fired. I am just tired of the excuses. “He needs more time!” “He didn’t have enough time to recruit last year” and so on. I don’t think he will be successful here. Do I think he absolutely will be a failure? No, but my guess is that, this job won’t work out for us.

How am I playing both sides of the argument? History doesn’t mean anything to recruits. That’s why FAU has better players than us. That’s why black players play at Kentucky and other racist schools in the past. They simply don’t care.

History obviously matters to UTEP administrators and some fans though. That’s why UTEP pays its basketball coach $725,000 and FAU pays theirs $350,000. If UTEP expects to have a .500 record for 4 years, why do they pay their coach almost double of FAU? Because expectations are different. UTEP has a history of winning. FAU does not. That is the difference and that’s not playing both sides.

Right now UTEP is paying RuthChris prices for a Burger King meal. FAU is paying Burger King prices for a RuthChris meal.

 

[MineroFanatico]

I’m not saying he should be fired. I am just tired of the excuses. “He needs more time!” “He didn’t have enough time to recruit last year” and so on. I don’t think he will be successful here. Do I think he absolutely will be a failure? No, but my guess is that, this job won’t work out for us.

How am I playing both sides of the argument? History doesn’t mean anything to recruits. That’s why FAU has better players than us. That’s why black players play at Kentucky and other racist schools in the past. They simply don’t care.

History obviously matters to UTEP administrators and some fans though. That’s why UTEP pays its basketball coach $725,000 and FAU pays theirs $350,000. If UTEP expects to have a .500 record for 4 years, why do they pay their coach almost double of FAU? Because expectations are different. UTEP has a history of winning. FAU does not. That is the difference and that’s not playing both sides.

Right now UTEP is paying RuthChris prices for a Burger King meal. FAU is paying Burger King prices for a RuthChris meal.

Fair enough.

 

[Dmanminer]

I’m not saying he should be fired. I am just tired of the excuses. “He needs more time!” “He didn’t have enough time to recruit last year” and so on. I don’t think he will be successful here. Do I think he absolutely will be a failure? No, but my guess is that, this job won’t work out for us.

How am I playing both sides of the argument? History doesn’t mean anything to recruits. That’s why FAU has better players than us. That’s why black players play at Kentucky and other racist schools in the past. They simply don’t care.

History obviously matters to UTEP administrators and some fans though. That’s why UTEP pays its basketball coach $725,000 and FAU pays theirs $350,000. If UTEP expects to have a .500 record for 4 years, why do they pay their coach almost double of FAU? Because expectations are different. UTEP has a history of winning. FAU does not. That is the difference and that’s not playing both sides.

Right now UTEP is paying RuthChris prices for a Burger King meal. FAU is paying Burger King prices for a RuthChris meal.

Just wondering if you have ever had a positive thought.
I agree with you sometimes, but the negativity gets old.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

Just wondering if you have ever had a positive thought.
I agree with you sometimes, but the negativity gets old.

Yeah, but you know, not making the NIT, NCAAs, and bowl games get old. Sorry, that you don’t mind that. I do

 

[Dmanminer]

Yeah, but you know, not making the NIT, NCAAs, and bowl games get old. Sorry, that you don’t mind that. I do

No, I’m not happy with it!
Just wondering if you ever had a positive thought. Doesn’t even have to be about UTEP, or even sports.

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

No, I’m not happy with it!
Just wondering if you ever had a positive thought. Doesn’t even have to be about UTEP, or even sports.

Plenty

 

[JCorona]

No, I’m not happy with it!
Just wondering if you ever had a positive thought. Doesn’t even have to be about UTEP, or even sports.

He said something nice after the Charlotte win.

 

[Dmanminer]

He said something nice after the Charlotte win.

Guess I missed it!

 

[FiliUTEP]

Im sticking wit my prediction.

 

[unihorn]

I don’t see any of our current players portaling to much better teams.

I don’t see us poaching better players via the portal.

He’s going to have to create a mix of high school players, JUCOS, and maybe take a gamble on a good player or two with a strike against them in the character department.

We desperately need shooters.

 

[MinerFan79]

Just wondering if you have ever had a positive thought.
I agree with you sometimes, but the negativity gets old.

Then again our basketball team has now lost 5 straight and is in danger of missing the Conference USA tournament. NoWins generally speaks the truth

 

[NoNCAAWinsSince1992]

Then again our basketball team has now lost 5 straight and is in danger of missing the Conference USA tournament. NoWins generally speaks the truth

Thank you for noticing.

 

[kickballpro]

Then again our basketball team has now lost 5 straight and is in danger of missing the Conference USA tournament. NoWins generally speaks the truth

Can you miss the CUSA tournament?