UTEP vs Rice

[axingfools1]

Vegas has UTEP -10

ESPN gives UTEP an 87% chance to win

UTEP's RPI dropped 11 to 279

This is the time to get back on track offensively and continue to rebound better. That UNT loss still hurts but hopefully the coaches learned a few things. I expect Willms and Frazier to start from here on out. Who wants to see Willms and Smith in at the same time?

 

[miner1liner]

Call me a fair weather fan. I will not watch the Rice game tonight and hopefully will not allow myself to get wrapped up with anymore false hope for the season. The punishment is too much to endure. I will continue to live in the past when we were winning and competitive with anyone, anytime, anywhere. Can't handle these feeble showings against teams we would have buried in the good ole days.
Frazier, Willms and Wade must play minutes. If Omega and Thomas don't contribute; bench 'em.
I'll read about if tomorrow.

 

[picks up]

Willms and Smith would have been a force together but we don't have the depth to do play that way

 

[axingfools1]

Call me a fair weather fan. I will not watch the Rice game tonight and hopefully will not allow myself to get wrapped up with anymore false hope for the season. The punishment is too much to endure. I will continue to live in the past when we were winning and competitive with anyone, anytime, anywhere. Can't handle these feeble showings against teams we would have buried in the good ole days.
Frazier, Willms and Wade must play minutes. If Omega and Thomas don't contribute; bench 'em.
I'll read about if tomorrow.

Fair enough. I may not be able to go either but for other reasons.

 

[axingfools1]

Willms and Smith would have been a force together but we don't have the depth to do play that way

True for UTEP's standards, but this time of year a lot of teams are going with rotations of 7-8 players only. A good example is the #1 team in the nation Villanova. I know they have better players, but maybe Johnson needs to consider shortening the rotation. He has nothing to lose anymore. I would like to see Willms, Smith and Thomas rotate in the paint. Frazier needs to play 35+ minutes. Wade, Omega and our two point guards (whoever takes control or is playing well). We need to ATTACK on offense and not be tentative. Omega needs to step up or yes spend more time on the bench. Osborne or Touchet can take some of his minutes until he gets back into attack mode.

 

[nattybry]

It's a 500 type of year and out in the quarter finals. As a fan I always hope for the win and this game they should win, but the season is gonna be what we all expect

 

[ShovelMan66]

Call me a fair weather fan. I will not watch the Rice game tonight and hopefully will not allow myself to get wrapped up with anymore false hope for the season. The punishment is too much to endure. I will continue to live in the past when we were winning and competitive with anyone, anytime, anywhere. Can't handle these feeble showings against teams we would have buried in the good ole days.
Frazier, Willms and Wade must play minutes. If Omega and Thomas don't contribute; bench 'em.
I'll read about if tomorrow.

You don't need to defend not attending a game. Sports is fun and sometimes it's life. Sometimes it's not. Going because you feel it's an obligation, means it's not fun. Doesn't make you less of a fan.

 

[miner1liner]

You don't need to defend not attending a game. Sports is fun and sometimes it's life. Sometimes it's not. Going because you feel it's an obligation, means it's not fun. Doesn't make you less of a fan.

I am a Dallas resident. When I say " watch", I mean on Miner TV. Last year was the first time that I made no effort to get back to EP for a game, because I've been an addict since the 60's. No more!

 

[Lil_Train]

It's a 500 type of year and out in the quarter finals. As a fan I always hope for the win and this game they should win, but the season is gonna be what we all expect

I agree with this season's projection, unfortunately. I think Floyd saw that as well, and that factored into his decision to "retire". On top of that, he also could project what the team looks like next year. In any event, I am all for playing the younger guys; specifically Wade and Osborne to see if they can start living up to their preseason hype. I'd rather see these guys, and live with some mistakes, than giving more minutes to Flaggert and Touchet. The problem with that approach is compounded by inexperienced, and error prone freshman point guards.

 

[UTEPfan1966]

Honestly, I have been to every game including the 2 orange and white games. I see a lot of talent on our team, but piss poor coaching. The rotation this year is totally baffling. I will be glad when I finally hear Johnson is gone.
I just don't get all the love for Paul Thomas. I just don't see the talent or the effort. He's goofy and uncoordinated most of the time. I would rather see Flaggert in there hustling 100% of the time than Thomas. Yes, I realize Jake is limited in abilities, but he busts his butt the whole time and, for the record, he would have hit that game winner Thursday with out a doubt.

 

[El Paso 777]

It's a 500 type of year and out in the quarter finals. As a fan I always hope for the win and this game they should win, but the season is gonna be what we all expect

Unfortunately I don't even see a .500 season. I don't see UTEP going 9-5 the rest of the season.

 

[nattybry]

Unfortunately I don't even see a .500 season. I don't see UTEP going 9-5 the rest of the season.

Well minus Frazier now, no

 

[MineroFanatico]

Well minus Frazier now, no

He is expected back from my understanding

 

[TW3miner]

Y'all don't act so surprised about Frazier, he was a ticking time bomb from the beginning. He could been a good fit but his attitude was gonna was always gonna be problem.

 

[MineroFanatico]

Y'all don't act so surprised about Frazier, he was a ticking time bomb from the beginning. He could been a good fit but his attitude was gonna was always gonna be problem.

I think most of us who were paying attention could've surmised as much, however it doesn't make it any less of a blow. He single handedly has kept us in some games. The dude can flat out shoot.

I, for one, hope he makes it back.

 

[miner1liner]

Per my previous post; I did not watch the game, but will probably look at the archived stream. I have screamed many times about Wade and Osborne not having proper PT and also that Omega and Thomas should be benched in favor of others and it appears that is what happened last night. Coach Johnson said he was happy to see such a nice game from Wade. He seemed shocked. Too bad he didn't discover his abilities sooner. Maybe we would have won some of those crummy games that we lost.
What last night's result means to me is that they showed they can play and therefore there's some hope where there wasn't before. Guess the games this week will reveal more. I'm hoping for the best.

 

[axingfools1]

I was able to make the game and take a few family members that had not seen the miners play this year. I didn't notice Frazier was gone until after the game started. I know he came here to play, but quitting now will not do him any good. I'm not sure what Johnson is trying to prove by benching players left and right and pulling players after missed shots though. It creates a tentative offense.

I thought the game started off poorly again on offense. We tried to force everthing inside and the ball didn't move well around the perimeter. We didn't defend the 3. Luckily Rice couldn't make many shots and the game was close at the half. Second half was the best 3 point shooting I've seen from UTEP in a long time. Osborne and McGee were great. After Thomas picked up 2 quick fouls, Wade was all over the place. Good to see the the young lineup throughout. Smith and Touchet were very efficient too.

My take away is that Rice is really bad. Omega was a good cheerleader from the bench. He did look a bit quicker though. Willms and Thomas need to play together and Smith/Wade together. I hope Frazier comes back and Osborne continues to shoot like he did last night.

 

[dandaminerman]

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