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When will Roderick Williams arrive at UTEP?

Leaves a dear John note? Thats lame. What does Jesus say about being respectful to yourself, your team, your coach and keeping your word? Hopefully that takes care of all of this years' problems in one fowl swoop. Now we can focus on the players here. Hopefully Williams is watching them on TV during March. Excited about next week!
 
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In that video, I thought he was building up to saying the words "no excuses this year," but alas he did not.
 
And I laughed at his latest deep dig stat -- only 4% of mid-majors, not counting the Big East, got an at-large tourney bid last year (if I understood his math/comments correctly).
 
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No, he didn't. But...CTF seems a bit more humble. He spared us the excuses.

There were some subtle excuses:

- mid-major disadvantage
- gotta win the CUSA tourney but conference is loaded
- kids these days
 
So let's say March Madness is just an unrealistic expectation -- how about a conference championship?
 
There were some subtle excuses:

- mid-major disadvantage
- gotta win the CUSA tourney but conference is loaded
- kids these days

I'm not exactly a CTF supporter. Haven't been for the last 3-4 years. I heard some reasons and an excuse.

I do agree with the notion of G5 programs being at a disadvantage. Looking at it objectively, there's no way to deny that the tables are more than tilted in favor of P5s.

WKU, La Tech, UAB, Old Dominion and MTSU
are all on par with us. It is a pretty good conference at the top. It's the bottom half that devaluates our conference. Not an excuse. Just realistically, tough teams to finish in front of.

"Kids these days". Excuse! Well that's what I've said about Floyd. He can't relate to today's kid. I don't think he's been especially flexible and it has cost him individual players and team chemistry. His teams don't seem to have much fun. They don't play loose. They appear to quit on him at times. "Kids these days". That one is on him.

With all that said, it's still time to win, or go home.
 
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I'm not exactly a CTF supporter. Haven't been for the last 3-4 years. I heard some reasons and an excuse.

I do agree with the notion of G5 programs being at a disadvantage. Looking at it objectively, there's no way to deny that the tables are more than tilted in favor of P5s.

WKU, La Tech, UAB, Old Dominion and MTSU
are all on par with us. It is a pretty good conference at the top. It's the bottom half that devaluates our conference. Not an excuse. Just realistically, tough teams to finish in front of.

"Kids these days". Excuse! Well that's what I've said about Floyd. He can't relate to today's kid. I don't think he's been especially flexible and it has cost him individual players and team chemistry. His teams don't seem to have much fun. They don't play loose. They appear to quit on him at times. "Kids these days". That one is on him.

With all that said, it's still time to win, or go home.

Well said. I just think he needs to put a goal out there. If NCAAs are a long shot, then how about winning the conference.
 
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Unihorn leave the basketball to people that know what there talking about go search the internet for the the weatherman with the biggest dick and post it. Coach Floyd thanks for the insight Miners we're jacked up too.
 
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Unihorn leave the basketball to people that know what there talking about go search the internet for the the weatherman with the biggest dick and post it. Coach Floyd thanks for the insight Miners we're jacked up too.

How about a bet, dickhead. Over/under 20 wins. I'll take the under, even with the easy schedule. How much you want?
 
I'm not exactly a CTF supporter. Haven't been for the last 3-4 years. I heard some reasons and an excuse.

I do agree with the notion of G5 programs being at a disadvantage. Looking at it objectively, there's no way to deny that the tables are more than tilted in favor of P5s.

WKU, La Tech, UAB, Old Dominion and MTSU
are all on par with us. It is a pretty good conference at the top. It's the bottom half that devaluates our conference. Not an excuse. Just realistically, tough teams to finish in front of.

"Kids these days". Excuse! Well that's what I've said about Floyd. He can't relate to today's kid. I don't think he's been especially flexible and it has cost him individual players and team chemistry. His teams don't seem to have much fun. They don't play loose. They appear to quit on him at times. "Kids these days". That one is on him.

With all that said, it's still time to win, or go home.
CUSA is an average conference at best. Tim has the highest budget to work with in CUSA, so there is no excuse not to have won at least 1 CUSA regular season championship or 1 CUSA tourney in 7 years. Previous coaches have won at least 1 out of those 2 in half the time and in a more difficult CUSA. I am a Floyd supporter, but it is becoming more snd more difficult to support him these days.
 
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Based on history, it's a scenario that has no positive spin. The familiar "hush" from the athletic department speaks negative tones, once again. It's simply mind boggling that they either aren't capable of explanations or don't give a damn about their fan support which they must know is tenuous.
Back to my previous post... I repeat, reiterate and say it again, "they either aren't capable of explanations or don't give a damn about their fan support"
I have always backed Floyd because he is "our" coach. His desire to win is even greater than yours or mine. He is tough to defend at times, but some of the bad
S__t that's come his way is simply bad luck. This Williams thing, as I said earlier would have been a lot easier to swallow if he had announced the outcome when it happened instead of waiting for a reporter to publicly ask him about it. He had to know that everyone was waiting and wondering.
Amen.
 
Could it be possible the reason Floyd didn't say anything was because he was hoping Williams would change his mind again and he didn't want to say anything until it was pretty clear he wasn't coming? If I had a good player that did what he did I wouldnt say anything until I was 98 percent sure he wasn't coming
 
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The people in here that say cusa is garbage... you guys are nuts!!! You guys are just going by the rankings... our bottom teams bring us down sooo bad it's ridiculous!! We have a top 5-6 teams here that could be successful anywhere--- the last three NCAA tournament teams should show that to you!
 
So did we run off Barrett, in order to get down to 13 scholarships?(as Floyd referenced on signing day). Yet with Williams now leaving, we will have to enter the season down a player. We probably wouldn't have cut Barrett, if they had an idea that Williams might not want to play here. So this likely means that Floyd is being pretty truthful, in that Williams leaving was completely unexpected.
 
The people in here that say cusa is garbage... you guys are nuts!!! You guys are just going by the rankings... our bottom teams bring us down sooo bad it's ridiculous!! We have a top 5-6 teams here that could be successful anywhere--- the last three NCAA tournament teams should show that to you!

Duck for cover...lightening could strike. Cuz for once I am gonna have to agree with you on that PURPLE.
 
Just as the final "nail in the coffin" on this topic, as of this morning, Williams has been officially removed from the roster on the UTEP website. The only question remaining with him, will be if he will be granted a release and 3 years or 2 years at his next school.

As for our team, practices began this morning and I am looking forward to seeing August basketball practice updates for the first time ever.
 
If he would have changed his mind a few months ago there's a little more room for understanding and forgiveness, but in my opinion there needs to be a price to pay for this kind of bad judgement and I don't think it should be the coaches responsibility to decide whether or not to grant a release. The NCAA steps in with rulings and proclamations consistently, as they should but they need to step up and put a stop to this last minute habit of players not living up to their commitments. Why should the school and coach be the injured ones when the bumbling, immature, confused player is the culprit who should be dealt the punishment?
 
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So did we run off Barrett, in order to get down to 13 scholarships?(as Floyd referenced on signing day). Yet with Williams now leaving, we will have to enter the season down a player. We probably wouldn't have cut Barrett, if they had an idea that Williams might not want to play here. So this likely means that Floyd is being pretty truthful, in that Williams leaving was completely unexpected.
During the late signing period press conference, Floyd firmly mentioned that his expectation for next year's team was to have a full roster (presumably comprised of 13 D1 level players). At that point, Barrett had yet to announce his transfer, but it was clear he was not in the plans for next year. In fact, it was likely his fate was sealed when both Gilyard and Magee were signed early.

All that said, I do think that the Williams move was completely unexpected. If Williams had made his intentions known earlier, it is possible Barrett could have stayed or another player could have been brought in late. Hindsight is 20/20. As Floyd mentioned, the loss of Williams will not be felt nearly as much as the losses of Hunter and Lee Moore, for example. He mentioned that Paul Thomas could slide over to the SF position, along side of Willms and Jones. However, after watching Williams several times, I do think he would have had a positive impact on the team, and did possess a skill-set that is not on the team currently. At a minimum, I saw him as an energy guy off of the bench, who was scrappy rebounder, and a guy who could get to the line. The other guys will need to step up. Time to move on.
 
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If he would have changed his mind a few months ago there's a little more room for understanding and forgiveness, but in my opinion there needs to be a price to pay for this kind of bad judgement and I don't think it should be the coaches responsibility to decide whether or not to grant a release. The NCAA steps in with rulings and proclamations consistently, as they should but they need to step up and put a stop to this last minute habit of players not living up to their commitments. Why should the school and coach be the injured ones when the bumbling, immature, confused player is the culprit who should be dealt the punishment?


Because he's a 20 year old kid, prone to making mistakes. He's not acting alone, as he is merely a product of the society in which he is growing up. A society that is slowly eroding in terms of honoring commitment and taking personal responsibility. I'm not happy with what RW did, nor am I defending him, however coaches up and leave all the time. Often times with years remaining on their contracts. The SYSTEM is what is screwy. This isn't an isolated incident. The NCAA is partly at fault, with their inconsistent rulings that tend to favor the money schools. They are the ones who need to get their shit together and either revise said system, or at the very least, be consistent with their guidelines and bylaws.

Truth be told, there was probably someone in Williams' ear advising him to stay close to home. There are at least a couple coaches out that way who are not above doing so. It'll be interesting to see where the kid ends up.
 
The people in here that say cusa is garbage... you guys are nuts!!! You guys are just going by the rankings... our bottom teams bring us down sooo bad it's ridiculous!! We have a top 5-6 teams here that could be successful anywhere--- the last three NCAA tournament teams should show that to you!
I agree with you in that the top teams can compete with anyone. You say our bottom teams are "sooo bad it's ridiculous!!" So there really shouldn't be any reason why UTEP loses to them. We've done an ok job against the bottom teams but with our coach, budget and everything else in our favor we should be sweeping those teams.

Last season we finished 5-1 vs the bottom four teams. Not too bad but had we gone 6-0 we finish 3rd in the standings and avoid MTSU in the semifinals. Possibly guaranteeing us a spot in the championship game. We might still lose but UTEP should be making championship games.

In 2015-2016 we went 5-3 vs bottom four teams. Had we taken care of business and gone 8-0 all of a sudden we jump from 6th to 3rd in the CUSA tournament. We would have still faced off against Marshall in the quarterfinals. The day off and Marshall having played an extra game could have been enough to overcome the two point loss we originally had to them. In the semifinals we would have had a shot at revenge against MT who knocked us out of the tournament during the 2014-2015 season. Who knows maybe this time things go our way and we advance to the championship game.

In 2014-2015 we finished 4-2 vs bottom four teams. If we had the clean sweep our overall conference record improves to 15-3 and we are co-champions with La Tech. Avoiding those two losses give us a big boost to our RPI and possibly gets us a home game in the NIT instead of the #6 seed we received.

I could go on but I think you get the point.

Had we beat the shitty teams of CUSA more than likely Tim Floyd would have a regular season trophy, a few more tries at a tournament championship, and maybe even a post season victory.
 
I agree with you in that the top teams can compete with anyone. You say our bottom teams are "sooo bad it's ridiculous!!" So there really shouldn't be any reason why UTEP loses to them. We've done an ok job against the bottom teams but with our coach, budget and everything else in our favor we should be sweeping those teams.

Last season we finished 5-1 vs the bottom four teams. Not too bad but had we gone 6-0 we finish 3rd in the standings and avoid MTSU in the semifinals. Possibly guaranteeing us a spot in the championship game. We might still lose but UTEP should be making championship games.

In 2015-2016 we went 5-3 vs bottom four teams. Had we taken care of business and gone 8-0 all of a sudden we jump from 6th to 3rd in the CUSA tournament. We would have still faced off against Marshall in the quarterfinals. The day off and Marshall having played an extra game could have been enough to overcome the two point loss we originally had to them. In the semifinals we would have had a shot at revenge against MT who knocked us out of the tournament during the 2014-2015 season. Who knows maybe this time things go our way and we advance to the championship game.

In 2014-2015 we finished 4-2 vs bottom four teams. If we had the clean sweep our overall conference record improves to 15-3 and we are co-champions with La Tech. Avoiding those two losses give us a big boost to our RPI and possibly gets us a home game in the NIT instead of the #6 seed we received.

I could go on but I think you get the point.

Had we beat the shitty teams of CUSA more than likely Tim Floyd would have a regular season trophy, a few more tries at a tournament championship, and maybe even a post season victory.

Yep, and it all goes back to spotty recruiting, constant turnover, and lack of depth.
 
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I agree with you in that the top teams can compete with anyone. You say our bottom teams are "sooo bad it's ridiculous!!" So there really shouldn't be any reason why UTEP loses to them. We've done an ok job against the bottom teams but with our coach, budget and everything else in our favor we should be sweeping those teams.

Last season we finished 5-1 vs the bottom four teams. Not too bad but had we gone 6-0 we finish 3rd in the standings and avoid MTSU in the semifinals. Possibly guaranteeing us a spot in the championship game. We might still lose but UTEP should be making championship games.

In 2015-2016 we went 5-3 vs bottom four teams. Had we taken care of business and gone 8-0 all of a sudden we jump from 6th to 3rd in the CUSA tournament. We would have still faced off against Marshall in the quarterfinals. The day off and Marshall having played an extra game could have been enough to overcome the two point loss we originally had to them. In the semifinals we would have had a shot at revenge against MT who knocked us out of the tournament during the 2014-2015 season. Who knows maybe this time things go our way and we advance to the championship game.

In 2014-2015 we finished 4-2 vs bottom four teams. If we had the clean sweep our overall conference record improves to 15-3 and we are co-champions with La Tech. Avoiding those two losses give us a big boost to our RPI and possibly gets us a home game in the NIT instead of the #6 seed we received.

I could go on but I think you get the point.

Had we beat the shitty teams of CUSA more than likely Tim Floyd would have a regular season trophy, a few more tries at a tournament championship, and maybe even a post season victory.

You are not listening to what I was saying.... I totally agree with you utep should not lose to fau/fiu or any of the bottom teams.... what I am saying is how many people here say how bad our conference is which I totally disagree with... those people are just looking at the rankings.... we are just a top heavy conference.... any top 5-6 team here would be tough in any other conference... all I am saying is our bottom are sooo bad they really sink us to the lower depths of the ocean!! I think we actually have a tougher bball conference than a lot of people think because of those top 5-6 teams I mean utep, la tech, Uab, mtsu, old dominion, western Kentucky..... those are all pretty good teams...
 
You are not listening to what I was saying.... I totally agree with you utep should not lose to fau/fiu or any of the bottom teams.... what I am saying is how many people here say how bad our conference is which I totally disagree with... those people are just looking at the rankings.... we are just a top heavy conference.... any top 5-6 team here would be tough in any other conference... all I am saying is our bottom are sooo bad they really sink us to the lower depths of the ocean!! I think we actually have a tougher bball conference than a lot of people think because of those top 5-6 teams I mean utep, la tech, Uab, mtsu, old dominion, western Kentucky..... those are all pretty good teams...

Perhaps if we re-word it, what you're saying might make more sense. If we look at the conference as a whole, which is an objective view, then cusa is not all that good. There are a lot of gimmies on the schedule. Or they should be gimmies anyway. We all know from experience that doesn't necessarily hold true. But......and this is where I agree with you PURPLE, cusa is just as tough TO WIN as many of the conferences ranked above us, because of the quality and strength of those top tier teams you mentioned....some of which have recently gone to the Dance and knocked off MUCH higher ranked opponents...proving your point, imo.
 
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