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No, that is definitely Las Cruces.Next to a meth lab.
True that! That's why I love living in southern NM. Wanna buy some?Albucracky police will shoot for jay walking. LC police will tell you you're banned from the mall.
We need a 3rd guy to step up. It will likely be Hawkins, but tonight he threw up some total bricks before he stopped shooting. Lathon seems like a stat stuffer that just needs a little more time and confidence. I don't think Eze has really had a chance to get rolling due to limited minutes and quick substitutions.Gilyard and Efe!!! Gotta hope some others step up. At this point I doubt we can compete with anyone in CUSA. I didn't expect greatness, but expected more than this. Hawkins and Lathon had fancy credentials, so hopefully it starts to develop soon at this level. Looks scary right now.
He just said he has a knack for finishing plays like hardaway not anything more..... we looked terrible against a d -2 team
Honestly I know everyone is waiting until next year — but unless we hit it out of the park with every transfer we have I don’t see them being a top 3 team even next year..... Bryson Williams will help but what else??
Other than Gilyard, I doubt any of this year's team members would garner more than spot minutes if all the transfer guys were available this year. I thought Terry was pretty upfront during his post game comments last night. He mentioned that his plan for Efe at Fresno would have been as a developmental big who would not be playing extended minutes. He also mentioned that Floyd told him he needed a point guard; that Gilyard was actually a two guard. I agree. Right now, I see that position as one of the biggest question marks going into next year. Ideally, Hawkins or Lathon will develop into that role this year. I'm also thinking a 6'11" stretch four would look really good on next year's team. I could still see Terry tweaking next year's roster a bit depending on who develops this year.We have several big time transfers beside Williams.
1. Tydus Verhoeven led the A-10 in block shots as a freshmen last year.
2. Anthony Tarke was first team all conference in the Atlantic Sun
3. Souley Boum was freshmen all conference in the WCC
The cavalry is there but they can't play this year.
Lathon has major upside. It's newer competitve level for him, even if a D2 team. Gilyard had some facepalm moments last year. Hawkins got smoked on the defensive end a couple times. That was surprising. ENMU played a suffocating back court defense that put 4 on our guards. They focused on Hawk and shut him down. Downside was UTEP was able to break it and easily found a slashing player breaking to basket, mostly Gilyard and Efe.Gilyard and Efe!!! Gotta hope some others step up. At this point I doubt we can compete with anyone in CUSA. I didn't expect greatness, but expected more than this. Hawkins and Lathon had fancy credentials, so hopefully it starts to develop soon at this level. Looks scary right now.
I remember Hardaway's first two years. Gilyard is way ahead of him IMO, right now in their second year. Hardaway had a much stronger supporting cast of team mates.
I agree that conference season will be tough to stomach. It could be more optomistic if Thomas was less foul prone and more consistent.
Hawk has a bum hand. They're not talking about it but it f's your game. You need it to catch, shoot, balance your shot, etc; and until its 100%, fans need to temper expectations. Like I said, ENMU was focused on him but had no answer for Gilyard who looked like Vince Hunter last night.
Regarding EZ; apparently CRT has adopted a strategy to platoon EZ and EFY. He wants EFY on offense and EZ on defense; thus limiting their fouls. I doubt he'll ever have them in together, although from my standpoint it might be worth a try. I agree there's definitely some value added when EZ is on the floor and the more time he gets the faster he'll develop. He certainly has shown more upside than PT on the inside.Please understand that I moved to San Antonio over the summer, and as such I have yet to see this team play. My analysis is based solely on what I see in the box scores, and what I have read in game recaps and analysis from those whose opinions I trust.
That said, before the Fab Five made the NCAA Championship game with a starting line up of five freshmen, and way before teams like Kentucky were winning with freshmen dominant rosters, there was an old expression: the best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores. Freshmen weren't expected to walk into the court and be instant stars, the few that did so were unexpected surprises. Now, with freshmen at places like Kentucky, Duke, and Kansas regularly becoming All Americans out of the gate before heading immediately off to the NBA, fans expect way too much from first year players. And while freshmen superstars may have become the norm on the power teams, here in the mid majors seeing all conference play from 18 year olds is still an anamoly.
We are only four games into a season with a rotation composed of four freshmen, two sophomores, a walk on, and an under performing senior. It is WAY too early to give up on guys like Hawkins, Lathon, and Ezeagu, who, again, have only played FOUR games at this level. Most knowledgeable fans warned before the season began that this year would be a struggle. The good news is that our young players will, out of necessity, be given a baptism by fire this season, each playing major minutes as Coach Terry has no other choice. My bet is that each of these guys looks significantly better by the end of the year.
Still, there are some things that do concern me about the beginning of the season, including last night's game. Paul Thomas played very well the last half of his sophomore season, and looked like he had a bright future ahead of him. With the exception of a strong first half against Arizona, however, he hasn't played like the senior leader he should be. The four year player and three year starter should be scoring more, rebounding more, and staying out of foul trouble so that we don't have to place so much burden on our freshmen bigs. That he has regressed, rather than improved, since the end of his sophomore season is sad. This young team could really benefit from true senior leadership.
Another thing that's bothering me from last night is Kobe Magee. During the conference season last year Magee led CUSA in three point field goal percentage. Yet last night, when his teammates were throwing up enough bricks to expand the DHC, Kobe only launched two 3 pointers, hitting one. Perhaps the best pure shooter on the team, he needs to be more aggressive, and take more shots.
Can someone who did see the game please explain to me why Ezeagu only played nine minutes last night? In those nine minutes he hit his only three shots, collected 3 boards, and had an assist and a steal. These are solid stats, and he wasn't in foul trouble. Was he missing defensive assignments? Did he look lost out there? On such a depleted roster I would have expected more minutes based on his stat sheet, but, again, I wasn't there.
As others have said, be prepared for a long year. Fortunately, that will leave us with an experienced group of players by year's end, who should meld nicely with the exciting group of transfers we have coming on board next season.
Regarding EZ; apparently CRT has adopted a strategy to platoon EZ and EFY. He wants EFY on offense and EZ on defense; thus limiting their fouls. I doubt he'll ever have them in together, although from my standpoint it might be worth a try. I agree there's definitely some value added when EZ is on the floor and the more time he gets the faster he'll develop. He certainly has shown more upside than PT on the inside.
CRT played Efe more because we were in jealousy of losing.