It became obvious Wednesday that UTEP's basketball team's newly seen maturity is fragile. The Miners lost to Colorado State 56-53. Colorado State was a good team.
It was blue-collar vs. apprentice in solid basketball backs-and-forths until the last few minutes.
This was a game that saw 12 lead changes in the first half, and it wasn't until the final five minutes of the game that the Colorado State Rams, with a 6-0 run, took command. UTEP cut the score to -3, but it was too late.
UTEP, the Fresh -Frosh guys, had won two of three games in Hawaii just days ago, beating Clemson, losing to Kansas State and then beating Auburn. Pretty impressive.
But the season is longer than a good swing over on Hawaii. Yes, the Miners, now 6-7, are a fragile team when it comes to mature college basketball play. Colorado State was no slouch. Other opponents in upcoming Conference USA play (home and away) won't be slouches, either.
The good news: UTEP can play with good teams, and beat some of them.
Coach got outcoached.
Posted by: johnqpublic | December 29, 2011 at 12:01 AM
The bad news is that like Haskins, Floyd will always be playing against more athletic teams. The Miners under Haskins frequently played more athletic clubs like BYU, Utah, and New Mexico. It was only because of his coaching ability that we sometimes beat those teams.
Floyd will be like Haskins in that he will recruit the defensive minded players rather than the athletic ones. In the end, the Miners will be decent and we will all praise Floyd's coaching ability.
In the mean time, other schools will have the more exciting basketball teams and more championships.
Mark my words. Floyd will NEVER win CUSA championship.
Posted by: Adrian | December 30, 2011 at 08:55 AM
Colorado State was Not good! Yesterdays Championship game was boring. Colorado State was very unimpressive! They only reason they won that game against the Miners was because of all the turnovers! This young team needs to learn not to turn over the ball as much. Adrian I disagree with you, all the players Floyd has recruited have been very athletic, like Lang, Washburn, Streeter. Next years recruits may even be more athletic than this class! So you may have to eat your words Adrian! In the next couple years we will be C-USA champs and MARK MY WORDS Final Four Bound! GO MINERS!
Posted by: Erica | December 30, 2011 at 11:48 AM
Yep, I agree. I beleive we lost because we were tired from the Hawaii trip. You could tell Perez and Cooper's 3's were off the mark because of tired legs. I believe we have a very athletic team. I wish we could go up and down and run with the best. I keep hearing about Washburn weing the most athletic but I dont think you have seen Perez in the open court. This kid was the 2 time AZ state slam dunk champion in high school. check some you tube video's. We need to run....
Posted by: Henry | December 30, 2011 at 01:38 PM
There is some athleticism on the team. The problem is that Floyd won't allow them to run and gun. The biggest difference between Barbie and Floyd is that Barbie let his players play. Floyd always wants to control the game.
Floyd is a far better coach than Barbie or even Gillespie but they are better recruiters. If you look at the college game today, the blue chippers want to play a couple of years to showcase their talents and then move on to the NBA. Floyd isn't that kind of coach.
Posted by: Adrian | January 01, 2012 at 01:00 PM
About "Fragile maturity" whatever you wrote here seems to me pretty good. I would like to appreciate this segment view as well. Thanks mate.
Posted by: Adam Sandra | February 11, 2012 at 03:26 AM