UTEP is way ahead of logic. It was another big win Christmas evening, this time 83-76 over Auburn in Hawaii. Didn't UTEP used to be racking up wins over Cardinal Stritch or Doane College this early in the season?
The record is 6-6, better than expected. But the play under second-year Coach Tim Floyd has been next year's team, not this group of one returnee ( Gabe McCulley) and a lockerrom full of sidekicks who still don't know up and down Mesa Street, much less the rigors of January and February in major-college basketball. This was supposed to be just holding on until next year's recruits enroll.
I don't think that's the case (I like that big Lang kid a lot).
What we saw on EPSN2 Sunday was two faces of recent UTEP.
Auburn is coached by previousl four-year Miner Coach Tony Barbee, who brought in talent, all right, and seemed to have a strategy of going out on game night and playing up to each athlete's ability. The guys had a lot green-light go-ahead. Bad night with the green light? No so good.
UTEP is now coached by Tim Floyd, who took over Barbee's upperclassmen leftovers last year, did pretty well, and then brought some "no-names-yet" guys to town this year. And compared to Barbee's style of coaching, Floyd's strategy is not letting each guy play to his pedigree, but each guy has to perform to a plan of attack.
So impressive was UTEP vs. Auburn, Floyd vs. Barbie, on Sunday. Auburn definitely had more physical power; guys who chose the SEC vs. UTEP's Conference USA. But we saw smart play, clutch offense (Bohannan and Perez) ...
There's no young UTEP team in history that would have already defeated the ACC's Clemson and the SEC's Auburn this early in a season.
Reasons:
His Coachency would not have ventured out into the big-time world of basketball this early in the season. His therory was to get ready for conference.
Haskins' followers, Coaches Rab, Gillispie and Doc, would not have won these games with these players.
But Floyd did.
There is something special going on in Utepia.
I agree Joe! This guys are young and they have already beaten an ACC and an SEC team. Impressive. they have made quite a turn around after losing to UTSA and Stephen F Austin.
I really think this team can be at the top of the conference this year. and im even more excited about the talent they are bringing in next year to help out.
By the time Washburn, Perez, Lang, Bohannon, and Cooper are veterans, they should be making deep tournament runs!
Posted by: Prospero | December 25, 2011 at 11:41 PM
dont forget we also get washburns brother next year as well
Posted by: rhino | December 26, 2011 at 02:24 AM
Other posters in past years had stated that Barbee was a good recruiter but not so good as a coach. I believe that now. On the on hand, you have a young Miner team playing with more discipline than I can remember seeing in recent years. On the other hand, you saw Barbee get out-coached last night. Every time Auburn made a move the Miners had an answer. Some of those answers came in the form of perfectly executed plays. Except for a couple of instances, the Miners didn't take bad shots and didn't make dumb passes. These players have talent but more importantly, they are playing Floyd's game (to paraphrase Glory Road).
Posted by: Canaima | December 26, 2011 at 07:57 AM
What a sweet revenge win against a Barbee coached band of individualists! Tim Floyed schooled Barbee on, "discipline", and "team play"!
I could see it in Barbee's eyes he was peeved!
Boy, that win against schmuck Barbee felt,
sooo goooood!!
Posted by: Monchis | December 26, 2011 at 11:02 AM
Barbee was a joke a UTEP and a joke at Auburn. Adios Barbra.
Posted by: bill | December 26, 2011 at 11:29 AM
when barbee gets fired i suggest that tim hires him as a recruiter....
also i believe for the fist time in years that the miners in two years could become a top ten team if Tim stays....
Posted by: Pelon | December 26, 2011 at 01:10 PM
Barbee looked down upon El Paso when he was here, so I am glad that a real coach showed him how to get it done. Like Mack Brown in football, Barbee is a first rate recruiter but a below average coach and this will become glaringly clear in the SEC. At UTEP, he had a squad that on talent alone had the skills to make a deep run in the NCAA. Had Barbee been a better coach (and human being) that 2010 team could have taken him to the Final Four. I can assure that that same squad, in Floyd's or even Gillespie's hands would have gone that far. Sadly, if Moultrie had not transferred before last season, Floyd would have developed a serious contender (and Moultrie would have known what it is to really be coached by someone who knows what they are doing.
Posted by: mike | December 26, 2011 at 01:34 PM
I believe that now. On the on hand, you have a young Miner team playing with more discipline than I can remember seeing in recent years. Thanks mate.
Posted by: Mark waugh | December 28, 2011 at 01:59 AM
I honestly thought this team would be lucky to win 10 games all year and now I feel 10 wins in CUSA is attainable. It's night and day what has happened to this squad and I could not be more excited about having CTF here teaching these guys how to play smart offense and ferocious defense. These are the Miner teams we all grew up with, but i think the big difference will be the quality of players CTF brings in. The Washburns, Tymond Howard are top recruits and mix that in with the diamonds in the rough like Lang, Cooper and Streeter. Perez looks like an entire different player and as long as JBO gets his head straight, he can be a legit threat. Can't forget about Gabe who plays hard every single time and has been a major addition since he came back from injury.
It will be exciting to watch these guys grow up together for the next few seasons, Joe's right, this is something special CTF is building.
One other thing, stop hating on Barbee people, he did what he needed to do at UTEP and moved on. He won a league title outright and took UTEP back to the tourney. That UTEP squad a few years back had 3 starters that are potential NBA guys (Caracter, Stone, Moultrie), and we all knew Culpepper was one of the best athletes to ever play at UTEP. That's impressive. Stop hating. Move on, we got CTF now and it's all good.
Posted by: rj | December 28, 2011 at 07:47 AM
I'm not buying into all the optimism. We just lost at home to a CSU team that was 0-5 vs the top 50 according to Sagarin.
We were ranked 164th in RPI before the game and we will plunge further. We will not win 10 conf games even though the conf is pretty sorry this year.
Posted by: Steve FIscher | December 29, 2011 at 06:26 AM
i don't think anyone realistically thinks utep is going to win the conference this year, but this team of mainly freshmen and sophomores has improved tremendously under this coaching staff in just a few weeks. that is where the true optimism is coming from. coach johnson put it very well after the 1st aggie game, saying he didn't want to ruin anyones dreams, but this team is not going to win the national title this year, probably not conference usa either. if this team stays together, there will be very good days ahead in the next 3 to 4 years.
Posted by: boomer sooner | December 30, 2011 at 01:19 AM
It saddens me how so many people dislike Barbie. All the guy did was bring the most talented players UTEP has ever had and win championships and took us to the big dance.
Tim Floyd hasn't done either and yet he is already better liked.
Is there something more to this hatred of Barbie?
Posted by: Adrian | December 30, 2011 at 08:49 AM