UTEP’s Offense is Offensive In 12-Point Loss to Louisiana Tech [VIDEO]

When Tim Floyd took over the UTEP head coaching job more than four years ago, he promised an NBA-style of offense for his UTEP teams. After last night's 58-45 loss to Louisiana Tech, the Miners gave their best New York Knicks impersonation and resembled a team that had no idea what to do on offense. UTEP scored only 12 points in the second half against the Bulldogs, and Coach Floyd said his team stood around on offense for most of the night. The problem is, that is the kind of offense that Miners fans have been used to since Floyd replaced Tony Barbee as head coach. This team has very few playmakers who are not named Vince Hunter, and even their best player has struggled to score when opposing defenses focus on shutting him down. UTEP's guard play has been a big disappointment all season, and seniors CJ Cooper and Julian Washburn have not delivered on a consistent basis. Freshman point guard Omega Harris is not yet ready to lead this team, although he has an enormous amount of potential.

With the exception of the Xavier game in the Wooden Classic, UTEP has lost every big game they have had on the schedule (Washington, Colorado State, and Arizona). Their loss on the road against NMSU was a bad one, considering the Aggies were missing three of their top players. Last night's game was particularly frustrating because La Tech did not resemble the preseason #1 team in Conference USA. 25th ranked Old Dominion is currently 13-1, and UTEP will have a hard time handling them on February 14th when they play the Miners at the Don Haskins Center.

A few months ago, this UTEP team received a ton of preseason hype as the best squad in the Tim Floyd era. After 15 games, it looks like another potential disappointment for Miners fans, who are wondering when their team will return to the NCAA Tournament? Unless this group makes huge strides in their offense, free throw shooting, rebounding, and effort, this group will not come close to living up to the hype. Any other head coach would probably be on the hot seat. But this is Tim Floyd, and you have to wonder if his job will ever be in jeopardy at UTEP?