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http://www.meangreensports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205418845 Play fast and loose with a purpose. Expect great work ethic. The way he wanted to play: "to win championships you need to play defense". Goal was to be one of the best defenses in the country. Goal is to win big. "Johnny has done a great job... my job is just to take it to the next level" Goal is to win the conference tournament "which we are going to do" and win in the NCAA. "You want to take over a program where they understand how to win" Recruiting - "We are going to build it with local guys" http://sportdfw.com/2012/11/01/north-texas-coach-tony-benford-discusses-tony-mitchell-and-mean-green-basketball-at-sun-belt-media-day/ "I think the new rules for the NCAA allows us to work our guys in the summer, it was really beneficial for us as a staff coming in to a veteran group we were able to work. Like to give coach Jones (Johnny, left for LSU) a lot of credit he did a great job of getting us some really quality players, obviously he had a lot of success here. We were able to kind of put our staff on early as far as how we want to play, how hard we want to play, what we want to do offensively and defensively and our guys have been accountable. They’ve been getting better every day I like where we are at right now." "I have a great staff, a few guys on here (Rob Evans, Bart Lundy) that have won 200-300 games in their careers. Our unity, our chemistry is really good right now. I think the guys understand our system, they understand were going to win games with defense rebounding. They understand that’s our philosophy, offensively were going to try and get easy baskets and force it in transition. They are starting to understand how we want to play but more importantly how hard we have to play if we are going to have a chance to win games." "Yea it really helps when you inherit a really good group, a group that’s had some success. They obviously didn’t have the success they wanted last year but everyone talks about how much talent we have but we only had 1 guy on the all conference team so I don’t know how much talent we do have. You look at some teams middle Tennessee I think could be like Murray State this year. With the players they have back and I think they are really talented, they won 25 games last year. I’ve got a good group; I have 5 seniors and 3 really good underclassmen. We have a kid Keith Coleman who I think is a Big East center at 6’10 and 250; he’s a quality player. We added also PJ Hardwick a guard who originally signed with Mississippi State, he’s a really good possession type point guard we were fortunate to get him when we took over the job so we have some pieces. We are coming together, we have a good group and we are excited about it, were excited about we are excited about the challenge. We have a great player in tony Mitchell but like the coaches said we have talent but we don’t have the best talent because we only have one preseason all conference player." On Mitchell's progress: "Yea Tony has, as you guys know Tony obviously didn’t join the team until the second semester and that’s very difficult. I was telling a couple people the other day. Tony and I were talking about it was tough he wasn’t able to practice during the fall and had to come in and step right up into the fire so to speak. He had a great summer with us being able to work with him on a lot of fundamentals just trying to tighten his game up a little bit. He went to a couple Lebron James camps, Amare Stoudemire camp, played against some really good competition and that was really good for him. He is excited he’s been working extremely hard, he’s getting better every day and we are very fortunate to have a player of his caliber to coach." Now, let's take a look at some numbers: 2011-2012 season This Year Off. FG % 43.4 (169th nationally) 41.3 (ranked 267th nationally) Def. FG% 40.6 (42nd nationally) 41.7 (ranked 119th nationally) 3 pt FG% 32.12 28.46 PPG 70.3 (116th nationally) 68.4 (153rd nationally) Opp PPG 65.0 (106th nationally) 69.4 (241st nationally) Conf. PPG 71.9 68.5 Conf. Opp PPG 65.7 73.2 RPG 39.0 (17th nationally) 37.1 (ranked 63rd nationally) Opp RPG 34.9 (220th nationally) 36.1 (ranked 268th nationally) APG 12.0 (239th ntionally) 10.2 (ranked 317th nationally) Across the board decline from last year. With a team whose main contributors were one year older with one year of college experience under their belts.They are supposed to be getting better, not worse. A center he called Big East worthy averaged 8.4 MPG, 1.3 PPG, 1.6 RPG, and 0.8 TO per game while shooting 34.8% from the floor and 44.4% from the line. Better defense? Uh, no. Run with a purpose? Uh, no. Tighten up Tony's game? Across the boards decline in numbers. Winning games with defense and rebounding? Hardly. Take it to the next level? Yep. Well, actually a couple of levels. Down. We lose 5 seniors, including the most talented player to play here in years, go into a tougher conference, and there are actually people who expect us to be better? Amazing. And we refuse to correct this mistake.

Brandan Walton will take us to the sweet 16 next year.

My take on CUSA as SBC 2.0 Annual Payout: CUSA > SBC Travel Schedule: CUSA > SBC Divisional Play: CUSA > SBC Bowl Games: CUSA > SBC Reputation: CUSA > SBC

If everybody moves up we're looking at the beginning of the new 1AA. We're running out of time to start winning. And winning big.

Great event, and thanks to KRAM for setting this up. And as for a tournament, given how gassed everyone was through one half of the first half, I don't see how a tournament is feasible.Even cutting down game times would not be much help. Plus, it is nice for everyone to play one game and go out for lunch and drinks afterwards.

Ditto. Simple, classic, representative of who we were and who we are.

I agree.....KRAM1 does a tremendous job in organizing these charity events....Thanks again for all KRAM1 does for North Texas!

I think Benford's ability to evaluate recruits is going to be under question, if not already.

With some effort and creativity it is possible to build rivalries, but not if geography makes it impossible. Every year we have been a D1 program, starting in the fifties, geography has been our nemesis. The one good thing about the Southland was the short distance between most of the schools. We were actually developing a few rivalries in that league as was demonstrated by some pretty fair attendance figures in those years. I am happy to be where we are right now. Just win.

As much as I like the flying worm , I gotta go with the white NT helmet

I prefer the one game...brings everyone together for a good time.

Maybe becuase one of them averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds and didn't even start in high school? And another was a lowly ranked Brazilian who dropped out of JUCO? But I'm sure they are good fathers and husbands.

What? No Dodge Domes in the running?

As tragic as the first story is, and hard to comprehend, here's another that many here may not have heard about? http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2013/03/18/trail-starts-for-phila-abortion-doctor-charged-with-8-counts-of-murder/ Rick

A year late and $1 million short...

The thing is, everybody's showing an increased commitment to athletics. We and these others are just jumping on the caboose railing as the train is leaving the station. If we would have shown that commitment 10+ years earlier, we'd be driving the train.

It seems pretty obvious the MWC has the right idea. I don't understand why the A-Whatever and CUSA seem to resist that idea so completely. The A-whatever is esentially the old CUSA but their members swear it is much better and their is no comparison between the two. And the current CUSA is basically the Sunbelt but fans swear it is much better. Every move has shrunk the differences between all three confrences. The idea of "recent FCS move ups" being bad makes no sense as no one looks down on UConn anymore. Once the BIg 5 become the Big 4, a massive realignment should take place at the next level down. The Big 4 are NOT going to break away into their own class as they want to play the rest of us to pad their schedules. I don't understand the extreme resistance to what will be better for all involved in the end.

Only problem with this (besides me having to play against a bunch of 20 year olds) is liability and injuries. I personally prefer the 5 on 5 full court (actually would prefer a 3 quarters court, but I digress) format we have now, but I'll play in anything. I used to love the old 3 on 3 tournaments. Lots of room in the paint for a big man wanna-be and no zone defenses.

We'll still be playing UAB and Marshall!!!

Sorry, this conference is a joke. Once Southern Miss goes, it's us and a bunch of startups. Again. Except we've swapped ULM for La Tech. Yippee! People can tell themselves it doesn't matter until they are blue in the face, but losing Tulane, Tulsa, and (eventually) Southern Miss marks the exodus of the last remaining "brands" in CUSA- the reason we joined it in the first place. How long til UTEP goes MWC and Rice joins the rest of the private schools?

Here is my take on all the whining about "Sunbelt 2.0" I don't care that FAU, FIU, MTSU, & WKU are coming because the teams in our division, even in losing Tulsa, are the teams that bring people to the games, and they are games I can go see on the road. I don't care that UTSA is a startup, they are better than playing Monroe, Ark St, Troy, the Cajuns, or any other Belt team to the avg Joe, home and definitely away. Me personally, I enjoyed playing some of those schools, but the most enjoyment I get is when we have 28K and more in the stands...our division, Rice, UTEP, UTSA, LaTech, and now probably SoMiss will bring those people the other teams never could...even in our good days. Stop the whining about the conference and star looking forward to the opportunities this conference, and our division, will provide

FGCU is passing us by

Y'all don't suck.

Thank you Harry and Kram. It was a great weekend. Was able to check out practice on saturday and my wife actually let me get in my "nothing box" sunday afternoon. Thanks again and GMG!!!

All of this plus we get to play against Texas teams and hopefully build a rivalry. CUSA is a win for us on all fronts.

Please look for someone supports the athletics..

Indeed...Happy Birthday!

I'm trying to get it 100% confirmed, should know here soon

Watching #13 LaSalle put a 1st half whooping on #3 KSU. Announcers made mention to LaSalle head coach John Giannini educational past at UNT. Master's in sports psychology from UNT. Also read he was an assistant coach at UNT in the early 80's. Link: http://www.goexplorers.com/coaches.aspx?rc=593&path=mbball

Good point and I agree I know a tourny would be a major headache for someone... Just throwing out the idea incase someone wanted the challenge

Can you find Sarah Stanley, Niko Stojokovich, and Roger Franklin in the photo? I think Troy Kokjohn escaped, but he was there as well. Great Mean Greener's in that photo. Gave up a bit of their Saturday to have some fun and raise some funds for the UNT Cheer squad. Thanks so much. It's the people that make these things work and why they are so much fun! Greatness...see you next year for an even bigger and better event!

This is becoming a problem quickly. I hope it works out. I knew the post was an issue but now it is a BIG issue.

TN They play in Ohio Valley.

meh

I was not excited about Tulsa so no loss to me. Just win and go bowling baby! Build the brand. GMG

I vote for Cajuns.......please.

I want ,to say "thank you" to each and every player, referee, volunteer, guest helper and spectator who came out today to help raise a few dollars for our great Cheer Team students. And, to our sponsors (MB Designs, Kokjohn Long Snapping, Crosstimbers Equipment and Rudy's) a special thank you. You are all very much appreciated! And, what about Tracie O'Neal and our Cheer Squad and a great group of Cheer Team Parents? Greatness! And, to those who made and/or donated silent auction items....you made sure this was a successful event. It was the best Classic yet, and...the best game yet. May not be ready for the NCAA tourney yet, but close.... The preliminary numbers...preliminary...show we brought in just under $1800.00! That's really nice and we now have a min. $2000 goal for next year! Hope to see everyone back next year...bring your friends! Lastly...thanks to all the athletic Dept. personnel who helped to make this happen. Would not happen without your help and support. Great job players...this one was really fun....and, how about that coaching by Roger Franklin? Classic! Great fun today! Thanks to all...see you all next year!

Now I'm suddenly pissed UNT let him get away again.

No my point was everyone said we need more guards. They questioned getting big men in general. It had nothing to do with ability.

Last time vs. Rice was in 2010. We were 10-50 over our previous 60 games. We drew 23,743 anyway. Against Tulsa in 2005 and 2008 we drew 23,112 and 22,785 in the middle of the same stretch. I don't think it is out of the question to draw 28,000 against either of them.

FGCU pays Enfield $157,000

This sucks! Why would he gothere... We really need a vetrened big man or we could have some problems next year. Even though months ago everyone bashed Benford for recruiting to many big men... Now they want him to get another. Which I agree with.

PG-CJ SG-Taylor SF- Williams PF- Ajayi C- Colman bench: Alzee, Walton, Wesley, Friar and Nunn

Terrell looked a little better Saturday than he did Wednesday. It's not that looked in any way bad Wednesday, he just didn't impress me all that much. Saturday he stepped it up and showed some moves and faked out some DB's on some of the short-mid-range throws. He's also changed his number from 15 to 11 (noticed it was changed on today's on-line roster). Brown (#19) also looked a little better.....although he didn't bring in one long ball throw to the end zone (it hit his outstretched hands). He needs to regularly make those catches. Just a guess, but that might be why they brought him in...... to win those miss-matches in the end zone. For those going to future practices, here are some other changes. #21 in green, Dimitri Wilhite (from #26) #25 green, Bryan Monroe (from #38) #66 (listed as #65 on todays on-line roster) Michael Banogu walk-on from Prosper HS. Rex Rollins (#20 from Chappell Hill HS) continues to look pretty good. He might be the #4 RB by the end of spring. Wallace (#70) is looking pretty quick out there (actually all of the d-linemen are....especially the DE's), and on one play he and an o-lineman got into a fight......I mean rolling around on the ground fight.

me...? You must have me confused with someone else. I never typed that he was 6;10' ever... I had read he was 6'10' but it was not my statement. I do believe he is 6'8' based on what I have seen and heard from first hand accounts. I can quote someone else but that does not mean that it is what I 100% believe or my words. I am not saying he is some great ball player and this video is pretty lackluster but If he is 6'6' at the tallest then he must have been playing with a lot of 5ft nothing guys... to me it looks like he could be 6'8'

He just likes to make thingsup ..... I have heard from multiple people he is decent sized. I have never heard say he is 6'10". But I have heard 6'7" and 6'8". At this point we just need any body down low... Especially if Mitchell leaves. Like Franklin if they play with heart anything is possible. Still it would not hurt to get a solid 6'9" juco player. With the addition of shermain (forgot last name and probaly misspelled the first) to the guards we are running out of nig bodied players. Unless of course pj transfers, Tony leaves, or another major move happens.

We need as many bodies in the post as we can get next season!

I am waiting for our first guard to sign! I would like a nice 6'5" 3 point shooter please!

Im considering giving a -1 for not reading other boards and already realizing he will not be ready till December and that is if he qualifies... I do see him wearing the green but not till late December and it may only last a year

Im considering giving a -1 for not reading other boards and already realizing he will not be ready till December and that is if he qualifies... I do see him wearing the green but not till late December and it may only last a year