TheTastyGreek

Why come we ain't got matching skates and green puffy winter coats for the band? WHY COME???

I miss you when you go away.

I need a recap of your credentials to determine whether I support this or not.

It's going to be an absolutely CRITICAL 16 game stretch, that's for sure.

Your college baseball knowledge intrigues me, and I would like to someday subscribe to your newsletter. Also, when we do get our team going here... I think you will have to come back and explain all that again. It's the law. On the internet. If you don't, you hate North Texas.

What a bum. He takes a week off, he only picks it up again when there's one game on the slate.

Great stuff, and very appreciated as always. Walton leading the team in scoring is a big relief. Talk is cheap, and I wasn't convinced he took such a secondary role last year just because he's unselfish. But if he's a focal point in his second year, and he can grab some boards, and he's shooting free throws well... He'll fill a role here very nicely.

It's the damnedest thing... Apparently, there are all sorts of way to win, depending on your team's strengths and available assets. If only we had someone with the wisdom to figure out the best way for us to succeed with this year's lineup...

Last year, Duke and Butler met in the finals. Duke had three guys average more than 35.5 minutes per game last year through a 40 game season (Nolan Smith only played 38). Fatigue didn't stop them from winning the national championship. Butler had four guys average over 30 minutes per game playing 37 or 38 games apiece. Butler only had 8 guys total average more than 5.6 minutes per game. The last time Kansas won a national championship was 2008. They had 8 guys average more than 10 minutes per game. I don't know where you get that they had a 10 man bench... Only 10 guys even made appearances in at least 75% of their games. Uconn's last national championship came in 2004. If you take out Marcus Williams, who was suspended for much of the year and only saw action in 16 out of 39 games... They had exactly seven guys play more than 10 minutes per game. Three of their starters averaged over 30 minutes per game. Who else should I research? Did you mention any other top teams that I missed?

John Chaney says a 7 man rotation and a slate of starters averaging 30+ through the season can work out just fine. Just fine.

I can only do so much in that department. Don't blame me, blame the Turks.

+1. Last year, that wasn't the vibe I felt from a lot of the criticism we saw on the forum. But since the end of year streak started and we got the NCAA bid that sort of validated the first one as "earned"... I think that what your saying has become the general tone here. Nothing wrong with wanting better. Wanting better is what makes you better. But, at least now 90-95% of the people here are really acknowledging that "better" is going to be better than pretty damn good. The sky is falling crowd seems to have largely come around. When people are trying to figure out how to build the tower higher instead of patrolling for chunks of falling sky, that's awesome.

Criticizing JJ right now is pretty stupid, in my opinion. Even I get frustrated by some of the things he does, but the fact remains that we've won 16 straight games against unranked teams (thanks, CMJ!), a streak that dates back to January of last year. The last time we lost to an unranked in-state team, home OR away, was 2008. People bitch because we can't handle a press, then all of a sudden we're breaking the press consistently. People bitch when we don't press, then we go out and win two games because of a suffocating press. People bitch when we start slow, but we win anyway. People bitch when we don't maintain huge leads, but we win anyway. People bitch that we don't do X, then we do X and they start bitching about Y. People bitch because we don't have a 6'4" pass-first point guard with NBA ready assist skills dishing to a 7' interior monster that scores 15 per game and shatters backboards on a nightly basis. It's always some damn thing. In this case, someone was complaining that we aren't starting their hypothetical lineup that not only completely doesn't fit the offense many of these players have run for the past 3-4 years continuously, but also ignores who our strongest players are and how they play best together. Right now, we're in basically a 7 man rotation: The 4 guards, the 2 starting posts, and a split between Holmen and Edwards for the 7th spot. It's not ideal, but it's not unprecedented as a successful approach at the college level. Especially with the lineup we're putting on the floor now. The guys have all proven they can handle the workload we'll need from them all season, and they've proven it here, in this system. Tristan: Averaged 30.3 mpg in 09-10 Josh: 35.8 mpg in 09-10 Dominique: Injured early in 09-10, but averaged 30.3 mpg in 08-09 Add it up, and our three starters have all proven over the course of their most recent full season that they can combine to play 96.4 minutes per game. That leaves 23.6 minutes per game available for guard subs. And guess what? Shannon handled 23.2 mpg in 09-10, even though he started the year as a 2nd option to Richard Thomas. If anything, he can do MORE court time than what he showed last year. Looks to me like, barring injury... Our guards have already shown they can handle the minutes we'll need from them over the grind of a full season. If one of them gets hurt, then we'll see how we react to it then. But for now, you don't revamp your entire offense IN CASE someone gets hurt. Not when things are rolling along nicely. Not when everyone has proven they can handle the workload. Odufuwa: Averaged 31.5 minutes per game in 2009-10, and he's pulling 32 per game right now. Right on track with what he did last season. Kedrick is pulling 29, and he's looking GREAT so far. That leaves about 20 minutes to be distributed among Knox, Holmen, Edwards, and Spencer (assuming he comes back soon). And I think they'll be able to handle it just fine. Whatever JJ does that may frustrate any of us, it keeps working. This year, we've had four in-state teams come at us, each with something to prove by beating us. Each of them took their best shot, each coach wanting to take us down to show their bosses and their fans that their own program had taken a step forward. Each team played absolutely brilliantly for long stretches or nearly all of their game against us. And every time, we took their best shot and wound up standing at the end. Right now, things are good, good, good. We're injured, and it's still going good. We're shorthanded, and it's still going good. One of the nice things about it is that this year, more people seem able to enjoy it without being paranoid that doom and gloom are on the horizon. We've already taken one or two seasons' worth of shots, and we're still 5-1 with what looks like an easier than usual road ahead of us. Criticize away, but keep a sense of perspective and acknowledge that where it ultimately matters, we're doing brilliantly.

I'm amazed how well we did given the late change. But didn't we have THREE quarterbacks carted off the field on stretchers this year?

It's an idea that's done wonders for Appalachian State.

That's just... Like... Your OPINION, man.

Drawback?!? You should be able to sell those tickets at a PREMIUM. If we get to the last home game before that one and nobody has taken them off your hands, let me know and I'll find a family to use them.

I think we need to seriously re-evaluate the English department at UNT. Also, I like Gary D, but I don't think he keeps his job.

YUP. The Monitor game.

We need to git sum dribblin'.

I still remember the thread that was started about "what happens if February doesn't live up to expectations?" when we were about to start what turned out to be an 11 game winning streak.

Put it here: Not here: http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/index.php?showforum=2

Because arguably four of our five best players are the guards, and one of them already starts on the bench? Because Tristan and Josh and George have already spent most of their recent careers here averaging 30+ mpg and, at least for the time being, subbing them out isn't really a worry unless we have foul trouble? Because Hogans is elevating himself to double balls status (currently he is the balls-and-a-half, with each game that he shows improved scoring touch pushing him closer to that elite double balls ranking)? It seems to me that we're 5-1 and our only loss came to a contender for an NCAA 1 seed, and we don't really need to go tinkering too much at all with what we're doing. I'd like to get the guys a little more rest, but if we need them on the floor to win, we have to keep putting them out and leaving them there. Here's a better question: How about we just enjoy yet another strong start to what looks like yet another strong year, and quit trying to be nit pick superfans that refuse to appreciate the success that's happening? If JJ gets a new job after the season, send in your resume and tell them how you'll coach your ass off. Shanice had a binder, a baby, and a winning smile, and it got her a coaching job here. I wouldn't completely write off your chances.

I still think that's a bum count on attendance. I always want to see more people, but I just can't figure how that was less than 2,700 people tonight.

5-1. 4 D-1 wins. That's as many as ULM, ULL, Troy, Arkansas State, Denver, and South Alabama combined. I'm not saying we'll go undefeated... But I think we're going to be just fine once conference play rolls around.