TheTastyGreek

Rascals and Hoverounds are not allowed on the floor during a game, sir. Edwards would post up your grandma like Grandmama.

Anyone who is on the fence... All I can say is that there was a similar conflict last year. FilmerJ and I opted to go see Oklahoma State play us in Stillwater. Even though we lost, it was still worth the trip and we had a great time. And the game we missed was Army. I use the word "missed" in the most limited sense that the dictionary allows. I know how much we all like to draw broad, sweeping conclusions from limited samples. So if history teaches us anything, it's that you'll be damn glad you bailed on a season ender at Fouts to see our basketball team play. This time, they're going to win, too. So there's also that. But as long as you're watching North Texas sports, you're spending your time wisely. Whether it's in Denton or San Marcos.

You're right about his mobility issues, but I don't remember seeing him take many if any 3 point or deep 2 point attempts. I should have qualified it with "if his knee improves".

Agree on the challenges we face with just 4 guards, agree on how critical Holmen is to success under those circumstances. But I disagree that he's the only option to work on the outside. Alonzo Edwards was a SF recruit for Nebraska. And one of the concerns about him coming here from JUCO was that he was more comfortable playing outside, but we need him as an interior player. If we wind up with just 4 traditional guards, it seems that Edwards might be a better fit (just based on Holmen's outside shooting woes) as a substitute/emergency wing player.

ULM should win. UALR has shown enough to believe they've got a small (but not insignificant) shot at winning. Troy... Well, I hope they win the next one.

Other notable 6 or fewer loss teams from the past 10 years (not a complete list) that didn't get any at large consideration: 5 loss Butler in 2001-02 5 loss Boston in 2003-04 6 loss Holy Cross in 2004-05 5 loss Stephen F. Austin in 2007-08 6 loss Coastal Carolina last season If your league lets you down, you can finish with just 3 or 4 non-conference losses and still wind up with no NCAA (or, in some cases... no postseason at all).

Still way, WAY too early to speculate about the odds of that happening. At this point, 90% of it depends on the rest of the conference and how they handle the remaining OOC games. Ask again in a month. (Seriously)

Astronomical apologist.

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LOVE IT. SOLD. Bring back the 3rd and long draw and book my hotel in New Orleans... The notes are in the crotch again.

Right now, we have 6 guys who are really worthy of being in our playing rotation. And not all of them played like it last night. Two posts, one of whom isn't a scorer and the other who nearly had his brains get Humpty Dumpty'd all over the Super Pit floor. Four guards, one that looked like he had the flu and the other three who couldn't buy a 3 point basket all game (or the last game). Down the bench, one reserve post is doing his best on a bum leg. One is struggling to establish himself and STILL hasn't come to terms with the fact that he isn't an outside shooter. Throw in Ben Knox, and that's your roster of 9 currently available scholarship players. We played a motivated team with a fantastic coach who made sure they fought like hell for this game. Rice is a very athletic team, they're an in-state school that belongs to a better basketball conference. They aren't a powerhouse, but there's at least one guy on that roster that I know we were after once upon a time. Their coach has led two different schools to the Sweet 16. He's got over 570 career wins. Ben Braun is almost as many games over .500 as JJ has won in his entire North Texas career. Braun had Rice playing a pretty stout zone defense that we couldn't force them to abandon because we couldn't hit outside shots consistently. We pressed them well, but we can't do that extensively because we only have four available guards for a three guard offense, and fatigue is a bigger deal for us right now than most of our opponents. But we pushed our limits with that press and managed to destroy their offense for the last 6-8 minutes of the game. Our team played very inconsistently, couldn't shoot from the outside. But we won anyway. Good teams manage to win when they aren't playing like a good team. We won't have a great year if we play like this every game... But in the end, this was a win and that's all that matters about it now that it's in the past. Also, anyone who expects 20+ point wins from Johnny Jones hasn't been paying attention. He's not a run-up-the-score type of coach. Unless we're playing lower division teams in tune up games, or a lesser squad that just can't keep up with us like Houston Baptist or last year's depleted UNO teams... JJ doesn't beat up on opponents once we have a game in hand.

Did anyone catch that Texas Southern upset Oregon State over the weekend? Totally missed it until today. Should help their end of year RPI, and us by extension.

"I don't need anybody telling me how to schedule or who to schedule." - John Brady, Arkansas State head coach. Arkansas State: 0-5. OOC games remaining against Georgia, Memphis, and at Missouri State (a team that already beat ASU at ASU by 9 points). Maybe Brady really could use a little friendly advice on scheduling better. Or maybe he's just been terrible at getting his team to show up and play. ---------- “Two years ago, in our second year, it took us until February 15 — the last three weeks of the season — to play our best basketball. Last year, it took till February 1 — the last 10 games, for 5 weeks, we played our best basketball. Well, now, we gotta be doing it on January 1. And that’s called competing for a conference championship.” - Joe Scott, Denver head coach. It's also called f---ing up the conference RPI when all you care about is playing worth a damn once conference season rolls around. Which is what you're doing when you start 0-4. ---------- Not pleased with the conference this season. UALR should not be a banner program for OOC play at this point in their rebuilding phase (no disrespect to the Trojans).

Nope. Some of us showed up for the game. Sad ninjaface.

If we had a dollar for every time someone packed up their office and threatened to quit, we wouldn't have to finance this new stadium. If he wants to stay and the new coach wants him around, I'd be thrilled to keep him.

I'm not saying that McCarney is the guy, or that he ought to be the guy, or that he's my favorite name among the guys who are still rumored to be in the hunt. But... When I did one of those big research deals on the "Give a coach a 4th year" to see how often a guy started like Dodge did and ever managed to post a winning record in any season at that school, we only came up with 8 real success stories. One of the eight was Dan McCarney. The others were Barry Alvarez, Brady Hoke, Greg Schiano, Rich Brooks, Gary Barnett, Joe Novak, and Rocky Long. The lesson seemed to be that only a very rare coach ever manages to right the ship when they start off with three straight losing seasons at a school, and that type of coach tends to be a very good one that just had to rebuild a very tough situation and/or compete over his school's head at a challenging location. I'm not saying that McCarney is the next Barry Alvarez or Greg Schiano, but considering he's in their company as practically a statistical miracle... I'm willing to look past how long it took him to get winning at Iowa State. If he's the guy, I like the unofficial fraternity he comes from. He did what very few coaches ever manage to do, and I think he could do well for us.

Not sure why CBL's post evaporated, but I think (since it wasn't offensive or a personal attack or inappropriate in any way I could tell) it had something to do with the server thing. Anyway, building on what he's saying... I'd rather see us win 20-24 games every year and make the NCAA tournament as a 12 seed every three years, cycling with WKU and Insert Other SBC Program, than see us win 20-24 games every year and be an annual NCAA fixture on the 15 seed line because of a weak conference. I'm not saying people should share that view, just putting my personal preference out there.

If we had coaches in this league who made it a point to get their team ready to play from day one of the season, we'd probably go 3-2 tonight. Instead, we've got too many guys that follow the Joe Scott philosophy of "we just need to be playing our best basketball by January 1st". It's very possible, given the matchups today, that the Belt goes 0 for 5. If South Alabama can avoid another USM meltdown, they can play with UAB. If Arkansas State ever decides to start the season, they ought to be able to beat Pepperdine. In a better world, we ought to go 3-2 tonight. Given what we're seeing this year, I'd be quite content with 2-3. Honestly, I just hope the whole day isn't a giant crotch kick.

I'm pro- bunnies and kittens. Don't be such a pessimist.

Sigh... Just when we were finally sweeping the Canales people out of here...

Plus a woefully inadequate one.

I would jump all over the MWC in a heartbeat. Above the Red Line by all measures. STRONG basketball conference. With or without TCU, I would take the MWC, no hesitation, no discussion, no debate. Slam dunk no brainer decision.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spxziIkos_I

Not a simple yes/no question. It depends on what offer is on the table. And this is coming from a guy who has been totally, vehemently, VIOLENTLY anti-WAC for years. I'd heavily lean towards "no", but I would like to know just how desperate they are and what they're willing to offer us.

They lost their star recruit last season to immaturity issues. I don't want them to be weak, because I want us to win a strong conference... But it isn't unprecedented for a highly regarded recruit to wash out completely (not just at WKU, but anywhere).