TheTastyGreek

Fun fact: until I was 31, I said "open" and "close" the light (meaning, lamps and light switches) because of how it translates from Greek. Three decades, and nobody corrected me to make me realize what I was saying. If I hadn't gotten married to a woman who laughed every time I did it, I'd still be saying that today.

Not my first language, brah. (Green P1 taught me that one)

So that she'll be a better husband and father someday?

He did! Including the guy who ultimately ate his scholarship!

AND missed two free throws on the previous possession.

YAY, FUTURE!!!!

Wait, maybe he's confident in the future because he's already decided to fire Benford? Maybe?

Ditto. If he wants to excuse this away for another year, he deserves the same consequences Benford seems destined for. Because if Rick Villarreal is confident in the future of UNT basketball with Tony Benford as the coach, Rick Villarreal is WRONG.

Historical context: http://sports.espn.go.com/dallas/ncf/news/story?id=4707064 - Key quote: At least when we kept Dodge for one more catastrophic year, Rick was at least setting some sort of vague standard or expectation. Specifically: Of course, when we started 0-3, there was some equivocation on that front... But, a month later, we fired him! Anyway... We're talking even less tough with Benford than we did with Dodge. NOT ENCOURAGING! How do YOU feel about things, Pete?

Maybe he's just not shitting on Benford since there's still at least one more game to be played. Maybe?

Surely, Rick knows that this was statistically the worst season in the history of CUSA basketball, right? And with the exception of one year, it isn't even remotely close. Right? I mean, NO leadership would have gotten us the 15th seed. Literally, a rec team with no coach wearing North Texas jerseys would have gotten the 15th seed this year. Surely Rick doesn't honestly think that Benford 'guiding' us to 11th place in the worst season of CUSA basketball should be anything other than a point of shame and disgrace. Right? RIGHT???

Johnny was about 50 games over .500, if I remember right.

Trey Norris is going to start his Junior season playing for his 5th different college coach. South Dakota is not retaining their interim guy. Johnny, Benford, Dave Boots, Joey James, and whoever comes next. Crazy.

I don't think Stratford could have gotten us over that barrier.

Good. I thought Technotronic was recruiting new members to bring back that sweet early 90's house/pop sound. I thought they'd found someone who could help them Pump Up The Jam again, but now I'm disappointed. TEXAS Tech? Come on, man! BE PRECISE!

Which one are you again? Either way, you've got my vote! Or, you would if I weren't a convicted felon.

Also, who knows if they'll be any good NEXT year? Possible scoreboard for us!

We lost one game by 31 and the other by 10.

I want a 20 year career assistant for our NEXT coach. Other than a brief stint as an interim, Johnny was a 17 year career assistant. It's the guy that sucks, not his resume. Not all first time coaches are automatically Benford.

I'm less worried about hiring an experienced head coach (I like Sadler, but I have a lot of the same concerns with him that I did/do with Kaspar) than I am about hiring someone before the end of April vs. a year from now. My dream candidate at the moment is a career assistant, 20 years in the business but no head coaching experience anywhere. On the surface, that sounds exactly like Benford. Also, I think the chances of a firing aren't great, but they're a lot higher than most people seem to think. Just for a few weeks, believe in the possibility that a change might actually be coming soon. If it doesn't, there will be years and years for lamentation anyway.

Johnny inherited the program at arguably it's lowest point ever, and immediately had a winning season. Benford took over a team poised for a transcendent, once in a generation or more chance at huge success. And lost 20 games. We are not screwed yet. The future, both immediate and distant, is still promising. But one more year of Benford could derail us for a long time to come. Our peer institutions fire guys with proven track records and a legacy of success at their school (more on this soon!) when it looks like they aren't the right person to continue leading the program. We waited a year longer than we should, but it's still not too late. Rick V can still save this thing.

Brighter days could be just around the corner!

People think that, but it's actually not true. For starters, next season would be the equivalent of a single scholarship class in football where we had to sign 57 new players or be short handed. If that had happened in Dodge's last year, we might never have climbed our way out of the hole. Also, if we fire Benford after the season, most of the top talent will have already signed elsewhere 5 months earlier, or have committed to other programs prior to April signing. Also, in basketball, nobody really counts it as a success when you win 18% of your games against lower division teams and finish .500. If basketball were football, THIS SEASON would be a bowl caliber year and half of this forum would be making reservations for hotels in Albuquerque or Mobile or some other 3rd tier postseason destination. Building a quality basketball program at a non-power conference school without a legacy of success (like WKU or Gonzaga) is VERY, VERY HARD. We took huge steps in that direction under Johnny, and it's not too late to recover a lot of that ground. But one more year of Benford could be devastating for a half decade to come. Or worse.

Fingers crossed, Stan. I think he may do it.

Also... There's still a lot of talent on this team. I'm not saying anyone is going to come in and immediately contend for the conference championship next year... But, there's no reason we couldn't push 20 wins immediately, even with a tougher schedule that isn't an NCAA violation. A mischievous Dutchman with one mysteriously missing wooden shoe couldn't make us underperform worse if we just hired one at random to coach. Someone capable? Could have some quick success, and already be laying his own foundation for 2015 and beyond.