untgeorge

We knew Hicks would not play; why did Asprila not play? We now have played consecutive games against teams whose 2 best players did not play.

7 of whom will be back. Plus Rucker and a few who were redshirted: three, I think it was (Barrett, Brigham, Taylor). LY transfer Jamel Jackson. And we have the three mid-termers (2 JCs and the OU transfer). Add Mayberry. That would give us 16 plus walk-ons, unless somebody has left I don't know of. Having 10 would be great. Having 12 would be ok. Having 16 plus is way too many considering needs in other areas. If we didn't other needs, who cares?

Oh, yeah, wow. Another wide receiver. Just what we need. You should always use a schollie on a WR instead of finding a DT, shouldn't you.

All these games are west div teams vs east div teams. There is a good chance the east div teams will win most, if not all, representing an opportunity for UNT to make up a lot of ground by beating FIU. FYI, the East div teams are the Vegas favorites in all five games. Our game is listed as PK.

So you figure we can teach Schnellenberger something about recruiting?

Implying someone knows who we will be playing through the 2011 season.

I plan on going. So far we have a group of eight who may go. If UNT doesn't have a team there, all bets are off. We have reservations in the Candlewood Suites, about 10 mins from the Arena.

Thanks for making my day. Another case in which an opponent's record on the surface might lead to not taking them too seriously.

We have to play these games with the intensity we brought to the MTSU and ArkSt games (not the lack of it, as seen in the UTA game). Denver is pesky and has been close on the road. Last year we had trouble with their style, and we always have trouble with teams that try to control the pace. As to FAU, it depends on Carlos. He missed the 1st ten games of the season but when in shape is probably the best player in the conference. We don't have anyone who matches up with him that well. If Carlos is on his game, we will have our hands full. But if we bring that intensity, we come out this week ok. I will wait until next week to worry about FIU and Asprilla.

Nothing that hasn't been said before. Backcourt too small. This is especially damaging defensively. Questionable commitment to defense, or maybe inconsistent commitment to defense. No on-court leader. No Ben Bell or Q. No go-to guy at the end. This is the kind of game KD often stepped up and won in the last few minutes. Only one guy with an offensive game inside, and he has just surfaced. Are we done? No. But we have to find an alternative when defenses take their toll on our perimeter shooting. If we can avoid losing games we should win (like UTA and UNO) and esp losing games on the road to teams with less athleticism we can get back into it. Much as I like their coach, UALR has a hard time scoring against anyone but UNT and will have their own problems. Hang in there; we are not a perfect team, but not that bad, either, in this conference (though if we should win it, we would get a really bad seed in the NCAAs). Now, if we lose to ArkSt Saturday, maybe we are done.

And 5 in eleven years?

Under the rules, a school reports tickets sold as attendance. Not butts in seats. You know that. Selling tickets and getting money in return is not smoke and mirrors, it is substantial support. TCU gets substantial support, as evidenced in part by money in the bank from tickets sold. Money in the bank is how TCU, small as its enrollment is, can pay Patterson what they will pay Patterson. The TCU supporters including the community itself has done a great job of making TCUs program what it is.

Actually they have a very substantial fan base. Remember their committee of 100? Shocked at being left out of the BigXII, 100 businessmen in the city of Ft Worth united, raised money, promoted the program, sold tickets, etc. Not just a one time effort, a continuing effort. As a result they are in the MWC, average over 30,000 per football game and have the money from the public to enable them to pay big time salaries. Their story, like Boise's, is an example of what can happen with community support. If TCU is "Can-do" and UNT is not, the difference results from community and alumni support. Not from the Universities themselves.

Why would the BCS require MWC to expand to 12? Three of the top six conferences have less than 12 fb members. One has fewer than the MWC does now.

And 0-4 vs the MWC. Wells did not play vs USC.

Your concern is well founded. And beating MTSU, pre-season favorite in the East, will be tough. Their keys are Yates and Kanaste, both of whom average more than 30 mins, and Green. Their guards are big, 6-2 and 6-4, making matchups tough for us. Plus I don't know who in this conference can guard Yates. The team as a whole is a good shooting team, 47%, though not so good from 3-pt line. Kermit Davis has always run a controlled offense, the assumption is he still does that. At the beginning of the season, it was expected they would have depth in size. But with Hudson having been out with an injury and Hair and Jones not playing for whatever reason, they are not a big team. Even so they played tough vs Tennessee Vanderbilt and Houston. Comparative scores? We lost to UH by 33, they lost by 13. A home loss to Tennessee-Martin (now 4-5 vs D1 schools) mars their record. They are coming off a good win at a good Missouri State. Should be fun.

110 is not good. 110 won't get us into the NCAA if we don't win the conference.

Belmont apparently gets up for some games. They played Tennessee hard, did the same earlier vs Pitt. Have lost to Jacksonville (2-6) and Austin Peay (7-5, lost to SFA). Hard to figure. Does put a different slant on MTSUs lost to Belmont.

To quote Jack Nicholson: "You can't stand the truth!"

I am not down on this team but it is not above criticism. 1. Maybe SHSU won 20 last year, but this year they are 1-5 vs D1 teams. Indiana State, by the way, is 1-8. 2. HBU is 0-10 and have lost by 30 four times, including a 30 pt loss to South Alabama. They are not a good team, we made them look good. They do have some promise for the next few years. 3. Josh handles the ball ok but handling the ball is not the same as being a true point guard. Josh has 2-guard skills in a 1-guard body. 4. Has depth at the 2 and 3 positions but no size. Can't say we have or don't have the best dept in the SBC since I haven't seen them all. 5. One of the points of the original post was we are inconsistent. Good win vs NMSU, blown away by UH (which beat WKU and MTSU by less than 10), mediocre performance vs HBU. We are clearly inconsistent. We are good enough to be in the running but need to improve. Some good points which haven't been mentioned: we draw a lot of fouls, and shoot more FTs than our opponents, night in and night out. This is probably because our offense is built on dribble penetration. It also helps we shoot FTs pretty well.

Hudson still hurt, I guess, he played only 11 mins vs Belmont. Not that Hudson is a worldbeater, but the other two bigs are producing nothing. Without an effective big, MTSU is a small team. My recollection is that 6-9 Hair was highly thought of, if so he must be a big disappointment.

Good quote from Gettys. MTSU is close to having their five stinkers.

MTSU underperforming, compared to what was expected of them.

Wish there were more lineman but honestly they are the toughest and take the longest to land and that has always been the case and always will be. Troy has commitments from nine linemen. 3 OLs, 4 DTs, 2 DEs. Yes, it is hard. Yes, it can be done. Yes, that is how you win big.

when they have the money.