chrisfisher

I am sooooooooo excited about next season. We have some key loses in Watson, Davis, and Young, but I think with Quincy, Wooden, Stewart, and Bell significantly developing as the season progressed, we will be a force to be reckoned with next year - especially in the post positions. Quincy, and especially Wooden, played spectacularly against a Top 10 team in the nation in Memphis... imagine how they will play next season against lesser opponents or even our tougher OOC play. Damn I'm going to be bored for a while! 2007-2008 basketball can't start soon enough!

The biggest problem I thought we had was handling the full court press. I was very disappointed to see us regress from the regular season in that respect. It appeared over the past 5-8 games we had solved that problem. We adapted to this inbounding the ball to a Ben Bell that ran full speed in front of the throw-in person, and would take off up court with the ball.... no hesitation, no holding the ball for several seconds checking several different players to inbound the ball too...the only way to stop Bell on his run by was to foul him... if Bell got trapped once he received the ball, we'd have a player waiting for the pass back.... during the Memphis game, we did the old scheme that didn't work: send 2 or 3 guys to receive the inbounds while standing still or trying to make a quick move left of right... Memphis is too fast/skilled for that.. And once we finally inbounded the ball, we looked very disorganized. I was completely perplexed as to why we handled the full court press like this. It seemed like everything they learned over the season on this got thrown out the window. Despite this, I was very proud of our team, and felt we had a real chance to win for 75% of the game.

Does anyone know if Roderick Flemings has a chance to return? I saw someone post that he might a week or two ago, but I don't think that person ever revealed sources.

Will there be Mean Green Radio Network coverage of the game?

Thanks... I'll try again.

Just a reminder, this game starts in 1/2 an hour. Let's throw our support behind USA and the SBC and hope for an excellent OOC win over Syracuse.

I couldn't find it on their website. I did a search and it did bring up an nice article on Rich posted 2 days ago, but no video.

Just saw it!!!! NCAA.. sorry... good catch guys.. off to the GMG editor to edit that post...

I thought they said only 4 teams (we'd be the 5th) with a #15 seed have beaten a #2 seed. Is this wrong?

UNT upsets Memphis by 3 and is only 1 of 5 #15 seeded teams in NCAA history to do this. Score will be something like 85-82 with Watson nailing a unbelievable 3 point shot with a few seconds on the clock. KD also has a fantastic game and bounces back big time (as he always does) from his poor performance in the SBC tourny against ULM. Watson gets 25 points, and KD 18. JJ will also have to use ALL of our big men (including Jonathon Jackson) because of foul trouble due to JJ's instructions for our big men to "rough up" their players when they shoot. We are going to frustrate them with our physical play as well as send them to the foul line all game to disrupt their offensive rhythm. Teams like Memphis (and probably us) hate it when the action slows to a crawl, even if they are shooting free throws.

Thanks for your support KAjunRaider... we'll do our best to win one for UNT, MTSU, and the entire Sun Belt!

Great point. I hadn't thought of it like that. JJ was the one actually getting insulted because for Memphis to play Ohio State that means the interviewer gave JJ no chance of winning and figured we'd lose this Friday... kinda of a backhanded slap if you ask me... Sounds like JJ handled this gracefully as he seems to handle most adversity.

Moreover, they probably don't know anything about our players or style of play. I bet they figure they will only take the time to research us if we can get past the first round.

From your historical perspective, it looks like 1 every 3 years or so... apparently, an upset is long over due

It's a tad bit harder in doctoral school to miss classes. I am so dissapointed. I followed the team the entire year, and only missed two home games (the non-d1 games) the entire season while in Kentucky for X-Mas, though I still watched them play online. Very dissapointing. I am even going to miss the first 30 minutes of the game b/c I have class until noon... bummer.

Just emailed her.. thanks for the email addy.

I really wish they would cancel classes! I have class and have to work in my biofeedback manager role on Friday. I want to go down BADLY!!! I can say that I would absolutely (100%) go to Orleans if they did this. If they don't I doubt I could make it. Someone should send our President an email in this regard.

I like that! Great research. The facts speak for themselves now... we are going to win!

thanks!

The email said the response watching is the Athletic Office. What building is this located at???

I agree with everything you say. The odds are heavily stacked against us, and an NCAA birth will only help JJ improve his already excellent recruiting. Probabilities and history dictate that we won't be around for more than 1 game; however, I have a feeling that Watson and KD would say screw history and screw the probabilities. For some reason, I have a funny feeling in my stomach that we might move past the first round....or is that just indigestion?

Since no one is making serious predictions, I'll throw one out. If KD and Watson can both get over 15 points, I predict an upset in our first game, and given that they continue to do this, I think we get 2-3 games deep in the tourny. Crazy, I know, but that's my story and I am sticking to it. Basically, if we can get to our 80 point average and play half way decent defense, we have a shot to win any game.

It seems like KD and Cavlin were rarely "hot" in the same game this seaon, and certainly not during the SBC tourny. What if KD and Calvin both start knocking down shots in the NCAA tourny and BOTH get their 15-20 points a game? How far can we go?

I watched Western Kentucky play S. Ill earlier this season. WKU lost by 5. Great game too! I actually think we could run with S. Illinois given how well WKU played against them. I seem to recall thinking that S. Ill was a very quick team. Though I know this will be a VERY tough game, but I want this match up! It has upset written all over it.

I really enjoyed the ESPN2 announcers during the ArkState game. I know one of them was a UNT grad, but it was really nice to hear them constantly talk up our team, players, and offensive/defensive style. Here is one of my favorite announcer comments: "This team is so athletic, and they relentlessly attack the basket. And there is no such thing as a transition defense after they take a shot because the Mean Green players are too busy attacking the boards and climbing over each other and the other team to get a rebound." I really loved the “climbing over each other” part! Anyone else got some favorite quotes?