Censored by Laurie

After the first weekend of basketball for most SBC teams...the conference has a respectable 5-4 record, heres a couple of quick summaries: South Alabama - 73 West Florida - 41 - Dominic Tilford scored 15 and Brandon Davis and Demetric Bennett added 12 each. Interesting note, the USA frontcourt is a bit foul prone...DeAndre Coleman fouled out in 15 minutes and other starting forwards Brandon Davis and Ronald Coleman picked up four each. Daniel Hayles, a NCOY candidate, did not play WKU - 96 Kennesaw St. - 61 - Courtney Lee dropped 26 points in just 21 minutes...and 3 others scored in double figures including top freshman Stefphon Pettigrew with 11. Troy - 72 Alabama - 84 - Troy did a surprisingly good job of hanging with Bama but had no answer for Richard Hendrix who had 22 on 9 of 11 shooting. O'Darien Bassett had 17. UL-Monroe - 78 Kansas - 107 - Tony Hooper led the Warhawks with 19...Jordan Payne chipped in 17 off the bench but ULm was completely outclassed the entire game. Denver - 50 Oklahoma - 80 - Denver fell to 1-1, their one win an overtime game with East Central College, David Kummer (UNT_92's favorite player) had 11 to lead the Pioneers who may be having a bit of difficulty adjusting to Joe Scott's style as they committed 19 turnovers.

Quinnipiac - 85 Hartford - 79 (2OT) Hartford really was the better team last night...one QU shooter got hot late in the second half and basically carried QU to the end...but the is absolutly no reason for UNT to not win by 20. Hartford is a very small team...nobody on the roster is taller than 6'7"...starting center Warren McClendon is 6'6" 250...hes very strong and has range out to the 3pt line. Behind McClendon is Fabrice Tafo (6'7" 225 Jr.) is very active, but not very skilled...Morgan Sabia (6'7" 200 Fr.) is a wing who won't help on the block and Kevin Estes (6'7" 230 Fr.) will see minutes if foul trouble becomes a problem. Michael Turner (6'5" 215 Jr.) essentially starts at the four...he is very gritty and is the vocal leader of the team...Hartford also lacks a true PG and Turner handles those responsiblities frequently. Their guard rotation is solid: Joe Zeglinski (6'1" 185 Soph.) is a very fluid scoring guard...Rich Baker (6'1" 180 Sr.) is the teams best shooter and either Zeglinski or Baker or both are always on the floor. The other starter is a freshamn, Anthony Minor (6'6" 200) and he provides the teams only real athleticism. Off the bench...Brian Growiak (6'3" 180 Sr.) is another solid combo guard, as is Jaret Von Rosenburg who scored 7 in the teams first game...but didn't play against QU. UH stayed in a 1-3-1 zone the entire game...and with their lack of height will probably be forced into the same against UNT...which means Collin Dennis and Adam McCoy may have career nights shooting over the zone... Overall: UH gets its scoring from McClendon, Baker and Zeglinski - I think McClendon will pose a bit of a match up problem...but Zeglinski and Baker simply arent athletic enough to get the shots they got yesterday against our athletic guards. UH is very patient though...and UNT will have to play defense for all 35 seconds of each possession...but we should be able to run off of misses and find holes in their zone in the half court. This is a pretty major step down in level of compition for us and should be a relativly easy win.

3100!?!? What was football attendance? 25K? So 12% of you managed to walk the 500 yards from your Fouts to the Pit? THATS PATHETIC...and I could care less about drunken exhaustion, Saturday responsibilities or whiny kids/wives...anybody who posts on this board, claims to be a loyal UNT supporter who was able to go to the football game has a responsibility to go to the basketball game as well...plan accordingly early in the day...tell the kids or the wife that you need to be ready for a long day...go to Home Depot on Sunday instead...start drinking at 9:30 rather than 9:00...but there was no reason for the Pit to be anything less than 3 quarters full. People on this board bitch about a lack of traditions...well they're wrong...UNT has a proud tradition of apathetic fans who like to complain about the apathy of other UNT fans.

That would be a very small starting backcourt...6'3" 6'2" 6'0"...I think in both Dennis and Willingham you have that perfect combo guard...Jet Terry or Vinnie Johnson like. Starting both of them would almost be a waste. There is a such thing as having too many scorers on the floor at the same time...atleast in the first 35 minutes of a game. I havn't seen Hogans, but everyone seems impressed with him so far...so what about starting him at the 3 and making him a defensive specialist? OSU has three solid wings Obi Muonelo (6'5" 215), Terrel Harris (6'5" 195) and James Anderson (6'6" 195)...matching Hogans on on of these guys and forcing them to work for their buckets would be wise...Anderson dropped 29 against Prairie View and hes a true freshman. OSU won't get scoring from too many other spots but these 3 and their chubby charib of a point guard Eaton.

Rhode Island - 90 Florida Atlantic - 63. FAU has an incredible frontcourt. That said...pretty much anybody reading this board could transfer to FAU and find minutes in their backcourt. Carlos Monroe led the way for FAU with 22 points and 9 boards...most of the time working against a URI post with atleast 25 pounds on him. He showed nice range knocking down a few 12 footers and is incredibly smart at avoiding foul problems. Jeff Parmer scored only 4, but also dished out 4 assists...he was a bit too passive as he has some nice post moves and showed a nice attack from the three point line to the bucket. The biggest surprise to me was the play of Arlington native Brett Royster, a true freshman. How did we miss this kid? He is incredibly athletic, long arms, soft hands and solid post moves for an 18 yr old kid...hes going to develop into a force. Derrick Simmons contributed little...but he looks a few inches bigger than the 6'6" hes listed as. Once Sammy Hernandez gains his eligibility at the end of December, FAU will have a crowded but very talented frontcout. But man, their backcourt needs serious help. Paul Graham looks and plays just like Matt Barnes, just without any sort of perimeter shot. He attacks the basket very well and has solid mid-range from about 15 feet. JUCo transfer Carderro Nwoji started at point...and likely seems like FAU's best option their the rest of the year. He's lightning quick and plays some aggresive on the ball defense...but he couldn't hit a jumper any further out than 10 feet and his decision making is at best suspect...he wants to push but just doesn't have the talent on the wings to run with him. RS Freshman Xavier Perkins started at the two...he looked a bit over-matched at this point...hes big (6'4" 225lb) and will get smarter with his attack. Eni Cuka, Sean Alarcon and Sanchez Hughley all saw time in the backcourt...and all showed about the same, mediocre ball handling, questionable decision making and POOR outside shooting...as a team FAU went 1-11 from 3, Alarcon hit their only 3 pt with 3:20 left in the game when it was well out of reach. FAU was up through the first 15 minutes...and down only five at the half...but poor point guard play killed them. URI showed mostly man defense...and I wondered why b/c the 2-3 they went into occassionally was extremely successful...this is a team that needs Monroe to touch the ball on the block or for Graham to breakdown the defense, both would be limited by a 2-3 and they sure as hell won't shoot you out of a zone. JJ...ZONE THE HELL OUT OF THIS TEAM...and also press...Nwoji's handles are adequate but he's going to make mistakes and their second best ball handler might be Monroe. I felt bad for Monroe and his frontcourt mates...this backcourt was just woeful and I thought that with just a care taker point guard this team could be really good. Off to watch Hartford this afternoon.

Its dangerous to put too much stock in something like this... I wasn't able to see the game...but the score indicates to me that JJ made sure that his players didn't "play down" to their compition like I've seen in past years...and thats a tough thing to do. Cooley - I have a very hard time believing that Josh will knock Ben out of the starting role at the point...if for no other reason than Ben is a senior. Josh will see his minutes but there doesn't seem to be a need to rush him unless he is just clearly superior to Ben. Any word on why Dez didn't play?

He was a 6'6" wing when he went to school.

Tonight after work I will be heading to the University of Rhode Island and their beautiful new arena, Ryan Center, to see the Running Rams open their season against Carlos Monroe and Florida Atlantic. Preseason publications have URI pegged as an NIT team so it will be good to see how FAU matches up with a quality opponent. FAU also has a game Monday up here against Boston College, though regretably I won't be able to make that game. This Sunday, Hartford plays Quinnipiac a few miles from my home so I will be in attendance there as well. QU is picked to finish in the middle of the pack in an under-impressive Northeast Athletic Conference (last season's league champ was 16 seed Central Connecticut St.) so this won't be a great gauge of how good Hartford is, but it should give me some idea. I'll be sure to pass along the info on Monday.

Just sayin'...

What an odd answer to a seemingly straight forward question

FAU I would...and did...MTSU should be great next year if everyone sticks around

???

Too soon?

Please...Western Kentucky as the 54th best team in the country? Only if Ralph Willard were still coaching... WKU and USA are too high...everyone else too low...atleast to FIU. Polls mean nothing

I'll be there in spirit...just like Anthony Winchester

And Pit Crew...when Justin arrives in Denton on Saturday you shall address him only as the Godfather and do not...I repeat do not make eye contact...you are simply not worthy.

From what I remember of the Texashoops top 100 list...62 seems a bit low for us to be targeting...the guard Tre Kelly(?) was high forties, low fifties and ended up at Texas St. We should be looking in the 20s and 30s IMO.

Well done except for the oddly placed and repeated cut-aways to Papa Todd while the players were talking.

??? ??? ???

Again...thank the NBA and its Draft age limit for these types of upsets...and hopefully a continued move toward college basketball parody. Middle of the road recruits aren't willing to go to powerhouse schools and sit for two seasons like they used to because these schools are re-loading with lottery pick talent every year. All you have to do is take a look at the big conferences All-Conference teams and see how many underclassmen are listed compared to the number of seniors: ACC - 1 senior, 2 juniors, 2 sophomores; Big 12 - 1 senior, 1 junior, 2 sophomores, 1 freshman; Big East - 1 senior, 3 juniors, 1 sophomore; PAC 10 - 2 seniors, 1 junior, 2 sophomores. Compare that to the mid-majors: SBC - 4 seniors, 1 junior; WAC - 5 seniors; WCC - 5 juniors; MVC - 5 seniors. This trend should continue and I think its great for college basketball...you'll see fewer and fewer D-1 transfers because these guys will just go to the mid major out of high school...think of 4 seasons with Keith Wooden, Collin Dennis, George Odufuwa and Kendrick Davis...it will put more pressure on the coach at the mid major to recruit talent out of high school...but it looks like JJ is doing well with Tristan and Josh. As for these upsets...its a trickle down effect. GVSt has 6 seniors who play a major role on their team...MSU has one. Talent will win out in the long run...but team continuity will sneak up and bite a better team in the ass.

Thats because they're very beatable...especially early in the year as they try to figure out who is going to pick up the scoring for Mario Boggan and JamesOn Curry...Byron Eaton will try, fail and then eat a bucket of chicken...Obi Muonelo will jump over the basket and accidently score 10 points....Terrell Harris is solid for another 10. And the only real post pressence, Kenny Cooper, is suspended. This has the potential to be a great way for UNT to start off the season...build lots of healthy momentum before heading down to UT.

I don't live in the area anymore...but has the situation with Dom Green deteriorated to the point of demonstrations? I have a very hard time believing that...and before I see someone post something like "liberals will protest anything" let me preface by saying I'm quite liberal, been in my share of protests and we aren't simply a herd of sheep who will take any chance to show off our sign and chant making skills...it takes a significant issue, and to this point and from what I've heard...this doesn't seem to be an issue. Ohhh...and Kansas is legit...should make for an entertaining Big 12 championship game with OU and if they lose it shouldn't taint what has been a great season for the Manginobears.

I heart Cooley so much for these lists. Lots of good Eastern European names on here...a couple playing in Texas (like at Weatherford JC with Rod Flemings...WHY THE HELL HAVE WE NEVER LANDED A JUCO FROM WEATHERFORD!!!!!)...whoa...unexpected rant, sorry...just saying that with their offensive prowes and less than apt defensive abilities, Eastern European players would fit very well in JJ's scheme.

I love that new season feelin! I think some of your best basketball teams will be up in the Pacific Northwest this season...Gonzaga, Washington, Wazzou St. and Stanford should all be really good...and I'm gonna say atleast two make the final four...the Zags and Oregon...but then again I've never won a dime in any bar bracketts I've ever entered b/c I like underdogs too much. Go Mean Green

Thats a very nice sink...making some bathroom renovations? Good taste.