NT80

I didn't read it as a slap at UNT. I thought by the post title that he had made some bad remarks about our program, but he didn't. Isn't his home town close to Austin? He probably grew up hearing nothing but UT news stories, and they offer so few ships that when he didn't get one, he took his next best offer, UNT, and I don't hold it against him. When the "UT" coach that recruited him, Trilli, left, he inquired and was allowed to walk-on at UT. The article didn't say anything bad about his time at UNT.

Tim MacMahon: Tourney title just scratching surface for UNT 12/09/2002 By Tim MacMahon Don’t be confused by the rinky-dink sound of the name of the tournament on the newest trophy in the North Texas men’s basketball office. There were no gimmes for the Mean Green in the Brothers Air and Heat Shootout. Weber State, which UNT beat in the first round, has almost its entire team back after winning 18 games last season. Winthrop, which fell to the Mean Green on its home floor in the title game, has gone to the NCAA Tournament the past four seasons. "This is a big momentum booster for us," string-bean forward Jermaine Green said. "We’re going back home with a two-game winning streak. That’ll get us going. I think we’re about to get on a roll." The Mean Green more than survived an early schedule that opened with five games away from the Super Pit. UNT is 3-2 entering Tuesday’s home opener against TCU, despite the fact that coach Johnny Jones is still searching for the right chemistry and combinations. That’s just one reason to think this team will only improve. The Mean Green, a team that considers its ability to score points its biggest strength, hasn’t had of those nights yet this season where the offense flows like freestyle rap. UNT still hasn’t hit that natural rhythm, where the points come easily and in an entertaining fashion. Heck, star swingman Chris Davis hasn’t hit much of anything. His shooting slump won’t last much longer. But the fact that UNT was able to take a tournament title — the program’s first since the early days of the Flying Worm — with Davis’ jumper on the back of a milk carton is a testament to this team’s potential. "It used to be if I didn’t score my points, we’d lose by 30," Davis said, wearily remembering the woeful Vic Trilli era. "It’s not like that anymore." That has a lot to do with the fact that there are several other players on UNT’s roster who can fill it up. Shooting guard Leonard Hopkins can drop 20 on any given night. Green will give you double figures every night. And if sparkplug point guard Jerome Rogers is hitting from long range, he can completely alter the course of a game when he comes off the bench. But the Mean Green made an addition to its trophy case upon primarily because of defense and toughness, a couple of things that have been in short supply in recent years for the male inhabitants of the Super Pit. Give Davis, who had 21 rebounds in the two games, credit for leading the charge instead of pouting because he wasn’t getting his points. As much as the final score, it was the Mean Green’s 10-board edge and Winthrop’s 33-percent shooting percentage that left Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall steaming and Jones beaming.

Tcu beat Baylor tonight in Waco. They will also be feeling good about themselves for the game Tuesday in Denton.

Weber St. had beaten UC-Santa Barbara, Montana Tech, Ball St. and Nevada. Their only loss was to Alaska-Fairbanks in the final of the Top-of-the-world classic. Their home arena looks cool in blue...... Weber St. arena and schedule

I like the fact that JJ isn't satisfied with some of the team's recent play and is trying several things to improve them. Coaches that refuse to change or try new things, stagnate!

Similar to the football program, it was left in pretty bad shape after Trilli. JJ will need a couple years to restock and get his system established. As always, I still think we are lacking in the post position. Barnett seems to have some good tools, he just needs experience.

Lady Eagles are now 3-0.

I agree with much of your post. The biggest exasperation for me was watching us constantly just the pass ball around the perimeter and not try to get closer in. We shot many balls 5 feet and further outside the arc. Not quality or high percentage shots.

"We’re bigger than we were last year and stronger than we were last year," Jones said when asked if rebounding could present a season-long problem for UNT. "It’s just a matter of having that desire and determination to get to the glass." That says it well. We haven't been able to really control the boards with big men in over 10 years.

I think Moody holds around 9,500. There were probably about 3,500 total there, mostly older adult smu fans, few students. About 500-700 UNT fans were scattered around, not a bad showing by us for a holiday, just wish the result could have been different, I hate to lose anytime to uppity smu.

Smuu had 3 shots each time down the court to our one 3-point try. We need more of a presence inside. Refs weren't consistent either.

UNT Notebook Green takes Red’s former role 11/27/2002 By Tim MacMahon / Staff Writer Even with a bad ankle, North Texas forward Jermaine Green was assigned to defend Southwest Missouri’s Terrance McGee during the 6-0 guard’s hot streak in the second half of Friday night’s season-opening win. It wasn’t that UNT coach Johnny Jones had run out of options. He expects Green, the team’s second-leading scorer and rebounder last season, to be the Mean Green’s defensive stopper now that Kenneth "Red" Mangrum is a graduate assistant instead of a guard. "He kind of reminds me of Michael Cooper," Jones said, referring to the spindly former Lakers swingman who usually drew the most difficult defensive assignment. "Jermaine’s very versatile. He has a great deal of pride in defending and rebounding and doing the little things." The 6-8, 185-pound Green, a senior, played primarily power forward last season. He hopes to spend more time on the perimeter this season, where he feels he is a better fit. "Hopefully I’ll get more minutes out there when I’m healthy," said Green, who was limited to 18 minutes against SMS but contributed 12 points, two steals and a block. "That’s what I did when I was in junior college. I was defensive player of the year for my team. I can do that at this level, too." Green, however, continues to be hobble by his ankle. He hasn’t participated in a full practice since suffering a sprain in the Nov. 15 exhibition finale. He estimated his ankle to be at 80 percent strength. Blanton poised for breakout Coach Tina Slinker saw signs of forward Kim Blanton’s potential long before her 21-point, 10-rebound performance in Friday’s season-opening win over UT-San Antonio. "She’s been consistently doing that in practice," Slinker said. "That’s the first step. Some of it is confidence. Part of it is that she’s become more skillful with her athleticism." The 6-1 Blanton, the niece of NFL tight end Rickey Dudley, was a role player the last two seasons, providing defense and rebounding in limited minutes off the bench. Her previous career-high point total was 13 points. While Blanton has emerged as one of the Lady Eagles top offensive threats — she led UNT in scoring in the final exhibition game as well — her defense definitely has not dropped off. She held UTSA star forward Nikki Hendrix to six points on 3-of-13 shooting. "That’s what’s fun about Kim — she can play both ends of the floor now," Slinker said. "She’s always been so solid defensively." Jones: Dickey doesn’t get enough credit UNT men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones spent the first few minutes of his Tuesday afternoon press conference extolling the virtues of football coach Darrell Dickey. Jones said Dickey had done an extraordinary job this season, withstanding the loss of his starting quarterback and developing a redshirt freshman at the position while defending the Sun Belt title. Jones added that he often uses the football team as an example to when he talks to his team. "I’m not sure if he gets enough credit for what he’s done," Jones said of Dickey. "He’s been an inspiration for us and our basketball team." Slinker likes Armstrong as sixth man Freshman Jamie Armstrong, who is perhaps the most highly touted recruit in the history of the Lady Eagles program, didn’t disappoint in her debut. She scored 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting in 27 minutes off the bench. Coach Tina Slinker said she sees Armstrong’s role this season as providing instant energy off the bench. "I like her there right now for a lot of reasons," Slinker said. "She does something right away when she comes in, and I can put her at the two or the three, depending on matchups." Player of the Week Redshirt freshman quarterback Andrew Smith had a remarkable performance in the Mean Green’s regular-season finale, a 30-20 win at Middle Tennessee. Smith completed 14 of 19 passes — including his first 10 — for a career-high 206 yards. He threw touchdowns of 45 and 40 yards, putting both passes on the money. For his efforts, Smith was named the Denton Record-Chronicle UNT Player of the Week. TIM MACMAHON can be reached at 940-381-9572. UNT 7-DAY SCHEDULE FRIDAY: Women’s basketball vs. Alcorn State, SWT Classic, 6 p.m.; Men’s basketball at SMU, 7 p.m. SATURDAY: Women’s basketball vs. UMKC, SWT Classic, 4 p.m. SUNDAY: Men’s basketball at Indiana, 1 p.m. TUESDAY: Women’s basketball at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, 5:30 p.m.

I plan to be there too! Beat Schmoo!

Maybe we should start scheduling a game in New Orleans for that night, maybe vs. Tulane or Southern or (gasp!) even LSU? We'd already have a good crowd in town!

SMS men's basketball preview: Southwest Missouri State 2002-03

Yes, I believe I did predict a 40-point win! Good job Mean Green!! I couldn't make the game tonight, how did it go?

UTA beat the Tx/La All-Stars last night 89-58 and we should do as well or better against them. I'm looking for a 40-point win!

I also have just seen the Exhibition game, but Hopkins for sure needs as many minutes as we can get him. DeGrate is very athletic and I know he was disappointed in fouling out. I thought Roniger and Barnett both played well despite being relatively new to the college game. Roniger made some great passes and is a good ball handler. He didn't seem to want to shoot when left open. I thought Barnett moved well for as big as he is, and he's a good 4 inches or more taller than Masters making him close to 7 feet or more. We have a lot of depth on this team.

I hope these guys remember us after JC. Does that free up another ship for next year? How many will we have to give?

Click on the photo for the seating chart too, unique arena design: NT @ Indiana tickets

Vic is a great recruiter, and a nice guy, but he was 4-24 his last season at UNT.

Freshmen Pair Lead Lady Eagles In Exhibition Win Freshmen Jamie Armstrong and Jasmine Williams came up with double figures in points and rebounds, respectively, to spark the North Texas Lady Eagles to a 70-55 victory over the Houston Jaguars in an exhibition basketball game Thursday night at the Super Pit. In the Lady Eagles' first action of the 2002-03 season, Armstrong led a balanced scoring attack with a team-high 10 points while Williams grabbed a team-leading 10 rebounds. Also for the Lady Eagles, senior forward Angel Lewis finished with eight points while another of the Lady Eagles' eight true freshmen, Natalie Mireles, chipped in with seven points. "I was pleased overall," said North Texas head coach Tina Slinker. "We played a solid first half and a not-so-solid second half. I think we lost some intensity but that was to be expected playing as many kids as we did. We have a great deal to work on. We must define who our go-to person is going to be. But that's a good problem to have." North Texas, which got scoring from 12 of the 13 players in uniform and rebounding from every player who saw action, took control of the game early and never let up. The Lady Eagles jumped out to a 28-6 lead in the game's first nine minutes and owned a 48-28 lead by halftime. The Lady Eagles never let their lead get below double figures although at three different times in the second half Houston cut the deficit down to 12 points. Besides Williams' 10 rebounds, three other Lady Eagles -- Kim Blanton, Karolyn Haskin and Mireles -- each came up with five rebounds. North Texas also got encouraging play from freshman Erika Bobo who started at point guard. She passed out a team-high five assists, one-third of the Lady Eagles' total of 15. The Lady Eagles will host their second and final exhibition tune-up on Monday, Nov. 18, when they will face Oklahoma Flyers in a 7 p.m. game at the Super Pit.

Mean Green basketball team set for intrasquad scrimmage Saturday November 01, 2002 In case the Homecoming activities are not for you, NT basketball fans can check out the men's team at the Super Pit. The Mean Green basketball team will play a Green-White intrasquad scrimmage at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Before the game, players for the 2002-2003 season will be introduced. A slam dunk competition featuring forwards senior Jermaine Green, junior Will Smith and junior transfer Michale DeGrate will also take place. "This is an exciting opportunity for us," head coach Johnny Jones said. "It will give fans a chance to see who the team is, and we hope to make this event an annual tradition." Jones said that the scrimmage was taking place of a Midnight Madness event that was in the works of being planned.

Are you a UNT party-animal? Then you must have this for your Mean Green bashes... Unique UNT item

Next Saturday 1-2pm, a Green/White basketball scrimmage will be held in the SuperPit before the Homecoming football game at 3pm....Be There!