Mean_Green09

I'd lean that way until we play UTSA. Tough to win on the road at UTEP. Especially after they lost to USM. You had to figure they were gonna come out extra sharp tonight.

Ahmed certainly not afraid to put it up. Six shots in the 1st half.

You're right UTEP killing us with 3's and offensive boards. Wonder if your down big at the half if you don't try to rest your starters and let the other guys get live playing time.

Line - 10 UTEP UTEP has the advantage on both ends of the floor. We gave up 11 offensive boards against last time. Big key Vince Hunter, Earvin Morris, and Omenga Harris had big games against us. USM forced 17 UTEP TOs I think UNT will get some guys to step up and keep this game close throughout, but UTEP will win it. UTEP 66 UNT 59

No, but it there should be a webcast on MeanGreenSports.com

I believe that. They are one of the 68 best teams in the country, but I'm pretty sure they've got to climb over a lot of teams to make the dance. You do make a good point about OOC SOS, but you don't know what emphasis the committee will put on that. They may value conference strength and how you fared in conf play. In all likelihood ODU's conference slide in the middle of the season cost them an at large bid. They still are good enough to win the CUSA tourney and get the automatic bid.

You are overrating the RPI. ODU is a bubble team. Bubble teams like ODU dont get in as a 10 seed. If they win the tourney maybe a 10 seed, but most likely they get in a play in game if they don't win the tourney. They arent going to have the opportunities to collect many quality wins down the stretch like other bubble teams will. I do think they are among about 15 teams fighting for those last 4 spots.

SBC is a one bid league this year. Georgia St most likely a 13 seed. If anyone else wins that tourney they would be a 14 or 16 seed. AAC is probably a 4 bid league. SMU,Cinci, Temple, Tulsa. UConn has a chance to make that a 5 bid league if they can make a run in their tourney.

Not really much of chance that ODU/La Tech/UTEP climb above that #11 line. La Tech would probably be a 13 seed, highest would be a 12 same thing with UTEP Only ODU has a slim very slim chance of climbing to a 10 seed. If they win the tourney they would still most likely be a 11. If they get an at large big its going to be as a 12 seed in the play in game.

Not sure you should be game planning for anyone.

You lose a kid who was averaging 22 mins and 10 ppg during that 5 game winning streak. You're losing your 6th man and instant offense. Its a tough blow for this team. It really puts a stress on the starters to play more minutes and produce more. I cant see this team making any run in the CUSA tourney without Harris. I want to see this kid play, but I understand why you have to sit him. Hopefully he works out. He has a ton of potential.

Not a fan of pre-spring rankings. I think its important to hold off on where you think this team is until we see them on the field in spring ball. Until then its all about potential and well potential is a scary word. Do we have potential on both sides of the ball? I would say yes. Still I'm not sold on really any aspect of this team other than a few players. I'm not sure you can clearly point to one position and say its a strength. They all have potential, but they all have question marks. As far as the schedule goes it is what it is. I think its okay to not worry about it at this point. We don't really know if those 5 bowl teams are going to be good again. Every team has got to replace key components. WKU is in the best shape of all them, because of their QB.

No not really. Check back after the UTSA game.

We couldn't get it into the post bc ODU wouldn't let us. They are a damn good defensive team. They defend the post really well and were collapsing on most entry passes. We also couldn't get into the post bc we didn't shoot the ball well. Benford is always preaching about getting the ball into the post. Even if he calls a set play to get the ball to the post ODU could still stop it with fundamental D and making the entry pass difficult. What we really needed tonight was a guy who could beat his guy off the dribble. We missed Harris and his explosiveness. We got beat by a top 25 caliber team tonight who has one of the best defenses in the country. We had our chances and just couldn't get done. We hung around while playing shorthanded. Time to move onto the next game and see how this teams responds.

Freeman is a top notch guard. He can get into the paint against mostly anyone. We weren't stopping him. Just move on.

Part of the problem was offensive rebounds. You already have to defend for a long time then you give up a board now you have to defend longer. That attributed a lot to the tiredness

No we wouldnt have. Don't kid yourself. ODU put the lockdown defense on us. Harris would've just launched more bad shots.

Nobody was gonna stop that guy

BASKETBALL BREAKDOWN: OLD DOMINION MONARCHS Thinking about it more I should have giving ODU the match-up advantage in the frontcourt. I just didn't have a chance to go back and change that. Should be a good match-up of teams playing good basketball. If we limit the TO's I think we should be able to keep their scoring down. It will be interesting to see what D Benford goes with this game. I have a feeling he sticks with man since ODU hit 10 3's last time and had 19 offensive rebounds.

The roads and weather should improve by game time. Temps are supposed to get above freezing in the early afternoon.

1. We are making shots. Before the UAB game UNT was shooting 43% from the field. These last five games its been close to 47% 2. When you shot the ball better the offense opens up. 3. There is a better flow to the offense. The offense has been simplified to run more set/plays. Less random ball screens and movement. Move from a motion offense to a flex. 4. The rotation is set & players know their roles. 5. Sr's have stepped their game up. Voss has opened up the spacing on the floor with his ability to shoot mid range. T.J Taylor is finally healthy and playing like the player we all though he could be. Jordan Williams just keeps playing at a high level. You have a group of Sr's who didnt want to go out on a bad note. The rest of the team has responded to those Srs. Everybody has stepped their game up 6. DeAndre Harris has matured into his 6th man role. He gives us instant offense off the bench. 7. Defensively they are using their athleticism and playing man to man when they should. Against the good shooting opponents like Rice, Charlotte, FIU they went man. If a team isn't great at shooting they get in their zone. Its great to be able to play both well. 8. Like the other guys have mentioned before me, buy in. Good coaches always preach if you buy into my program we will be successful. Buy in combined with Sr leadership is a huge reason to the turn around. 9. Playing complete games. Not just a half 10. I mentioned before the season started that this team would struggle early because they were a group of guys that hadn't played much together. I also said that I expected them to finish the season strong. I believe the talent is finally gelling into a team. These guys are now comfortable playing with each other. You look around at a lot of the top mid major programs in the country and they are teams loaded with Srs or guys who have been playing with each other for 3 or 4 years. We didnt have that luxury. I hope the good times keep rolling!

They've moved away from the motion offense which was confusing to the players and have gone with more sets/plays. Players know where to be and who to set screens on. It makes it easier on the players. Only drawback is it's easier to scout.

They've done a good job matching their D against what the opposition does well. Against a good outside shooting team like Charlotte it made sense to man up. My only concern was going to be Combs matched against guard. He struggled, but everyone else did a good job.

I think most people would say we need 2 guys who can score. We need a spot up knock down outside shooter and we need a guy who can drive it and shoot from downtown. If your offense is gonna revolve around Combs & Byrce you better have shooters to spread the floor. I think we have one Harris, but you need at least 2 on the floor. Also need Combs to get that mid range J down. Can't have two bigs on the block. Voss and his ability to hit the mid range J has opened things up a bit for Combs to avoid doubles and congestion. Like tonight Voss has Thorne on him. Thorne respected his J so he had to come out and defend away from the basket. It opened up the post and driving lanes for our guys.

Too much dribbling into traps. Waiting for the pressure and press to set up. Need better screens set when it's a full court man to man. Call out the traps when they are random. No true PG. Need better passes. To many times we get lackadaisical with them. Have to be strong with the ball.