BillySee58

He’s also not a point guard

Absolutely. We really need a 4 who can actually spread the floor the way Mccasland wants and can rebound. With Miller graduating our internal options are Jahmiah Simmons, who is 6’4 and does not stretch the floor, and Abdul Mohamed who we haven’t seen yet but didn’t have an offer list like this.

New offer out. 6’7” JUCO forward from Navarro college, averaging 13.4 points per game and 7.8 rebounds per game, shooting 54% from the field and 36% from three. Originally from Montreal. Holds 6 other D1 offers including Oregon State, East Carolina, and San Diego. Seems like a good candidate to play the four in Mccasland’s system. https://247sports.com/Player/James-Jean-Marie-46079055/ http://njcaaregion14.com/sports/mbkb/2018-19/players/jamesjeanmariecsq5?view=splits&pos=sh http://www.verbalcommits.com/players/james-jean-marie

Chance for UNT to get back over .500 in conference play on Senior Day

I think the biggest issues in Mccasland building the program have been recruiting and over-estimating players we have. Much like Littrell’s first few recruiting cycles, Mccasland has just not been winning head to head recruiting battles against noteworthy schools. And he thought our roster was set and deep enough to take a guy in Shakeem Alcindor who no one else wanted and who put up pedestrian stats at a prep school that played very questionable competition. And at the beginning of the year he thought we had quality enough depth to be able to redshirt Mohamed and Wise when in reality his depth was made up of guys who have proven to be well below average CUSA level players in guys like J Simmons, Arikawe, and Draper.

If this were the case then how were we so good and sharp in the 36th-40th games of the season last year? Also, we haven’t been good offensively all year. Early in the year we struggled to get 68 points against a now 5-24 UMES team, then followed that up with a game where Maine, also now 5-24, took us to overtime as we scored just 60 points and only 25 in the second half, then couldn’t separate against St Peter’s, who is now 8-20, as we beat them by just 9 points. Then our next home game we needed a furious come back just to reach 63 points to beat UTA, now 14-15. The issue to me is talent. Mccasland has done a good job winning games early on with average talent but as the season goes on teams are able to exploit our lack of talent and glaring player deficiencies. Plus the schedules have gotten harder in these cases as well. I think this was more true last season and in Grant’s year at Arkansas State than this season. I think we had the talent at the top of our lineup, but Duffy and Smart have looked nothing like they did in the CBI run and we used too many scholarships on guys who can’t make up for those guys not being as good.

I was not particularly excited about Jahmiah Simmons when Mccasland brought him with him. My optimism was that Mccasland really liked him. Mccasland still really likes him but I have no idea how it is warranted.

What happens when you waste scholarships on guys who give you nothing. I really have no explanation for Smart, but it is frustrating how we keep having these preseason injuries that seemingly hamper us the rest of the season. Duffy and Miller last year, Smart/Wise/Mohamed this season.

Gibson breathes life into a flatlining offense

Name is Jahmiah but yeah. Shooting 35.3% from the field, 11.1% from three, and 33% from the free throw line in CUSA play. Just terrible offensively. And Smart has arguably been worse.

I don’t buy that one bit. If he gets the squad that he really wants, I do expect it to be a relatively high scoring team. Not a team that’s leading the nation or even conference in points, but a team that is efficient offensively and is cracking 80 fairly routinely. That’s what we were between the beginning of our CBI run and through the first 16 games of the year. That’s what he wants to be. Not a team that sacrifices offense for defense. I don’t assume that. Mccasland only had one player above 6’4” in his rotation at Arkansas State as well. I get that’s what he does and I’ve spent a lot of time explaining that to people on here this year. But even in a “four-guard lineup” you would still prefer quality size. The point of a four-guard lineup is not to have a smaller lineup than the other team. The point is to put as much skill as you can on the floor. If Mccasland could get a 6’7” player who shoots as well as Gibson (bad example after yesterday) he would. So when I say quality size, I don’t mean get a bunch of 6’10” guys. I mean get at least one player who has the size, length, and strength to rebound and defend the four spot, but can also adequately stretch the floor from the four spot, and get at least one person who the coaches can trust at the five behind Simmons. And also someone who could play both, ideally. I.e. someone 6’7”ish who can rebound well and shoot well enough to play the four next to a five like Zach Simmons. Someone like Colin Voss I think would be nice to have off the bench in this scheme. We still play big men. It’s not a five-guard lineup. That’s no excuse. A good recruiting coach could get a decent five here, even in a primarily four-guard lineup. Zach Simmons is a very involved player in our offense as a passer, rim roller, and even in back-to-the-basket plays. A good big would play here plenty and be very involved as well. And a good recruiting coach could spell that out fairly easily. I don’t feel comfortable with that group, and wouldn’t consider that a solid guard rotation heading into the season. If you’re starting Gibson and Smart then you have no established bench scorer. I really would prefer Draper towards the end of the bench. A capable player but the more he has been forced to play, the less successful we have been. Not terrible, just don’t want to have to bank on him. And as for Jalen Jackson and Larry Wise, they are promising but their shooting abilities are concerning. Wise does not have a smooth looking stroke and Jackson is shooting 21% from three and 66% from the line this season, according to MaxPreps. As of now I don’t feel comfortable in those guys and Draper being our top bench scoring options. That’s planning very dangerously imo. I think all of those players are worthy of scholarships, I just don’t think it’s playing the percentages smartly to have those be your top bench players. Jahmiah Simmons has been an absolute liability offensively this year, particularly in conference play. Mccasland seems to like him but I really think we need more options at the four next year than just him and Mohamed, which is what it looks like for now. He seems to be recruiting this position with offers like Trey Wade out there. Agreed. We desperately need a rim protector. Zach Simmons isn’t even really a great rim protector. But we need someone off the bench who can be at least a decent rim protector when Zach Simmons is out. This roster is in no shape to be filling our last spots with players who lack offensive skill. Losing Miller and Duffy and replacing them with poor shooters who are limited offensively is a recipe for a lot more games like the last four we have played. Not sure how you interpreted me saying “that’s on him. It’s his responsibility to figure it out” as an ultimatum or a suggestion at a coaching change. I’m just saying he needs to be held responsible for the roster and if it isn’t good enough next year, that’s on him. And based on what he is getting paid, we can’t just give him a pass simply because he is doing better than the previous regime.

Miller hasn’t missed a game. Guessing you mean Woolridge. We only played one game without Woolridge and Duffy. We haven’t been good offensively all year, even when both were healthy. Record was good, but we were not exactly lighting it up. Quality size. We have one guy who fits that category (Zach Simmons). A 6’4” player who is struggling to crack 30% from the field and the free throw line in conference play is not how I would describe a quality big. Neither are guys who Coach Mccasland struggles to trust to even play more than a few minutes (Alcindor and Arikawe). We don’t need to “go big.” I’m the last person who has ever advocated that. We just need enough quality size, which to me is three quality big men. Right now we have one with two open scholarships left, and some pressing wing scoring needs to boot. Yes, he had put himself in a pickle by not making great use of scholarships. That’s on him. His responsibility to figure it out. If he makes the decision to try and get more out of the guys who are on campus but haven’t shown the ability, then he better make sure it works. Same if he decides to move on from those players.

Whether we win our next three or lose our next three, Mccasland cannot sit by and feel like our win total alone is enough to warrant running it back with this roster next year. This team needs offense and quality size and we only have two scholarships left to do that.

It’s not like we have been good offensively with him

We had 15 in the first half against WKU. Terrible offense.

Well we can put the theory that the coaches are redshirting Alcindor to bed.

They’re about 50% on indentifying UNT players correctly. Called about 3 different players “Smart”

Like the way we’re moving the ball. We should be able to move the ball like this, with or without Woolridge.

He has played in three division one games. He has played two division one opponents. You don’t get to keep your redshirt just because you don’t play against division one opponents, which he has. They burned his redshirt unless they can claim he has been injured, but he has been in the layup lines all year to my recollection so I didn’t think they were trying to go that route.

Exactly. We don’t need first-round o-linemen or draftable basketball players. Just get all conference guys or close to all conference guys. Every all-CUSA player chose to play at a CUSA school. No reason that school can’t be ours.

Why do you keep calling him Hawkeem? It’d be one thing if you were calling him Hakeem, but I have no explanation where you keep pulling Hawkeem from. Also, our lineup was terrible with Holston and Lawson starting. We took off when we stopped playing them. There’s a cool alternative to bringing back failed players and it’s called signing actual good players who other schools want. We should try it.

Who played where is thrown out the window for bonus play. If the goal is putting a second team in the NCAA Tournament, then the best way to do that would be for the 1 seed and 2 seed to not have to go the 3 seed’s home and have the easiest road games, except for the 2 seed having to play at the 1 seed. This is the most likely way that the 1 and 2 seed will go 7-1 combined in pod play, which is the best case scenario for the conference. Unfortunately I don’t think any of that will matter. No way we get two teams in this year imo

Oh, right. I think you’re looking in the wrong spot for unfairness. What would be unfair would be a team finishing as a 2 seed having to play at the 3 seed in bonus play. This is perfectly fair. It is impossible for a team to jump another team unless someone wins on the road against a team that finished ahead of them. You reward the teams that finished highest by allowing them to prevent the teams directly below them from jumping them on their home court. Why would they make the matchups so that teams would have to win on the road against the teams directly below them in order to maintain the seed that they earned?

What was your complaint with it for pod 1? Seeding. Would you rather play the 3 seed or the 1 seed in the quarters?

So looks like it will be the way I laid it out. You have to win on the road to pass the teams directly ahead of you.