la. tech men's game

[drex]

I was wondering if you think that the game vs. La.Tech was good enough to call off the dogs who are after Benford?

[GMG_Dallas]

No. We lost more games that we should have won than we won games that we should have lost. Now depending on how we finish the season, that might change but as it it, no. Let's see if benford can lead us to a little run here.

[akriesman]

I don't have any knowledge at all of how the administration feels about Benford.

But, my bet is that he will back unless the team tanks the rest of the way.    Next year there will be much higher expectations for this team and I think the administration will be patient enough to see that through.

Will this win against LT call of the dogs who want him fired ?   No way.

[UNT90]

He will have to be extended for at least 2 years. Unless you want to lose 2 years of recruiting. 

Who wants that to happen? 

Because I bet it does.

[HoustonEagle]

You have to look at it from a risk/reward perspective.  What is the risk in firing Benford at this point? Less competitive? No most candidates should perform at least at the level Benford has.  Buyout? No, Benford is at the end of his contract. Player attrition? Possibly but there are no stars on this team but good players with potential. 

So little risk in firing Benford and plenty of room to the upside with his replacement. He will be gone. 

[outoftown]

It is not enough yet. He will have to follow it up with a team that finally shows consistent quality. We are currently 7-14 vs FBS teams this season. we have 8 games left. I'd say he needs 6 of those plus a decent  run in the conference tournament. And that is just to start considering keeping him. The bar is pretty high by now, because his previous seasons all had one nice win that turned out to mean very little because for every nice win there would end up being at least one bad loss. And this game doesn't really change the overall outlook on th e season:

This season our record

vs RPI top 100 is: 0-3

vs RPI 101-200 is: 2-6

 vs RPI 201-300 is: 2-5 (!)

One game does not fundamentally change that bad record. And that is just this season. Benford needs a major run to have the present momentum overpower the long term picture.

 

[EagleMBA]

6 hours ago, drex said:

I was wondering if you think that the game vs. La.Tech was good enough to call off the dogs who are after Benford?

 

 

 

[GrandGreen]

4 hours ago, HoustonEagle said:

You have to look at it from a risk/reward perspective.  What is the risk in firing Benford at this point? Less competitive? No most candidates should perform at least at the level Benford has.  Buyout? No, Benford is at the end of his contract. Player attrition? Possibly but there are no stars on this team but good players with potential. 

So little risk in firing Benford and plenty of room to the upside with his replacement. He will be gone. 

Not sure what you call a star, but there are good players on this team.  Combs is as good a player that NT has had since Chris Davis.   Benford is not at the end of his contract, he has one more year.

On another subject, NT does not have to have give Benford an extension if they don't terminate him.    Sure it will effect recruiting to some degree, but did he just not sign the best rated basketball transfer player in history with no guarantee he will ever coach him?  

The la tech game in itself means nothing when it comes to retaining Benford.  IMO NT will have to finish strong and at least win one game and be competitive in another in the CUSA tournament to save Benford.   

Then again, its RV so I wouldn't be surprised at anything.   

[UNT90]

9 hours ago, HoustonEagle said:

You have to look at it from a risk/reward perspective.  What is the risk in firing Benford at this point? Less competitive? No most candidates should perform at least at the level Benford has.  Buyout? No, Benford is at the end of his contract. Player attrition? Possibly but there are no stars on this team but good players with potential. 

So little risk in firing Benford and plenty of room to the upside with his replacement. He will be gone. 

You are thinking logically. This is UNT and Rick Villarreal we are talking about. 

[UNTFan23]

One win does not an extension make.

[untjim1995]

Realistically, Benford has two things that will happen to him at the end of the season--he is either fired or he is extended by a year or two. No chance he goes into the last year of a contract...too much instability for the entire program. You easily get tune-out from players when losing starts, knowing the coach is a lame-duck. You get no recruiting done at all for recruits beyond 2017. And you probably lose recruits you have lined up already for next year, knowing that the coach they signed here to play under will be gone.

In a dream world, he will get canned as soon as a winning season is no longer possible, and we hire someone who knows how to actually be a head coach. In a nightmare world, we extend him, without ever having a winning record, while playing in a conference that has lost all of its basketball luster, due to the realignment exodus of the teams that went to the AAC.

Look, his teams win a game or two they shouldn't every year, while losing 3-4 games a year they shouldn't. Creighton last year, La Tech this year, that's how things tend to go in college basketball. But its the Alabama-Huntsville, ULM, Prairie View A&M, and Rice losses over the years that serve as a reminder that you shouldn't get your hopes up that some corner has been turned. Of course, the pesky "above .500" hurdle is the ultimate proof, as well...

[greenminer]

Every year we get 1 or 2 good wins, and every year our overall record is poor.

If RV has a brain, he'll understand that this win does not prove anything is different.

[UNT90]

4 minutes ago, greenminer said:

Every year we get 1 or 2 good wins, and every year our overall record is poor.

If Ernie has a brain, he'll understand that this win does not prove anything is different.

Fixed. RV does whatever he wants, especially where basketball is concerned. 

[EagleMBA]

1 minute ago, UNT90 said:

Fixed. RV does whatever he wants, especially where basketball is concerned. 

The person that puzzles me is Smatty. There is a man who should know what a good basketball program should be. Where is he?

[UNT90]

3 hours ago, EagleMBA said:

The person that puzzles me is Smatty. There is a man who should know what a good basketball program should be. Where is he?

My guess is neutered. 

[untjim1995]

22 hours ago, EagleMBA said:

The person that puzzles me is Smatty. There is a man who should know what a good basketball program should be. Where is he?

He either doesn't care about athletics, which is why he got hired here by the BOR, or he does like it, but the BOR and others made it clear to tone it down. My guess is the former, but the latter is just as disappointing.

Maybe Smatresk will get stuff done, from a leadership standpoint in regards to athletics, but I think a lot of us felt that replacing the AD would have been the best way to show that. Since that hasn't happened, and RV was allowed to be involved in the hiring of the football coach, as well as either receiving an automatic extension if Benford gets retained or being involved in yet another revenue sport hire, the status quo seems to be in full control in Denton.

[ntmeangreen11]

No.

Alabama-Huntsville.

 

[Ben Gooding]

On 2/8/2016 at 10:57 AM, untjim1995 said:

Realistically, Benford has two things that will happen to him at the end of the season--he is either fired or he is extended by a year or two. No chance he goes into the last year of a contract...too much instability for the entire program. You easily get tune-out from players when losing starts, knowing the coach is a lame-duck. You get no recruiting done at all for recruits beyond 2017. And you probably lose recruits you have lined up already for next year, knowing that the coach they signed here to play under will be gone.

In a dream world, he will get canned as soon as a winning season is no longer possible, and we hire someone who knows how to actually be a head coach. In a nightmare world, we extend him, without ever having a winning record, while playing in a conference that has lost all of its basketball luster, due to the realignment exodus of the teams that went to the AAC.

Look, his teams win a game or two they shouldn't every year, while losing 3-4 games a year they shouldn't. Creighton last year, La Tech this year, that's how things tend to go in college basketball. But its the Alabama-Huntsville, ULM, Prairie View A&M, and Rice losses over the years that serve as a reminder that you shouldn't get your hopes up that some corner has been turned. Of course, the pesky "above .500" hurdle is the ultimate proof, as well...

Kids aren't dumb. Thier HS coaches and AAU coaches will be in their ear telling them that "the coach was extended a year so he could land you. He'll more than likely be gone at next seasons end." If you don't think that happens, you're crazy. Extending him a year is throwing 300-400k down the drain to flush that year through a buyout. An extension would be for nothing at this point. 

[Army of Dad]

5 hours ago, Ben Gooding said:

Kids aren't dumb. Thier HS coaches and AAU coaches will be in their ear telling them that "the coach was extended a year so he could land you. He'll more than likely be gone at next seasons end." If you don't think that happens, you're crazy. Extending him a year is throwing 300-400k down the drain to flush that year through a buyout. An extension would be for nothing at this point. 

What do you think they were telling them this year?

[Dr. Seuss]

On 2/8/2016 at 0:30 PM, EagleMBA said:

The person that puzzles me is Smatty. There is a man who should know what a good basketball program should be. Where is he?

I agree, hopefully he's doing work behind the scenes

[Ben Gooding]

3 hours ago, Army of Dad said:

What do you think they were telling them this year?

Possibly the same. Who knows. Just don't extend this coach. This AD has thrown away enough money. That was kind of the point I was trying to make. 

[Matt from A700]

On 2/8/2016 at 0:20 PM, greenminer said:

Every year we get 1 or 2 good wins, and every year our overall record is poor.

And normally after every good win is followed by a bad loss. Last year: Creighton: Prairie View A&M; Then LA Tech I think: Southern Miss.

[flyonthewall]

On Wednesday, February 10, 2016 at 9:30 AM, Ben Gooding said:

Possibly the same. Who knows. Just don't extend this coach. This AD has thrown away enough money. That was kind of the point I was trying to make. 

What did ernie tell you about this?   He has an opinion.  Did you ask questions or just listen?

[Ben Gooding]

1 hour ago, flyonthewall said:

What did ernie tell you about this?   He has an opinion.  Did you ask questions or just listen?

I don't put people's opinion on air like that. He's a nice man that you appearantly know. You ask him.