UNT / Sul Ross a Squeaker ??!??

cogido · November 13, 2016

North Texas squeaked by Division III , non-scholarship Sul Ross by only eight points ? NT had twenty-five turnovers ? Am I hearing this right ?

Hunter Green · November 13, 2016

SOS. Sea ya later, Benford.

Harry · November 14, 2016

This is not acceptable. More excuses, same results. WAY too many turnovers. My only hope is that they has a rusty start in this first game. If this type of play continues he will be in trouble. He needs a sense of urgency in every game.

GreenMachine · November 14, 2016

We all know Benfords time here is over. Wren won't keep him no matter what thus years record is. Won't matter because we will suck again this year under him and WB will hire a new coach mid term.

Edited November 14, 2016 by GreenMachine

Maduro · November 14, 2016

I felt that the lack of a true point guard is what made us seem vulnerable. I have no idea what the coaching staff was thinking allowing Holston to direct the offense for a good portion of the game. That dude has serious issues putting the ball in the basket and is scared to death of taking a jump shot. His dribbling and passing skills have always appeared sub-par to me. It's as if the coaches were desperately trying to find any way possible to make him a usable player after they exhausted all other options. I think the offense and ball movement will be substantially less sloppy when Reese is back on the floor.

Brice is an absolute game changer and I feel that it's time for him to move to the starting lineup. At the end of the non-conference schedule, I'd like to see the teams +/- when he's on and off the floor. He's motivated, catches passes, is hungry to score, and the opposition is terrified of attacking the basket when he's in the lane. Now that he's lost a few pounds and appears to be quicker, I bet he could start handling a few more minutes (assuming he can limit foul trouble). Unless Jeremy is battling some kind of injury, I'm not worried about him at all (except for free throws... probably never going to be an improvement there, but whatever).

Brown is awesome, but I feel like he'll be best suited to come off the bench once Frazier is eligible. After seeing him play last season and his performance on Friday, deckie is almost like having Tristan Thompson again. Lawson (and maybe Green) also looks like he has a bit of talent to showcase. I'd love to see this at the start of the games beginning in January...

pg - reese, sg - frazier, sf/sg - johnson, pf - combs, c - brice

cogido · November 14, 2016

Very good analysis by Maduro above, helps a footballer like me see the game within the game better. This year's team again seems to have talent but it isn't being brought to a competitive fever pitch - no athletic killer instinct. I know that Bobby Knight was way over the top, but it seems like we desperately need some of that powerball, no nonsense leadership. I love UNT and the kids that play ball, they need help.

risinggreen · November 14, 2016

We have oldtimers on this board that could compete with Sul Ross. Just pathetic.

HoustonEagle · November 14, 2016

Last year on his contract. All that matters.

Matt from A700 · November 14, 2016

We need to start the MVP chants when Deckie heads to the free throw line. He ended hot last season and was the leading scorer Friday night and... 16/16 from the free throw line!?! Without him the team would have been 8-23.

And come on. Free throws can win or lose you a game. The team should spend the end of their practices practicing free throws and learning to shoot when they're tired.

Army of Dad · November 14, 2016

10 hours ago, Maduro said:

I felt that the lack of a true point guard is what made us seem vulnerable. I have no idea what the coaching staff was thinking allowing Holston to direct the offense for a good portion of the game. That dude has serious issues putting the ball in the basket and is scared to death of taking a jump shot. His dribbling and passing skills have always appeared sub-par to me. It's as if the coaches were desperately trying to find any way possible to make him a usable player after they exhausted all other options. I think the offense and ball movement will be substantially less sloppy when Reese is back on the floor.

Brice is an absolute game changer and I feel that it's time for him to move to the starting lineup. At the end of the non-conference schedule, I'd like to see the teams +/- when he's on and off the floor. He's motivated, catches passes, is hungry to score, and the opposition is terrified of attacking the basket when he's in the lane. Now that he's lost a few pounds and appears to be quicker, I bet he could start handling a few more minutes (assuming he can limit foul trouble). Unless Jeremy is battling some kind of injury, I'm not worried about him at all (except for free throws... probably never going to be an improvement there, but whatever).

Brown is awesome, but I feel like he'll be best suited to come off the bench once Frazier is eligible. After seeing him play last season and his performance on Friday, deckie is almost like having Tristan Thompson again. Lawson (and maybe Green) also looks like he has a bit of talent to showcase. I'd love to see this at the start of the games beginning in January...

pg - reese, sg - frazier, sf/sg - johnson, pf - combs, c - brice

Derail Green could be an impact guys for us too.

I don't know if we will get consistent play from him, but I think he could be a factor in some games.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Army of Dad

almostnewguy · November 27, 2016

On 11/13/2016 at 11:09 PM, Maduro said:

I felt that the lack of a true point guard is what made us seem vulnerable. I have no idea what the coaching staff was thinking allowing Holston to direct the offense for a good portion of the game. That dude has serious issues putting the ball in the basket and is scared to death of taking a jump shot. His dribbling and passing skills have always appeared sub-par to me. It's as if the coaches were desperately trying to find any way possible to make him a usable player after they exhausted all other options. I think the offense and ball movement will be substantially less sloppy when Reese is back on the floor.

Brice is an absolute game changer and I feel that it's time for him to move to the starting lineup. At the end of the non-conference schedule, I'd like to see the teams +/- when he's on and off the floor. He's motivated, catches passes, is hungry to score, and the opposition is terrified of attacking the basket when he's in the lane. Now that he's lost a few pounds and appears to be quicker, I bet he could start handling a few more minutes (assuming he can limit foul trouble). Unless Jeremy is battling some kind of injury, I'm not worried about him at all (except for free throws... probably never going to be an improvement there, but whatever).

Brown is awesome, but I feel like he'll be best suited to come off the bench once Frazier is eligible. After seeing him play last season and his performance on Friday, deckie is almost like having Tristan Thompson again. Lawson (and maybe Green) also looks like he has a bit of talent to showcase. I'd love to see this at the start of the games beginning in January...

pg - reese, sg - frazier, sf/sg - johnson, pf - combs, c - brice

Another interesting statement. I agree with the true PG statement, but let's look at why a coach would want someone else at Point, instead of Brown and Reese and any of the other guards available right now (Ryan should fix this issue). Lawson and Johnson are SGs period. Brown has a scorers mentality and gets out of control if he's in the PG position too long. Plus, with his scoring ability, you should want him off the ball in position to score.

Reese is a turnover machine- at least he was last year (Combs is leading this category this year- but Reese has been hurt). Another thing, Reese slows the game down by dribble up the court instead of passing ahead. For a PG he does not see the floor well and does not pass well, in the flow of the offense (my analysis). When on, he is one of our best shooters/scorers. So to limit the turnovers at the PG position and getting your scorers in a position with the defense running at them is optimal.

Now, the reason to have Holston on the floor. Holston at 6'7, is one of your best on-ball defenders (Brown is the other one), and only 1 of 2 guards on the team that can play D1 defense. That's his main role (I believe) when he's on the floor. Many times you will see him guarding the top scorers on the other team. His length makes it difficult for players to shoot over him. Watch how the other guards let guys go right down the lane and get our bigs in foul trouble or make easy layups.

Last thing- let's not go crazy on Holston over the new roll. We all know he's not a shooter, but to me, Holston looks up the floor much better and doesn't have the turnovers of the other guards. He needs some work on breaking down the defense, but judging by the Hartford game, he looks to be natural around the baseline and in the Sul Ross game, he had 6 rebounds from the PG position.