Expectations for UTA game?

[Mean_Green09]

1 minute ago, Cooley said:

I'm ok with Duffy but Andrew's point (I believe) is that he is a juco. Simmons was not expected to contribute as much as a thin true freshman that didn't play much in HS. My frustration was that we didn't go get a tested big man. Tope appears to be a bust as a juco big man.

I had high expectations for Simmons I thought he’d start. I get your frustration though bc I’d love to have a guy who could score with his back to the basket. Something we don’t have. 

[Andrew]

10 minutes ago, Mean_Green09 said:

So Simmons is outshining Smart & Duffy? Duffy was working back from an injury and was starting to play really well. 

Simmons has grown up but he isn’t outshining those two dudes. 

I didn’t expect Simmons  see the floor like he has this year. He is a good rim protector and to me he is ahead of where Ricky Brice was as a freshman. Miller and Duffy were around the top 30-40 guys coming out of JUCO. I haven’t seen them contribute offensively like I thought they would. Gibson also looked great in the limited time he had. If he didn’t go down he would probably be taking minutes from Miller and maybe Duffy. 

[Andrew]

26 minutes ago, Mean_Green09 said:

None of it was dumb. I’m fine with the early look bc if it isn’t there or he misses we have time for another shot or set up. 

Lawson got a great look at the basket off his drive. Yeah I’d love to get the shot off for the upset, but we got the next best thing a quality look. And even off his miss there was time for a put back. 

We go to overtime and the odds are slim we win. We already only had 6 or 7 guys who were playing and Smart and Lawson were in serious fouls trouble. We could have lost by double digits when it was all said and done. In that situation you play for the win, because the chances are you will lose in all other scenarios. 

Edited December 3, 2017 by Andrew

[UTAmaverick]

Good game. Sort of. Ya'll dominated us on the glass, which didn't give us a chance to run much tonight. Both teams looked pretty bad most of the night. We couldn't make a free throw and the refs were calling every minor foul on both sides. The game had no flow to it, which is a shame because I don't think it ever let either team get into a rhythm offensively or let the best players really showcase their skills due to foul trouble. UNT is definitely improved but for all the high expectations of us going to the NCAA tournament, I think our last year's team was better. Next year we will have graduated all of our seniors and we will be mostly freshmen and sophomores, so I'm thinking if ya'll keep improving, and we rebuild, next year ya'll probably get an easy 10-20 win in Denton. Good luck the rest of the way. If I'm a UNT fan, I am very optimistic. Ya'll got a good coach and some good players.

[Mean_Green09]

3 minutes ago, Andrew said:

We go to overtime and the odds are slim we win. We already only had 6 or 7 guys who were playing and Smart and Lawson were in serious fouls trouble. We could have lost by double digits when it was all said and down. In that situation you play for the win, because the chances are you will lose in all other scenarios. 

“All said and down”?

I get what you’re saying but I’m not going to fault a kid for getting a good look. I’d rather have a good look then forcing a bad crazy contested 3. 

We played for the win UTA did a great job covering it. Lawson drove and got a good look bc UTA wasn’t helping off the shooters. 

We weren’t in the huddle but let’s say Grant drew up the play and said if we don’t get 3 AJ drive and if you got the look take it if not kick it for a 3. I’m okay with that. I wouldn’t have been okay with Lawson taking the 3. 

The way the refs were calling we could’ve very easily got an And 1 call. 

[Andrew]

9 hours ago, Mean_Green09 said:

“All said and down”?

I get what you’re saying but I’m not going to fault a kid for getting a good look. I’d rather have a good look then forcing a bad crazy contested 3. 

We played for the win UTA did a great job covering it. Lawson drove and got a good look bc UTA wasn’t helping off the shooters. 

We weren’t in the huddle but let’s say Grant drew up the play and said if we don’t get 3 AJ drive and if you got the look take it if not kick it for a 3. I’m okay with that. I wouldn’t have been okay with Lawson taking the 3. 

The way the refs were calling we could’ve very easily got an And 1 call. 

I guess if we got the and one A.J. would have been due for making a free throw considering he was 0-6. 

Ultimately, I am pleased with our performance and I hope Duffy is ok and will be good to go for conference play. We are going to give teams like Middle and WKU at least a little trouble. We will out perform our 12th in CUSA pre season ranking.

Edited December 3, 2017 by Andrew

[GrandGreen]

I wonder what game some of you were watching.  It is the first time I have seen NT in person this year and I was impressed.  First they were playing away against a team based on the Pomeroy ratings that is 226 teams ahead of NT.  Second, UTA may be biggest team I have seen.  Third, the referring was questionable at best.   Fourth, NT couldn't hit the proverbial side of a Barn.   Fifth, with fouls and injuries; NT was playing with no depth. 

Still the game went down to the last 30 seconds and NT could have won.   Great game by Tarmara, a double double against the giants.  Draper played like he belonged on that court.  

 I thought this was a gutsy hard fought game that was the best of the year by NT.  

[Andrew]

Just now, GrandGreen said:

I wonder what game some of you were watching.  It is the first time I have seen NT in person this year and I was impressed.  First they were playing away against a team based on the Pomeroy ratings that is 226 teams ahead of NT.  Second, UTA may be biggest team I have seen.  Third, the referring was questionable at best.   Fourth, NT couldn't hit the proverbial side of a Barn.   Fifth, with fouls and injuries; NT was playing with no depth. 

Still the game went down to the last 30 seconds and NT could have won.   Great game by Tarmara, a double double against the giants.  Draper played like he belonged on that court.  

 I thought this was a gutsy hard fought game that was the best of the year by NT.  

I agree with this. Next year with Simmons and Gibson coming in we will only get better. That may also include the Russian kid who hasn’t made an appearance yet this season. 

Woolridge is the real and the best point guard I have seen for UNT. The next three years are going to be fun to watch! 

[BillySee58]

39 minutes ago, Cooley said:

It's clear that we are more competitive but we are not getting production out of some of McCasland's recruits; to get even better. There's only one for next year. 

Really the only Mccasland recruits we are not getting production out of are Arikawe and Miller. When you overhaul the roster with late signings, you're not going to hit on every one. Hard to get too many quality guys that late in the game.

Gibson is out, Tikhonenko is out, and Jahmiah Simmons, who started 9 games at Arkansas State last year as a true freshman, is redshirting due to transfer rules. Duffy went down mid-game and has played really well the last few games. We are short-handed right now, and the guys out are players who figure to be key guys signed by Mccasland. 

Smart is a sophomore, Lawson and Woolridge (inherited by Benford) are sophomores, Zach Simmons is a true freshman, it's a young team playing very short-handed right now playing a team who 7 of its top 8 players are seniors. This team has already shown good signs of improvement as the year has gone on. 

[Cooley]

19 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Really the only Mccasland recruits we are not getting production out of are Arikawe and Miller. When you overhaul the roster with late signings, you're not going to hit on every one. Hard to get too many quality guys that late in the game.

Gibson is out, Tikhonenko is out, and Jahmiah Simmons, who started 9 games at Arkansas State last year as a true freshman, is redshirting due to transfer rules. Duffy went down mid-game and has played really well the last few games. We are short-handed right now, and the guys out are players who figure to be key guys signed by Mccasland. 

Smart is a sophomore, Lawson and Woolridge (inherited by Benford) are sophomores, Zach Simmons is a true freshman, it's a young team playing very short-handed right now playing a team who 7 of its top 8 players are seniors. This team has already shown good signs of improvement as the year has gone on. 

4 of the 6-7 guys signed are not contributing at this time. (Arikawe, Miller, Tikhonenko and Simmons).  2 are Juco’s. McCasland had plenty of time to recruit guys that could help right away. He chose to bring in kids that he was recruiting for Ark St. and was finished with recruiting long before the well dried up. We have a 6-4 forward role player taking up a scholarship this year to play next year. Unless he runs someone off, we only have 1 more kid to possibly bring in to upgrade the front court talent. 

[Andrew]

1 minute ago, Cooley said:

4 of the 6-7 guys signed are not contributing at this time. (Arikawe, Miller, Tikhonenko and Simmons).  2 are Juco’s. McCasland had plenty of time to recruit guys that could help right away. He chose to bring in kids that he was recruiting for Ark St. and was finished with recruiting long before the well dried up. We have a 6-4 forward role player taking up a scholarship this year to play next year. Unless he runs someone off, we only have 1 more kid to possibly bring in to upgrade the front court talent. 

I could see us moving on from Fuller. 

[Andrew]

In other news...

 

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/watch-georgia-tech-loses-to-24-5-underdog-grambling-state-on-own-basket/?ftag=COS-05-10aaa0h&utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=5a22c6f900bd4700077072af&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook

 

 

[CMJ]

I couldn't listen as I had a previous commitment (especially since I had to change the weekend planning to watch the CUSA title game).  Glad to see we hung in there, but it's never fun to lose to UTA.  Looking forward to driving down to SD to see us in person in a couple of weeks.

[Mean Green Matt]

Haven't been able to watch the last couple of games. Based on score it seems like maybe the team is making some progress. Does it look that way on the court too?

[BillySee58]

1 hour ago, Mean Green Matt said:

Haven't been able to watch the last couple of games. Based on score it seems like maybe the team is making some progress. Does it look that way on the court too?

Yes. The problem is, this team is very short on offensive firepower, in addition to being a young team. Gibson is one of our two top ballhandlers, penetrators, and one of our top 4 three-pointer shooters. He is one of our better on-ball defenders as well, but we aren't nearly missing him as much on the defensive end. We really could use Tikhonenko, who should be one of our better three-point shooters as well and a stretch 4. No telling when he suits up in a Mean Green uniform.

Jorden Duffy went down last night, for how long we aren't sure, and he was our only threat to score double digit points off our bench. He got helped into the tunnel, and came out and watched the rest of the game with ice on his knee. So luckily it didn't seem serious, but also wouldn't be surprising to see him out for a bit.

This team really needs AJ Lawson to start shouldering more of the scoring load. He is shooting 36.8% from the field, 21.7% from three, and 62.5% from the free-throw line. If he plays decent and is not 0-6 from the line last night there is a good chance we win.

[GrandGreen]

Anyone who is watching this year knows this team is getting better.  I think a lot of the offensive problems some of you are referring to, are a result of the offense McCasland is running.  This pass the ball around than shoot with ten or less seconds on the clock does not lead to good offensive numbers.   It greatly limits the number of shoots and also the percentage.  It also nullifies the effectiveness of the slashing guards Lawson and Woolridge.  

I don't know if this offense is just for playing teams that have clearly better talent like OU and UTA or is going to be the way they play all year.  If NT had been hitting shoots like against OU, they would have beaten UTA easily.  I was amazed that NT beat UTA on the boards despite their size.  

Back to recruiting, I like some others was disappointed that NT didn't recruit Texas much and apparently exclusively relied on their Arkansas State recruitment.  However, Duffy and Smart are definitely players and lost for the year Gibson is also.  Miller got a late start so I wouldn't give up on him.  Arikawe playing behind even Fuller is a mystery.  If these two guys don't significant improve, they won't be coming back next year.  The Russian Tikhonenko's status is apparently a state secret.  He could be the missing piece in this recruiting class.  

I also can't help but wonder what Combs could have meant to this team. He is exactly the kind of player this team needs if he is heathy.  He is mostly bench ridden at LSU currently averaging 3 pts and 2 rbs. 

[TreeFiddy]

I could definitely see Arikawe, Miller, and Fuller moving on after the season if they don't start contributing more, which would give us as many as 4 spots to fill.  Looking forward to rest of the season.  At least it seems like we have a clue as to how to approach the game, even if we are likely to be a little out manned this season.

[BillySee58]

1 hour ago, TreeFiddy said:

I could definitely see Arikawe, Miller, and Fuller moving on after the season if they don't start contributing more, which would give us as many as 4 spots to fill.  Looking forward to rest of the season.  At least it seems like we have a clue as to how to approach the game, even if we are likely to be a little out manned this season.

Fuller makes the most sense because he has two years of eligibility left. But for Arikawe and Miller, I think they stay. I think that because this staff seems to be focusing more on the 2019 class than filling that last 2018 spot. I think they would rather have Arikawe and Miller be end of the rotation/bench guys next year and use those scholarships on fall signee high school guys for 2019, than replace them after the year is over with late signee JUCO guys.

With late-signee jucos, there is no guarantee they are any or much better in their first year of D1 ball than Miller and Arikawe. Instead of run that risk when you already shouldn't be relying on much from Miller and Arikawe anyways, I think they'll be more interested in signing good high school players in the early signing period next year with those spots.

[GrandGreen]

1 hour ago, BillySee58 said:

Fuller makes the most sense because he has two years of eligibility left. But for Arikawe and Miller, I think they stay. I think that because this staff seems to be focusing more on the 2019 class than filling that last 2018 spot. I think they would rather have Arikawe and Miller be end of the rotation/bench guys next year and use those scholarships on fall signee high school guys for 2019, than replace them after the year is over with late signee JUCO guys.

With late-signee jucos, there is no guarantee they are any or much better in their first year of D1 ball than Miller and Arikawe. Instead of run that risk when you already shouldn't be relying on much from Miller and Arikawe anyways, I think they'll be more interested in signing good high school players in the early signing period next year with those spots.

Ships are for one year as you know.  For some reason, players in basketball are moved on much more than football.   Don't know about McCasland, but most coaches these days are very quick to jettison players. 

[BillySee58]

22 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

Ships are for one year as you know.  For some reason, players in basketball are moved on much more than football.   Don't know about McCasland, but most coaches these days are very quick to jettison players. 

That's besides my point. Here are the two options with Arikawe and Miller. 

1) Keep them for 2018-2019, fill their scholarships with 2019 early signing period high school players who we are currently recruiting and likely will be very solid CUSA level prospects. 

2) Move on from them after this season, fill their spots with late signing period JUCOs this spring who may very well be around Miller and Arikawe in terms of ability, while taking away two scholarship spots you had for early signing period 2019 high school players. 

Also, you have to factor in that Gibson will be back, Jahmiah Simmons, who has started for Mccasland at the 4 on the D1 level, will be eligible, and Tikhonenko will either be eligible by then or you can use his spot to try and find an upgrade over Arikawe. We won't be relying on Arikawe or Miller anyways. We should have a pretty solid 9 man rotation of Woolridge, Gibson, Smart, Lawson, Duffy, Holston, Zach Simmons, Jahmiah Simmons, and Tikhonenko.

As long as you fill Temara's spot, and maybe Fuller's spot if they go that route, with decent fringe rotation players, I don't think it's worth it to take away those two 2019 early-signing period high school spots to sign two more late 2018 JUCO players.

I think the amount of impact late-signing jucos can have on a program is much more limited compared to early signing period high school recruits, where the top high school players are typically signed. The whole point of my post is that we should have the luxury next year to not need to take away from the latter to get more of the former.

[Cooley]

16 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

Really the only Mccasland recruits we are not getting production out of are Arikawe and Miller. When you overhaul the roster with late signings, you're not going to hit on every one. Hard to get too many quality guys that late in the game

March 13, 2017 - Grant McCasland Named Mean Green Basketball Coach

Spring Signing Period Opens (April 11, 2017 to May 16, 2017)  

April 11, 2017 - McCasland Signs Arikawe And Smart On First Day Of Signing Period

April 12, 2017 - McCasland Adds Gibson And Miller To Signing Class

April 13, 2017 - McCasland Picks Up Mark Tikhonenko For 2017-18 Season

April 20, 2017 - Grant McCasland Signs Jorden Duffy To Recruiting Class

June 6, 2017 McCasland Lands Arkansas State Transfer Jahmiah Simmons for 2018-2019

We were basically done with recruiting by April 20, 2017 with almost 1 months remaining. Smart & Tikhonenko had already verballed to ArkSt. Miller and Duffy were being recruited. Simmons was already with ArkSt and looking for a ship to open at UNT. Gibson had also been offered early by Benford.

[BillySee58]

6 minutes ago, Cooley said:

March 13, 2017 - Grant McCasland Named Mean Green Basketball Coach

Spring Signing Period Opens (April 11, 2017 to May 16, 2017)  

April 11, 2017 - McCasland Signs Arikawe And Smart On First Day Of Signing Period

April 12, 2017 - McCasland Adds Gibson And Miller To Signing Class

April 13, 2017 - McCasland Picks Up Mark Tikhonenko For 2017-18 Season

April 20, 2017 - Grant McCasland Signs Jorden Duffy To Recruiting Class

June 6, 2017 McCasland Lands Arkansas State Transfer Jahmiah Simmons for 2018-2019

We were basically done with recruiting by April 20, 2017 with almost 1 months remaining. Smart & Tikhonenko had already verballed to ArkSt. Miller and Duffy were being recruited. Simmons was already with ArkSt and looking for a ship to open at UNT. Gibson had also been offered early by Benford.

But the pool was late-signing period players, whether they made their last signing on April 20th or May 15th. My point was that the pickings are much more slim with what is available in the late-signing period compared to having a spring and summer to get early signing period players.

Those fall-signing period players were off the table when Mccasland took the job here. Taking an extra month to evaluate the other jucos out there doesn't change that fact.

[Aquila_Viridis]

It’s very encouraging that NT was so competitive in this game because it has been a while since that was the case with Arlington. That’s from our coach in now only a few games after taking on what was a total disaster. Great work!

[Cooley]

Still waiting for  Vitto to provide us an update on the Russian’s availability. 

When will  Fuller’s eligibility be up ( early grad?)

can the coach promise he’s going big as in an impact player? 

 

Go  Mean  Green!!!

[Andrew]

9 hours ago, Cooley said:

Still waiting for  Vitto to provide us an update on the Russian’s availability. 

When will  Fuller’s eligibility be up ( early grad?)

can the coach promise he’s going big as in an impact player? 

 

Go  Mean  Green!!!

I am hoping we move in from Fuller and use the two scholarships to sure up the post. 

Any news on Duffy?