Rice (1/19/19)

[BillySee58]

3 minutes ago, Andrew said:

Still on track to have the best season in how long?

School record is 24 wins. Regular season record is 22. 

[Felozano]

Great game!  GMG!

[Salsa_Verde]

1 minute ago, emmitt01 said:

If their coach isn’t fined by the league office it is a travesty

Also,  I’m curious why Simmons didn’t play down the stretch when you needed every rebound you could get

I believe he had 4 fouls...and we were in the bonus so I assume he wanted people who can make free throws? 

[Andrew]

3 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

School record is 24 wins. Regular season record is 22. 

If Smart can play like he did last season, Miller keeps it up, Woolridge plays smart, and Arikawe  gets on the floor a bit more then those records will be toast. It also doesn’t hurt we play 31 instead of 30 regular season games.

Edited January 20, 2019 by Andrew

[ItsSparky]

The realization is that this team isn’t a good FT shooting team & they will struggle offensively at times all season, especially when they get in a half court lull.. they aren’t big nor should they play big (Tope & Zach don’t really ever need to be on the floor together like suggested) the strength is undoubtedly the guard play & creating mismatches with space... I’d love to get out & run more often, but that’s just me.. conference play is a burner. Is for just about every program in every conference, that’s just how the college game goes.. Love how active the press was too, very impressive defending w/o fouling, wonder if GMac goes to it more... Oh & CUSA officiating is a serious problem.. whistles have been wildly inconsistent in every conference game across the whole league.. I was an official & have great compassion for those in that field of work, but it’s borderline comical how bad they’ve been in the games I’ve seen..

[UNTLifer]

For those out of town, what upset the Rice coach at the end?

[southsideguy]

17 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

For those out of town, what upset the Rice coach at the end?

They lost, he and williams thought their was a foul.   williams was yelling at the ref. Couldnt happen to a better guy, he thought he was a real bad boy.  If anyone is close to him they will block his shot with shooting style.    I think we played our worse game and still won that says a lot about the team.  At times in the first half at times it felt we were playing 8 on 5.   I think Simmons was not feeling well tonight because he played very little, especially in the 2nd half.

[Pavlovs Eagle]

Exciting game... First Mean Green Basketball game I've been to in a decade. I wasn't expecting much from the crowd and came out pleasantly surprised. Great atmosphere.

The Rice Coach should have been T'ed up multiple times in the last 5 minutes. When he started going after the ref after the conclusion it looked like he was lunging at the kids sitting on the hardwood under the basket. I think even they kids thought he was going after them. The Rice coach had 3 or 4 grown man assistants restraining him.

[southsideguy]

1 minute ago, Pavlovs Eagle said:

Exciting game... First Mean Green Basketball game I've been to in a decade. I wasn't expecting much from the crowd and came out pleasantly surprised. Great atmosphere.

The Rice Coach should have been T'ed up multiple times in the last 5 minutes. When he started going after the ref after the conclusion it looked like he was lunging at the kids sitting on the hardwood under the basket. I think even they kids thought he was going after them. The Rice coach had 3 or 4 grown man assistants restraining him.

It is great the crowd is into the games.

[97and03]

Has anyone considered that this team isn’t top 25 or even top of the conference? The early season didn’t tell us much and conference games against inferior have been disappointing. 

I hope they pull it together, as there is clearly quite a bit of talent on this team. But right now, they are not firing on all cylinders. 

[emmitt01]

1 hour ago, Andrew said:

If Smart can play likehe didnlast season, Miller keeps it up, Woolridge plays smart, ad Arikawe gets on the floor a bit more the those records will be toast. It also doesn’t hurt we play 31 instead of 30 regular season games.

I think Tope is a great asset to have as far as a backup big man, but why do you keep acting like he’s an essential part of reaching new heights?  We are FAR better off with Simmons on the floor

[Felozano]

The threes weren’t going early, but I thought it took a little too long to switch to “twos are okay” mode. I loved watching Gibson today. Woolridge’s ability to attack the basket was one of the keys to the win. It was a fun game to watch. Can’t wait to watch them in person. 

[emmitt01]

15 minutes ago, Felozano said:

The threes weren’t going early, but I thought it took a little too long to switch to “twos are okay” mode. I loved watching Gibson today. Woolridge’s ability to attack the basket was one of the keys to the win. It was a fun game to watch. Can’t wait to watch them in person. 

Agreed.  The first half lead we built was because we knew they couldn’t stay in front of us (especially Woolridge) and drive past them for either points or a foul.  When we fell back in love with looking for the 3 Rice caught up and took a lead. 

[UNTFan23]

1 hour ago, Pavlovs Eagle said:

The Rice Coach should have been T'ed up multiple times in the last 5 minutes. When he started going after the ref after the conclusion it looked like he was lunging at the kids sitting on the hardwood under the basket. I think even they kids thought he was going after them. The Rice coach had 3 or 4 grown man assistants restraining him.

The police weren't letting anyone go past the entryway that takes you past the Rice locker room and restrooms. It's a small problem with how Super Pit laid out.

Crazy end to the game but what a finish!

[Censored by Laurie]

11 hours ago, 97and03 said:

Has anyone considered that this team isn’t top 25 or even top of the conference? The early season didn’t tell us much and conference games against inferior have been disappointing. 

I hope they pull it together, as there is clearly quite a bit of talent on this team. But right now, they are not firing on all cylinders. 

have you not been reading the headlines? 

[Venson]

For all the naysayers that say this team is not really that good because we do not blow out inferior opponents, just stay calm. You do not have to blow teams out to be good. You just need to beat who is in front of you that day. Style points are only good for rankings. Rankings don't mean anything if you beat the other team by at least 1 point. All we need to do is just what the late Al Davis used to say "Just win baby." And today we did just that. They got it done. Sure, I would love for them to win every game comfortably, but what I want more than that is to keep winning no matter the score.

[emmitt01]

11 minutes ago, Venson said:

For all the naysayers that say this team is not really that good because we do not blow out inferior opponents, just stay calm. You do not have to blow teams out to be good. You just need to beat who is in front of you that day. Style points are only good for rankings. Rankings don't mean anything if you beat the other team by at least 1 point. All we need to do is just what the late Al Davis used to say "Just win baby." And today we did just that. They got it done. Sure, I would love for them to win every game comfortably, but what I want more than that is to keep winning no matter the score.

So you’re saying you would like victory to be in store, no matter the score?

[bstnsportsfan3]

10 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

So you’re saying you would like victory to be in store, no matter the score?

I mean... our team will ever fight!

[Andrew]

11 hours ago, emmitt01 said:

I think Tope is a great asset to have as far as a backup big man, but why do you keep acting like he’s an essential part of reaching new heights?  We are FAR better off with Simmons on the floor

I agree Simmons is better than Arikawe. I believe they could be on the floor at the same time for short periods to serve a purpose. Add height if needed, shut down the paint if that is an area of concern, slow down the pace and get other guys rest. There are logical reasons both would be in the floor. I am not saying start Arikawe over Simmons or start them both, but I haven’t seen them once on the floor st the same time all season (I could have missed it). I don’t think it would hurt. I rather see that then both Simmons out there for a little while. Try something new. Maybe it will take a little bit off Zach in the post and free him even more. I cannot day for sure because I haven’t seen it, but it’s worth experimenting with when we have a lead. We haven’t been able to hold a big one for a while so try something new. 

[Wag Tag]

Smart not hitting is Tough because his defense it not strong. Hope he finds it before the tourney! Duff to the hoop was outstanding! We sit down at that basket where the Rice coach was out of control! A few fans felt threatened and couple of guys started giving him some FaceTime! He needs to be suspended!

[meangreenlax]

Mike Miller: cooler than the other side of the pillow.

[Felozano]

26 minutes ago, meangreenlax said:

Mike Miller: cooler than the other side of the pillow.

Very cool pic!  My wife had quit watching, then heard me cheer. She couldn’t believe we had come back to win it. I told her, “You gotta believe, baby!”

[greenjoe]

Nothing should be assumed at a North Texas Basketball game. 

[drex]

As the great Bill Blakeley once said, expect anything but child birth at our games.

[97and03]

3 hours ago, Venson said:

For all the naysayers that say this team is not really that good because we do not blow out inferior opponents, just stay calm. You do not have to blow teams out to be good. You just need to beat who is in front of you that day. Style points are only good for rankings. Rankings don't mean anything if you beat the other team by at least 1 point. All we need to do is just what the late Al Davis used to say "Just win baby." And today we did just that. They got it done. Sure, I would love for them to win every game comfortably, but what I want more than that is to keep winning no matter the score.

Two quick points: 1) In the case of basketball the rankings do matter quite a bit - specifically the NET rankings.  I believe they do have a provision that includes victories over 10 points. So these close games against presumably inferior are a disadvantage for us when seeding or a potential at-large bid are at stake.  (Not a BBALL expert at all obviously, so anyone with better info please correct me.)

2) I said something similar during the football season and was lambasted a bit for it.  I think I said "very good, but not great" but with the potential to be great. I would argue that the football team never fully realized that greatness. The ODU game was proof of that. One could easily argue the basketball team is pretty much at that same point.