Mississippi Valley State (11/26/20)

UNTLifer · November 27, 2020

Hamlet back in rubbing his hiney.

CMJ · November 27, 2020

NT 101 ------ MVSU 57

3:57 to go

CMJ · November 27, 2020

NT 116 ------ MVSU 62

Final

bstnsportsfan3 · November 27, 2020

Nice Win! MV State is horrendus so its hard to say what this mean but this team has some great shooters!

UNT Texas Hooligan · November 27, 2020

Drez and Rubin Jones will have huge impacts this season. Great depth on this team.

Marty · November 27, 2020

Nice way to start the season!

BillySee58 · November 27, 2020

School record on made 3s. I believe we tied it last year against Little Rock, but surpassed it today.

Matt from A700 · November 27, 2020

Not sure how much of a confidence boost this is winning by 54, but over a program like MVSU, but hey -- it's a D-I opening night blowout, not D-II or NAIA!

greenjoe · November 27, 2020

Does anyone know the school record for most points scored ?

Great season opener.

GO MEAN GREEN

BillySee58 · November 27, 2020

6 minutes ago, greenjoe said:

Does anyone know the school record for most points scored ?

Great season opener.

GO MEAN GREEN

126 against Arkansas Tech on 12/29/1969

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · November 27, 2020

Here’s my thoughts on the slaughter.

We definitely could’ve put up 15+ more points, but hats off to Coach Mac for being a little classy unlike Arkansas...

McBride is absolutely LETHAL from downtown, and I said it when he committed that he is a better replacement for Mo.

Saw a lot of bright spots in the younger guys like Rubin and Abou. Rubin looked great minus the silly turnovers that can clearly be fixed. Abou is gonna have to develop into his body because right now he looked kinda awkward on some plays. Speed...

I hope Hamlet gets locked in for Arkansas because we need the leadership from all seniors and really all of the players.

Zach had some great moves inside, but needs to finish!!! He’s got his hands full this year, and it’s his senior year, so I hope he has a fire under him.

Arkansas is a definitely winnable game, but we have to show up prepared and we HAVE TO knock down shots unlike last year.

GMG

Edited November 27, 2020 by NorthTexasSportsNetwork

BillySee58 · November 27, 2020

10 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Saw a lot of bright spots in the younger guys like Rubin and Abou. Rubin looked great minus the silly turnovers that can clearly be fixed. Abou is gonna have to develop into his body because right now he looked kinda awkward on some plays.

Jones being the first guard off the bench and playing the most minutes seems pretty indicative that we’re going to see a lot of him this year.

I think the biggest issue that was causing his turnovers was his hesitancy to shoot at times. Only 5 shots in 28 minutes. It looked to me like he was overthinking things and didn’t want to shoot if it was earlier in the shot clock, maybe for fear of getting pulled for not working the ball more for a better shot. If he’s wide open early in the shot clock he should be told and feel that he has the green light. An open Rubin Jones 3 is the probably the best shot we’re going to get on that possession anyways, and if he’s open that often means other guys are covered so passing out could result in turnovers like it did last night.

Both he, Ousmane, and Robinson looked very promising. Those guys look capable of starting at other CUSA schools.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · November 27, 2020

20 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Jones being the first guard off the bench and playing the most minutes seems pretty indicative that we’re going to see a lot of him this year.

I think the biggest issue that was causing his turnovers was his hesitancy to shoot at times. Only 5 shots in 28 minutes. It looked to me like he was overthinking things and didn’t want to shoot if it was earlier in the shot clock, maybe for fear of getting pulled for not working the ball more for a better shot. If he’s wide open early in the shot clock he should be told and feel that he has the green light. An open Rubin Jones 3 is the probably the best shot we’re going to get on that possession anyways, and if he’s open that often means other guys are covered so passing out could result in turnovers like it did last night.

Both he, Ousmane, and Robinson looked very promising. Those guys look capable of starting at other CUSA schools.

Yep he is definitely the sixth man type player, but it was his first college game so I would give him a ton of slack. NO scrimmages and exhibitions hurt a bit, but he is electric. Hopefully the bench is ready for Arkansas

UNTLifer · November 27, 2020

Jones is going to be fine. As you stated, once he stops overthinking and just plays he will be lights out. Abou surprised me with his touch with both hands. No disrespect to Geu, Draper and Smart but this team is better and deeper than last year’s. Really excited to watch this team gel and perform as the season progresses.

GrandGreen · November 27, 2020

11 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Here’s my thoughts on the slaughter.

We definitely could’ve put up 15+ more points, but hats off to Coach Mac for being a little classy unlike Arkansas...

McBride is absolutely LETHAL from downtown, and I said it when he committed that he is a better replacement for Mo.

Saw a lot of bright spots in the younger guys like Rubin and Abou. Rubin looked great minus the silly turnovers that can clearly be fixed. Abou is gonna have to develop into his body because right now he looked kinda awkward on some plays. Speed...

I hope Hamlet gets locked in for Arkansas because we need the leadership from all seniors and really all of the players.

Zach had some great moves inside, but needs to finish!!! He’s got his hands full this year, and it’s his senior year, so I hope he has a fire under him.

Arkansas is a definitely winnable game, but we have to show up prepared and we HAVE TO knock down shots unlike last year.

GMG

Agree with everything but your Zack comment. He was 7 of 8 and it could have been a lot more. NT obviously had an outstanding night shooting the 3, but I think the score would have been just as lopsided if they had went inside more.

As has been stated one game against a bottom 5 team does not mean much. However my takes on the first game were:

McBride maybe the best player on what should be a great team

Jones as stated needs more experience but is a great athlete and displayed a deadly outside shot

Osmane played against a very tired team, but was highly effective in his short stint

Hope Zack has put it altogether for a last season. He has always been underrated in my view because of his temperment and lack of standout statistical games

Bell got the rebounds, but his offense wasn't there in this game

I also though Lewis would challenge Bell for a starter's position, he did not help that goal in this game

Jackson has got to improve his offense to get more than token minutes

Three shooting was about as good as possible

However, the three defense was actually very bad; didn't matter but it looked like MV had a lot of wide open shots

Robinson didn't play much, but physically looks the part

Murray made some 3's, maybe Draper's mad bomber replacement

Looking forward to Arkansas game to gain some real insight on this team.

emmitt01 · November 27, 2020

10 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

Agree with everything but your Zack comment. He was 7 of 8 and it could have been a lot more. NT obviously had an outstanding night shooting the 3, but I think the score would have been just as lopsided if they had went inside more.

As has been stated one game against a bottom 5 team does not mean much. However my takes on the first game were:

McBride maybe the best player on what should be a great team

Jones as stated needs more experience but is a great athlete and displayed a deadly outside shot

Osmane played against a very tired team, but was highly effective in his short stint

Hope Zack has put it altogether for a last season. He has always been underrated in my view because of his temperment and lack of standout statistical games

Bell got the rebounds, but his offense wasn't there in this game

I also though Lewis would challenge Bell for a starter's position, he did not help that goal in this game

Jackson has got to improve his offense to get more than token minutes

Three shooting was about as good as possible

However, the three defense was actually very bad; didn't matter but it looked like MV had a lot of wide open shots

Robinson didn't play much, but physically looks the part

Murray made some 3's, maybe Draper's mad bomber replacement

Looking forward to Arkansas game to gain some real insight on this team.

Overall, I’m with you but I disagree on several things.

- Hamlet is still the best player on this team. McBride will make him even more lethal due to the attention opposing defenses will need to pay him, but the engine runs because of Javion.

- I’m not worried about Jackson’s offense. He’s there to spell Javion, handle the ball well, and distribute to the multiple outside threats. He does that very well.

- Bell will get his points. That’s not what he’s starting for though. He’s a long defender who cleans up the glass and makes smart decisions. Against MVSU that doesn’t seem that important, against WKU and the like it will be invaluable.

This team is more talented and deeper than last year’s (I could name two starting fives that would beat most CUSA teams).
There is one basketball to go around so several players who would normally look for their own shot will move the ball to another option because it is the smart basketball play (would you drive if you could rotate the ball to McBride, Reese, Jones or Hamlet?)

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · November 27, 2020

52 minutes ago, emmitt01 said:

Overall, I’m with you but I disagree on several things.

- Hamlet is still the best player on this team. McBride will make him even more lethal due to the attention opposing defenses will need to pay him, but the engine runs because of Javion.

- I’m not worried about Jackson’s offense. He’s there to spell Javion, handle the ball well, and distribute to the multiple outside threats. He does that very well.

- Bell will get his points. That’s not what he’s starting for though. He’s a long defender who cleans up the glass and makes smart decisions. Against MVSU that doesn’t seem that important, against WKU and the like it will be invaluable.

This team is more talented and deeper than last year’s (I could name two starting fives that would beat most CUSA teams).
There is one basketball to go around so several players who would normally look for their own shot will move the ball to another option because it is the smart basketball play (would you drive if you could rotate the ball to McBride, Reese, Jones or Hamlet?)

Both in bold are spot on. Jackson is a defensive type player who comes in for Javion or Drez when Mac needs a defensive series and stops.

Also, yeah Javion is still the best player. Now he probably has a big head, but he still dished out 11 assists and 13 points. He is the piece that NT has needed for a while.

GrandGreen · November 27, 2020

1 hour ago, emmitt01 said:

Overall, I’m with you but I disagree on several things.

- Hamlet is still the best player on this team. McBride will make him even more lethal due to the attention opposing defenses will need to pay him, but the engine runs because of Javion.

Said maybe, time will tell

- I’m not worried about Jackson’s offense. He’s there to spell Javion, handle the ball well, and distribute to the multiple outside threats. He does that very well.

Agee, but I said to get more than token minutes. Should not have stated token, but to get more minutes: he needs to improve his offense. He maybe a better guard defender than other guards; but his lack of an offensive game will keep him on the bench most of the time.

- Bell will get his points. That’s not what he’s starting for though. He’s a long defender who cleans up the glass and makes smart decisions. Against MVSU that doesn’t seem that important, against WKU and the like it will be invaluable.

Bell is good at defense, but he is also a much better offensive player than was demonstrated last night. Not a knock on him, he only took two shoots.

This team is more talented and deeper than last year’s (I could name two starting fives that would beat most CUSA teams).

This is obviously a deep team. Not sure the second team would win many league games; but Ousmane, Lewis, Jones, Robinson, and Wise could have beat a lot of NT's past teams.

There is one basketball to go around so several players who would normally look for their own shot will move the ball to another option because it is the smart basketball play (would you drive if you could rotate the ball to McBride, Reese, Jones or Hamlet?)

Yes, because I was a ball hog in high school.

You are right, if you want to play for McCasland; better be a team player.