New UNT 2021 Starting Lineup

BillySee58 · April 26, 2021

2 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

I am not sure Perry is lighted reguaded after the JUCO championships. My guess is his stock went way up.

Of course, you are right the team above would be picked to be a middle of the pack CUSA team. However, that doesn't matter because McCasland has 3 or more ships to give and this squad will look a lot better.

I agree. Even if the 3 spots get filled successfully, it might still result in a team predicted to finish middle of the pack. We used our last 4 spots in 2019 on Javion Hamlet, James Reese, Deng Geu, and Thomas Bell and that didn’t vault us to a top preseason CUSA ranking. Mccasland’s specialty has been putting teams that work together on the court even if they don’t blow people away with how they look on paper.

97and03 · April 26, 2021

13 hours ago, GrandGreen said:

Have you ever looked at the turnover at other schools. Most schools, it is contribute within 2 years are you are gone if not after year one.

I think McCasland is about as fair a hc as you are going to find in D1. NT does not pay McCasland or any other hc to be a nice guy, you have to win.

Not sure if it is a good or bad thing really but we ended up in a 6-7 man rotation and he seemed to have little confidence in the bench that he recruited. And now almost all of them are leaving and we start again. I guess that is the way of the game these days. I mean we did win the conference and a tourney game so I suppose it worked.

Edited April 26, 2021 by 97and03

Cooley · May 2, 2021

On 4/25/2021 at 4:41 PM, Cooley said:

I have no idea where this kid will land, but I would go all in on Texas Tech reserve transfer, Tyreek Smith 6-9. Would be a Geu 2.0. Local kid that played at Trinity Christian - Cedar Hill about 2 years ago. Initially signed with Texas A&M. Got into a few games for Tech but would move immediately into this starting lineup.

Longshots:

Tristan Clark, Baylor transfer may have given up the game due to leg issues but he is in the portal. Played 1 season with J. Jackson at SA Wagner. I think he was POY in Texas during his senior year, after winning the 6A title. Actually started for Baylor prior to his injuries.

Jacob Young, formerly of UT and Rutgers. 5th year senior that only scored about 6 ppg. Would be the best Reese replacement. Houston Yates product.

Tyreek Smith to Oklahoma State Univ

Tristan Clark to SMU

BillySee58 · June 5, 2021

So right now we’re probably looking at:

1 - SO Tylor Perry

2 - JR Mardrez McBride

3 - FR Rubin Jones

4 - SR Thomas Bell

5 - SR Hameir Wright

bench:

G - JR Rasheed Browne

C - FR Abou Ousmane

G - SR JJ Murray

G/F - FR Matthew Stone

G/F - FR Aaron Scott

F - SR Jahmiah Simmons

C - FR Chrisdon Morgan

Right now we have one spot left. Not sure what our biggest need is at the moment. My first thought is another player who can be a stretch four and potentially take over that spot next year after Bell and Wright leave. If Jahmiah Simmons is still on the team I think it would be ideal to not have to rely on him to be a rotation player.

The other option that makes most sense IMO is an off-ball shooting wing. We have Matthew Stone and Aaron Scott for that role already but a wing or guard with some size would give us another option in case they need more time to acclimate.

GrandGreen · June 5, 2021

2 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

So right now we’re probably looking at:

1 - SO Tylor Perry

2 - JR Mardrez McBride

3 - FR Rubin Jones

4 - SR Thomas Bell

5 - SR Hameir Wright

bench:

G - JR Rasheed Browne

C - FR Abou Ousmane

G - SR JJ Murray

G/F - FR Matthew Stone

G/F - FR Aaron Scott

F - SR Jahmiah Simmons

C - FR Chrisdon Morgan

Right now we have one spot left. Not sure what our biggest need is at the moment. My first thought is another player who can be a stretch four and potentially take over that spot next year after Bell and Wright leave. If Jahmiah Simmons is still on the team I think it would be ideal to not have to rely on him to be a rotation player.

The other option that makes most sense IMO is an off-ball shooting wing. We have Matthew Stone and Aaron Scott for that role already but a wing or guard with some size would give us another option in case they need more time to acclimate.

Agree with one exception, think Browne will start over Jones and play the point. Perry and McBride will be the wings.

This doesn't appear to be a deep team, so I think it will be a basic seven man rotation with Jones and Ousmane coming off the bench. This could change with the last signee, who should be a big unless a can't miss guard is available.

BillySee58 · June 6, 2021

44 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

Agree with one exception, think Browne will start over Jones and play the point. Perry and McBride will be the wings.

This doesn't appear to be a deep team, so I think it will be a basic seven man rotation with Jones and Ousmane coming off the bench. This could change with the last signee, who should be a big unless a can't miss guard is available.

Perry is 5’10”. Hard for me to envision him as a wing. But I could definitely see Browne starting, but I think he’d start over Perry instead of Jones.

I think Jones is a big part of the plan. If I had to put money on who the leading scorer would be I’d go with Jones at the moment.

agw0038 · June 6, 2021

4 hours ago, BillySee58 said:

So right now we’re probably looking at:

1 - SO Tylor Perry

2 - JR Mardrez McBride

3 - FR Rubin Jones

4 - SR Thomas Bell

5 - SR Hameir Wright

bench:

G - JR Rasheed Browne

C - FR Abou Ousmane

G - SR JJ Murray

G/F - FR Matthew Stone

G/F - FR Aaron Scott

F - SR Jahmiah Simmons

C - FR Chrisdon Morgan

Right now we have one spot left. Not sure what our biggest need is at the moment. My first thought is another player who can be a stretch four and potentially take over that spot next year after Bell and Wright leave. If Jahmiah Simmons is still on the team I think it would be ideal to not have to rely on him to be a rotation player.

The other option that makes most sense IMO is an off-ball shooting wing. We have Matthew Stone and Aaron Scott for that role already but a wing or guard with some size would give us another option in case they need more time to acclimate.

1. Jones

2. Drez

3. Bell

4. Wright

5. Abou

GrandGreen · June 6, 2021

59 minutes ago, BillySee58 said:

Perry is 5’10”. Hard for me to envision him as a wing. But I could definitely see Browne starting, but I think he’d start over Perry instead of Jones.

I think Jones is a big part of the plan. If I had to put money on who the leading scorer would be I’d go with Jones at the moment.

It all speculation at this point, but you could put Perry at the point and Browne at the wing. It just seems to me that someone who averaged 9 assts a game needs to be at point. Perry shoot over 40% on threes and if he could shoot that from the point, he should be able to do it at a wing position.

Jones could be the leading scorer, he will get starter minutes even if he doesn't start. Jones could certainly start and has a big advantage being 6'5. However, Perry was the MVP of the Juco championship tournament and maybe just a better overall player than Jones.

My guess is the lineup will end up being something other than either one of us is projecting. Neither Hamlet or Reese were as highly rated coming in as these players.

Cooley · June 6, 2021

The biggest hole I see is still at Center. From what little video I've see of this Wright kid is that he is more of your stretch 4 at a generous 220 lbs. This team needs physical bodies to match up against Kenneth Lofton of La Tech (6-7. 275) and others within the conference; that gave this team fits. Abou Ousmane is only good for 18-20 minutes tops.

I also feel that Rasheed Browne is your starting point guard; in the mold of a Ryan Woolridge. I can see him and Madea (Tylor Perry) on the court at the same time. Had my fingers crossed for the Smu transfer (Yor Anei) that the team has looked at. Thin as well but blocks everything in the middle at 6-10 1/2 that transfered to SMU from Ok St.

southsideguy · June 6, 2021

the test of the depth of this years team vs last years is to see how much playing time Murray gets.

UNTLifer · June 6, 2021

14 hours ago, agw0038 said:

1. Jones

2. Drez

3. Bell

4. Wright

5. Abou

I like this starting five, but wonder if there is enough outside shooting to satisfy McCasland’s offense. I really hope Abou steps up and can play around 28-32 minutes a game, but am not convinced until I see it. Taking that into consideration, I would expect the last spot to go to a big.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · June 7, 2021

On 6/5/2021 at 8:36 PM, agw0038 said:

1. Jones

2. Drez

3. Bell

4. Wright

5. Abou

Yep my exact thought. Perry would be a key role player like Rubin was last year

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · June 7, 2021

22 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

I like this starting five, but wonder if there is enough outside shooting to satisfy McCasland’s offense. I really hope Abou steps up and can play around 28-32 minutes a game, but am not convinced until I see it. Taking that into consideration, I would expect the last spot to go to a big.

I think he can. He lost a lot of weight going into last season, and I can imagine he is the main piece they are working on. CUSA has a lot of good big men like Lofton and Jimmison from UAB.

He had good moments last year with his limited playing time, but I feel like he got enough experience to get the starting job and run with it.

They'll be put to the test in non conference again, so we should be able to see early on how well this team can play together, and if Abou and newer players can fit the role. Zach left some tough shoes to fill…

Tom McKrackin · June 7, 2021

23 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

I really hope Abou steps up

I think Abou performed very well as a true freshman, and in key games against high level competition.

UNTLifer · June 7, 2021

38 minutes ago, Tom McKrackin said:

I think Abou performed very well as a true freshman, and in key games against high level competition.

I agree. He provided valuable minutes in the Purdue win as well.

GrandGreen · June 7, 2021

The key that I think is being overlooked is that McCasland is the best head basketball coach in the league.

He has brought this set of players together for a reason. I don't think he recruited transfers to be backups or role players.

I definitely do not agree with the thought that NT will start 3 bigs. Possible, but unlikely based on prior McCasland's NT lineups and that would be highly unusual in today's game.

Coming close to last year's team is going to be very difficult. Hamlet is IMO in the top 5 that I have seen play for NT, in the Kenneth Lyons, Joe Hamilton category. Replacing his ability is highly unlikely. Plus the underrated Simmons, who was far from flashy, but could play well against any other centers.

Assuming McCasland's usual nightmare oc schedule, NT will struggle early; but by conference; they should again battle WKU for the championship.

BillySee58 · June 7, 2021

On 6/6/2021 at 11:08 AM, UNTLifer said:

I like this starting five, but wonder if there is enough outside shooting to satisfy McCasland’s offense. I really hope Abou steps up and can play around 28-32 minutes a game, but am not convinced until I see it. Taking that into consideration, I would expect the last spot to go to a big.

4 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

I think he can. He lost a lot of weight going into last season, and I can imagine he is the main piece they are working on. CUSA has a lot of good big men like Lofton and Jimmison from UAB.

He had good moments last year with his limited playing time, but I feel like he got enough experience to get the starting job and run with it.

They'll be put to the test in non conference again, so we should be able to see early on how well this team can play together, and if Abou and newer players can fit the role. Zach left some tough shoes to fill…

Keep in mind Simmons never even averaged in the 28-32 minute range, although he came close a couple times. We have 80 minutes a game to distribute to our 4 and 5 positions. Bell and Wright are probably gonna push for 28-30 minutes themselves so if Abou can give us 20, that’s all of our 4 and 5 minutes.

That’s how Mccasland has done it the past two seasons. 3 posts splitting the 80 minutes. This past season in tournament play it was Bell, Simmons, and Ousmane with a little bit of Mykell Robinson and the previous season it was Geu, Simmons, and Bell.

Another guy for depth would be nice but Bell, Wright, and Ousmane splitting the 80 minutes seems like a pretty solid group on paper.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · June 7, 2021

1 hour ago, GrandGreen said:

The key that I think is being overlooked is that McCasland is the best head basketball coach in the league.

He has brought this set of players together for a reason. I don't think he recruited transfers to be backups or role players.

I definitely do not agree with the thought that NT will start 3 bigs. Possible, but unlikely based on prior McCasland's NT lineups and that would be highly unusual in today's game.

Coming close to last year's team is going to be very difficult. Hamlet is IMO in the top 5 that I have seen play for NT, in the Kenneth Lyons, Joe Hamilton category. Replacing his ability is highly unlikely. Plus the underrated Simmons, who was far from flashy, but could play well against any other centers.

Assuming McCasland's usual nightmare oc schedule, NT will struggle early; but by conference; they should again battle WKU for the championship.

Simmons always played his best against the elite players, mainly recently. Had one of his best games of his career against Dayton and National Player of the Year Obi Toppin last year. I feel like Abou has a bigger upside than Zach had early on though, if he can get his free throws in order.

But I do think Bell isn’t as much of a big man. He’s 6’6 and is probably the most versatile player on the team, I would say having him in Reese’s old spot and gradually getting taller in the lineup is a better way to go.

GrandGreen · June 8, 2021

6 hours ago, NorthTexasSportsNetwork said:

Simmons always played his best against the elite players, mainly recently. Had one of his best games of his career against Dayton and National Player of the Year Obi Toppin last year. I feel like Abou has a bigger upside than Zach had early on though, if he can get his free throws in order.

But I do think Bell isn’t as much of a big man. He’s 6’6 and is probably the most versatile player on the team, I would say having him in Reese’s old spot and gradually getting taller in the lineup is a better way to go.

Agree with most, but Bell may be only 6'6 but led the team in rebounds his first year at 5.8 a game. Last year he came in second with an 5.9 rb average, .1 point lower than Zack

Watching the game, not based on stats, I think he was NT's best rebounder. I don't think anyone is going to move him outside.

NorthTexasSportsNetwork · June 8, 2021

8 minutes ago, GrandGreen said:

Agree with most, but Bell may be only 6'6 but led the team in rebounds his first year at 5.8 a game. Last year he came in second with an 5.9 rb average, .1 point lower than Zack

Watching the game, not based on stats, I think he was NT's best rebounder. I don't think anyone is going to move him outside.

I mean didn’t Ryan Woolridge lead us in rebounds a few years ago? He’s definitely our best rebounder, but just because he’s good at that doesn’t mean he can’t play a stretch when we want to play big (La Tech, UAB, P5 teams)

meangreen11 · June 8, 2021

new starting lineup with the additions:

1. Rasheed Brown

2. Drez

3. Bell

4. Wright

5. Abou

6th man is Rueben. Thoughts?

MeanGreenTexan · June 8, 2021

28 minutes ago, meangreen11 said:

new starting lineup with the additions:

1. Rasheed Brown

2. Drez

3. Bell

4. Wright

5. Abou

6th man is Rueben. Thoughts?

I have a feeling we're about to see Rubin blow the roof off of this thing next season. It's not Javion's show anymore, and Rubin can do it all.

Give me:
1. Brown/Perry
2. McBride
3. Jones
4. Bell
5. Ousmane/Wright

EDIT: Not sure if we've just had 2 of the top 10 best players in the past 2 decades (IMO) playing PG back-to-back while McCasland has been here, or he just wants his best player handling the ball more, but if the latter, I wouldn't be surprised to see Jones bring the ball up the floor like a PG quite a bit.

Edited June 8, 2021 by MeanGreenTexan