South Florida (2/3/24)

Andrew · February 4

1 hour ago, Green Otaku said:

I have never seen a UNT team so afraid to shoot. It's as if no one wants the ball. Stone comes particularly to my mind, but I also saw some others give up looks when they were wide open.

Edwards and usually Buggs will pull it. Everybody else really does defer more than they should. Granted Edwards is our best option. Scott should look to shoot more but he really struggled yesterday and seems like he has on the offensive end recently. He and Jones pair well together so that could be his missing piece. Those two must return next year.

MeanGreen22 · February 4

1 hour ago, Green Otaku said:

I have never seen a UNT team so afraid to shoot. It's as if no one wants the ball. Stone comes particularly to my mind, but I also saw some others give up looks when they were wide open.

Stone put up a mid range jumper when the shot clock was running down that looked smooth and comfortable. It didn’t go in but man why can’t you do that more often! If just to keep the defense honest. He’s always had a good lookin shot but has ZERO confidence in himself to make a play.

UNT Family Man · February 4

Honestly, with all of the close losses it feels as thought we are snake bit. But considering the month long absence of R Jones, the 4-5 games stretch of Buggs being out and now Nolan. Not to mention Allen with the stitches— we have made the necessary adjustments to compete and played pretty well considering. Would I have liked a couple of more free throws made and a couple in the Win column— yes, no doubt. Nobody wants to face us now much less when we are at full strength and we are using some bench players to supplement (and get some minutes). I hope we can get some wins to get the bye in the tournament and then clean up as long as we are at full strength.

Edited February 4 by UNT Family Man

BigWillie · February 4

18 minutes ago, MeanGreen22 said:

Stone put up a mid range jumper when the shot clock was running down that looked smooth and comfortable. It didn’t go in but man why can’t you do that more often! If just to keep the defense honest. He’s always had a good lookin shot but has ZERO confidence in himself to make a play.

It's interesting, I watch the little things. At the start of the second half during warm ups, I was watching Stone. He took several 3s of which none went in. Everytime they didn't, you could see his expression and body language that he was just defeated. To me, the mental game is beating him. He needs to just go out and shoot his shot.

BleedingGreen · February 4

Look at it this way : we had to win the conference tournament every year before to get into March Madness . This is no different.
19 wins and I see an NIT invite as possible. 20 a definite entry into the NIT.

BigWillie · February 4

32 minutes ago, BleedingGreen said:

Look at it this way : we had to win the conference tournament every year before to get into March Madness . This is no different.
19 wins and I see an NIT invite as possible. 20 a definite entry into the NIT.

Yeah, I wouldn't mind owning the NIT. Making it our tournament. With as much going on with the separation of the conferences in football, it's going to happen too with basketball. It would be nice to think of the NIT as the national championship for G5.

Big Z · February 4

2 hours ago, BigWillie said:

It's interesting, I watch the little things. At the start of the second half during warm ups, I was watching Stone. He took several 3s of which none went in. Everytime they didn't, you could see his expression and body language that he was just defeated. To me, the mental game is beating him. He needs to just go out and shoot his shot.

Why even play the game if you have no confidence at all? I would just not even guard him at all…

Edited February 4 by Big Z

BigWillie · February 5

4 hours ago, Big Z said:

Why even play the game if you have no confidence at all? I would just not even guard him at all…

It really depends on the player. A Scott went 1-9 in the last game. Does that hurt his confidence? Nope. He will shoot 9 shots again next game. It really depends on how well you let it effect you. Stone is not a volume shooter, so he doesn't really get the chance to prove himself that way.

Secondly, with 2 starters hurt, I don't think we have a choice to play him.

Edited February 5 by BigWillie

Big Z · February 5

25 minutes ago, BigWillie said:

It really depends on the player. A Scott went 1-9 in the last game. Does that hurt his confidence? Nope. He will shoot 9 shots again next game. It really depends on how well you let it effect you. Stone is not a volume shooter, so he doesn't really get the chance to prove himself that way.

Secondly, with 2 starters hurt, I don't think we have a choice to play him.

Stone doesn't even attack the basket!

It's sad to see a guy go out there just run up and down the court not wanting the ball.

greenminer · February 5

24 minutes ago, BigWillie said:

It really depends on the player. A Scott went 1-9 in the last game. Does that hurt his confidence? Nope. He will shoot 9 shots again next game. It really depends on how well you let it effect you. Stone is not a volume shooter, so he doesn't really get the chance to prove himself that way.

Secondly, with 2 starters hurt, I don't think we have a choice to play him.

Stone is not a shooter of any kind.

I'm okay with Edwards. Sometimes he drives me mad, but he is not our biggest problem right now. Let him keep being Edwards and hope that the rest of the team learns to create a little. Edwards might not have to be so chaotic if we can lighten up the burden of scoring from him.

At this point, I think this team just needs to somehow survive until all our starters are back, and I think that is going to be played conservatively. Might even mean not seeing them until the AAC tournament.

Also would love more discussion on who we have coming in next year and how they can fix problems/level up the team.

UNTLifer · February 5

A coach needs to pull Stone aside, tell him to be in the gym every available moment shooting and send a student assistant to rebound for him and just feed him the ball.

Shark84 · February 5

On 2/3/2024 at 7:35 PM, BigWillie said:

Well... NIT? Consolation AAC ?

What's the goal now? I bleed Green as much as the rest, but I will be the realist every game.

3 straight loses, 2 at home. What's our goal?

Get healthy for the conference tournament and try to get as high a seed as possible. Top 4 get a double bye but that is going to be tough without our full roster.

Censored by Laurie · February 5

9 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

A coach needs to pull Stone aside, tell him to be in the gym every available moment shooting and send a student assistant to rebound for him and just feed him the ball.

there was a lot of unintentional comedy here

Censored by Laurie · February 5

with CJ and Rubin out, Edwards is the only player on the roster who can go get his own shot.

Buggs isn't afraid to shoot...at all...if he gets a sniff of open space it's going up. problem is he can't get his own, and I don't recall us running any set action clearly designed to get him open. if we want to see him get 8-10 shots, at least a few need to come through plays called specifically to get the ball in his hands off screens/action.

Scott (usually) is a solid shooter from 12ft out to the three point line, but he has a suss handle and looks awkward and non-confident in putting the ball on the floor. I thought he'd be a candidate to run some post-offense through, but that hasn't really worked either. either he doesn't know how good he can be and we're not at the ceiling, or he is what he is...a decent scorer and tremendous defender and maybe only asking him to be 3rd/4th best player on the team is just about right.

BigWillie · February 5

50 minutes ago, Censored by Laurie said:

with CJ and Rubin out, Edwards is the only player on the roster who can go get his own shot.

Buggs isn't afraid to shoot...at all...if he gets a sniff of open space it's going up. problem is he can't get his own, and I don't recall us running any set action clearly designed to get him open. if we want to see him get 8-10 shots, at least a few need to come through plays called specifically to get the ball in his hands off screens/action.

Scott (usually) is a solid shooter from 12ft out to the three point line, but he has a suss handle and looks awkward and non-confident in putting the ball on the floor. I thought he'd be a candidate to run some post-offense through, but that hasn't really worked either. either he doesn't know how good he can be and we're not at the ceiling, or he is what he is...a decent scorer and tremendous defender and maybe only asking him to be 3rd/4th best player on the team is just about right.

I think the other issue with Scott is he is very inconsistent at offense. He can score 20 points one game and go 1-9 the next. To me, his offense is his secondary contribution to the team. The first is everything else. Defense, hustle, etc.

The problem as has been said already, when we are missing 2 offensive contributors, his bad shooting nights stand out more and very hard to overcome.

Andrew · February 5

10 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

A coach needs to pull Stone aside, tell him to be in the gym every available moment shooting and send a student assistant to rebound for him and just feed him the ball.

Yeah but shooting in a game is a lot different than shooting around in the gym. Especially just open shots. Could hit 26-30 three balls when going around the arc. In a game that won’t happen.

UNTLifer · February 5

3 hours ago, Andrew said:

Yeah but shooting in a game is a lot different than shooting around in the gym. Especially just open shots. Could hit 26-30 three balls when going around the arc. In a game that won’t happen.

Then just ignore him.

Seriously, this is about the most inane comment that I have read in a long time. How in the world do you suggest he rediscover his shooting touch? Why do teams even practice shooting? Let him shoot open shots until his arms fall off. Then stick someone on him and let him continue to shoot. You have to help him find the confidence in his stroke. Glad you are just there sitting and watching and not in charge of making the team better.

Edited February 5 by UNTLifer

UNTLifer · February 5

I would also still like to see more of Cotton. Kid was a scorer in high school. It is time to see what he can do. At this point, I'd be willing to take a temporary hit on defensive efficiency if he provides us with another threat to score. At some point, we have got to get these freshmen up to speed and on the court.

greenminer · February 5

2 hours ago, Andrew said:

Yeah but shooting in a game is a lot different than shooting around in the gym. Especially just open shots. Could hit 26-30 three balls when going around the arc. In a game that won’t happen.

Some weird "why practice when practice isn't the actual game?" suggestion here.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39447970/usc-juju-watkins-explodes-51-keys-upset-stanford

Edited February 5 by greenminer

Andrew · February 6

6 hours ago, greenminer said:

Some weird "why practice when practice isn't the actual game?" suggestion here.

https://www.espn.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/39447970/usc-juju-watkins-explodes-51-keys-upset-stanford

🧐 where did I say don’t practice? I just mean simply getting nil shots is fine but doesn’t translate to just being an amazing shooter in live games. Stone is a spot up shooter. He needs to work to get to his spot and take the shot. Defers too much. If he keeps missing bench him and try Cotton then. Keep trying.

UNTLifer · February 6

17 hours ago, Andrew said:

🧐 where did I say don’t practice? I just mean simply getting nil shots is fine but doesn’t translate to just being an amazing shooter in live games. Stone is a spot up shooter. He needs to work to get to his spot and take the shot. Defers too much. If he keeps missing bench him and try Cotton then. Keep trying.

You basically stated that shooting in the gym and being successful won't translate to the game.

He defers because he doesn't have confidence in his shot. The young man needs to find that confidence and the coaches are responsible for helping him with that. It starts in practice.

Andrew · February 7

7 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

You basically stated that shooting in the gym and being successful won't translate to the game.

He defers because he doesn't have confidence in his shot. The young man needs to find that confidence and the coaches are responsible for helping him with that. It starts in practice.

Needs to be with contact and 5-5.

greenminer · February 7

12 minutes ago, Andrew said:

Needs to be with contact and 5-5.

As with most skillsets, development can benefit from repetitions in both simulated/live contexts, as well as in solo environments.

And, as in the case of the article I linked to above, sometimes you only need a refresher in one of the above.

Censored by Laurie · February 7

7 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

You basically stated that shooting in the gym and being successful won't translate to the game.

He defers because he doesn't have confidence in his shot. The young man needs to find that confidence and the coaches are responsible for helping him with that. It starts in practice.

it’s not on a college coach to develop a players shot. it’s on the player.

MCMLXXX · February 7

12 hours ago, UNTLifer said:

You basically stated that shooting in the gym and being successful won't translate to the game.

In the Fall of 2012 at a MGC event at Metzlers BBQ Johnny Jones said to me "We have a new recruit Clarke Overlander who led his team to a State Title and was District MVP and he is a great shooter who is going to light up the scoreboard, He was a great shooter in high school, is in practice, and he is a gym rat." I am sure all that was true and I was excited to see him play at the time. Sometimes all the above factors don't "translate to the game". He transferred to Arkansas Tech after his freshman year.

Clarke Overlander - North Texas Mean Green Guard - ESPN

Edited February 7 by MCMLXXX