Tulane (2/28/24)

[untcampbell]

They are gelling again, like they started the season. They got a win on the road. On to the next.

But first, the spoils of VICTORY.

 

 

GMG

Edited February 29 by untcampbell

[meangreenfaninno]

Great win to see in person.  Tulane is a tough win for anyone on the road.  I feel like the men are slowly putting their mojo back together for the tourney.

the women are indeed the pride of UNT though with their dominance 

a great time to be a basketball

fan at UNT indeed!

[keith]

As is often the difference between a win and a loss, as a team we were solid from the charity stripe last night (20-25 - 80%).  

[Glory to the Green]

10 hours ago, NT80 said:

Tulane's only lead of the game was 2-0, but it never felt like we could put this one away.  We should have pulled away by 20, only to let them get back within a single possession several times. 

Still doesn't look like we are firing on all cylinders yet even with a healthy roster.  Too many forced shots at the end of the shot clock, a turnover or violation.  But as they say any road win is a good win, so...

 

I think it’s start of the year all over again, but navigating the emergence of Edwards. He feels a bit bottled up right now.  How good was Scott?!?!  I think we’re trending up

[Shark84]

Defense has got to get back to holding teams around 60. We got outrebounded tonight and bullied in the paint. I wonder if we were so worried about staying out of foul trouble that we backed off our physicality. Edwards looks like it will take him another game or two to adjust to his off the ball role. It looked like he tried to go back to running the point a couple of times and turned the ball over. Defensive rotations were not good last night. Have to get that cleaned up before the tournament. GMG!

[NorthTexasWeLove]

12 hours ago, BigWillie said:

Yeah, I agree, but we still have a few more days before the next one, so have to dissect this one otherwise @TheTastyGreek might want to give us an update on Temple Oranges!

We're an inefficient team on offense and a tired team on defense in 2nd halves. 

The story has been the same all year. 

[BigWillie]

3 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

We're an inefficient team on offense and a tired team on defense in 2nd halves. 

The story has been the same all year. 

I don't disagree. The offense is really the biggest problem. 

If we had another JE, we would be ranked IMO.

[NorthTexasWeLove]

1 minute ago, BigWillie said:

I don't disagree. The offense is really the biggest problem. 

If we had another JE, we would be ranked IMO.

If Rubin never got hurt and found his rhythm as the 1, JE wouldn't have to volume shoot and could be a more rhythmic shooter and more dynamic on catch and dribble-drive. He also wouldn't have had to ball handle so much. Rubin going down was a net loss of 2/3 games, imo. He played vs UTSA but clearly had to feel things out and get back to the speed of things, and back in shape. So that's a hidden injury game. 

This team could very easily be 18-9/19-8, particularly if the ball fell our way in some of those noncon games. 

Our rotation is too short and given our injuries it shouldn't be.  

 

[UNTLifer]

Observations from my easy chair:

1.  Beautiful game by A. Scott.  I agreed with the commentators.  He has a pretty shot.  Great shooting night and some incredibly athletic plays on defense, saving balls out of bounds and on offense.

2.  Sissoko has to change his demeanor on the court.  Just hammer it home.  He's like Baby Huey and doesn't realize his size and strength.

3.  Speaking of Sissoko, he was open down low often throughout the game, but we were late recognizing it.  Need to be ready to hit him under the basket or rolling off the screen.

4.  Free throw shooting was the difference.

5.  Why was Buggs not played more?

6.  Same question for Walker.

7.  I would love to see Hodge tear into a referee just once.  He could ignite the team.

8.  Speaking of refs, these guys were something else.  I agree with the prior comments questioning their calls.

9.  Good road win.

10.  Good to see Rubin and CJ back to being Rubin and CJ.

11.  I would like to see us hit some of the open mid-range opportunities we get.  We seem to settle for a three or waste the shot clock passing up open mid-range shots just to back someone down.

12.  Speaking of backing down, A Scott's fade away Nowitzki-ish.

13.  I am a huge Edwards fan, but we have to get him off the ball.  Gets himself into trouble too much when dribbling around.

** Coming to town for the ECU and FAU games.  Really excited to see this team live.  We are bringing 8 to the ECU game.  Need one more ticket for the FAU.  Happy to purchase if someone isn't using one.

 

Edited February 29 by UNTLifer

[Shark84]

Did anyone else notice that the times we were most effective on offense were when we scored in transition and didn't do the three men weave out front and run the shot clock down? I know that is our style to help limit and frustrate our opponents but when we are healthy, I think we can play more up-tempo. We are good enough to not have to muck up a game to cover for only playing 7 guys. We have bigs that can run the floor and that was how we played during the NIT run.  I saw some of that at times last night. Hope we see more of it as the returning guys get back up to speed. Rubin excels in the open court.