Evansville (11/5/24)

[CMJ]

Another season is upon us.  How does Year 2 under Hodge go?  Do we compete for the league title this season?  Will the newcomers and vets mesh well?  

 

Evansville used to have pretty decent teams, though they've had a rough six or seven years.  The MVC is a really strong league though, so that explains some of it.  Also, nowadays with all the player turnover, it almost doesn't even make sense to look at previous seasons.

 

Hopefully "election watching" won't keep too many people away from going.

Edited Thursday at 11:40 PM by CMJ

[NT80]

1 hour ago, CMJ said:

Another season is upon us.  How does Year 2 under Hodge go?  Do we compete for the league title this season?  Will the newcomers and vets mesh well?  

 

Evansville used to have pretty decent teams, though they've had a rough six of seven years.  The MVC is a really strong league though, so that explains some of it.  Also, nowadays with all the player turnover, it almost doesn't even make sense to look at previous seasons.

 

Hopefully "election watching" won't keep too many people away from going.

I trust Ross to find good transfers like he did last season.   If the secret scrimmage results were accurate that was a good sign.  Last season we got into some injury situations I hope we avoid this year.   I'm anxious to see the new roster play together....it's like Christmas.... see what we got!

[greenminer]

Less than a week away!

[greenjoe]

Sorry.  I think it’s a bad decision to schedule a game against a presidential election.  Judging by early voting turnout, the election may draw more watchers than this first game.  

[MCMLXXX]

1 hour ago, greenjoe said:

Sorry.  I think it’s a bad decision to schedule a game against a presidential election.  Judging by early voting turnout, the election may draw more watchers than this first game.  

Perhaps we should offer a free beer to everyone who wears their "I Voted" sticker to the game. Do you think that would increase attendance?

[BleedingGreen]

Or or..a t shirt give away 

“Make the Pit Great Again “

[Venson]

On 11/1/2024 at 2:34 PM, greenjoe said:

Sorry.  I think it’s a bad decision to schedule a game against a presidential election.  Judging by early voting turnout, the election may draw more watchers than this first game.  

It is a bad night for a game. I agree the election watching will take away from attendance and watching. 

[untlynchka1]

3 hours ago, Venson said:

It is a bad night for a game. I agree the election watching will take away from attendance and watching. 

Yeah, and it’s a damn shame because the election stuff doesn’t even start to get interesting until after the game will be over.  

[greenminer]

TOMORROW

[Big Z]

Spread right now UNT -13.5

[Matt from A700]

Vote early, get to the Pit!

We won't have a confirmed President tomorrow anyways.

[Son Of A Flying Worm]

According to the Evansville game notes put out by the university, these are the projected starters:

Jasper Floyd

Atin Wright

Rondel Walker

Grant Newell

Moulaye Sissoko

Not really a surprising 'big' starting lineup. I wonder about the spacing in a Walker/Newell (and Sissoko, of course) lineup. Excited about the length, athleticism, and defensive ability of the combination though.

[Censored by Laurie]

1 hour ago, Son Of A Flying Worm said:

According to the Evansville game notes put out by the university, these are the projected starters:

Jasper Floyd

Atin Wright

Rondel Walker

Grant Newell

Moulaye Sissoko

Not really a surprising 'big' starting lineup. I wonder about the spacing in a Walker/Newell (and Sissoko, of course) lineup. Excited about the length, athleticism, and defensive ability of the combination though.

entirely based on previous season stat lines and presumed fit, I mentally have Massie starting at the 4...he seems to bring a little bit more offensive game than Newell, and while he gives up some inches he did average more boards and he's pretty range-y and like Walker, averaged over a steal/game last season. 

plus assuming Vice and Smith aren't contributors this season, Newell and Lorient off the bench can give enough height to sort of combo man the 4/5 spot...neither is really a 5, but together you can get a rotation with Sissoko 

[UNTLifer]

Will we see a faster tempo, or will we continue to grind teams down?

[NT80]

1 hour ago, Censored by Laurie said:

plus assuming Vice and Smith aren't contributors this season, Newell and Lorient off the bench can give enough height to sort of combo man the 4/5 spot...neither is really a 5, but together you can get a rotation with Sissoko 

Players that aren't contributors are more likely to just hit the Portal again than just wait till their time and develop.   It's really difficult for coaches now to keep all roster players happy about their roles and return the next season.

[UNTLifer]

Game notes

https://meangreensports.com/documents/2024/11/4/11.05.24_UNTMBBGameNotesvsEvansville.pdf

[Censored by Laurie]

39 minutes ago, UNTLifer said:

Will we see a faster tempo, or will we continue to grind teams down?

I'm torn. aesthetically I'd like to see a bit more tempo and scoring...but for the last 3-4 seasons this team has had a true identity unlike anything else in my time watching the program, despite coaching changes and massive player overhaul. "UNT Basketball" legit means something to our opponents. tough to want to stray too far from something so hard-nosed and largely successful.

[Censored by Laurie]

27 minutes ago, NT80 said:

Players that aren't contributors are more likely to just hit the Portal again than just wait till their time and develop.   It's really difficult for coaches now to keep all roster players happy about their roles and return the next season.

sure...but you can't play 13 dudes a night nor just hand out PT to someone not ready/not contributing just out of fear that they'll bolt next season. 

bigs especially tend to develop slower so I'm going into the year assuming Vice and Smith get very little run. 

based on nothing but intuition, I do think Mason will contribute significantly this season...he just looks college game ready.