Men lose to USW 67-60

CMJ · January 30, 2005

Same drill as the women. Wasn't able to lsten to the game... From the box score it looks like we got off to a slow start and that's what ended up costing us the game.

EDIT - Supposed to read USA as in South Alabama. Sorry guys...

Edited January 30, 2005 by CMJ

SUMG · January 30, 2005

A 17-2 run by USA in the first half....cost us the game. We went from being up by 4, to being down by 11. (22-11). At the half, we trailed by 9, 36-27.

After that, we scratched and clawed our way back....finally tying it 60-60, with a little over a minute left.

Don't get me started on how undisciplined this team is, when we are down by 3. They always have to throw up a three, even if there are several minutes left. (That happened tonight). And down by three, with 29 seconds left.....instead of working for a good three point shot, C Wat throws up one, with two men on him.

ntsumgspe · January 30, 2005

When your shooting percentage is in the 30's, you don't deserve to win. Poor shooting = another loss !

UNTSportsGuy · January 30, 2005

Don't get me started on how undisciplined this team is, when we are down by 3. They always have to throw up a three, even if there are several minutes left. (That happened tonight). And down by three, with 29 seconds left.....instead of working for a good three point shot, C Wat throws up one, with two men on him.

Couldn't agree with you any more. Watson and Hopkins both always feel as though they must do it all. Count the number of times Watson DOESN'T throw the ball inside when a big man is open on the block. I don't feel that Watson is a selfish player, but believes to much in himself or lacks confidence in any teamate. Maybe he just wants to be the star, but either way he needs to learn that he is talented enough that he can still get his, and make his teamates better players at the same time.

emmitt01 · January 30, 2005

I believe you are preaching to the choir on this one. I think JJ probably gives L-Hop the green light to shoot but better decisions have got to be made. A shot from in the paint, a shorter jumper and ESPECIALLY a shot off of a drive to the bucket are higher percentage shots...and more importantly they're more likely to draw a foul and get you to the line with the chance to score with a stopped clock. The team will mature I am sure as more and more games slip away because of a lack of discipline. The problem I see is that this teams' greatest strength is also their achilles' heel, they are ultra athletic and seem to depend on that to get them through.,

January 30, 2005

When your shooting percentage is in the 30's, you don't deserve to win. Poor shooting = another loss !

I guess South Alabama didn't deserve to win either and should also have a loss.

After listening to the second half and looking at the box score, it was an evenly matched game with both teams shooting poorly. Both shot below 40% from the field and below 30% from behind the arc, and neither team won the rebounding war with both at 35 each. It looks like it came down to fouls and free throw shooting. We had 24 personal fouls to USA's 17, which led them them shooting 14 more free throws than us. They also shot FTs much better making 27 of their 34 shots while we only made 13 of our 20.

USA's big run in the first half won the game because neither team could shoot the ball and we gave them too many free points on fouls. I also agree that we made poor decisions late in the game when we were down 3, and didn't need to jack up desperation 3 pointers. That also happened against ALR, I believe, when instead of trying to drive the lane and get to the foul line we jacked up 3 pointers every trip down the court. I trust that JJ will stress to his players that desperation 3 pointers aren't needed in tight games with a few minutes still left.

ntsumgspe · January 30, 2005

Since I'm not a South Alabama fan my main concern is not their shooting percentage. The point of my comment was to emphasize the fact that this team, North Texas, has consitently shot poorly and thus LOST, again! And yes, if you shoot that poorly you don't deserve to win. Unless, you play a team that shoots worse than you do.

SUMG · January 30, 2005

One bit of optimism.......when we went to the NCAA tourney in 1988....after 17 games, our record was 5-12.

Our team had a players only meeting.......unified......went on a 12 game winning streak, before losing to UNC in the first round of the tournament.

This team, has a much talent (IMHO) as that one did. Granted, the SBC may be a tougher league than the SLC was 17 years ago.....but I still think this can put together a good winning streak and make it to the NCAA tourney.

We do need to finish in the top 5 spots (not sure how that will determined) in the league during the regular season. For the top 5 spots, will receive byes in the tournament.....and only have to win 3 games to get to The Big Dance, as opposed to winning 4.

January 30, 2005

Since I'm not a South Alabama fan my main concern is not their shooting percentage.

I'm not a fan of USA's either, but when analyzing a game you must take into consideration what the other team did and not just what your team did. Many times the outcome of the game is not decided by how well a team shoots but by other aspects of the game, such as rebounding, turnovers, free throw shooting, fouls, etc.... Last night's game sounded like a tough, physical battle, and rarely do those games end with teams shooting a high percentage. Especially when our team is built around perimeter players since we don't have a dominant post player like we did last season in Shawnson Johnson.

ntsumgspe · January 31, 2005

Many times the outcome of the game is not decided by how well a team shoots but by other aspects of the game, such as rebounding, turnovers, free throw shooting, fouls, etc....

Many more times the game is decided how well a team shoots.

January 31, 2005

Many more times the game is decided how well a team shoots.

You're right, I don't know what I was thinking trying to analyze the game. Let's just start having games of HORSE to decide who the winner is, because shooting is all that matters.

ntsumgspe · January 31, 2005

You're right, I don't know what I was thinking trying to analyze the game. Let's just start having games of HORSE to decide who the winner is, because shooting is all that matters.

It matters if you want to WIN ! If you out rebound, get more turnovers, commit less fouls, but aren't able to shoot then you will not beat anyone. Unless points are now being calculated by something other than the ball going through the basket.

Coach · January 31, 2005

Since I'm not a South Alabama fan my main concern is not their shooting percentage.

You should be. Opponent's field goal percentage is often used as an indicator to a team's effectiveness on defense.

Shooting percentage is not the most important thing, it is one of a myriad of factors to look at. Rebounds are right up there, and I also like to look at assists and turnovers.

This team does not only need to improve it's decision making both in shot selection (rushing shots and taking shots outside the offense have been a problem) and when to and not to gamble on defense (getting key guys in foul trouble has handcuffed Jones' personnel choices). I am with SUMG, this team has the talent to turn it around and make the big dance, but they need to play smarter on both ends.

ntsumgspe · January 31, 2005

You should be.

No thanks. Win or Lose, Good or Bad, I AM A NORTH TEXAS FAN !

Coach · January 31, 2005

You can really change someone's quote when you leave off the main point of the statement. You know as well as anyone who read the post, I did not say you should be a South Alabama fan, but that you should should care about what their shooting percentage was against North Texas.