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On The Rise

MeanGreen61

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MeanGreen61

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Brett Vito: On the rise

08:59 AM CST on Tuesday, December 13, 2005

North Texas coach Tina Slinker walked off the floor at the Super Pit with a smile on her face on Thursday after a win over UT-Pan American and talked about a belief that this could be a special year for the Mean Green women.

“Winning builds confidence and that is what is starting to happen with this team,” Slinker said.

Three nights later that confidence only grew after UNT knocked off UTEP for its second win of the season over a Conference USA opponent and completed a solid week in Mean Green basketball.

The UNT women are 7-1; the men are 3-3 and were one shot away from upsetting Texas A&M on the road.

Is it just me or is anyone else wondering if this could be the turnaround season the Mean Green have been seeking in basketball for the last few years?

For the sake of the UNT athletic department, this had better be it because the Mean Green have waited long enough to break through in basketball. And lets face it; at this point UNT needs some good news.

A second straight NCAA berth in women’s soccer was a boost for the program, but that has been one of the few highlights for the Mean Green in the major team sports this year. UNT finally had a down year in football, where the Mean Green went 2-9 to end a streak of four straight Sun Belt titles.

UNT’s basketball teams often flew under the radar until the fallout from the New Orleans Bowl had been hashed and rehashed. That won’t be the case this year when the Mean Green’s basketball teams will have the spotlight early on.

Depending on its basketball teams to carry to the banner was a bad idea at times in the past for UNT. Anyone remember the Vic Trilli era?

So far this season it doesn’t appear like UNT will drop the ball in basketball, at least if we can believe the early returns. The Mean Green women are off to the second best start through eight games in school history and appear to have their best team since Slinker led UNT to the WNIT in back-to-back years in 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.

The Mean Green have already beaten CUSA members UTEP and SMU. In the UNT athletic department beating the Mustangs doesn’t quite qualify you for sainthood, but it’s pretty close.

The UNT men haven’t proven as much as their counterparts on the women’s team yet, but coming one shot away from upsetting Texas A&M in College Station can’t be ignored. Head coach Johnny Jones would have had perhaps his biggest win at UNT if Kendrick Davis’ buzzer-beating three had fallen at the end of a 72-70 loss.

What UNT has to hope is this start isn’t just a tease like last season proved to be for the Mean Green men. UNT started off 9-5 and looked like a team about to turn the corner before falling apart and bowing out in the first round of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament at the Super Pit.

A short time later, eventual conference champion Middle Tennessee bounced the UNT women in overtime in the second round.

Maybe UNT was a year early in hosting the tournament. The Mean Green now appear to have the players necessary to break out of a funk that has seen both teams fail to finish above .500 since the 2001-02 season.

Both teams could to be on course for a big season, but breaking through will be a challenge in the Sun Belt Conference.

The Western Kentucky women are receiving votes in both the major national polls. The Lady Toppers, Arkansas-Little Rock and Louisiana-Lafayette women all have at least six wins.

The South Alabama and Denver men are 5-1 and 5-2, respectively, and are both planted in the Sun Belt’s West Division along with the Mean Green.

Only time will tell if the UNT men and women can make a run at the Sun Belt West Division championship, but the stage certainly seems set. The UNT women were picked to win the title and the men have a chip on their shoulder after being picked fifth.

Maybe this is the year to believe in the Mean Green. One fact is clear; the attention of UNT fans is on basketball earlier than usual.

It’s an opportunity the Mean Green must capitalize on.

BRETT VITO can be reached at 904-566-6870. His e-mail address is bvito@dentonrc.com

.

Edited by MeanGreen61
j0nat8an Newbie

j0nat8an

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very true article. unfortunately, i had never been into the bball team much (2-3 games per year), but the sorry football season pushed me to really get behind these guys and have made it to 3/4 home games this year and the guys have won me over. now, i hope they can do that for the rest of the campus (but that would require the rest of the campus showing up once!).

MeanGreenBuzz Newbie

MeanGreenBuzz

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Very good artice. Let me tell you both programs look good and are improving every week. They women are finding ways to win and the men are fighting all the way to the wire. I have been to every home game both men and women this year and the men's game at aTm. Let me tell you if you havn't been they are both very fun to watch. Also when they have back to back games it doesn't get boring as both teams play entirely different styles of BB so come watch both teams those days.

NT80 Grand Master

NT80

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Posted

For the sake of the UNT athletic department, this had better be it because the Mean Green have waited long enough to break through in basketball. And lets face it; at this point UNT needs some good news.

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