Why Did We Lose?

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

Not to discredit Memphis as they looked great, but there were certainly areas were we came up short. If you were JJ what would you praise the guys for and what would you work on with them?

[Travis]

In my best Campo voice... I will have to look at the film.

[UNT_92_Fan]

Praises - HEART - That last run at the half HAS buried other lower seeds in the tournament, this team fought HARD!

Improvements - They played a solid game...a few careless mistakes here and there - very well could be caused by the stage tehy were on. How many of thsoe guys have ever seen a stage that big

All in ALL JJ has nothing to hark on from this game...His team palyed their asses off and gave a #2 Seed a run for their money.

[mean green d]

I felt we lost because we were sloppy turnover wise. We also had trouble hitting our shots. Some of that could be attributed to the big game setting. I would attempt to get them in a few high profile road games. This may help with the nerves should we make it back to the dance next year. Here is to a good recruiting season.

[SCREAMING EAGLE-66]

----They lost the game because of two bad streaks, one in the final two min of the half and one in the second half. ... Those usually happen when players stop being patient and try to do things they haven't been doing in order to get those points lost back.... and things then get worse. --As coaches say "Keep your poise and stay in control of your emotions.". TAMUCC has sort of done the same thing in the last few minutes.

--- These guys met all expectations and did about as well as they could... Hope the students support the Team better next year..... College year memories are made from what you do... and not for sitting at home watching TV, playing video games, or just wasting time in general.......

Edited March 16, 2007 by SCREAMING EAGLE-66

[greenminer]

Credit to Memphis for finally hitting free throws in a half. Did they even miss one after the break? I was also stunned at how high they were around the basket. Seemed like we never got a rebound.

[UNTflyer]

I'm still wondering why Tic Price was sitting in front of me in the UNT section.

[UNTLifer]

I'd tell Sturns to slow down

[Stan R]

Yes, we had heart, but if Riley Dodge tought us anything, one must projectile vomit in order to achieve "ultimate heart".

[CawClaw]

I got to watch the first hour and I saw both teams make as many mistakes and misses as other. But UNT was ahead and I thought they might just pull this off. Then at 28-28 we left to come back to the office. I guess that's when it fell apart.

I think we lost because

1) we were the big underdogs (almost no one gave us any hope at all)

2) they were bigger, maybe stronger

3) they weren't suppose to make their FT's

4) one team has to lose so the other team can win (doesn't count in soccer)

But we got to go and play. Got lots of positive national attention - even the College of Music got good comments (which it should). I got to know a little about the players and the coaches - nice to know we have all these good, quality people up at UNT (along with Todd Dodge and Gretchen Bataille).

Our glass is definitely half-full.

[Green to the Bone]

I got to watch the first hour and I saw both teams make as many mistakes and misses as other. But UNT was ahead and I thought they might just pull this off. Then at 28-28 we left to come back to the office. I guess that's when it fell apart.

I think we lost because

1) we were the big underdogs (almost no one gave us any hope at all)

2) they were bigger, maybe stronger

3) they weren't suppose to make their FT's

4) one team has to lose so the other team can win (doesn't count in soccer)

But we got to go and play. Got lots of positive national attention - even the College of Music got good comments (which it should). I got to know a little about the players and the coaches - nice to know we have all these good, quality people up at UNT (along with Todd Dodge and Gretchen Bataille).

Our glass is definitely half-full.

Great, positive post. We lost to a team that's not perfect, but very good -- they've won 23 in a row.

Now, about that quote that I bolded -- it seems to me that we lost because you had to go back to work. It's your boss's fault!

[CawClaw]

Yeah, and I even paid for lunch today! That's alright - I'm sneaking out early!

[drex]

We lost because Memphis is a better program...they have worked hard to become a good program and have succeeded. Now, we must make the decision to take the next step and move on up or just let this year be another anomaly that we visit again 19 years later when we go back to the dance. I hope every decision maker at NT understood the impact of this visit to the big dance. Let's not wait another 19 years.

[Daddy Dumpsalot]

Now, we must make the decision to take the next step and move on up or just let this year be another anomaly that we visit again 19 years later when we go back to the dance. I hope every decision maker at NT understood the impact of this visit to the big dance. Let's not wait another 19 years.

Nice post. I couldn't agree more. I hope the decidsion makers are looking down the line into how we can improve on this accomplishment in the seasons to come and even in our other althletic programs. We def. need to capitalize on this. I hope that we are in The Big Dance next year and maybe even seeded higher.

[U_of_Elvis]

I'm still wondering why Tic Price was sitting in front of me in the UNT section.

Did the Memphis fan's see him? We have a lot of respect for JJ but you won't see much for Tic from our camp.

[GoMeanGreen1999]

This was a very winnable game today once it got started. I have to admit, I didn't think we had much of a shot of winning this game, but once the game started and we started hanging with them, I was impressed. I thought JJ had them ready to play in being focused and as someone mentioned, I thought they had heart. That being said, many of you may disagree, and I don't mean to harp on the problems but there are facts that remain about this team:

1. Turnovers - 20+ of them is not a few. In fact, that is way too many to be able to win in the tourney, reguardless of who you are playing. Many of them were at key times, which may just be the fact that this was the first time for these guys on this platform. They had a dunk that if we had just taken a little bit more time and not tried to get cute, would have cut the lead to 4 and really given us a swing in Momentum. Instead, they take the miss go down and hit a 3 and it goes from a potential 4 to 9. The second one came at the 11:30 mark in the second half where we had an open guy at the free throw line and we hurried the throw and over threw him. One minute later the lead was back to 11. Not calling a TO on an inbounds pass and turning the ball over is not good.

2. Free Throws - this plaqued this team all season and though they shot them better today, they still need to improve on this for next season.

3. They need a go to guy. Apparently that was KD, but he disappeared the last 5 games of the season. I realize he had the flu for some of those, but he had only 4 points to start the second half and I think only finished with 12. They need to get a backup for Bell and they need a little bit more depth for next season.

Overall I think it looks good for next season if they can improve on some of these things. I really think today if they had limited their TO's to 10 like in the ASU game, then we might have been in a postition to win the game - that is how close this team was today to winning. Overall, proud of the team.

Just my 2 cents.

[foutsrouts]

Not to really put major blame on any individual players, but Sturns, Bell, and Young contributed very little to the bottom line and we made too many mistakes to overcome their pressure D on our 3 point game. We looked good most of the game, especially the big guys, but we just couldn't quite get over the hump. Those runs, not the pulled pork kind, will get you every time.

[fan19740]

I thought the team looked tired. I saw players walking up the court when they needed to push the ball. Plus, the players who looked tired were passing the ball with no direction or game plan. That makes for sloppy play, both on offesne and defense.

[MarkCiz]

I agree with all the previous replies, and I want to add one thing to the list...

REBOUNDS!

I think the final line was Memphis 45, North Texas 35, but it seemed like we were either A. not finding a man and blocking out, or B. just not strong enough. I can't count the number of times I saw a Memphis player slicing into the paint unchecked while a North Texas player watched. Memphis kept getting second and third chances.

Nevertheless, I've never been more proud of this Mean Green Basketball team and now I can't wait for football and basketball season...it's a good time to be a student (or alum) at UNT!!

Edited March 16, 2007 by MarkCiz

[GoMeanGreen1999]

I agree with all the previous replies, and I want to add one thing to the list...

REBOUNDS!

I think the final line was Memphis 45, North Texas 35, but it seemed like we were either A. not finding a man and blocking out, or B. just not strong enough. I can't count the number of times I saw a Memphis player slicing into the paint unchecked while a North Texas player watched. Memphis kept getting second and third chances.

Nevertheless, I've never been more proud of this Mean Green Basketball team and now I can't wait for football and basketball season...it's a good time to be a student (or alum) at UNT!!

You are right about that one. I thought I remembered people talking about how we would have the advantage with our size on the inside, however they did out rebound us 40 - 32, but 19 - 9 on the offensive boards.

[BonfireBrian]

I agree with all the previous replies, and I want to add one thing to the list...

REBOUNDS!

I think the final line was Memphis 45, North Texas 35, but it seemed like we were either A. not finding a man and blocking out, or B. just not strong enough. I can't count the number of times I saw a Memphis player slicing into the paint unchecked while a North Texas player watched. Memphis kept getting second and third chances.

Nevertheless, I've never been more proud of this Mean Green Basketball team and now I can't wait for football and basketball season...it's a good time to be a student (or alum) at UNT!!

This is a great time to be associated with the University of North Texas. Now, we just have to build on all of this publicity with recruiting for ALL sports. I'm looking forward to the coming years of Mean Green Athletics!

[gruu]

How do you not call time out when the Tigers were on their big run on us? That is when the game was over... we could not recover from that ugly run.

[EagleD]

We lost b/c we couldn't handle their strong press. How can we get better? practice.

GO MEAN GREEN !!!!!!

[MeanGreenBuzz]

Bottom line and I hate to call out individual players, but each time Memphis went on a big run it was directly after Sturns came in the game and made multiple big turnovers in a row. He needs to slow the pace down and run the offense and THEN if he finds an opening explode. He just needs to stay under control and not always go for the big play. Ben Bell even though the stats didn't show it played great and had the offense clicking when he was in and Rich Young did a great job on defense. One guy I really expected a lot more from was Davis as well as C-Wat. They never got going and it really seemed the team didn't try to run many plays to get them some quick jump shots/3 pointers.

[GMoney]

Bottom line and I hate to call out individual players, but each time Memphis went on a big run it was directly after Sturns came in the game and made multiple big turnovers in a row.

Bingo. You just can't turn the ball over against an athletic team and let them get quick baskets. Not to mention wild ass shots and missed layups that should be points for you that get turned against you. This has been a problem all year and has hurt us all year - nothing changed.

Second, and a huge momentum changer - C. Watston's missed dunk that ended up as a 3 pointer on the other end (a 5 point swing). I believe that would have cut the game to 5 points instead the lead was extended back to 10. Game Over. Well here the situation from the DMN by Bret Vito:

Despite its struggles offensively, UNT was only down six points with 14:38 left in the second half and looked ready to cut the lead to four as Watson took a clear path to the basket.

Any optimism was shortlived, though, as Watson missed the dunk off the back of the rim and Memphis responded with a 15-4 run.

Edited March 17, 2007 by GMoney