Summary Of The Houston Game

[edcollopy]

1) horrible crowd...maybe 800 people there...tops...UNT had about 50.

2) no enthusiasm from the team...no jumping around, no high fives, or any emotion whatsoever. During the game, when a player came out, he wasn't recognized by any teamate. There was absolutely no spirit from the guys on the bench....it was very telling.

3) Johnson is a nice defender but brings nothing offensively. Josh could not beat their little guard off the dribble...making him invisible out there. They were overplaying the wing entry pass and got at least 8 steals off of it. The 3rd series of the game Coach blamed Mc Coy for the turnover, but it was just a sign of things to come from White.

4) The wings refuse to throw the entry pass down low. FEED the bigs and make your life EASIER guards!

5) Howerton gives great effort and looked good defensively but he has two left feet for hands.

6) If this team is playing in a half court game we're toast. They are only good at getting out on the break to make things happen. Houston had some big boys down low that really thwarted our penetration.

7) George got ripped off on 2 of his first 4 foul calls. He's a nice player. In the second half he had a couple nice post ups when we actually got him the ball.

8) We crash the boards very well, but our streaky outside shooting killed us tonight. We just could not beat them off the dribble. When we started collecting charges in the first half, we really started to shy away from the penetration. Our pick in rolls are worthless w/o Wooden. Our bigs are not a threat to take the 17 ft jumper...our guards don't go to the hole coming off the pick...so, it makes for a really ugly half court set.

9) In summary, a truly disturbing game w/ the lack of solid guard play (it was horrible actually) and lack of energy. I hope the guys just had alot of turkey coarsing through their veins and that is why they were so lethargic.

[VideoEagle]

Thanks for the update. I wish the news had been better. I still have a lot of hopes for this team.

[Talon90]

1) horrible crowd...maybe 800 people there...tops...UNT had about 50.

2) no enthusiasm from the team...no jumping around, no high fives, or any emotion whatsoever. During the game, when a player came out, he wasn't recognized by any teamate. There was absolutely no spirit from the guys on the bench....it was very telling.

3) Johnson is a nice defender but brings nothing offensively. Josh could not beat their little guard off the dribble...making him invisible out there. They were overplaying the wing entry pass and got at least 8 steals off of it. The 3rd series of the game Coach blamed Mc Coy for the turnover, but it was just a sign of things to come from White.

4) The wings refuse to throw the entry pass down low. FEED the bigs and make your life EASIER guards!

5) Howerton gives great effort and looked good defensively but he has two left feet for hands.

6) If this team is playing in a half court game we're toast. They are only good at getting out on the break to make things happen. Houston had some big boys down low that really thwarted our penetration.

7) George got ripped off on 2 of his first 4 foul calls. He's a nice player. In the second half he had a couple nice post ups when we actually got him the ball.

8) We crash the boards very well, but our streaky outside shooting killed us tonight. We just could not beat them off the dribble. When we started collecting charges in the first half, we really started to shy away from the penetration. Our pick in rolls are worthless w/o Wooden. Our bigs are not a threat to take the 17 ft jumper...our guards don't go to the hole coming off the pick...so, it makes for a really ugly half court set.

9) In summary, a truly disturbing game w/ the lack of solid guard play (it was horrible actually) and lack of energy. I hope the guys just had alot of turkey coarsing through their veins and that is why they were so lethargic.

Great summary. I saw a lot of the same problems at the Jackson State game. Had we not hit the 3 in that game we would have lost bad. It looks like we are going to live and die by the three and we all know how that story ends over the course of a season. If we do not establish a better inside game and shore up our defensive play we are going to be mediocre at best. The one good thing is that it looks like the Belt is not as strong as it has been that past few years. The RPI ranking for the conference is horrid right now! Winning the tourney will be the only way a Belt team goes dancing this year.

Again as I say every season, why does Howerton ever leave the bench? He does not belong at this level of basketball.

[chrisfisher]

1) horrible crowd...maybe 800 people there...tops...UNT had about 50.

2) no enthusiasm from the team...no jumping around, no high fives, or any emotion whatsoever. During the game, when a player came out, he wasn't recognized by any teamate. There was absolutely no spirit from the guys on the bench....it was very telling.

3) Johnson is a nice defender but brings nothing offensively. Josh could not beat their little guard off the dribble...making him invisible out there. They were overplaying the wing entry pass and got at least 8 steals off of it. The 3rd series of the game Coach blamed Mc Coy for the turnover, but it was just a sign of things to come from White.

4) The wings refuse to throw the entry pass down low. FEED the bigs and make your life EASIER guards!

5) Howerton gives great effort and looked good defensively but he has two left feet for hands.

6) If this team is playing in a half court game we're toast. They are only good at getting out on the break to make things happen. Houston had some big boys down low that really thwarted our penetration.

7) George got ripped off on 2 of his first 4 foul calls. He's a nice player. In the second half he had a couple nice post ups when we actually got him the ball.

8) We crash the boards very well, but our streaky outside shooting killed us tonight. We just could not beat them off the dribble. When we started collecting charges in the first half, we really started to shy away from the penetration. Our pick in rolls are worthless w/o Wooden. Our bigs are not a threat to take the 17 ft jumper...our guards don't go to the hole coming off the pick...so, it makes for a really ugly half court set.

9) In summary, a truly disturbing game w/ the lack of solid guard play (it was horrible actually) and lack of energy. I hope the guys just had alot of turkey coarsing through their veins and that is why they were so lethargic.

The only disagreement I have with your analysis is that Johnson is not a potent offensive scorer; quite the contrary, he is normally one of our best shooting guards on the team. Check the stats. Johnson like our other guards had a terrible shooting game against Houston.

Edited November 30, 2008 by chrisfisher

[NCMeanGreen]

I had meant to post something about Howerton myself after watching the Jackson State game. He only played 2 minutes in the game, and that was 2.5 minutes too long. He plays nervous (like he just not sure what to do out there)...cannot get a rebound (even matched up against someone half his size...pathetic!) to save his life...I believe he had a foul...and missed an easy shot. He actually hurt the team by being in there, and most certainly did not provide any value at all.

He has the size, but cannot play ball at this level at all...

[NT03]

D Johnson is as streak shooter. His problem is that if it's not falling then we are going to need him to be able to drop 6-7 dimes out there and I don't see that happening unless JJ gets in his ear.

[edcollopy]

I know Houston had some big boys down low, but our guys could not / would not penetrate...very frustrating seeing all the dribbling and passing around the perimeter w/o going anywhere. Pass to the bigs and play some inside / outside. It seems that so many teams are trying to be like Memphis w/ the driving and kicking offense. If your guards aren't quick enough, it looks like crap.

Chris, Johnson may be better than I think...I've only seen the Houston and Ok St. games.

[chrisfisher]

I know Houston had some big boys down low, but our guys could not / would not penetrate...very frustrating seeing all the dribbling and passing around the perimeter w/o going anywhere. Pass to the bigs and play some inside / outside. It seems that so many teams are trying to be like Memphis w/ the driving and kicking offense. If your guards aren't quick enough, it looks like crap.

Chris, Johnson may be better than I think...I've only seen the Houston and Ok St. games.

To tell you the truth, I like Johnson at the point... he seems much faster and breaks the full court press with ease. White looks timid and uncomfortable with a press. I wish Johnson could be our PG and White at the 2. However, we'd have that really short line up I am not fond of at all. I don't mean to make this sound like this is anything against White because it isn't. I am just not sure what to do about PG position.

[edcollopy]

Can't argue with you there. White seems to be more of a 2 guard now. The offense was not flowing at all under his leadership. Again, the half court sets are to blame for alot of it. Running the wings out of the post over and over again w/o throwing the ball low...it really led to them overplaying the pass and running us out of that piece of crap arena.

[SUMG]

I don't know what the deal is with Howerton. He's very athletic....runs the court well for a big man. And, he usually puts himself in a good position. But, he either has the worst hands ever for a big man...or he gets nervous when he gets the ball. Because, I swear over half the time he touches the ball....he fumbles it or gets stripped of it.

If he could just hold onto the ball (and that includes when rebounding too)...he would be a nice role player for us.

[CMJ]

I think he must be nervous, because I swear he looked decent in practice when I went last season. And he was going against Keith and Quincy.

[edcollopy]

Quincy looked sharp in his suit on sat. night.

btw..be grateful UNT doesn't charge for parking for basketball games. Pulled up to an empty lot at u of H...$5. What a joke...concession prices were like those at a professional game too.