Ul - Lafayette (2/7/09)

[chrisfisher]

Ok. I get it. No one agrees with me.

[GreenBat]

Ok. I get it. No one agrees with me.

Nope, I agree with you Chris.

There's a difference between resting your players and just playing to end the game.

The bench players need to understand that when they make mistakes, even in a blowout victory, they will be held accountable. When the PG turns it over three times in a row. Put his butt on the bench and put a starter back in. Explain to him what he is doing wrong, then put him back in and put the starter on the bench. Why is it hard for some of you to understand NT should have won this game by 30, even with the bench in. UL-L has just 7 wins, common they don't have any more talent than Cameron, who NT beat 87-66.

NT settles for medicority in athletics in general, I'd like the bar to be set a little higher.

[CMJ]

ULL has way more talent than Cameron. Remember, preseason UALR, ULL and us were all basically predicted to win our Division. They are severely underperforming, but they arguably as talented as anyone in our division, if not conference.

Edited February 8, 2009 by CMJ

[CMJ]

And to prove my point here was the Vote breakdown. They had one less vote than us, obviously it was thought we all had a similar talent level going into this season.

West Division

1. UALR - 76 points (6 first-place votes)

1. North Texas - 76 points (4 first-place votes)

3. Louisiana-Lafayette - 75 points (3 first-place votes)

4. Arkansas State - 43 points

5. ULM - 39 points

6. Denver - 35 points

7. New Orleans - 20 points

[Green P1]

I'm with Bat and Chris on this one. As soon as I saw that final score last night the first thing I thought was "Somebody needs to be holding Johnny's ass to the fire on this one." Now that I realize that the starters actually sat for like 8 minutes of that lopsided victory...... I wanna punch the guy in the face myself. What is it going to take for RV to realize JJ is the wrong guy for the job? The guy wins and loses way to many really close games....... and he lets the end of his bench play in absolute blowouts...... bushleague.

Edited February 8, 2009 by Green P1

[Greendylan]

On the post game show, Johnny Jones mentioned how disappointed he was in how they finished the game. The players also seemed somewhat frustrated with themselves. I agree with Chris that it became pretty painful to watch toward the end. However, I would think that's even more reason to leave those guys out there and allow them to learn. Hell, Tristan Thompson was forced to play the last few minutes because of the foul out. Overall, it was an energetic atmosphere in the Super Pit and a fun game to watch. I think we really saw the team play up to their potential throughout the first half (and most of the second).

[calvin]

So lets see here. In football if a team is up 42-0 and they put their back-ups in and the other team scores a couple of late trash TD's to make it 42-14, you dont send your starters back out there to finish the game. And in b-ball when a team is up 39, you put your walk-ons and the guys at the end of the bench to finish the game. There is no way in heck that if a walk PG turns the ball over three times in a row in a 25 point game, do you put your starting PG back in.

The real story should be here how well our guys played, how well they shot, and how hopefully this is a springboard for the rest of the season. Not that we won by 18 instead of 30.

[oldguystudent]

The real story should be here how well our guys played, how well they shot, and how hopefully this is a springboard for the rest of the season. Not that we won by 18 instead of 30.

Wrong. We are UNT fans. We must bitch. If we lose, our job is easy. If we win, we must dissect the game until we can find something to bitch about, and make it reason to call for the coach's head. We're classy that way.

[Censored by Laurie]

I'm with Bat and Chris on this one. As soon as I saw that final score last night the first thing I thought was "Somebody needs to be holding Johnny's ass to the fire on this one." Now that I realize that the starters actually sat for like 8 minutes of that lopsided victory...... I wanna punch the guy in the face myself. What is it going to take for RV to realize JJ is the wrong guy for the job? The guy wins and loses way to many really close games....... and he lets the end of his bench play in absolute blowouts...... bushleague.

I love you.

I seriously cannot believe what I've read so far. Chris and GB...you guys post regularly here in the basketball forum so it leads me to believe that you have a pretty good grasp on the sport...but your comments are really making me second guess my assumptions. The game was won...over...finished. All either coach wanted to do at the end was watch the clock go to zeros...the refs wanted the same and put little cotton balls in their whistles except on blatant fouls. This happens all the time...few basketball games really end with lopsided blowout scores even if it was a lopsided blowout game.

Playing starters any longer than JJ did last night is problematic for two major reasons...the chance of injury and karma...karma being the biggest when the blow out happens to be against a conference opponent you may see in the conference tournament.

[eulesseagle]

Coach Jones in the post game interview stated, and I paraphrase:

1. He needs to get players, who do not play much, into the game for "game experience."

2. He would address the turnovers, during the last five or six minutes, to the team because he wants the team to "keep focused" for 40 minutes.

3. He said he wants to play the people who do not play much because you do not know when you might "have to use them."

That about sums it all up.

Howerton looked awsom during the game.

The first half was a "clinic" and the team shot over 70% in "all" categories.

In my humble estimation the SBC has a great deal of parity this year. Even though our record is not reflective of what might have/should have/could have been.....I believe that the SBC tournament is up for grabs by any of the top 2 or 3 seeds from either the East or West. UNT has really played all the games close along with the other SBC teams (naturally with a a handfull of exceptions) and the team that has the momentum, like UNT had when Coach Jones took us to the BIG DANCE a couple of years ago.....then......anything can happen. I, again, believe that UNT has just as good of a chance to get the "64" as Arkansas Little Roach, Troy or S. Alabama.

[Green to the Bone]

Coach Jones in the post game interview stated, and I paraphrase:

1. He needs to get players, who do not play much, into the game for "game experience."

2. He would address the turnovers, during the last five or six minutes, to the team because he wants the team to "keep focused" for 40 minutes.

3. He said he wants to play the people who do not play much because you do not know when you might "have to use them."

That about sums it all up.

Howerton looked awsom during the game.

The first half was a "clinic" and the team shot over 70% in "all" categories.

In my humble estimation the SBC has a great deal of parity this year. Even though our record is not reflective of what might have/should have/could have been.....I believe that the SBC tournament is up for grabs by any of the top 2 or 3 seeds from either the East or West. UNT has really played all the games close along with the other SBC teams (naturally with a a handfull of exceptions) and the team that has the momentum, like UNT had when Coach Jones took us to the BIG DANCE a couple of years ago.....then......anything can happen. I, again, believe that UNT has just as good of a chance to get the "64" as Arkansas Little Roach, Troy or S. Alabama.

What Jones said was right on the money. You don't put your starters back in; you expect good performance from your backups. Griping about poor game management when the coach pursued exactly the right game management is hard to understand.

Sitting there watching, I thought the endgame players acted like they were running out the clock. Those dunks were undefended, I thought, because those in at the time didn't see the point in stopping them. I didn't see much point either, except as a reminder to play until the end, because, as Jones said, they could become starters at any time due to an unfortunate twist of a starter's ankle.

Suggesting that this game should convince RV to fire JJ is just crazy talk.

And in regards to playing for 40 minutes, I'd like to send the same message to those attendees who leave early. I've never understood it and never will.

[oldguystudent]

And in regards to playing for 40 minutes, I'd like to send the same message to those attendees who leave early. I've never understood it and never will.

Good point. There was a mass exodus at halftime.

[Quoner]

OMG - I was joking with people that I would find folks bitching about this game - and POW! here we are. At least no one made any funny hijacks in this thread though - so good things are happening on that front!

[NT03]

OMG - I was joking with people that I would find folks bitching about this game - and POW! here we are. At least no one made any funny hijacks in this thread though - so good things are happening on that front!

That's KA-POW !!

[meangreenbob]

Good point. There was a mass exodus at halftime.

There wasn't a mass exodus at halftime.

[chrisfisher]

I love you.

I seriously cannot believe what I've read so far. Chris and GB...you guys post regularly here in the basketball forum so it leads me to believe that you have a pretty good grasp on the sport...but your comments are really making me second guess my assumptions. The game was won...over...finished. All either coach wanted to do at the end was watch the clock go to zeros...the refs wanted the same and put little cotton balls in their whistles except on blatant fouls. This happens all the time...few basketball games really end with lopsided blowout scores even if it was a lopsided blowout game.

Playing starters any longer than JJ did last night is problematic for two major reasons...the chance of injury and karma...karma being the biggest when the blow out happens to be against a conference opponent you may see in the conference tournament.

CBL, did you attend or even watch (not listen) this game. I suspect you were not there else you'd feel my pain. The Super Pit was electric. The crowd was having a blast. Then the back-ups came in and deflated the entire place. The students were grumpy and embarrassed about this...even yelling at our own players.... I understand that a coach needs to play the bench in a blow out, but their play was embarrassing. After ULL did the alley-oop, I would have put our starters back in just for that and give 'em another beating... JJ gives them mercy and that's how they act. And what about the students who do not come out to every game or know our line up? These folks just thought we really stank it up and almost gave the game away.... It sucks that in such a great victory came that ending and this thread....

Edited February 8, 2009 by chrisfisher

[CMJ]

Point of fact chris...the only person who does agree with you(GreenBat) didn't goto the game. And based on some of his previous posts, I doubt he listened to it either.

[Green P1]

CBL, did you attend or even watch (not listen) this game. I suspect you were not there else you'd feel my pain. The Super Pit was electric. The crowd was having a blast. Then the back-ups came in and deflated the entire place. The students were grumpy and embarrassed about this...even yelling at our own players.... I understand that a coach needs to play the bench in a blow out, but their play was embarrassing. After ULL did the alley-oop, I would have put our starters back in just for that and give 'em another beating... JJ gives them mercy and that's how they act. And what about the students who do not come out to every game or know our line up? These folks just thought we really stank it up and almost gave the game away.... It sucks that in such a great victory came that ending and this thread....

The fact that this is even an argument boggles my brain.

Are we so fragile that an alley-oop dunk in the remaining minutes of a complete blow out necessitates risking an injury to an important part of the team in garbage minutes? If the student section began to turn on their own team in the waning minutes of the game..... then my worry/confusion would be aimed at them rather than Johnny.

Edited February 9, 2009 by Green P1

[chrisfisher]

The fact that this is even an argument boggles my brain.

Are we so fragile that and alley-oop dunk in the remaining minutes of a complete blow out necessitates risking an injury to an important part of the team in garbage minutes? If the student section began to turn on their own team in the waning minutes of the game..... then my worry/confusion would be aimed at them rather than Johnny.

They didn't "turn on them"... they were moaning and groaning about the embarrassing play. What do you expect them to do? Celebrate?

I think I am about done with this conversation... it is going no where and is getting blown way out of proportion.

Edited February 9, 2009 by chrisfisher

[emmitt01]

All that bench needed was another 3 or 4 minutes and ULL would have pulled out the win.

Wrong. If they get within even 10 Johnny re-inserts the starters and we coast home. How do you not see that?

And complaining that the students were "mad" because we didn't keep our boots on the throat of a team that we absolutely violated in the first half shows just how bush league some of our fans can be. They got an alley oop dunk...great, let me know when those start counting for 20 points. Until they do it was the act of a team desperate to find something fun during while getting their asses beat. NOBODY, and I mean nobody, who listened to that game or watched it live thought the outcome was in question. They couldn't have...or they just plain don't follow sports. Any student/fan/alum who can't see that the guys they watched put up 7 threes (and get them hamburgers) in the first half were no longer on the floor and were replaced by other guys doesn't need to watch sports anymore...they're just not real sports "smart." You don't blow out conference foes when you can avoid it, you just don't. Johnny did the equivalent of trying to take a knee and anyone who knows a thing about basketball could see that.

[bstnsportsfan3]

i was at the pit last night but not with the students, so i didn't see there reaction...i was just happy we played a good game ( best first half i have seen NT play) and i was HAPPY to see the bench guys and walk-ons to get some well deserved playing time! If we play even close to what we did in the first half, we can make a great run to the NCAA...ill be back with the pit crew on thursday ready to give UNO hell!

[Quoner]

They didn't "turn on them"... they were moaning and groaning about the embarrassing play. What do you expect them to do? Celebrate?

I think I am about done with this conversation... it is going no where and is getting blown way out of proportion.

I think KU should fire Bill Self because he nearly blew a 30+ lead against UNC in the Final Four last year before winning the game. The KU students were very demoralized to see the game get close and, if the KU AD had any integrity, he would have let an assistant coach the title game against Memphis. Bush league.

[oldguystudent]

[oldguystudent]

Perhaps you should get the prescription on your glasses checked. What you saw was a jam packed arena of apathetic fans and angry students witnessing a profoundly inept athletic program incarnate. Fire everybody!

[KRAM1]

Yep, check those glasses Tasty. There was NO mass exit at halftime. I too was there, and did not witness any mass exit. It seems to happen each time there is a doubleheader...some of the folks come for the girls game (like some folks show up later only for the men's game) and will watch a bit of the men's game (half or so) and then leave. Perhaps they are going to meet their daughter, friend, etc. who plays on the women's team, or perhaps, like some other UNT fans, they are fans of the girls' game and not the men's. Whatever, there was no mass exit. Nice crowd, all things considered.

Yes, it got a bit sloppy at the end, and JJ will address that, but it was great to see UNT lead wire to wire. UL-L NEVER had the laed or even a tie after the initial tip-off. Nice. I have been waiting for UNT to "come alive" like this and keep the pressure on for a full game. I have no problem with JJ playing the reserves as much as he did. If the score had gotten anywhere close at the end, the starters would be back in the game. Game was NEVER in doubt during the last 10-15 min.

I find it simply amazing that some folks can find things in this win to complain about. This just proves that some folks are "glass half-empty" folks and always will be. They just are not happy unless they have something to complain about. Sad, but their choice. Just keep buying tickets and supporting the Mean Green. If you want to be "grumpy" all the time, go for it.