Texas A & M (12/7/09)

AJR2010OX · December 8, 2009

I thought this was by far the best played game of the year from the short-handed Green. Tremial and Odufuwu played with the big guys from A&M despite a very loosely called game on the inside. I think we really missed Hogans tonight. Holman has got to mature quickly because the front court subs are a current weakness of this team. Better 3 point shooting could have changed this game as could a healthy Mangrum or Johnson. White continues to play well. He gets some criticism on this board, but I don't think many are recognizing he is the focus of the opponents' defense. I fell better about this team than I have all year, hopefully they are beginning to come together. As an aside, Jim Haller is a great analyst on these games. He is fair and does his homework on both teams.

I was going to say that. Lots of positive comments about UNT from the announcers.

NT03 · December 8, 2009

We've got a lot of hot opinions in this car, but we were only four or five plays away from winning that game and being a six win team.

It's because we are a young team

Quoner · December 8, 2009

It's because we are a young team

More jucos?

MeanMag · December 8, 2009

I thought this was by far the best played game of the year from the short-handed Green. Tremial and Odufuwu played with the big guys from A&M despite a very loosely called game on the inside. I think we really missed Hogans tonight. Holman has got to mature quickly because the front court subs are a current weakness of this team. Better 3 point shooting could have changed this game as could a healthy Mangrum or Johnson. White continues to play well. He gets some criticism on this board, but I don't think many are recognizing he is the focus of the opponents' defense. I fell better about this team than I have all year, hopefully they are beginning to come together. As an aside, Jim Haller is a great analyst on these games. He is fair and does his homework on both teams.

Agreed with everything you said. I really like the potential of Holmen. For those who didn't get to watch this game on FSN, I really enjoyed this presentation.

NT03 · December 8, 2009

More jucos?

A few wouldn't hurt , but we need a true point guard that has the system engraved in his dna

GoMeanGreen1999 · December 8, 2009

I thought it was a pretty good game, sure I would have liked to win but at least we were in it till the end. It is so weird to watch us on national TV and not getting blown out.

Green Mean · December 8, 2009

More jucos?

I say new and more experienced assistants. I mean what good will Juco's be if they can't be taught right?

gruu · December 8, 2009

Good effort from the guys. That ridiculous TAMU scoring run at the end of the first half was a killer, but they kept fighting and outscored A&M in the 2nd.

Does JJ get a bonus for each TO he doesn't use?

CMJ · December 8, 2009

South Alabama. Yipee.

Hey dude, all I gotta say is Oklahoma State went to the NIT and lost 1st round that season. South Alabama went to the NCAA, as an AT LARGE SELECTION. Which means the selection committee thought they were one of the best 30 or so teams in the country that didn't win their conference tournament.

And we beat them.

Much, much better win than Oklahoma State that season. If you're just worrying about name recognition, maybe not. But as an actual WIN, USA was about twice the win the OSU one was.

Just got home....sounds like we played well in the 2nd half. Proud of our guys.

Edited December 8, 2009 by CMJ

TheTastyGreek · December 8, 2009

Quoner, FilmerJ, and I just got back from College Station.

I love this team so hard... Anyone want a bold prediction with nothing to back it up? Here you go: 3 more regular season losses for this team this year. 23-6 final regular season record.

Barring a catastrophic injury to an irreplaceable component (Josh/George/Eric), I really think this team, with this schedule, in the SBC as it appears to be this season can go 15-3 or better in conference.

Anyone who wants to hate on this team for not being something else is welcome to be a miserable jackass, but I love it for what it is and what it can be this year. The pre-conference schedule shook out as I expected if not as well as I'd hoped, and the conference looks weaker than I thought it would be. I hope the surly achievers in our fan base can resign themselves to another 20+ win season and a better-than-not shot at an NCAA or NIT bid, because that's what this season looks like to me.

CMJ · December 8, 2009

Bold Tasty. I can see it(except for WKU on the road I'm not penciling any games in as a definite L), but I'm not gonna predict that kind of roll thru the SBC. Still calling for a 12-6 mark.

TheTastyGreek · December 8, 2009

Bold Tasty. I can see it(except for WKU on the road I'm not penciling any games in as a definite L), but I'm not gonna predict that kind of roll thru the SBC. Still calling for a 12-6 mark.

I think we could drop 2 out of 3 between Western and Troy on the road and Denver at home. But we could conceivably win all of those games, too. Figure 2 out of 3 are losses, with one letdown game against someone we ought to beat. That's where my optimistic projection is coming from.

Three non-conference games left: Houston Baptist on the road, and Southeastern Louisiana and Texas Southern at home. Southeastern Louisiana is the only one that appears capable of even putting up a fight. Despite the threat of their adequacy, we should be able to win all of those.

It's a long season and a lot can happen with other teams improving from their non-conference performance. I'm not saying we're above the rest of the league, but I will say that the rest of the conference doesn't seem to be performing as well as I'd expected so far, while we're exactly where I realistically expected us to be.

I'm not making any Football Parent Guarantees, but I do think a scenario with just 3 more regular season losses is a distinct possibility.

CMJ · December 8, 2009

I just figure we'll lose our share of road games. We always do in league play. A 12-6 mark still probably wins us the Western crown(so at worst the 2 seed), and would be the high water mark for JJ. Also would more than likely put us at 20 wins BEFORE the conference tournament started - which we've not done in this 3 year stretch.

If we do better than that, then great. I'm gonna go a bit conservatve(which as I stated would STILL be arguably our best season in this four year run) and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

Edited December 8, 2009 by CMJ

TheTastyGreek · December 8, 2009

I just figure we'l lose our share of road games. We always do in league play. A 12-6 mark still probably wins us the Western crown(so at worst the 2 seed), and would be the high water mark for JJ. Also would more than likely put us at 20 wins BEFORE the conference tournament started - which we've not done in this 3 year stretch.
If we do better than that, then great. I'm gonna go a bit conservatve(which as I stated would STILL be arguably our best season in this four year run) and hope to be pleasantly surprised.

And the correct answer probably lies somewhere in between.

Or closer to your guess.

All I know is that it's going to be a very important 21 game series. VERY important. :ph34r:

UNT90 · December 8, 2009

Turnovers. Killing this team and will lead to several unexpected losses unless they get them under control. I think 12-6 in conference soumds about right.

untbowler · December 8, 2009

has JJ gotten the guys under control to close out a game, I seem to remember the team several times last year losing leads with under 10 minutes left in the game, we already saw it in the Boise State game. I do not follow the team close enough, so I make just be making an aSSumption.

foutsrouts · December 9, 2009

I think we'll get better. If I have any complaint about JJ's teams, it is that they tend to be slow starters. It seems to take awhile for us to get the rotation together and decide who gets the minutes. Having Holmen basically come in and replace Hogans, and deciding when to insert the new bigger guards is just going to take a little longer than I had hoped I guess. Hopefully Mangrum and Dom can get and stay healthy. This team needs some three point bombers to play with the big boys.

Mad Hatter · December 9, 2009

After the A&M game, where we didn't get blown out. Could our ranking go up even though we lost? I'm not sure how the RPI system works.

Quoner · December 9, 2009

has JJ gotten the guys under control to close out a game, I seem to remember the team several times last year losing leads with under 10 minutes left in the game, we already saw it in the Boise State game. I do not follow the team close enough, so I make just be making an aSSumption.

It's always a question on everyone's mind, but the UTA and Rice wins make me feel better about it.

CMJ · December 9, 2009

After the A&M game, where we didn't get blown out. Could our ranking go up even though we lost? I'm not sure how the RPI system works.

Yes. Our RPI did go up after the A&M game.

Green Dozer · December 9, 2009

has JJ gotten the guys under control to close out a game, I seem to remember the team several times last year losing leads with under 10 minutes left in the game, we already saw it in the Boise State game. I do not follow the team close enough, so I make just be making an aSSumption.

Bowler, I would not even count the Boise game even if they had won. Stuffing themselves at JJ's house on Thanksiving (kudos for having the entire team to his house), flying to the middle of no where and playing in front of maybe 50 people (don't know, but I bet crowd was very small), hard for them to get excited as I am sure they all would have rather been at least closer to home if they had to play over that stretch.