Texas Southern (12/28/09)

[CMJ]

NT 53

Tx Southern 50

7:50 to go

[CMJ]

NT 61

Tx Southern 59

3:54 to go

[CMJ]

NT 67

TSU 65

1:21 to go - timeout on the floor

[CMJ]

Odufuwa fouls out with 48.9 seconds left - TSU to the line

[CMJ]

NT by 2

25 seconds left - TSU timeout

[UNT90]

This team is just not very good at this point.

[CMJ]

Holmen with a huge shot with 3 seconds left

Edited December 29, 2009 by CMJ

[CMJ]

NT 71

Tx Southern 69

Final

Congrats to Coach Jones

[Censored by Laurie]

This team is just not very good at this point.

Agreed. They have no identity...they have no floor general...and all the talk of improving the defense on this team is clearly not coming true if you let Texas Southern shoot over 50%

[foutsrouts]

Yep, we've got some problems, but we are now missing SEVEN out of our top TEN guys from last year's team when you exclude Mangrum. Without a doubt we need a go to guy and that looks to be TT at this point. Nice job by Holmen, but he's about the only guy that's showing some kick butt play at this point as far as the newcomers go, and he's a barely 18 year old Freshman. I guess it's hard to complain about his shot jacking tendencies after this game since he basically won it for us. Hope he continues to build confidence, because we are going to need some great performances from some unexpected places this year if we're going to play after Hot Springs. Certainly hope that Josh picks it up again because we must have steady play from him. We shall see on this upcoming road trip.

[Green P1]

Anyone wanna confirm the wheels off starting 5 I saw on my phone? Wtf

[utamav91]

Anyone wanna confirm the wheels off starting 5 I saw on my phone? Wtf

I'm not an expert, but if I recall UNT has had several impressive frontcourt players with major size (like we used to when we had Posey, Vereen, Griffin but that's not our strength this year, not sure what is but that's another story anyway)...but I'm surprised NT doesn't just dump it into the paint and let the big guys create within 6 feet every time down the court. I know against UTA, it seemed like there were a lot of 3s taken considering how good your forwards are (or maybe I'm overrating the talent level at the 4 and 5 position?).

[SUMG]

Did they mention what happened to Tramiel? It looked like a thumb....or a hand....or a wrist injury. He had it iced down.

Nice shot to win the game by Jacob. This game we saw Jacob hit some nice jumpers.....which we hadn't been seeing. I think he'll build on the confidence he gets from this game.

But we can't lose ET for very long.......we just don't have the depth inside.

[CMJ]

Apparently when Tramiel hurt his back a few games ago, he also hurt his hand. The guys said he aggravated that same hand when he fell again tonight. Based off of JJ's comments in the postgame, I'd say he's doubtful for UALR.

[foutsrouts]

Did they mention what happened to Tramiel? It looked like a thumb....or a hand....or a wrist injury. He had it iced down.

Nice shot to win the game by Jacob. This game we saw Jacob hit some nice jumpers.....which we hadn't been seeing. I think he'll build on the confidence he gets from this game.

But we can't lose ET for very long.......we just don't have the depth inside.

I'm GUESSING that it's one of those common Bball things where you fall and catch yourself with the palm of your hand which can result in strained ligaments in your wrist. I know that has happened to me more than once, and it can be fairly painful and lingering. We definitely need him back sooner rather than later, but I hope he gets rested for a couple of games if necessary. It might payoff down the road to get some more PT for guys like Holmen, Spencer, Shorter, and even Knox while it's fairly early in the season. Still don't really know for sure what we've got in Spencer.

[Censored by Laurie]

Anyone wanna confirm the wheels off starting 5 I saw on my phone? Wtf

If you're looking at ESPN its not that five - Josh, TT, Collin, Trammy and Big O started. I'm on board with that.

[NT03]

A few game thoughts :

1 ) We play to the level of competion & stuggle against long teams ( FIU)

2) Props to the 2 or 3 students who were down there in the student section

3) Nick Van Exel will make a good head coach someday

4) I think its time to bring Mag off the bench. I counted 5 TOs , but it could of easily been 8. Too many times he picks up his dribble way to early & when he does panics

5) Holmen has a sweet shot , but if he could learn to create his own shot he would be even more dangerous. He catches it , turns and either fires or passes it out

6) I really hope that ET comes back soon , if he's out for any length of time JJ HAS GOT to let Spencer get some PT & see what we got with him. Every Belt team will pound it inside to try to get George O in foul trouble and we needs someone that can spell him for long lengths of time

Edited December 29, 2009 by NT03

[Censored by Laurie]

A few game thoughts :

1 ) We play to the level of competion & stuggle against long teams ( FIU)

2) Props to the 2 or 3 students who were down there in the student section

3) Nick Van Exel will make a good head coach someday

4) I think its time to bring Mag off the bench. I counted 5 TOs , but it could of easily been 8. Too many times he picks up his dribble way to early & when he does panics

5) Holmen has a sweet shot , but if he could learn to create his own shot he would be even more dangerous. He catches it , turns and either fires or passes it out

6) I really hope that ET comes back soon , if he's out for any length of time JJ HAS GOT to let Spencer get some PT & see what we got with him. Every Belt team will pound it inside to try to get George O in foul trouble and we needs someone that can spell him for long lengths of time

Mag=Mangrum? Box score shows him with 3 TOs. He had 9 first half points, and finished with 9 points. If Collin is comfortable scoring early I'd love to see him become our J-Ho and then let Shorter, who had all 11 of his points in the second half, be our closer.

[Green P1]

If you're looking at ESPN its not that five - Josh, TT, Collin, Trammy and Big O started. I'm on board with that.

Alright then... Replace either TT or Colin with Thomas and I'm 100% on board.

[CMJ]

Alright then... Replace either TT or Colin with Thomas and I'm 100% on board.

Better not be Tristan - he's our best offensive player right now.

[TheTastyGreek]

Mangrum driving and creating off his own dribble is what finally got TX Southern to ease off that suffocating zone/double team defensive attack that was killing us in the first half.

Holmen showed his inexperience in that first half. Hitting the gamewinner makes up for everything, but he had stone hands and/or wasn't staying aware for passes to the inside. Several of our first half turnovers bounced off Holmen's hands or arms.

[TheTastyGreek]

Another note... Odufuwa's foul situation, Tramiel's injury, Cam Spencer's lack of offensive game in our system, and Knox's general knoxiness forced us to play a lot of second half minutes in our smallball lineup with Shorter at the 4.

It's an option that worked pretty nicely for WKU last year, and it's a lineup we may need to turn to if we can't impose our game on the Hilltoppers or USA. You can't say much encouraging about this game other than we managed to win on a poor night, but at least we got some extended game time for that floor combination.

[Censored by Laurie]

Better not be Tristan - he's our best offensive player right now.

This is the TT I was hoping for at the start of the season. He needs to lead the team in shots the rest of the way.

Mangrum driving and creating off his own dribble is what finally got TX Southern to ease off that suffocating zone/double team defensive attack that was killing us in the first half.

Holmen showed his inexperience in that first half. Hitting the gamewinner makes up for everything, but he had stone hands and/or wasn't staying aware for passes to the inside. Several of our first half turnovers bounced off Holmen's hands or arms.

The knock on Holman coming out of HS was his attention span. He may have a ton of tools, but so do 1000s of 18 year old kids. His basketball IQ and effort need to significantly improve

[foutsrouts]

I've got no problem at all with TT, Mangrum, and Holmen (w/o ET) getting big minutes, because where the hell are we going to get the points if Josh isn't breaking out for 30? We've got some defensive/rebounding woes on this team, so we need as many points as we can get. I just hope that Thomas, or possibly someone else, can prove that they can score consistently. If not, I think we've got no choice but to go with those guys.

[Censored by Laurie]

Another note... Odufuwa's foul situation, Tramiel's injury, Cam Spencer's lack of offensive game in our system, and Knox's general knoxiness forced us to play a lot of second half minutes in our smallball lineup with Shorter at the 4.

It's an option that worked pretty nicely for WKU last year, and it's a lineup we may need to turn to if we can't impose our game on the Hilltoppers or USA. You can't say much encouraging about this game other than we managed to win on a poor night, but at least we got some extended game time for that floor combination.

I was definently excited to see Shorter playing the 4...I think it will be essential against the teams you mentioned and Denver as well.