Texas Arlington (11/30/10)

[Andrew]

Put it here:

Not here:

http://www.gomeangreen.com/forums/index.php?showforum=2

One day... just logically this is about what the mavs do (granted Haywood has stunk it up so far) They dont start terry marion or haywood... instead they push Stevenson and Butler and stevenson for just limited time, but to allow fresh legs like the Jets to come off the bench. And we know Holmon can play D and has size to rebound. An answer to our needed 3 spot

[TheTastyGreek]

The last time we lost to an unranked team was in January. I'm gonna hold off from pressing the panic button.

I still remember the thread that was started about "what happens if February doesn't live up to expectations?" when we were about to start what turned out to be an 11 game winning streak.

[TheTastyGreek]

One day... just logically this is about what the mavs do (granted Haywood has stunk it up so far) They dont start terry marion or haywood... instead they push Stevenson and Butler and stevenson for just limited time, but to allow fresh legs like the Jets to come off the bench. And we know Holmon can play D and has size to rebound. An answer to our needed 3 spot

We need to git sum dribblin'.

[Andrew]

We need to git sum dribblin'.

Josh and Tristan?

[KoldBeer]

Looking at box score, we were minus 10 in turnover category. We were high at 15 and UTA only had 5. We were careless with the ball or was UTA forcing the TO's. That number needs to even out a little. Glad to get the win, but I keep feeling this team can play better (which is fine since we've only played 6 games or whatever).

[Quoner]

Why cant you handle the truth? I was at the game with a friend who played and coached in college and was going to play D-ball before a injury and he would 100% agree with me. Did you not notice how sluggish we were compared to them? Have you not checked the box score? Take a look at it and remove those -3's from my post. I still think we will do fine against our conference but this is a huge concern of anyone. Increases the chance of injury, cramps, and simple body stress. All 5 starters looked tired with 7 minutes to go in the game. Tristan was bending over every chance he could get. Hogans was not hustling up the floor and white was not pushing the ball to the half court line. They ran right past our "press" defense. Lucky they wanted to settle to jack so many three's. They are a terrible team! (UTA that is)

Josh went out with 7 minutes to go and sat a few minutes until we tied it at the line...so there's that.

Also, what kind of freak injury kept your friend from coaching? Clipboard hand sprain? Trilli hair?

Speaking of +/- (but the kind that matters), Knox was +3 in his minutes before halftime. If he had hit the shot at the halftime buzzer, the Super Pit would have been dismantled in an orgy of pure ecstasy that would have been so euphoric, ArmyofDad would have tongue kissed the refs.

[MeanMag]

I didn't see the problem as not having enough rebounds or D. I saw a cold stretch on offense where an extended defense forced some long shot clocks and some turnovers.

It wasn't until Tristan put the ball on the floor and moved Josh without the ball that we were able to create.

It sounds more like you want to see more Holmen, because of a personal connection. Holmen is a nice player with all of the physical tools and I wish he commanded more respect on the offensive side, but until he breaks the habit of finding comfort in a 15-20' shot, he will not be able to collapse a defense onto him.

Edited December 1, 2010 by MeanMag

[aztecskin]

I appreciate your enthusiasm for the team and desire to see them play at their best. You'll have to excuse us if we don't indulge you in your lineup-discussion.

Having played the little high school basketball I did and picking the brain of my coach, I realized long ago that there is a crapload of stuff that goes into the game strategy-wise. Guys start or don't start for more reasons than "He can ball." Size, understanding, ball handling, shooting ability all factor in to these decisions and they are made with much more data than the games. Like all those practices you don't see. It gets only more sophisticated as you go up in level.

Unless you have two NCAA trips under your belt or some serious credibility beyond 'My buddy coulda-almost played college ball' I can't really take your lineups seriously.

I do agree that we looked a little sluggish on defense. Hogans looked lost on a couple defensive sets. A lot of those threes they shot were ridiculously wide-open, and we didn't have our hands up on defense. With that said, we are 5-1 because we have a veteran ball club with two guys that can score at will at times.

[greenminer]

If you have been here 3+ years, you should know better than to read too much into a tilt with UTA.

Didn't JJs first NCAA team lose to them?

[TheTastyGreek]

If you have been here 3+ years, you should know better than to read too much into a tilt with UTA.

Didn't JJs first NCAA team lose to them?

YUP.

The Monitor game.

[gruu]

YUP.

The Monitor game.

Why did you have to bring up Monitorgate? Some of us would rather forget about it.

[Army of Dad]

Josh went out with 7 minutes to go and sat a few minutes until we tied it at the line...so there's that.

Also, what kind of freak injury kept your friend from coaching? Clipboard hand sprain? Trilli hair?

Speaking of +/- (but the kind that matters), Knox was +3 in his minutes before halftime. If he had hit the shot at the halftime buzzer, the Super Pit would have been dismantled in an orgy of pure ecstasy that would have been so euphoric, ArmyofDad would have tongue kissed the refs.

Ugh no way, I prefer to tongue lash the refs when they deserve it. For some reason they frequently do deserve it when we play UTA. Now kissing my wife on the other hand...well even then our kids might want to die of embarrassment.

[UNT90]

If JJ gets a new job after the season, send in your resume and tell them how you'll coach your ass off.

That won't happen unless he wins in the tournament. Losing to Kansas by 33 does not get you a better gig.

Watching a post up offense where the 2 posts rarely rotate positions in the paint (no movement) is mind numbing.

Leaving all 3 timeouts on the board while you play 6 players and blow a 20 point lead doesn't insprie confidence by future employers.

I love this team, and think they probably go 11-5 in conference and win the west division, but to ignore problems with coaching and depth and to bash a guy that makes really good points is so.... fanish? (By bash, I am talking about everyone who gave the guy negatives, not you in particular).

Edited December 1, 2010 by UNT90

[CMJ]

That won't happen unless he wins in the tournament. Losing to Kansas by 33 does not get you a better gig.

Not necessarily. Pelphrey couldn't even get an NIT win and got a sweet gig a few years back.

[UNT90]

Not necessarily. Pelphrey couldn't even get an NIT win and got a sweet gig a few years back.

You either got to beat ranked teams in the regular season or win the the tourney to get the sweet gig.

[untbowler]

Not necessarily. Pelphrey couldn't even get an NIT win and got a sweet gig a few years back.

Look at how that is working for Pelphrey, he can not coach himself out of a wet paper bag right now in Hogville, as well as keeping his players in their pants and off the honeys.If he does not win this year he is gone.

[jimmyjames_99]

Watching a post up offense where the 2 posts rarely rotate positions in the paint (no movement) is mind numbing.

Agree. Josh often seems to be left to create the opportunity all on his own.

Is this a reason zone D's give us the fits?

Love this team! Love being 5-1! Keep it up MEAN GREEN!

[CMJ]

Look at how that is working for Pelphrey, he can not coach himself out of a wet paper bag right now in Hogville, as well as keeping his players in their pants and off the honeys.If he does not win this year he is gone.

I'm sure he'll be okay with that given the nice pay check he's getting.

[KRAM1]

Cardiac Kids! I may not live through this season if these late min. wins keep happening. I thought UNT was really on a roll early and was going to cruise to this win. Man, great to beat the "locals" to earn some "braggin' rights" in the neighborhood. Now if only SMU and TCU would play the Mean Green!

GREAT things are happening for the Mean Green!

[CMJ]

You either got to beat ranked teams in the regular season or win the the tourney to get the sweet gig.

Travis Ford? Though I would argue getting to the NIT Final Four is a great accomplishment, he never won an NCAA tourney game before going to Oklahoma State,

[FirefightnRick]

Skiver, welcom to the board . I hate that you had to learn the hard way that criticizing anything JJ does is a no no on this board. He can do absolutely no wrong here. Lesson learned.

And I love that we are 5-1 as well and hope we continue to improve.

Rick

[McKinneyMiner]

Ugh no way, I prefer to tongue lash the refs when they deserve it. For some reason they frequently do deserve it when we play UTA. Now kissing my wife on the other hand...well even then our kids might want to die of embarrassment.

You're only allowed to kiss your spouse (and embarrass your kids) if, as a family, you are willing to pay full boat for the Fouts Field Finale...

I read that somewhere...

Probably on a web page...

[TheTastyGreek]

Skiver, welcom to the board . I hate that you had to learn the hard way that criticizing anything JJ does is a no no on this board. He can do absolutely no wrong here. Lesson learned.

And I love that we are 5-1 as well and hope we continue to improve.

Rick

Criticizing JJ right now is pretty stupid, in my opinion.

Even I get frustrated by some of the things he does, but the fact remains that we've won 16 straight games against unranked teams (thanks, CMJ!), a streak that dates back to January of last year. The last time we lost to an unranked in-state team, home OR away, was 2008.

People bitch because we can't handle a press, then all of a sudden we're breaking the press consistently. People bitch when we don't press, then we go out and win two games because of a suffocating press. People bitch when we start slow, but we win anyway. People bitch when we don't maintain huge leads, but we win anyway. People bitch that we don't do X, then we do X and they start bitching about Y. People bitch because we don't have a 6'4" pass-first point guard with NBA ready assist skills dishing to a 7' interior monster that scores 15 per game and shatters backboards on a nightly basis. It's always some damn thing.

In this case, someone was complaining that we aren't starting their hypothetical lineup that not only completely doesn't fit the offense many of these players have run for the past 3-4 years continuously, but also ignores who our strongest players are and how they play best together.

Right now, we're in basically a 7 man rotation: The 4 guards, the 2 starting posts, and a split between Holmen and Edwards for the 7th spot.

It's not ideal, but it's not unprecedented as a successful approach at the college level. Especially with the lineup we're putting on the floor now. The guys have all proven they can handle the workload we'll need from them all season, and they've proven it here, in this system.

Tristan: Averaged 30.3 mpg in 09-10

Josh: 35.8 mpg in 09-10

Dominique: Injured early in 09-10, but averaged 30.3 mpg in 08-09

Add it up, and our three starters have all proven over the course of their most recent full season that they can combine to play 96.4 minutes per game. That leaves 23.6 minutes per game available for guard subs.

And guess what? Shannon handled 23.2 mpg in 09-10, even though he started the year as a 2nd option to Richard Thomas. If anything, he can do MORE court time than what he showed last year.

Looks to me like, barring injury... Our guards have already shown they can handle the minutes we'll need from them over the grind of a full season. If one of them gets hurt, then we'll see how we react to it then. But for now, you don't revamp your entire offense IN CASE someone gets hurt. Not when things are rolling along nicely. Not when everyone has proven they can handle the workload.

Odufuwa: Averaged 31.5 minutes per game in 2009-10, and he's pulling 32 per game right now. Right on track with what he did last season. Kedrick is pulling 29, and he's looking GREAT so far.

That leaves about 20 minutes to be distributed among Knox, Holmen, Edwards, and Spencer (assuming he comes back soon). And I think they'll be able to handle it just fine.

Whatever JJ does that may frustrate any of us, it keeps working. This year, we've had four in-state teams come at us, each with something to prove by beating us. Each of them took their best shot, each coach wanting to take us down to show their bosses and their fans that their own program had taken a step forward. Each team played absolutely brilliantly for long stretches or nearly all of their game against us. And every time, we took their best shot and wound up standing at the end.

Right now, things are good, good, good. We're injured, and it's still going good. We're shorthanded, and it's still going good. One of the nice things about it is that this year, more people seem able to enjoy it without being paranoid that doom and gloom are on the horizon. We've already taken one or two seasons' worth of shots, and we're still 5-1 with what looks like an easier than usual road ahead of us.

Criticize away, but keep a sense of perspective and acknowledge that where it ultimately matters, we're doing brilliantly.

[FirefightnRick]

I would be willing to bet even K State fans can find something to find fault with. For me, as has been the case I don't understand why we save our timeouts? Sure it works with lesser teams, but I have my eye on a first round tourney win so I and many others will question our Basketball Jones regardless of what we do against the likes of teams like UTA.

Rick

Edited December 1, 2010 by FirefightnRick

[CMJ]

I would be willing to bet even K State fans can find something to find fault with. For me, as has been the case I don't understand why we save our timeouts? Sure it works with lesser teams, but I have my eye on a first round tourney win.

Rick

I guess JJ is following the Dean Smith model - which Roy Williams might do to an even larger degree than his mentor. The Dean was FAMOUS for saving TO's till the end of game situation. I'll be honest - the timeout thing frustrates me about JJ too - I was on the chat last night screaming tor a timeout. On the other hand, it's something I see many other coaches do as well. As I said Roy Williams is the best current example I can come up with. I stated this elsewhere I think, but Williams never calls a timeout unless there's under 5 minutes to go in a game. Remember the Final Four game against Kansas 3 years ago? The Jayhawks were rolling to a like 30 point lead on UNC in the first half and Williams just sat there stone faced and wouldn't call a TO. Carolina eventually got close in the 2nd but couldn't get over the hump -- probably because it took so much energy to get close in the 1st place.

I guess I'm saying is JJ isn't the only guy I've seen do this.

Edited December 1, 2010 by CMJ