What The H$Ll Has Happened To This Team ?

[MeanGreen61]

Gone from a team to be proud of to a disgrace. What has happened ?

[TheTastyGreek]

Disgrace.

Disgrace.

Disgrace.

Disgrace.

Severe disappointment.

[Cooley]

Gone from a team to be proud of to a disgrace. What has happened ?

The fans don't help!

Based on the hits on the front page of GMG:

Football = 21,865 Topics

237,667 Replies

Basketball = 6,175 Topics

50,061 Replies

Over the past 5 years, what Sunbelt basketball program has been better than UNT?

Over the past 5 years, what Sunbelt football program has been worse than UNT?

Despite the recent success, most fans still prefer to talk about and support Football. I have always been a 50/50 supporter of football and basketball. Don't love one over the other. I have always preferred to discuss basketball because of the lack of traffic, support and/or interest.

Wasn't that long ago that you could count on 1 hand the number of regular posters on the basketball side. Why wait until the team start winning to jump on the bandwagon. When they lose, we're quickly off. Football has been so bad for so long that I couldn't defend the administration if they decided to drop the program. I once brought up the benefits of dropping down to Division 1AA; until we could raise money for a stadium and build up basketball. Additionally, we could attract top D1 transfers that we are not able to now. (As a bad D1). That post was deleted early. Texas State and others have parlayed this practice into D1 status. (Without lingering D1 bills)

Let's include a separate basketball recruiting forum for fans. (Or incorporate hoops into the football forum) Far too many fans don't attend games and rely 100% on the opinion of others. Why are so many so shocked at the recent performance of this team? Bring back the Peach Basket and all other similar vehicles that promote basketball. It's embarrassing when top kids come up for visits and the pit is almost empty. I can understand a number of guys being so frustrated with football that they have looked to basketball to help keep their sanity. For now, I just hope our football program can get up to a level where it does not continue to hurt our basketball recruiting efforts.

Not directing this to you MeanGreen61, I'm just saying!

Edited February 21, 2011 by Cooley

[cl_1_2008]

Our football performance is hurting our basketball recruiting efforts? That's news to me. I mean, last year we went 3-9 and we have a top 30(I think) class next year. I'm not sure the two are related in any way. But more specific to your post, this is Texas. People just care more about football. I'm not saying that's how it should be, but that's just the way it is. GMG!

[MeanGreenTexan]

My opinion, and I may be way wrong here...

Our team is TIRED. SPENT. GASSED. POOPED.

Going into the season, we knew Tramiel was gone and so was Mangrum, but that was OK, because we got Dom back as well as 3 other seniors who are some of the best players ever to suit up in Mean Green. The injured guy was Spencer, and he'll be back before conference starts, right? At least we still have some good depth with Shorter, and hey, Holmen is supposed to step up now!

They started off on fire this season. The intensity the team showed in OOC was awesome (minus the only true "slip-up" game of the season this year at SHSU). Some of us saw McGhee fail and Alzee injured and began to worry. This left us a little short on the bench. We go out and take it to Texas Tech in one of my favorite all-time moments in the Super Pit, then we put a whipping on LSU in Baton Rouge, the likes of which they had not felt in quite some time (even against their SEC competition).

This awesome start to the season had to be extremely taxing.

I'm not sure what was going on in the guys' minds when conference season started... maybe they were in cruise control? Maybe they were still locked-in, but something changed physically? All that time without McGhee and Alzee began taking its toll, and by the way, where's Spencer? He could certainly be used to spell big George a little... We start seeing closer games, and poorer defensive effort from the team. Starting at MT and Troy, we see the guys not playing well on the road. Then, we get to Denver and get thrashed. The guys are apparently tired, but we chalk it up to travel issues and the altitude (which were certainly contributing factors).

To me, where the guys really lost it was the pounding we took at home against FAU. Josh, Tristan, George and Dom usually step up in this type of game. We had a huge home win streak going. We trailed basically the whole game and our leader, Josh White scores 1 point! Then, we start hearing that Spencer will not return. What we see is what we get. Draw the line in the sand Col. Travis, you have no reinforcements coming.

It continues until this weekend where the guys come out flat defensively against the worst team in the Belt and give up over 80 to them! This same team in January beat ULM by almost 20, and would have beaten them by 30 in November.

It's so painful to watch the deterioration of this team during conference when we were at one point ranked in the top 10 in the mid-major poll. I really think the season has worn these guys out. It has nothing to do with coaching. It has nothing to do with effort (although Johhny disagreed at some point with Tristan's effort). I think the guys are just flat-out tired.

I'm a pessimist, because I like to be prepared for the worst and pleasantly surprised at the better, but I'm expecting this team to maybe win 1 or 2 more games this season and possibly win 1 in the conf. tourney.

Like I said, it's not a question of effort. I believe our guys WANT to win and are TRYING to win. I don't think there needs to be a "fire" lit under them, I don't think Johnny needs to run them ragged or anything either (as a matter of fact, that would be counter-productive).

I just think they're tired, and that's too bad.

Hats off to them. Josh, Tristan, George, Dom, and Shannon have been very fun to watch over their careers here.

Again, maybe I'm totally wrong... I've been wrong before.

[Mean Green Matt]

Our football performance is hurting our basketball recruiting efforts? That's news to me. I mean, last year we went 3-9 and we have a top 30(I think) class next year. I'm not sure the two are related in any way. But more specific to your post, this is Texas. People just care more about football. I'm not saying that's how it should be, but that's just the way it is. GMG!

Well, Devonta Abron, who would have been an absolutely enormous pickup specificallly mentioned football in his decision to commit to Arkansas. I'll try and find the quote and put it here with an edit.

Edit: It was posted on this board from another article. "Abron is an example of where one sport at the UA can help the other. The atmosphere at the football game was a definite influence on Abron"

Edited February 21, 2011 by Mean Green Matt

[oldschoollefty]

I'm not convinced that all the excitement over next years incoming recruits hasn't had at least some negative effect over the current roster. I'm not condoning or defending this mind you, this team has to take care of what's on its plate right now. But I could easily see an attitude developing of how much attention has been given to the potential class of pure studs coming in next season, that we, as a fan base are paying more attention to that and less to what's on the floor right now.

When the poor play/losing skid started, the negative reaction to this team and the increased hype to next years class seemed to increase nearly simultaniously. I'm just saying that one just may have helped feed the other. This being said, it's only my opinion and I have no hard evidence to support this theory.

What we can do, as a fan base is to show up en masse at the last home game (Denver) and show our seniors as well as the returning underclassmen, how much we appreciate their contribution to what has been a dominant run in the SBC the last 4 years. If there is anything left in their collective tanks, let's see if we can put a spark to it and help push what is still a very talented team to a strong season finish and hopefully a tournament run.

GMG!!!!

[UNT90]

This awesome start to the season had to be extremely taxing.

Wrong on this poiint. If anything, the start in OOC play should have built confidence to allow this team to blow through the conference schedule with 5 losses or less. This team quit playing defense. Period.

No one really knows what is going on, unless they are a player or a coach, but when one of your senior leaders is benched because of lack of defensive effort in practice, you can start to see where the problems are. I think that was a last ditch effort by JJ to get this team's attention. Didn't work.

Maybe they thought they could blow through conference without an all out effort, maybe they read their preseason press and got lazy. Maybe they just aren't that good (although they are better than a home loss to ULM, that had give up written all over it). Since we are neither coaches or players, we will never know.

Edited February 21, 2011 by UNT90

[untjim1995]

The fans don't help!

Based on the hits on the front page of GMG:

Football = 21,865 Topics

237,667 Replies

Basketball = 6,175 Topics

50,061 Replies

Over the past 5 years, what Sunbelt basketball program has been better than UNT?

Over the past 5 years, what Sunbelt football program has been worse than UNT?

The answer to both is Western Kentucky Unviersity.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Wrong on this poiint. If anything, the start in OOC play should have built confidence to allow this team to blow through the conference schedule with 5 losses or less. This team quit playing defense. Period.

No one really knows what is going on, unless they are a player and a coach, but when one of your senior leaders is benched because of lack of defensive effort in practice, you can start to see where the problems are. I think that was a last ditch effort by JJ to get this team's attention. Didn't work.

Maybe they thought they could blow through conference without an all out effort, maybe they read their preseason press and got lazy. Maybe they just aren't that good (although they are better than a home loss to ULM, that had give up written all over it). Since we are neither coaches or players, we will never know.

I'm not questioning their confidence. At all. As a matter of fact, I agree with you. When I say "taxing", I mean physically. Not mentally.

I'm not questioning their motivations or their drive. I'm not questioning their coaching.

I'm questioning their conditioning to play the minutes they have all year long and sustain the level of play we saw against Tech and LSU and the rest of the early OOC games that got us as a fan base going crazy.

I don't know if I've seen any give-up from these guys. They're not standing around on D. They're not walking back up the floor after an opponent bucket. They're not hanging their heads during TOs.

[UNT90]

I'm not questioning their confidence. At all. As a matter of fact, I agree with you. When I say "taxing", I mean physically. Not mentally.

I'm not questioning their motivations or their drive. I'm not questioning their coaching.

I'm questioning their conditioning to play the minutes they have all year long and sustain the level of play we saw against Tech and LSU and the rest of the early OOC games that got us as a fan base going crazy.

I don't know if I've seen any give-up from these guys. They're not standing around on D. They're not walking back up the floor after an opponent bucket. They're not hanging their heads during TOs.

Unless you are talking about guys playing with injuries that we don't know about, again you are off the mark. These guys are mostly 21 or 22 year olds that should be in the best shape of their lives. Playing two 40 minute games a week should not have a carryover into the late season. Also, this doesn't account for this team giving up an average of over 40 points in the first half the 4 or 5 games previous to ULM. Shouldn't be tired in the 1st half, unless you are just plain out of shape (which I don't think this team is).

Playing that amount of minutes may have an effect on a game to game basis, but not over the course of a season. And again, many of these games are being lost because of a lack of defensive effort in the 1st half.

[SUMG]

As to the team being tired.....because of the postponed UALR game....as of last Saturday---their last four games were: Feb. 3, Feb. 12, Feb. 17, and then finally Feb. 19. So they shouldn't be spent.....with that much time off from Feb. 3-19.

Anyway, if they can't handle that stretch.....I don't see how they're going to win 4 games in 4 days in Hot Springs.

[NT03]

As to the team being tired.....because of the postponed UALR game....as of last Saturday---their last four games were: Feb. 3, Feb. 12, Feb. 17, and then finally Feb. 19. So they shouldn't be spent.....with that much time off from Feb. 3-19.

Anyway, if they can't handle that stretch.....I don't see how they're going to win 4 games in 4 days in Hot Springs.

toady would have been a great day for a make up game.. The MAC,Southern & C-USA all had them , but we here in the SunBelt like to do things a little bit different

Edited February 21, 2011 by NT03

[UNTLifer]

I heard our make up game with UALR was going to be played at WKU.

[Mean Green Matt]

toady would have been a great day for a make up game.. The MAC,Southern & C-USA all had them , but we here in the SunBelt like to do things a little bit different

It is hard to expect competent decisions out of the Sun Belt when Wright Waters (competent or not) seemingly does absolutely nothing except for attending 10th Anniversary SBC football games and improperly seeding basketball tournaments.

[greenminer]

I heard our make up game with UALR was going to be played at WKU.

I told that kraut a **** thousand times....

[foutsrouts]

We've had long layoffs, and we consistently are losing both halves of games. I don't see "tiredness" as an excuse for what we have been seeing out there. If we were kicking butt early, and then running out of gas at the end, then maybe a lot of it could be blamed on depth and "tiredness," but I'm not really seeing that. It's beyond me what has happened here.

[wardly]

Gone from a team to be proud of to a disgrace. What has happened ?

isn't disgrace a little harsh? its not like we are cheating,throwing games or shaving points. we are just not playing well. this happens in all sports to all teams.