Western Kentucky (3/6/12)

[Andrew]

Please elaborate, what specific plays did we call and what plays should we have called? I like the play that WKU called when they almost throw it away and have a guy laying on the ground almost out of bounds and then have a guy hit a 3 , their coach is a genius. They hit shots down the stretch, we didn't. Plain and simple.

Im not sure how much more obvious I could have made it we just worked the ball around and sat on it. With 28 seconds left and down by two you take it to the hole or set up a quick play. Not hold the ball for 13 or more seconds. We should have never had a shot clock violation had we been playing aggressively. Honestly only Walton had the balls to take the shots. Everyone else (but maybe Mitchel) hesitated.

[UNTflyer]

For me personally, making it to the finals again was a treat.

I did not expect us to be there, we got a LOT of help getting there with UALR, Denver, and MTSU losing on the other side.

I think a lot of our mistakes tonight was inexperience and a short bench.

Next year is our breakthrough season.

[Got5onIt]

Wow, some comments here are flat out ridiculous, IMO.

I doubt, seriously, that three was the first shot attempt JJ wanted. You have TM, the best player on the court, you run the PaR, the defender comes off, TM is behind him. I'm 99% sure JJ wanted the ball there going into the lane. Sometimes, players just make bad decisions. It happens. WKU got to the final for a reason, did y'all expect them to roll over and lose by double digits?

[Maduro]

i shaved my balls for This???

[GreenEggs&Ham™]

For me personally, making it to the finals again was a treat.

I did not expect us to be there, we got a LOT of help getting there with UALR, Denver, and MTSU losing on the other side.

I think a lot of our mistakes tonight was inexperience and a short bench.

Next year is our breakthrough season.

Maybe you are correct, but I have watched a whole bunch of BB here in KY and to me, it was the same thing that I have seen at NT basketball since I was at NT back in the 80s...lack of intensity.

[meanrob]

Devastated.

However kudos to the fans and students who made the trip to Hot Springs. I applaud your commitment.

[greenminer]

You sit on it because you want to play for the tie/win and not let the other team have a chance to respond, right?

You only shoot quick if you're down by more than one possession. Because then you foul and try to stop the clock as much as possible. Get more possessions = more shots to close the score gap.

....right?

[hickoryhouse]

helluva game. Helluva second half. Heartbreaking, debilitating, frustrating. That's okay though, we will be back next year.

our team put it all out there our team did the best they could. bad shots, poor decisions, things happen. Don't stress about it don't worry about it is what it is. this is been a helluva season and a lot of fun the watch we get to do it again next year. Let's all hope tony mitchell comes back again so next year we can make some noise in the tournament.

[hickoryhouse]

but damn it it hurts to lose like this.....

[CMJ]

You will never see Coach K attempt to sit on a lead.

The Duke boards routinely say he sits on leads too much.

[cl_1_2008]

The Duke boards routinely say he sits on leads too much.

Are you implying that Skiver doesn't know what he's talking about? I think you may be onto something...

[CMJ]

And BTW - a fantastic game that had a gut wrenching ending. Even though we had our chances afterward, I figured it wasn't meant to be once that scrambled trey with about 1:15 to go went in. I still am having a hard time dealing with that play, because we'd played really good defense to even force the situation where they had to save the ball from going out of bounds twice, and then BECAUSE we were diving for the ball left a guy open to stick the knife in our chest.

Just seemed like destiny for WKU at that point.

[GrandGreen]

Shouldn't comment this late after driving back but I will anyway. I see a lot of criticism of the team and even Mitchell, and I guess that is to be expected after a tough loss. The Belt didn't have a dominate team this year despite Denver and MTSU's records. NT could have won or loss any game in the tournament by a play or two.

Give WKU credit they beat NT playing their fourth game in 4 days and they gave maximum effort. It took a probably all time game from Akol their 6'11 jr center who had averaged just under 6 point and 4 rbs a game. I see some blaming Mitchell for poor defense, Akol was not missing and at his height there was no one to stop him.

The referees did play a major role in the game by completing missing a series of calls doing WKU's come back. In a game this close it did make a difference and when a player is knocked completely off his feet at mid court; you would expect at least one of the three refs to notice.

You hate to lose to WKU and especially with their record this year, but this is not a good NT team and the effort was there. I don't know why JJ continues to use the same offense no matter what the make up of the team, but he has had great success in the tournament. Frankly, NT has Mitchell; undoubtedly the best player in the conference, and Alzee Williams, NT most consistent player and one of the most underrated players in the league. After those two, it is at best an average group filling out the starting five and no depth at all.

[foutsrouts]

I'm not going to throw darts at this point, but I will say that this team did seem to lack the killer "put their butts away" instinct after getting a nice lead all season. You could even stretch that into past years, but I'll leave that thought for others to critique.

[Green Otaku]

The refs definitely called a different second half than a first. They were letting them play and then it seemed to me that every little thing was called in the second, or is it just me? Not saying the refs took it from us, they just changed the style of play. I blame our players not keeping the foot on their necks more than them playing great.

[MeanGreenTexan]

Good luck to WKU in the play-in game.

I can't see them losing the play-in, regardless of who they're against.

They're 10-5 since the Mean Green win at the Super Pit in January, and a totally different team under Harper (6-0 since his interim tag was removed).

Now the impending matchup against KU (pick which one), may be ugly...

[akriesman]

They're 10-5 since the Mean Green win at the Super Pit in January, and a totally different team under Harper (6-0 since his interim tag was removed).

Yep, I wouldn't be surprised at all to see UNT and WKU in the finals again next year. WKU had an outstanding recruiting class. They are going to be a force for years to come.

Frankly, I think WKU would be a potentially dangerous #16 seed. They have the talent, it just took a while for those 7 freshmen to gel. Plus, there is not much pressure on them as they are no strangers to winning in the NCAA tourney.

If TM comes back as hoped, I expect to see UNT and WKU winning their divisions going into the SBC tourney next season.

Congrats to WKU. Good luck in the tourney.

[KRAM1]

In the immortal words of Ranger Mgr Ron Washington..."That's the way basketball go"! Tough tough loss to take, but how many breaks went WKY's way late in the game. The Mean Green had chance after chance after knocking a ball loose or grabbing a turnover just to have WKY find the loose ball and make a bucket. I doubt that JJ or anyone on UNT's bench wanted to see that three jacked up at the time it was...but, clock was down...what to do when you cannot seem to get the ball inside? Give WKY some credit here folks...the kid from where, Senegal, had his Career day in getting about 22 points. Who the heck saw that one coming? No one...not even the WKY bench I would think. It did seem to me that the Mean Green lacked a bit of "intensity" during the entire game...but, saying that, they did have a 13 point lead with just under 13 min. to play. Our ladies lost an 18 point lead...for those saying this was all JJ's fault and it was "bad coaching" what do you say about Coach Aston? Was that "bad coaching" as well? Heck, this crap happens in all sports...just too bad it happened to both our ladies and our men in the same tournament.

Bottom line here is that both teams seemed to "over achieve" a bit to get as far as they did in the tournament. Tough loss and no one should blame the refs or anyone else for the loss of either of our teams. Neither team could get the breaks or hit a shot when it mattered the most with the game on the line. The early misses by our men have just as much to do with the loss than the missed three at the end. Should not have come down to that shot....it did, and "that's the way basketball go".

Good luck to WKY going forward...make the SunBelt proud. Thanks to all the Mean green fans who made the trip to Hot Springs...My bride and I had a great time, and the fans made me very proud to be a member of the great Mean green nation.

The teams may have lost, but the Mean green fans attending...won the championship of fans in Hot Springs once again. If you couldn't go...or chose not to go...make plans now to attend next season's tournament...GREAT fun!

Thanks for the great times this season go to both our men and our ladies...the coaching staffs and the support staff. Very happy...and very proud to be wearing my GREEN this morning!

[ArmyOfMom]

I've often tried to figure out what a Hilltopper is and it suddenly reminded me of this public service campaign I saw someone making fun of a few years ago for Phil the Syphilis Sore. I think they're first cousins or maybe that's what happens to Big Red after he's hooked up with some of the hoochies found in Hot Springs during the tournament.

[forevereagle]

I've often tried to figure out what a Hilltopper is and it suddenly reminded me of this public service campaign I saw someone making fun of a few years ago for Phil the Syphilis Sore. I think they're first cousins or maybe that's what happens to Big Red after he's hooked up with some of the hoochies found in Hot Springs during the tournament.

I think that the monster from Looney Tunes and the 7up Cool Spot created him(?) as an offspring of their forbidden love.

[ArmyOfMom]

I've often tried to figure out what a Hilltopper is and it suddenly reminded me of this public service campaign I saw someone making fun of a few years ago for Phil the Syphilis Sore. I think they're first cousins or maybe that's what happens to Big Red after he's hooked up with some of the hoochies found in Hot Springs during the tournament.

Army of Dad just noticed that the Hilltopper has a big patch on his knee ... does that explain how he turns into Phil?

[golfingomez]

Shouldn't comment this late after driving back but I will anyway. I see a lot of criticism of the team and even Mitchell, and I guess that is to be expected after a tough loss. The Belt didn't have a dominate team this year despite Denver and MTSU's records. NT could have won or loss any game in the tournament by a play or two.

Give WKU credit they beat NT playing their fourth game in 4 days and they gave maximum effort. It took a probably all time game from Akol their 6'11 jr center who had averaged just under 6 point and 4 rbs a game. I see some blaming Mitchell for poor defense, Akol was not missing and at his height there was no one to stop him.

The referees did play a major role in the game by completing missing a series of calls doing WKU's come back. In a game this close it did make a difference and when a player is knocked completely off his feet at mid court; you would expect at least one of the three refs to notice.

You hate to lose to WKU and especially with their record this year, but this is not a good NT team and the effort was there. I don't know why JJ continues to use the same offense no matter what the make up of the team, but he has had great success in the tournament. Frankly, NT has Mitchell; undoubtedly the best player in the conference, and Alzee Williams, NT most consistent player and one of the most underrated players in the league. After those two, it is at best an average group filling out the starting five and no depth at all.

this... that center went 9 for 11 from the field that night... and it's not because he was open all the time, that dude was hitting ridiculous, well contended shots... when he hate that rainbow shot late in the second half it seemed like all he had to do was throw the ball in the air and it would go in...

I don't understand what some posters on here are talking about, saying we are celebrating too much with a 13 point lead? it's college basketball, when you have a good run and have the momentum, you get excited... what did you expect them to do? calmly walk off the court?

I think what hurt us most in this game, were the back to back fouls called on Franklin, that killed any momentum, let them get 5 consecutive points on us, and took Rodger out of the game (4 fouls)... that's when I knew we were in trouble