UNT's Starting BBall Lineup...

Censored by Laurie · May 9, 2012

good point. I think we will be fine in the end. Benford has A LOT of confidence, it seems, in Coleman. Coleman is a bigger guy and i wonder how he does in the open space.. This is all speculation, of course, but i bet Benford's offense doesn't run that much. Not even close to what we've done in the past five years. I could see us slowing the game down and making it ugly. Taking advantages of mis-matches created by CJ and TM....and just playing good hard-nosed Defense....

I don't know what to make of it, but Marquette was 31st in the country in scoring last season...and given their conference that's no small feat. From what I remember of them in the tournament, they ran quite a bit except when the brought Gardener, a talented but very out of shape post, in to the game and they'd slow down and find effective ways to feed him on the block. I think with guards like Jones, Norris and Hardwick and the athletes we have around them we'll still be running quite a bit this season.

Censored by Laurie · May 9, 2012

You know, looking a bit deeper our roster construction and potential line-ups look very similar to what Marquette was rolling out there most nights. This was Marquette's usual, if not every game, line-up...and keep in mind this was in the Big East:

PG. Junior Cadougan 6'2" 205

SG. Darius Johnson-Odom 6'2" 215

SF. Vander Blue 6'4" 200

PF. Jamil Wilson 6'7" 220

C. Jae Crowder 6'6" 235

Davante Gardner at 6'8" 290 and Todd Mayo at 6'3" 190 were their two main bench players, so really they only used one "post" (though Crowder was a beast) and even he could only play for 5 minute stretches.

Say Coleman isn't a starter and Mitchell has to play 5 again and we roll out something like this:

PG. Chris Jones 6'2" 195

SG. Alzee Williams 6'4" 185

SF. Justin Patton 6'7" 195

PF. Roger Franklin 6'5" 220

C. Tony Mitchell 6'9" 235

Benford has won with smaller teams in the Big East so he knows how to get the most from line-ups without a true post. Mind you, Johnson-Odom and Crowder were two of the toughest, high-motor players in the country and I'm not saying we have comparable...but at the same time we're not facing Andre Drummond, Fab Melo and Henry Sims twice a year.

meangreenfan65 · May 9, 2012

You know, looking a bit deeper our roster construction and potential line-ups look very similar to what Marquette was rolling out there most nights. This was Marquette's usual, if not every game, line-up...and keep in mind this was in the Big East:

PG. Junior Cadougan 6'2" 205
SG. Darius Johnson-Odom 6'2" 215
SF. Vander Blue 6'4" 200
PF. Jamil Wilson 6'7" 220
C. Jae Crowder 6'6" 235

Davante Gardner at 6'8" 290 and Todd Mayo at 6'3" 190 were their two main bench players, so really they only used one "post" (though Crowder was a beast) and even he could only play for 5 minute stretches.

Say Coleman isn't a starter and Mitchell has to play 5 again and we roll out something like this:

PG. Chris Jones 6'2" 195
SG. Alzee Williams 6'4" 185
SF. Justin Patton 6'7" 195
PF. Roger Franklin 6'5" 220
C. Tony Mitchell 6'9" 235

Benford has won with smaller teams in the Big East so he knows how to get the most from line-ups without a true post. Mind you, Johnson-Odom and Crowder were two of the toughest, high-motor players in the country and I'm not saying we have comparable...but at the same time we're not facing Andre Drummond, Fab Melo and Henry Sims twice a year.

I watched Marquette a couple of times on tv, the game i watched, they scored alot of points, off pressure defense, in other words their guards and wings, forced alot of turnovers on defense, which led to quick fastbreak transition points. The offense was a motion, spread type offense, this is not a slow, ugly, offense. imo. We have the athletes to play this style of ball, when needed.

meangreenfan65 · May 9, 2012

I watched Marquette a couple of times on tv, the game i watched, they scored alot of points, off pressure defense, in other words their guards and wings, forced alot of turnovers on defense, which led to quick fastbreak transition points. The offense was a motion, spread type offense, this is not a slow, ugly, offense. imo. We have the athletes to play this style of ball, when needed.

Agree, with your assessment, it's all about the personnel.

MeanGreenTexan · May 9, 2012

I watched Marquette a couple of times on tv, the game i watched, they scored alot of points, off pressure defense, in other words their guards and wings, forced alot of turnovers on defense, which led to quick fastbreak transition points. The offense was a motion, spread type offense, this is not a slow, ugly, offense. imo. We have the athletes to play this style of ball, when needed.

That is certainly good news.

I think when he sees how well JWill plays transition offense (one of, if not the best transition players I've seen with my own eyes), he'll be sure to incorporate that style into his gameplan. He has to.

When it comes to transition, JWill just knows exactly where to be, and he gets there quickly. Many times, the result is a crowd-rousing flush!

MeanGreenTexan · May 9, 2012

Also, another note from coach Benford from the coaches' caravan:

Jordan Williams grew 2 inches over the year. He's now at 6'7".

MeanGreenMusic · May 9, 2012

Also, another note from coach Benford from the coaches' caravan:

Jordan Williams grew 2 inches over the year. He's now at 6'7".

Are you sure that's what he meant? I heard Benford say that too but I thought it was in the same sentence/thought as him talking about recruiting JW while he was at Marquette, perhaps meaning that JW has grown 2 inches since high school as opposed to over the past few months? I wasn't sure, though.

GrandGreen · May 9, 2012

Alright...now that we (hopefully) know what the roster is going to look like, I'll have a go.

PG. Chris Jones - I think he's on the ball for 30 minutes a night, leaving about 10 minutes for either Hardwick or Norris...there could be a few occasions for Jones to slide to the 2, but with the wing depth on this team it seems unlikely you'd see it often.

SG. Alzee Williams - Before the Hardwick signing I thought Alzee was the ideal 6th man candidate due to his capability on the ball, but with 2 true points on the bench I think Alzee's lone role should be as a slashing/mid-range/defensive 2. I don't see how you could play Zee any less than 25 minutes a night, so at most you've 15 reserve minutes at the 2.

SF. Justin Patton - Patton was a good scorer, but more importantly to me, a good rebounder from the wing. I think his experience and toughness will help him force his way into the starting line-up, while his versatility will get him extended minutes at the 2, 3 and 4.

PF. Tony Mitchell - like, duh.

C. Keith Coleman - He's an unknown, sure, but he had high major interest and considering how quickly he was on Benford's radar it leads me to believe Coleman was at worst a fall-back option for Marquette...throw in his confessed willingness to rebound and bang, unconcerned with his scoring numbers, I'll make the leap of faith that he's got what it takes to start and take interior pressure of Mitchell.

Bench - Norris/Hardwick (whoever is playing better) at the 1...Walton should probably get first crack at bench minutes at the 2 as he still may be the only player who will stretch a defense, but unless his shot-selection and percentages go up I think with the depth at wing his minutes will be sporadic. J-Will, Holmen and Franklin will see plenty of time and at a variety of positions. Niko to me is the biggest wild-card...if he becomes just a bit more serviceable on the defensive end I think he could be a valuable 15-20 minute a night player...if not, I fear his offense alone isn't so significantly better than what the rest of the bench could bring to make up for his defensive lapses.

I think you got the starting five right even if Coleman only plays 10-20 minutes. Benford has a lot of good players as well as some a lot better than that, he will have a lot of options and can play according to the team on the other side. I would really like him to play up tempo and I think he is the quantity and quality to wear out teams. Other than maybe Coleman, he has players that can get up and down the court.

agw0038 · May 9, 2012

Do you guys think its possible Benford is not done adjusting the roster?

I know we dont have any scholoarships left but according to ESPN we are looking at a handful of transfers and decommits for the 2012 season....

its an ESPN insider story so i cant see what the fuss is truly all about. it may just be ESPN being extra late on reporting about PJ and Keith.... but here's the link if anybody's interested

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/features/rumors?date=20120507&action=upsell&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncb%2ffeatures%2frumors%3fdate%3d20120507

MeanGreenTexan · May 9, 2012

Are you sure that's what he meant? I heard Benford say that too but I thought it was in the same sentence/thought as him talking about recruiting JW while he was at Marquette, perhaps meaning that JW has grown 2 inches since high school as opposed to over the past few months? I wasn't sure, though.

Yeah. I was trying to be ambiguous saying he grew that much "over the year". Last season's roster lists him at 6'6". So either way, he's grown... and he may not be done?

NorthTexasSigEp923 · May 10, 2012

regardless of the starting 5, our depth is what will take us far. No sunbelt team will be able to hang with our backups. GMG

Gibbz · May 10, 2012

Are you sure that's what he meant? I heard Benford say that too but I thought it was in the same sentence/thought as him talking about recruiting JW while he was at Marquette, perhaps meaning that JW has grown 2 inches since high school as opposed to over the past few months? I wasn't sure, though.

Jordan is at least 6'6".