Keys to Tonight

emmitt01 · November 9, 2012

Here are the things I think we have to do tonight to have a chance to be victorious.

1)REBOUND. I know this one seems like a "duh?" kind of thing but I don't think it can be emphasized enough. I was not at all happy with the rebounding numbers against East Central Northern Midwest in that exhibition. Hopefully Coleman is an absolute beast on the boards, or Tony is in rare form, or we just didn't take it seriously. But Creighton can't be given two and three offensive boards per possession. They will kill you.

2)Fouls. Early last year Tony would pick up a few silly ticky tack fouls due to trying to do too much. That can't happen this year. And we have to matchup in ways that are beneficial to putting fouls on their guys and keeping our guys out of foul trouble. We appear to be more of a defensive minded team this season. How much contact refs allow when we press or "in their jock" man to man will go a long way in determining how succesful we will be. Likewise, if we can put McDermott in foul trouble we will be halfway home to the W.

3)Turnovers. We HAVE TO win the turnover battle. As much as we love our team, and they may be the most talented we've ever had, we are playing an equally talented and battle tested squad. We have to manufacture additional possessions for ourselves. I expect them to convert a higher percentage of their shots...so we just need to take more than they do.

4)Free Throws. Every chance we can get to put points up with a stopped clock and no defense we need to do it. If this game is tight late I fully expect them to put CJ, Tony and especially Coleman on the line.

5)Outside Shooting. I see no reason why they won't clog the inside and force us to shoot over them. If we can catch fire from deep or even consistently convert from mid-range then we will begin to punish them underneath.

I'd say that we need to do a very good job of at least 3 of these 5 things to be in this game.

greenminer · November 9, 2012

They are offensive wizards. We can't let them get into their halfcourt flow.

Extra emphasis should be made on defending their 1 and 2, especially in transition. Try to create turnovers. Anything to minimize opportunities for them to get McD the ball.

Harry · November 9, 2012

Great points Emmitt.

I think you gotta keep this game close early. I'm guessing Creighton will try to go up big early and put North Texas out... if we can stay withing striking distance it could get really interesting because the athleticism could win the day. Gosh I'm so excited about this game.

I think CJ and Alzee's ability to defend against their point guard may be the key to the game. If they can force turnovers and get him to foul them we could really do well.

greenminer · November 9, 2012

Harry touched on it. Based on what I am not reading, I think every one might be underestimating what Alzee brings defensively.

UNT90 · November 9, 2012

Here are the things I think we have to do tonight to have a chance to be victorious.

1)REBOUND. I know this one seems like a "duh?" kind of thing but I don't think it can be emphasized enough. I was not at all happy with the rebounding numbers against East Central Northern Midwest in that exhibition. Hopefully Coleman is an absolute beast on the boards, or Tony is in rare form, or we just didn't take it seriously. But Creighton can't be given two and three offensive boards per possession. They will kill you.
2)Fouls. Early last year Tony would pick up a few silly ticky tack fouls due to trying to do too much. That can't happen this year. And we have to matchup in ways that are beneficial to putting fouls on their guys and keeping our guys out of foul trouble. We appear to be more of a defensive minded team this season. How much contact refs allow when we press or "in their jock" man to man will go a long way in determining how succesful we will be. Likewise, if we can put McDermott in foul trouble we will be halfway home to the W.
3)Turnovers. We HAVE TO win the turnover battle. As much as we love our team, and they may be the most talented we've ever had, we are playing an equally talented and battle tested squad. We have to manufacture additional possessions for ourselves. I expect them to convert a higher percentage of their shots...so we just need to take more than they do.
4)Free Throws. Every chance we can get to put points up with a stopped clock and no defense we need to do it. If this game is tight late I fully expect them to put CJ, Tony and especially Coleman on the line.
5)Outside Shooting. I see no reason why they won't clog the inside and force us to shoot over them. If we can catch fire from deep or even consistently convert from mid-range then we will begin to punish them underneath.

I'd say that we need to do a very good job of at least 3 of these 5 things to be in this game.

5) do not get down double digits early. The crowd will be large and loud. Need a quick start to quite them down.

6) shoot over 45% from the field. Anything else spells doom against Creighton.

Bluejaysfan · November 9, 2012

A Jays Fan response to your points:

1. If you can outrebound us, at home, with our two big guys up front, then you've really done something. Rebounding, especially on the defensive end, is one of the things we did best last year. Rather than press, we mostly just let teams come up the court, then we hunkered down on D (sort of) and really got after it on the boards, limiting second chances severely. A good goal might be to have more offensive rebounds than we do, because we shoot a pretty good percentage (esp at home) and that'll limit your defensive rebounding some if we manage to do that.

2 and 4. We really don't foul an awful lot. It's a product of the way we play. An individual or two on our team might get into foul trouble, but you won't get to the line a lot. We get to the line a decent piece; not a ton, but enough that we'll likely shoot more FTs than you will (or any opponent we play, really) due to our styles. Basically, we're not defensively aggressive enough (save for Echenique) to run up a big foul total. And Doug will let a guy score outright rather than risk a foul that puts him into trouble. Your best bet on him is to get one early foul and then have him get a loose ball foul or something like that. Put it this way: he was only on the bench with foul trouble in two games last year that I can remember, and both of those second fouls were either loose balls or charges or illegal screens or something non-traditional. He's more or less under the Jimmer rule: don't guard a guy if a foul is possible, and one more will put you on the bench. Very tough to get him out that way.

3. You will win the turnover battle. We don't have nearly enough on-ball pressure to force turnovers, or at least not last year. We were like 300something in turnovers. What'll happen is you'll win, but it'll be, like 11 turnovers to 6, where the totals for both sides are low (but could go up since it's the first game).

5. It would obviously help if you guys shoot the lights out, but we're gonna play man. It's not like you can't do anything down low. In fact I'd prefer you try to hit from deep I think; Echenique can be foul prone and the more you keep it out of the lane the better it is for him, because we will need him to come up big tonight.

Hope that helps.

golfingomez · November 9, 2012

i think if we score more points than they do, before the final buzzer, we should come out on top

aztecskin · November 9, 2012

We have shooters but I don't want to get to comfortable chucking up threes. It'll be interesting to see Benford's offense and the difference between him and JJ.

I'd like to see us try to score inside even if they are stout. We don't have to be stubborn but we don't need to be conciliatory either. CJ and TM in pick and roll against man defense? With shooters spreading the floor? I like that matchup.

Defensively I don't mind some gambles. Jump those passing lanes with JW, Alzee and T-Mitch. That should be good for some easy baskets here and there. We can score and we can defend. When teams zone us we got stuck some times or settled for terrible shots.

CMJ · November 9, 2012

I think a lot depends on how well CJ can drive into the paint. If he has his way and can dish a lot of dimes early, their defense will collapse to stop him. Then our wing guys can take over. If the Jays stop CJ early, we just have to dig in on defense and ugly it up.

Edited November 9, 2012 by CMJ

glick1980 · November 9, 2012

A Jays Fan response to your points:

1. If you can outrebound us, at home, with our two big guys up front, then you've really done something. Rebounding, especially on the defensive end, is one of the things we did best last year. Rather than press, we mostly just let teams come up the court, then we hunkered down on D (sort of) and really got after it on the boards, limiting second chances severely. A good goal might be to have more offensive rebounds than we do, because we shoot a pretty good percentage (esp at home) and that'll limit your defensive rebounding some if we manage to do that.

2 and 4. We really don't foul an awful lot. It's a product of the way we play. An individual or two on our team might get into foul trouble, but you won't get to the line a lot. We get to the line a decent piece; not a ton, but enough that we'll likely shoot more FTs than you will (or any opponent we play, really) due to our styles. Basically, we're not defensively aggressive enough (save for Echenique) to run up a big foul total. And Doug will let a guy score outright rather than risk a foul that puts him into trouble. Your best bet on him is to get one early foul and then have him get a loose ball foul or something like that. Put it this way: he was only on the bench with foul trouble in two games last year that I can remember, and both of those second fouls were either loose balls or charges or illegal screens or something non-traditional. He's more or less under the Jimmer rule: don't guard a guy if a foul is possible, and one more will put you on the bench. Very tough to get him out that way.

3. You will win the turnover battle. We don't have nearly enough on-ball pressure to force turnovers, or at least not last year. We were like 300something in turnovers. What'll happen is you'll win, but it'll be, like 11 turnovers to 6, where the totals for both sides are low (but could go up since it's the first game).

5. It would obviously help if you guys shoot the lights out, but we're gonna play man. It's not like you can't do anything down low. In fact I'd prefer you try to hit from deep I think; Echenique can be foul prone and the more you keep it out of the lane the better it is for him, because we will need him to come up big tonight.

Hope that helps.

1. Under Johnny Jones UNT has been one of the best rebounding teams in the country in the recent past (17th last year). We didn't rebound well in our exhibition, and also played without two big guys. It will be interesting to see how we rebound under Benford.

2&4. Again, under Johnny Jones UNT was ranked at or near the top in the country in made free throws per game (except for last year, which can be attributed to losing the backcourt midway through the season due to grades). We have always tried to get to the line, it will be interesting to see if that is still our philosophy under Benford.

3&6. Under Johnny Jones we never did play a super aggresive style of defense even though we have had some pretty good athletes, it seems that Benford is much more into coaching defense and wants our guys to display maximum effort on that end of the floor. Chris Jones is probably one of the best at stealing the basketball in the country while Tony Mitchell may be the best shot blocker out there.

5. Your guess is as good as our on how well we will shoot from the outside. A big unknown.

Green P1 · November 9, 2012

Just looking at their roster, we should be able to out athlete them all night long. Our natural instincts should be far superior. My only fear is that their work ethic and sheer will to win eventually wear us down.

Green Dozer · November 9, 2012

I think tonight's game will depend on how the MG runs its defense, which has been emphasised more by Benford. And the little things, like communication between players and Benford to make in game adjustments, etc. In other words, just the things that go with a new coach and the players getting used to each other. But from what I have seen first hand, so far so good.

Edited November 9, 2012 by Green Dozer

Censored by Laurie · November 9, 2012

Just looking at their roster, we should be able to out athlete them all night long. Our natural instincts should be far superior. My only fear is that their work ethic and sheer will to win eventually wear us down.

Stop NT91-ing around and just come out and say it

Greenhorn · November 9, 2012

I think an early epic dunk by Mitchell that quiets the crowd would be helpful and build confidence for everyone on the team.

greenminer · November 9, 2012

They got blasted by Wichita State in Omaha last year.

How'd that happen? I wonder if there is anything in that game Benford is using.

drex · November 9, 2012

With a full house of screaming fans, most visiting teams are ten points down just by virture of home court advantage...hopefully, we can quiet the crowd early.

Bluejaysfan · November 9, 2012

With a full house of screaming fans, most visiting teams are ten points down just by virture of home court advantage...hopefully, we can quiet the crowd early.

Well, if you do get off to a good start it WILL get quiet in there. The prices of the tickets in the lower bowl (and the OUTRAGEOUS mandatory donations you have to pay to secure those season tickets) means that damn near everyone down there not in the student section is a 55+ doctor, lawyer, or pharmacist, and they're normally sitting on their hands anyway. The proletariat sits in the upper deck and is normally loud, and the place gets really amped up when things are going well, but when it's not, the combination of only the upper deck cheering (and even then not that hard) and the sheer size of the venue makes it seem like a morgue.

UNT90 · November 9, 2012

Well, if you do get off to a good start it WILL get quiet in there. The prices of the tickets in the lower bowl (and the OUTRAGEOUS mandatory donations you have to pay to secure those season tickets) means that damn near everyone down there not in the student section is a 55+ doctor, lawyer, or pharmacist, and they're normally sitting on their hands anyway. The proletariat sits in the upper deck and is normally loud, and the place gets really amped up when things are going well, but when it's not, the combination of only the upper deck cheering (and even then not that hard) and the sheer size of the venue makes it seem like a morgue.

Rooting for morgue.