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Posted

I think everyone is COMPLETELY overreacting to this loss. This isn't football guys. It's basketball. There are 28 freaking games left. We played a better than expected opponent who had the game of their lives when we had one of the worst games of ours. It happens. There isn't a regional/national perception hole to crawl out of. That's all in your imaginations. Relax everyone. My god, it was one freaking game. Beating Lamar by 15 isn't exactly something to celebrate, no, but there are positive signs out of all of this. Tony took 16 shots. CJ finally shot well and had 7 assists. Alzee had a great scoring night. JW put up 26 the other night when no one else showed up. The team will come together, it takes time. This is a team with a lot of talent that hasn't had a lot of time together. Tony and CJ/JW haven't all played together since early conference play last year. Come year end, we'll be 14-2 in conference with 25 wins. Book it.

I appreciate your optimism... and maybe you're right, and we'll gel later. Unfortunately, the Mean Green will be in a hole until not only the players gel, but the coaching gels as well. I just don't see 25 wins right now. I don't think the Cameron game will tell us anything if we win, and will only increase the panic if we lose (*gasp*). I'll be anxious to see how we play against IUPUI and VA in the coming days... I think those games will give us a better idea of this team and will show us if improvement is occurring.

Posted

U guys think people in Denton and surrounding area alumni have heard of crayon and Alabama polytechnic?

No. They have heard of Mr Tony Mitchell.

Thus they WILL be at the games. I know I will. And I'm not really a die hard like CMJ etc. Ok that's a lie. I just don't know the sport in and out. Point is I don't care about crayon either. I'll be there because of OUR team.

Posted (edited)

Clarke Overlander is suddenly the key to the entire season. He HAS to shoot 40% plus from 3 point land and average 10 plus points a game going forward, or else we are in for a very disappointing season.

A lot of pressure on the freshman, and not really fair, but that's life.

We have had one plus year of seeing what everyone else has, and what is painfully obvious is that this team, right now, has no one who can step put and hit the three consistently. Unless Clarke can mature at a blistering rate, we are looking at a .500 conference record.

Edited by UNT90
  • Upvote 1
Posted

Clarke Overlander is suddenly the key to the entire season. He HAS to shoot 40% plus from 3 point land and average 10 plus points a game going forward, or else we are in for a very disappointing season.

A lot of pressure on the freshman, and not really fair, but that's life.

We have had one plus year of seeing what everyone else has, and what is painfully obvious is that this team, right now, has no one who can step put and hit the three consistently. Unless Clarke can mature at a blistering rate, we are looking at a .500 conference record.

You are absolutely dead on accurate with this assessment. Clarke has got to be able to hit that three point shot consistently for us to be successful this season. The only other thought I had is perhaps you could move Holman's role to that of a 3-point specialist -- he has a stroke but Clarke would be option 1.

Posted

I think everyone is COMPLETELY overreacting to this loss. This isn't football guys. It's basketball. There are 28 freaking games left. We played a better than expected opponent who had the game of their lives when we had one of the worst games of ours. It happens. There isn't a regional/national perception hole to crawl out of. That's all in your imaginations. Relax everyone. My god, it was one freaking game. Beating Lamar by 15 isn't exactly something to celebrate, no, but there are positive signs out of all of this. Tony took 16 shots. CJ finally shot well and had 7 assists. Alzee had a great scoring night. JW put up 26 the other night when no one else showed up. The team will come together, it takes time. This is a team with a lot of talent that hasn't had a lot of time together. Tony and CJ/JW haven't all played together since early conference play last year. Come year end, we'll be 14-2 in conference with 25 wins. Book it.

I bet we go to the Elite Eight, too...

of the SBC Tournament...

  • Upvote 4
Posted

Clarke Overlander is suddenly the key to the entire season. He HAS to shoot 40% plus from 3 point land and average 10 plus points a game going forward, or else we are in for a very disappointing season.

A lot of pressure on the freshman, and not really fair, but that's life.

We have had one plus year of seeing what everyone else has, and what is painfully obvious is that this team, right now, has no one who can step put and hit the three consistently. Unless Clarke can mature at a blistering rate, we are looking at a .500 conference record.

We didn't have anyone who could hit the 3 last year consistently either. If you say Walton, I'd strongly disagree. He is not a great shooter. If forcing Overlander into the lineup just so he can shoot 36% or whatever Walton shot is the key to the season, then our coaching staff is terrible.

It appears Overlander is a better shooter than Walton, but he's not ready yet to play many minutes. He might be later, but we have many more problems than inconsistent 3 point shooting to work on in the meantime.

  • Upvote 1
Posted

We didn't have anyone who could hit the 3 last year consistently either. If you say Walton, I'd strongly disagree. He is not a great shooter. If forcing Overlander into the lineup just so he can shoot 36% or whatever Walton shot is the key to the season, then our coaching staff is terrible.

It appears Overlander is a better shooter than Walton, but he's not ready yet to play many minutes. He might be later, but we have many more problems than inconsistent 3 point shooting to work on in the meantime.

The threat of Walton last year kept defenses honest. They couldn't collapse in a 2-3 zone and dare us to shoot it. Tehy can this year, unless we want to put Mitchell on the perimeter jacking 3s (no, no, no... a thousand times no). Overlander is they only hope in this area. Maybe P.J., but you don't wan't your point guard spotting up for the 3.

I have no idea if P.J can shoot or not, but if he can hit the three, one solution may be starting CJ at the point and PJ at the 2 guard. Maybe Alzee at the 3 with a combo of Holmen/Mitchell/Coleman at the 4/5.

Without a shooter, teams (especially in conference play, where teams know each other very well) are just going to collapse the middle and dare you to shoot the jumper. Without Walton, right now, we have absilutely no one who can make a defense pay. That is very bad when you are playing D1 college basketball.

Throw in the fact that we don't rebound and play terrible defense, and this thing could crater really quick.

Posted

The threat of Walton last year kept defenses honest. They couldn't collapse in a 2-3 zone and dare us to shoot it. Tehy can this year, unless we want to put Mitchell on the perimeter jacking 3s (no, no, no... a thousand times no). Overlander is they only hope in this area. Maybe P.J., but you don't wan't your point guard spotting up for the 3.

I have no idea if P.J can shoot or not, but if he can hit the three, one solution may be starting CJ at the point and PJ at the 2 guard. Maybe Alzee at the 3 with a combo of Holmen/Mitchell/Coleman at the 4/5.

Without a shooter, teams (especially in conference play, where teams know each other very well) are just going to collapse the middle and dare you to shoot the jumper. Without Walton, right now, we have absilutely no one who can make a defense pay. That is very bad when you are playing D1 college basketball.

Throw in the fact that we don't rebound and play terrible defense, and this thing could crater really quick.

A. For the bolded part...why not let Tony play a bit more on the perimeter? I'm not saying make him a full on wing, but I've suggested a Roger-Tony-Coleman front-court that would allow Tony to drift more for stretches.

B. Forcing Overlander is not the solution...in the end, if you can't shoot the 3 you don't shoot the 3. There are plenty of offenses (or defenses that lead to transition) that can put up 70-80 a night while taking 10 3-point attempts or fewer per night. There needs to be some adaptation of the system to match the personnel. I've just seen no evidence that Benford is capable of that, though.

Posted

A. For the bolded part...why not let Tony play a bit more on the perimeter? I'm not saying make him a full on wing, but I've suggested a Roger-Tony-Coleman front-court that would allow Tony to drift more for stretches.

B. Forcing Overlander is not the solution...in the end, if you can't shoot the 3 you don't shoot the 3. There are plenty of offenses (or defenses that lead to transition) that can put up 70-80 a night while taking 10 3-point attempts or fewer per night. There needs to be some adaptation of the system to match the personnel. I've just seen no evidence that Benford is capable of that, though.

Agreed. Add Patton to that mix and things could get interesting if line changed properly.

  • Upvote 1
Posted

A. For the bolded part...why not let Tony play a bit more on the perimeter? I'm not saying make him a full on wing, but I've suggested a Roger-Tony-Coleman front-court that would allow Tony to drift more for stretches.

I don't disagree with that in principle but with us struggling on the rebounding front I think they are hesitant to pull their best rebounder out of the game. This is why I wish they would play Coleman more. If he could take over more of the rebounding chores it would free tony up some. Between those two and maybe Niko I don't think we have another guy that rebounds consistently on the team.

Posted

There needs to be some adaptation of the system to match the personnel. I've just seen no evidence that Benford is capable of that, though.

Alright, so Benford has at least 2 very solid assistants in Evans and Lundy, with Evans supposedly being Benford's mentor. Regardless of what kind of capability Benford has to adapt, you have to think his staff would help here. Honestly, the ONLY thing keeping me from going into full blown panic mode is, at least, the perception that there is good experience on this staff that WILL kick in at some point.

Posted (edited)

I don't disagree with that in principle but with us struggling on the rebounding front I think they are hesitant to pull their best rebounder out of the game. This is why I wish they would play Coleman more. If he could take over more of the rebounding chores it would free tony up some. Between those two and maybe Niko I don't think we have another guy that rebounds consistently on the team.

I wonder if they aren't playing Coleman because they know they probably won't have him after the semester break and are trying to find other combinations that work. It seems to be the only thing that makes sense.

Edited by UNT90
Posted

I wonder if they aren't playing Coleman because they know they probably won't have him after the semester break and are trying to find other combinations that work. It seems to be the only thing that makes sense.

So we think that Coleman did so poorly in the classroom that he was guaranteed to fail with 6 weeks to go in the semester (if we begin with our first exhibition)?

Posted

So we think that Coleman did so poorly in the classroom that he was guaranteed to fail with 6 weeks to go in the semester (if we begin with our first exhibition)?

Got another explanation for a rebounder not playing when we are in desperate need of rebounding?

I don't.

And then there is the matter of his suspension from the exhibition game for not attending class and study hall. Maybe I am just shell shocked by last year's disappointment (yes, there seems to be one every year), but this is very concerning to me.

Posted

Got another explanation for a rebounder not playing when we are in desperate need of rebounding?

I don't.

And then there is the matter of his suspension from the exhibition game for not attending class and study hall. Maybe I am just shell shocked by last year's disappointment (yes, there seems to be one every year), but this is very concerning to me.

It would be quite shocking that the staff wouldn't play him for that reason (sans the suspension) if he still has so much time in the semester to make his grades. If that is the case he must have really bombed out on his classes early in the semester. The only other explanation I have is that our coach doesn't know what the hell he is doing.

Posted

I wonder if they aren't playing Coleman because they know they probably won't have him after the semester break and are trying to find other combinations that work. It seems to be the only thing that makes sense.

. That can't be the case. No way.

But if it is.... All the more reason to hate Tony Benford.

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