Players

[Censored by Laurie]

Agreed... We're just going to keep the idiot in place until the entire thing is dead and buried.

An email I just received from a former college basketball player:

Not sure what broadcast you were able to watch yesterday but I saw something that had me audibly say to myself “Are You F’ing Kidding Me!”. During a time out the camera was focused in on the UNT huddle where Benford was sitting, surrounded by his team. You could clearly see Benford holding the dry erase board as CHRIS JONES is drawing up something. I HAVE NEVER BEEN IN ANY HUDDLE IN MY LIFE WHERE ANYONE OTHER THAN A COACH WAS DRAWING UP A PLAY……let alone a sophomore PG who has already shed some light on his intelligence last year.

Crash at Crush, fellas.

[Green Dog]

Here is where I think we could be in real serious trouble: we don't have the money to keep buying out bad hires. So the hires will last more than 1-3 years.

And the other edge of the sword is we don't have the money to hire the "sure thing" to begin with either. Not any hire is a sure thing, but the odds for success would be greater. Yes we have increased the amount we pay coaches, but compared to other programs that we want to be like (not talking about the ones in our conference and their budgets, but some of the other mid majors) we are still behind. If we had $750K to $1 million to pay a head football coach, then I don't think Mac would be the guy. Conversely, if we had say $650K to pay a BB head coach, Benford certainly would not have been the first choice.

[glick1980]

An email I just received from a former college basketball player:

Crash at Crush, fellas.

Did that really happen? I wasn't watching on real-time so I fastforwarded through some portions, but I did not see that.

[Censored by Laurie]

Did that really happen? I wasn't watching on real-time so I fastforwarded through some portions, but I did not see that.

I didn't notice it, but then again I was watching on the MGP feed, whereas I'm sure my friend would've been watching on local TV. I've never been given cause to doubt this friend in the past so it seems legit to me.

[EagleMBA]

Good discussion and points made in the last few posts. Whether you inherit a diamond or a turd, it usually takes the new guy time to make it shine. I do agree that one takes more effort than the other. IMO, the reality is that we are on this train for a while so relax and try to enjoy it. If we can't stop it before it falls off the trestle, then be like Slim Pickens in "Dr. Strangelove" and whoop and holler all the way down.

[Travis Scott]

Agreed... We're just going to keep the idiot in place until the entire thing is dead and buried.

so does firing Benford tomorrow not create more chaos for this season?

[Travis Scott]

Except that JJ was given a train wreck to fix and Benford was given a train on the tracks and buidling steam. A train he is wrecking as we speak.

I think part of the problem is who is driving the train? a bunch of talented athletes who don't know how to play on a team, or a new coach? My guess it's probably both. Hopefully they can come together and a full team along with the coaches and keep it on the tracks

[UNT Five&Dime]

Did that really happen?

It happened, but I don't believe Coach Benford said "Hey Chris, you can't create on offense, but please draw something up for us. I don't know what I'm doing and no GMG.com folks are on the bench to help out".

It seemed to me Chris was drawing up what he saw or was trying to do before everything failed on offense again. There was clearly discussion amongst the other players during this. I took it as a good thing, but what do I know?

Maybe they were playing Pictionary?

[GreenBat]

Maybe they were playing Pictionary?

Ooh, Ooh. I know the answer "FAILED SEASON"

[filmerj]

I think part of the problem is who is driving the train? a bunch of talented athletes who don't know how to play on a team, or a new coach? My guess it's probably both. Hopefully they can come together and a full team along with the coaches and keep it on the tracks

or maybe one to many "coaches?"

Edited November 29, 2012 by filmerj

[TIgreen01]

As highly touted/ranked as this collection of players is, hardly a one of them can actually hit a jump shot with any consistency. We have a collection of exceptional athletes but no shooters. That makes it hard to run any traditional college level offense.

That said, we absolutely look lost and confused out there. I'm not sure if the constant substitutions hurt the defense or the offense more. We started the game out pretty well on defense, but started missing assignments and leaving guys open once the substitution train started rolling.

Only thing I can say with any certainty is that this team is not very good right now.

[CurveItAround]

It didn't appear to me that we were subbing any more than UTA. It has definitely settled down a little. We still have someone ready to go at pretty much every whistle, but it's not 3-4 at a time like before.

[MeanGreenTexan]

It didn't appear to me that we were subbing any more than UTA. It has definitely settled down a little. We still have someone ready to go at pretty much every whistle, but it's not 3-4 at a time like before.

Agreed. I actually saw a pretty standard lineup out there of: CJ, Alzee, Jordan, Franklin(until he fouled out, then it was Holmen) & Mitchell.

And the idea behind those line changes was to keep guys fresh because of the pace we're supposed to be playing... and our guys certainly did not look gassed.

[Greenhorn]

It seems this team is missing a pure scorer. I would not have expected that at the beginning of the season.

[kalebschumann]

It seems this team is missing a pure scorer. I would not have expected that at the beginning of the season.

Seriously. There's no person that we can count on for some solid points like we could with Josh White. Or a person that was always there for the rebound like Odufuwa. Who is our clutch person late in the second half like Thompson was?

No identity. No organization. No Leadership.

Edited November 29, 2012 by kalebschumann

[Green P1]

so does firing Benford tomorrow not create more chaos for this season?

Look at WKU and Ken McDonald last season.

[meangreener]

There definitely is no leadership...Tony should be the leader...but he's too busy pouting over Benford's game plan...

[rws69]

Did that really happen? I wasn't watching on real-time so I fastforwarded through some portions, but I did not see that.

Yes, I noticed that also, and don't recall ever seeing that before.

[eulessismore]

A train that was about to pull into the "top 25" station to pick up votes, then continue on to the final destination of "Noise in the NCAA tourney". Now, we have something similar to this:

Still time to put on the brakes and maybe reverse course, but it aint looking good.

Up until I read this post today, I would read the basketball forum while riding home from work on the TRE. No more. Accidents involving trains? Don't be around them people. I'm convinced that I stopped a woman from stepping in front of a DART train after we detrained from the TRE when she was walking with her head down. We debriefed each other later and couldn't decide whether I had yelled "wait" or "whoa". Always be aware when around trains people, I'm not kidding.

As for basketball; I had a sinister feeling about yesterday and decided not to make that special effort to get to Denton. I don't regret it; hope to see y'all at a home game soon. This Saturday, are we playing ULL at home? They schooled us last time I saw them in Denton.

[Rudy]

All of this venom aimed at Benford on multiple threads after only 7 games got me to remembering. There was one hell of a brouhaha on here about running off Johnny Jones a few years ago (I counseled patience, you can look it up) and now he walks on water with a large majority of us. I am thinking take a deep breath and give Benford time to straighten this thing out before calling in the hit man. He has the basketball resume and he is surrounded by quality assistants. Lets demand some accountability from those kids whose job it is to play as a team and put the ball in the hole.

We're burying the lead here. You know a hitman?

On another note, did anyone else notice the team hurrying off the court after the handshake? No staying for the Alma Mater.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Rudy

[GrandGreen]

I wonder about Benford, I have not gave up on him but there are a lot of bad to horrible signs.

Benford was hired to keep this band of players together and he did that, but thus far he as shown no ability to get them to play as a team.

Benfords talk about all the talent on this team, I assume was to build them up; but it appears to had the opposite effect.

Mitchell, the most talented player Benford was quoted saying he has been around, looked about as bad as any athlete I have ever seen at NT againt UTA. No doubt, he had more talent than anyone on the court by a mile which is usually the case, but his actions on the court were as bad as I have seen. Not his play, he was still effective; but those stating that his antics didn't effect his draft status; know very little about basketball. He may be still drafted high but it he doesn't turn around his attitude he is going to leave literately millions of dollars on the table.

Jones, Benford has stated as being as good as any Big East point, based on his play so far will be lucky to keep his job over Hardwick.

Colemen, a power conference post that is going to take the pressure off Mitchell, is mysteriously not getting hardly any playing time.

I don't think Benford is as bad a coach as he has shown thus far, but this isn't the season to watse on a rookie coach that doesn't seem at this point any more qualified than Todd Dodge. Does anyone else think that if UTA and NT switched coaches that NT would have won by twenty easily?

[filmerj]

Does anyone else think that if UTA and NT switched coaches that NT would have won by twenty easily?

Yes!

[oldguystudent]

Tomorrow will tell the true story of this team...until they lose by 25. Then the next game will tell the true story, then the next,

Edit: Is it that I'm trying to put a start time on this video that I can't embed it? Technical assistance requested for present and future reference, please.

Edited November 30, 2012 by oldguystudent

[UNT90]

BINGO! This I can buy....even the part about Benford cutting some of these guys out of the mix. Indeed does remind one of the old three J's days in Mavs land. Excellent point here CurveItAround.

If UNT is going to lose, might as well lose with guys who will work their tails off to try to win and try to work with whatever system the coach asks them to play. I am looking forward to seeing what happens Saturday against LaLa. If it's a win will Benford get the credit for a good coaching job or will it be all the players who did the winning in spite of poor coaching? Is this a no win for Benford with many of our fans while it's a no lose with the fans for a group of severely underachieving players at this point in the season? Make a few front ends on those 1 and 1 fouls shots, grab a defensive rebound, try not turning the ball over in double digits, hit a shot or two in the second half and last night would have been a Mean Green win in the bag. Here's hoping that happens Saturday against LaLa. If for no other reason than the mental stat of the Mean Green Nation.

You gotta understand that the coach is responsible for player performance and motivation, no?

When players aren't worked hard and aren't constantly drilled on defensive position, you get a lot of reach fouls. You also get reach fouls when your team isnt conditioned properly. That is happening, run lines till they drop.

It's easier to rebound against a zone, yet we simply aren't pitting forth the effort. Why?

Coach Benford better find the answer to these and many other questions or else we are in for a loooooong season.

[KRAM1]

You gotta understand that the coach is responsible for player performance and motivation, no?

When players aren't worked hard and aren't constantly drilled on defensive position, you get a lot of reach fouls. You also get reach fouls when your team isnt conditioned properly. That is happening, run lines till they drop.

It's easier to rebound against a zone, yet we simply aren't pitting forth the effort. Why?

Coach Benford better find the answer to these and many other questions or else we are in for a loooooong season.

Sure I got it and basicly agree with you. But this assumes Benford is not actually doing in reality what folks are accusing him of not doing in practice. I don't know what goes on in his practices or how hard he works these guys. The rumor I heard from the players was that practice is much harder than it ever was under JJ...now, that does not mean it is better, right? Anyway...to absolve the players from any responsibility is a bit much for me. Personal responsibility and accountability needs to be placed on more than Coach Benford regarding how these susposed very talented players have been playing. Benford cannot shoot for these guys, nor can he rebound for the guys, nor can he keep them from turning the ball over or taking charges because they want to dunk with a takeoff from the free throw line...while that is way cool and I love it when it works...players of this caliber need to be smart enough to know when to drive the lane and when to pull the ball it out...and tell me how Benford does much about the missed front ends of all the one and ones. So, not disagreeing with you here UNT90...just would like to see some acknowledgement that the players need to be held account6able for that absolutely horrible display they put on last Wednesday.

I'll bet we will all see some difference this Saturday against LaLa...as you say...Coach B and his band of very experienced assistants better figure these guys out and soon.

Anyway...see you in the Mean Green Room before the game Saturday..