Absolutely horrible game

[GrandGreen]

Lets see, NT held on to beat a 1-6 SE Louisiana team with one of their best players out of the game at the two minute mark. I am not kidding this game was so bad I just wanted it over and didn't care who won.

Benford has to be one of the worst coaches ever at NT, I would at this point rate him below Trilli and Tommy Newman. Mitchell who I still believe is the most physically talented player ever at NT, is setting the bar for underachieving. SEL started one player over 6'3 at 6'6 and Mitchell could not get a shot. Benford crazy substitutions continue with no apparent purpose other than disrupting any semblance of establishing any rhythm.

SEL out rebounded NT by 9 but that was do to NT picking up the pace, they trailed by as many as 20 rebounds for much of the game.

There are no valid excuses for this team to be this bad.

Edited December 16, 2012 by GrandGreen

[island eagle]

"There are no valid excuses for this team to be this bad". There is one. They cannot hit the side of a barn with their shots..

[Andrew]

"There are no valid excuses for this team to be this bad". There is one. They cannot hit the side of a barn with their shots..

Didn't you hear? Benford is coming off the bench to swat them away! It is all his fault. If he would stop knocking the ball out of CJ's and blocking everyone's shot we would have a chance.....

[Harry]

They can't shoot. if they had one guy that could shoot it would be a different team.

[MeanGreenHoops]

Didn't you hear? Benford is coming off the bench to swat them away! It is all his fault. If he would stop knocking the ball out of CJ's and blocking everyone's shot we would have a chance.....

I wish I could minus 1 you some more. This team is so messed up psychologically from the way they are being "lead", and that it is all Benford's fault. He pulls guys for making one mistake. He took Mitchell out early in the game today because he passed up an open 18 foot jump shot. The team is afraid to mess up, and therefore have spiraled into a team that doesn't even want to shoot. It's too hard to tell if the "new system" could even work because the team is a mess. That is 100% on the leadership. If we ever get past that point, then we can discuss things like offensive systems.

[Andrew]

Well at least someone brings up a very competent point. This is true. He does pull out players for making mistakes. Maybe it is hurting their ego and therefore they are playing worse. This may be the case. Benford may learn from this and we may not see it as much. His subbing has gone way down. The minutes looked right on paper. It is hard with such a deep team to get everyone touches.

[Green P1]

Yea... They lost all their sharpshooters from last season in Zo, Tyler, and Hogans... Clarke replaces Walton right?

[Green Mean]

They may not be shooting well and some of that could be blamed on the players but when there is no offensive scheme and it's completely anemic a team just won't be comfortable shooting and making shots. I'm sorry but this is all on the coach. There is no way in hell this team regresses this much in one off season when the personnel is the same and actually even better.

[DeepGreen]

The Lehigh game could get fugly.

[Andrew]

Yea... They lost all their sharpshooters from last season in Zo, Tyler, and Hogans... Clarke replaces Walton right?

Hall could knock down the three man! We just do not have great shooters. These players and built to play hard d, hustle, and push for the easy bucket in transition. They do need to work on hitting 3. It would really free up a lot of other options.

[Christopher Walker]

We (all 12 of us in the Student Section) had more fun with that SEL assistant freaking out on us and the lady with the cowbell than we did watching this game.

[outoftown]

This was a horrible game even on MG Premium and not in the stadium.... I made the mistake to tune into WKU vs Murray state afterwards the difference was extremely stark. under 50 points against a 1-7 team. No sign of progress by the team. No offensive game plan whatsoever. I am not sure NT can let the season run out before acting.

I cannot imagine this turning around right now, and I am not an eternal pessimist (I do see the football team going Bowling next year). NT fans may not recognize a winner for lack of experience, but people at NT know a looser when we see one, and coach Benford may be a good person, but is a looser as a BBall head coach. Hope I am wrong, but just can't imagine I could be right now.

Edited December 16, 2012 by outoftown

[GrandGreen]

Good gosh, shooting is a function of many factors: choice of shots, movement, offense, and of course accuracy. NT should physically dominate a lot of the teams they are losing or playing close, it should not come down to shooting accuracy.

IMO, this team is playing scare and has little confidence, that is coaching. This team shot 29% which is not going win games unless you are playing a team as bad and as out maned as SEL. The team looked like they had never seen a zone defense, were out hustled by a physically inferior team, and looked about as lackadaisical as they get.

I have not gave up on Benford, but time is running out. I think the lack of leadership is showing big time on the court. He played 3 point guards in this game, and the team never remotely looked in sync. It is late in the season to not have any idea of a rotation and style of play.

[10Eagle10]

We (all 12 of us in the Student Section) had more fun with that SEL assistant freaking out on us and the lady with the cowbell than we did watching this game.

and I thoroughly enjoyed this. Definitely the highlight of my game day experience. 1962 called and wanted its game back. Clear out the lane and just the guys go one on one like the NBA. Streetball would be better than this

[Andrew Balettie]

I'm just pissed that we have all these physical big men and yet we still pass around the arch for the majority of our positions. The team seems unprepared to drive the hole. 1 of 3 things happens when you drive the lane: you make a high % shot, you get fouled, or you miss. 2/3 of those are great options and with the big men we have, we should do that every time. Also, if you do it enough, it will open up the jumper for people like Alzee and Chris. The players have been doing awfully, but Benford has done nothing that I can see to try and adjust and compensate for that.

Though, I did thoroughly enjoy winning the chicken toss...after failing hard twice.

Edited December 16, 2012 by Andrew Balettie

[KRAM1]

I'm just pissed that we have all these physical big men and yet we still pass around the arch for the majority of our positions. The team seems unprepared to drive the hole. 1 of 3 things happens when you drive the lane: you make a high % shot, you get fouled, or you miss. 2/3 of those are great options and with the big men we have, we should do that every time. Also, if you do it enough, it will open up the jumper for people like Alzee and Chris. The players have been doing awfully, but Benford has done nothing that I can see to try and adjust and compensate for that.

Though, I did thoroughly enjoy winning the chicken toss...after failing hard twice.

Nice job on the chicken toss...best part of the day. Great to see a member of the Mean Green actually hit a basket!

[Quoner]

Why are there so many Andrews now?

[meangreener]

This is just an embarrassment.

[NT03]

even the PA guy sucked today , kept saying the Lehigh game was on the 22nd !!

[Side Show Joe]

Never thought I'd be writing this after a win, but our great collection of talent is quickly becoming a terrible joke. Something must be done about this. Thursday is going to be one of the most embarrassing nights in the history of the Super Pit if we play the way we did today.

[NT1978]

Though, I did thoroughly enjoy winning the chicken toss...after failing hard twice.

Yeah, be sure and thank Bob for that!

[Mean Green Scrappy]

even the PA guy sucked today , kept saying the Lehigh game was on the 22nd !!

Wait, so I don't come to the Super Pit on the 22nd?

[NT03]

Wait, so I don't come to the Super Pit on the 22nd?

You will probably see about the same quality of UNT basketball if u do

[Mean Green Scrappy]

Did anyone read the ESPN recap of the game? Unfortunately this did not set the mark for the fewest points ever to win a game in NT history. We beat Air Force 37-36 in 1963.

ESPN game recap

[foutsrouts]

Well at least someone brings up a very competent point. This is true. He does pull out players for making mistakes. Maybe it is hurting their ego and therefore they are playing worse. This may be the case. Benford may learn from this and we may not see it as much. His subbing has gone way down. The minutes looked right on paper. It is hard with such a deep team to get everyone touches.

We didn't hire him to groom him as a head coach, we hired him to coach these guys THIS SEASON! It's just unbelievable how this team has regressed from last season. Those Summer practices that TB praised so much sure really helped prep this team.