Tulsa (2/1/14)

UNT90 · February 2, 2014

Again, what has killed us today is our defense going by the box score. Tulsa is shooting over 63% from the floor!
Glad KNTU didn't broadcast this now.

Concerted effort to hide this team all year. 5:30 game starts, terrible non-conference schedule, KNTU broadcasting women's game instead of men.

Who would have thought this prior to last season.

I really hope some don't lose sight of how fast, far, and quickly this program has descended.

And I hope, for the love of JJ, there is a final accountability at the end of this disaster of a season. And disaster of a coaching hire.

emmitt01 · February 2, 2014

They are buying into Benford. It's just not working on the floor. So something needs to change. Move forward and win!

For once we agree.

I once had a problem with ants in my house. A guy came over and offered to sell me a plan to get rid of them. So, I allowed him to sprinkle sugar all over my kitchen floor. I TOTALLY bought into his plan. It just wasn't working on my floor. Then something changed...I realized he was an idiot, and I one too for believing him. So I fired him and hired a competent exterminator.

Edited February 2, 2014 by emmitt01

UNT90 · February 2, 2014

Losing by 30 to a team with a losing record ain't getting it done. Especially given we had a week to prepare.

I expect a 30 point loss with a week of Benford coaching.

We would have had a better chance if we played them the Saturday after a Thursday game.

Can't wait for this disaster to be shown the door. Maybe our AD will finally swallow his pride and admit a mistake (albeit a year late) come late March. Either that, or we will hear how these players had the nerve to sleep with even MORE coeds!!!

Edited February 2, 2014 by UNT90

UNTFan23 · February 2, 2014

Concerted effort to hide this team all year. 5:30 game starts, terrible non-conference schedule, KNTU broadcasting women's game instead of men.

I believe the 5:30 PM start was so the game would not interfere with Homecoming activities. Perhaps the KNTU program director forgot to tune in the men's game once the woman's game finished? One can hope.

There's no denying this is another bad year.

UNT90 · February 2, 2014

I believe the 5:30 PM start was so the game would not interfere with Homecoming activities. Perhaps the KNTU program director forgot to tune in the men's game once the woman's game finished? One can hope.

There's no denying this is another bad year.

No, if they wanted to feature the men's team, the game would have been played the Friday night before homecoming.

Instead, the women played that night. They knew no one would beheaded to the superpit immediately after homecoming. I think attendance figures bared that out.

Just fix the F'n mistake already

Edited February 2, 2014 by UNT90

NT03 · February 2, 2014

#TulsaMBB World photographer Mike Wyke's North Texas-TU slideshow. It was TU's most one-sided league win in 6 years. http://t.co/p5z7BkLv8f
— Bill Haisten (@billhaisten)
February 2, 2014

Mean_Green09 · February 2, 2014

Be happy you didn't watch this game. The little kids at halftime put up more of a defensive effort than UNT did.

There are a few kids on this team that I wouldn't let back on the floor until they understand defensive rotations.

We are forced to play 2-3 zone bc we can defend off the dribble. We can't rebound in the zone bc the backside defender is too weak and can't block out.

Coaches and players are responsible for the debacle today. You can't pin it to one area. I know most will say it's Benford fault, but it's not just him. It was the entire program that failed today. I was extremely disappointed and upset.

Talent is nothing without energy and effort.

Edited February 2, 2014 by Mean_Green09

bstnsportsfan3 · February 2, 2014

I miss JJ so hard right now

Mean_Green09 · February 2, 2014

I miss JJ so hard right now

We all do, but he couldn't fix some of our problems. He could mask some on offense, but the defense oh my

UNTFan23 · February 2, 2014

No, if they wanted to feature the men's team, the game would have been played the Friday night before homecoming.
Instead, the women played that night. They knew no one would beheaded to the superpit immediately after homecoming. I think attendance figures bared that out.
Just fix the F'n mistake already

The Men played Northwood on Friday 11/08 at 5pm and Homecoming was 11/09. The Women's game as on 11/09 after the football game. Feel free to double check me on this.

THOR · February 2, 2014

We all do, but he couldn't fix some of our problems. He could mask some on offense, but the defense oh my]
So the coach that proclaimed defense is his number 1 priority or will be the focus or something like that when he got the job can't fix his defense???
Huh...

UNT90 · February 2, 2014

The Men played Northwood on Friday 11/08 at 5pm and Homecoming was 11/09. The Women's game as on 11/09 after the football game. Feel free to double check me on this.

That's right. My mistake. I make that mistake because I haven't been to a men's game this year. Haven't stepped foot in the Superpit.

And haven't really missed it that much.

See the problem?

UNT90 · February 2, 2014

Tony Benford promised to improve defense and rebounding from the JJ era when he arrived I campus.

His words, not mine.

Both areas have been abysmal failures.

When a coach says his focus are on certain areas, and those areas remain a concern a year and a half in, it's a COACHING PROBLEM, not a player problem, but some will never admit this.

Mean_Green09 · February 2, 2014

I was saying JJ couldn't fix this defense. He could help us score more, but we'd still give up tons. No one could fix this defense right now. We simply have guys who don't understand it. It's both a coaching and player problem. Each is equally at fault.

Mean_Green09 · February 2, 2014

Tony Benford promised to improve defense and rebounding from the JJ era when he arrived I campus.
His words, not mine.
Both areas have been abysmal failures.
When a coach says his focus are on certain areas, and those areas remain a concern a year and a half in, it's a COACHING PROBLEM, not a player problem, but some will never admit this.

If you think the players aren't at fault too your wrong. Really wrong.

UNT90 · February 2, 2014

ame="THOR" post="814331" timestamp="1391310870"]
I was saying JJ couldn't fix this defense. He could help us score more, but we'd still give up tons. No one could fix this defense right now. We simply have guys who don't understand it. It's both a coaching and player problem. Each is equally at fault.

So it's a lot of different players fault this year that weren't even here last year, when it was also the players fault that are not here this year?

Will it be the players fault in year 3 of the Benford era?

Year 4?

Stupid players.

Edited February 2, 2014 by UNT90

Mean_Green09 · February 2, 2014

So it's a lot of different players fault this year that weren't even here last year, when it was also the players fault that are not here this year?
Will it be the players fault in year 3 of the Benford era?
Year 4?
Stupid players.

All I'm saying is both the players and coaches are responsible for what happened today.

Why has the defense been effective in more than one game, but yet today it wasn't? Is that a total coaching failure on Benford? Or do you not agree the players get some fault here too.

UNT90 · February 2, 2014

All I'm saying is both the players and coaches are responsible for what happened today.
Why has the defense been effective in more than one game, but yet today it wasn't? Is that a total coaching failure on Benford? Or do you not agree the players get some fault here too.

I believe that the coaching staff is responsible in numerous ways for ensuring that the players are successful, from recruiting the right players,to coaching the right scheme, to running proper substitution patterns, to so so much more.

So, no, I don't hold18-22 year olds responsible when there is a coaching staff that is paid a WHOLE LOT of money to make sure those 18-22 year olds are put in a position to succeed.

BillySee58 · February 2, 2014

All I'm saying is both the players and coaches are responsible for what happened today.
Why has the defense been effective in more than one game, but yet today it wasn't? Is that a total coaching failure on Benford? Or do you not agree the players get some fault here too.

Yup. What happened today was the fault of both. On a game-by-game basis, over the course of the season it's the fault of both. Our players have not been very coachable a lot of times, committing the same mistakes repeatedly. Especially on defense.

Things are not getting better and personally, I don't trust Benford to be the guy to turn things around or get the players to turn things around. I've actually given him a chance, and still will. I just don't think he's going to do it based on what I've seen. Would not be opposed to him proving me wrong.

I'll give much more blame to the players than 90 will, but I definitely agree with him as well that he's the constant throughout this whole downfall. It's been two years of underachieving, playing inconsistently, and having nagging problems that don't get corrected. Still time to turn things around this season, but another thing we've seen is "oh, we're so close to turning the corner," then we don't and we go back to square one. If we waste the senior class we will have next year then that's what it'll be for the program. Back to square one.

Mean_Green09 · February 2, 2014

I believe that the coaching staff is responsible in numerous ways for ensuring that the players are successful, from recruiting the right players,to coaching the right scheme, to running proper substitution patterns, to so so much more.
So, no, I don't hold18-22 year olds responsible when there is a coaching staff that is paid a WHOLE LOT of money to make sure those 18-22 year olds are put in a position to succeed.

I agree with most of what you say. Substitutions don't effect the wins and losses for this team though. There is no such thing as a proper substitution pattern.

I've seen the coaching staff put numerous individuals in a position to succeed only to see them not make the play. At some point these guys need to make that play.

I agree at the top of this disappointment is Coach Benford and his staff. Right under him is the players. See I have no problem in holding everyone accountable. If you've been a part of a successful sports team it's something that has to happen.

I can coach and teach you where you need to be, but I can't hold your hand like a child and make you do it. There has to be effort from you. So he needs to go find the right guys now. We have a few and then there is 3-4 guys who don't have a clue out there and who hurt this team

UNT90 · February 2, 2014

Yup. What happened today was the fault of both. On a game-by-game basis, over the course of the season it's the fault of both. Our players have not been very coachable a lot of times, committing the same mistakes repeatedly. Especially on defense.
Things are not getting better and personally, I don't trust Benford to be the guy to turn things around or get the players to turn things around. I've actually given him a chance, and still will. I just don't think he's going to do it based on what I've seen. Would not be opposed to him proving me wrong.
I'll give much more blame to the players than 90 will, but I definitely agree with him as well that he's the constant throughout this whole downfall. It's been two years of underachieving, playing inconsistently, and having nagging problems that don't get corrected. Still time to turn things around this season, but another thing we've seen is "oh, we're so close to turning the corner," then we don't and we go back to square one. If we waste the senior class we will have next year then that's what it'll be for the program. Back to square one.

Should hand been here for Dodge, Billy. Lots of corners almost turned. And he was here for the better part of 4 years.

That's what scares me in this scenario.

BillySee58 · February 2, 2014

Should hand been here for Dodge, Billy. Lots of corners almost turned. And he was here for the better part of 4 years.
That's what scares me in this scenario.

Watching it from afar, had two kids from high school on the team during the dodge era in DT Joe Hawthorne and Jeremi Mathis, that's what I saw. Joe was the big brother of one of my good friends/teammate/classmate so I kept up with the program with him. Thought Riley would be a 4-year starter and at least get to two bowl games, not to mention when Dunbar emerged.

When I actually watched the games it was just surprising to see them just not look like a D1 team despite getting some big names in recruiting. But yes, it was frustrating but I wasn't losing any sleep over it. Had I actually been invested as a fan in those teams it would've been a different story. Maybe this is part of my rite of passage into UNT fandom. Got to skip the Dodge era, so I don't deserve a pass on this.

Edited February 2, 2014 by BillySee58

CMJ · February 2, 2014

I do put some blame on players (maybe 25% or so). But coaches will always get the lion's share of blame. As I've said before, if you wanna call out the players on a game by game basis, I can dig it. But the season falls under the coach in charge - and on that level Benford is completely responsible.

Edited February 2, 2014 by CMJ

emmitt01 · February 2, 2014

Should hand been here for Dodge, Billy. Lots of corners almost turned. And he was here for the better part of 4 years.
That's what scares me in this scenario.

What should scare you is that this team will be right at, maybe a sliver above, mediocre this season and that that will actually be improvement. Then Andrew, KRAM and the rest of the comic relief around here will say "See?! The arrow is pointing up" and Benford will be back for another year.

We don't just kill programs with our bad hires at North Texas. We're polite and bury them too.

THOR · February 2, 2014

I agree with most of what you say. Substitutions don't effect the wins and losses for this team though. There is no such thing as a proper substitution pattern.
I've seen the coaching staff put numerous individuals in a position to succeed only to see them not make the play. At some point these guys need to make that play.
I agree at the top of this disappointment is Coach Benford and his staff. Right under him is the players. See I have no problem in holding everyone accountable. If you've been a part of a successful sports team it's something that has to happen.
I can coach and teach you where you need to be, but I can't hold your hand like a child and make you do it. There has to be effort from you. So he needs to go find the right guys now. We have a few and then there is 3-4 guys who don't have a clue out there and who hurt this team

If there are players that don't have a clue...the coach should not play them. ..