Why the turn around?

[Hunter Green]

For those of you who have been attending the games, what has been the reason for the turn around in our level of play? Has Benford found his mojo? Is it player chemestry? Easy part of the schedule? Opinions, please.

GO MEAN GREEN!

[NM Green]

I think this team is playing as a unit for the first time in forever! I was just excited for the UNT rally against MTSU and then they shook the blue raider up so much they win he sang thing! This team is playing loose excited and they feed off the crowd. Let's bring it on Saturday!

Beat ODU

Go Mean Green!!!!!

[Ben Gooding]

They most definitely feed off the crowd. If UNT played in a packed house every night they would be a very, very hard team to beat at home.

[oldguystudent]

I haven't been watching. At all. So I'm pulling this out of my SMU...er...ass.

Maybe Benford has had the Xs and Os knowledge the whole time. Maybe he didn't have a clue as to how to be the top leader to communicate and teach those Xs and Os, hence the hockey lines, the player dissent, the player exodus, and various locker room viruses, cancers, STDs, and any other sort of ill maladies. Maybe in his forth year, unlike a certain stubborn old mule over at Fouts, he's learned to adapt to the environment and is getting that message of Xs and Os across to the team, and they are in turn working together as a unit.

I really don't know. I am not a Benford fan nor do I wake up each morning with a new set of hemhorrhoids from having strained so hard all night hating him in my sleep. His biggest sin for me heretofore is just that. Go, stay, whatever. Don't know, don't care.

I'll admit he's starting to catch my glancing attention as of late.

[UNT90]

It's 5 games.

It's a nice little run, but nothing more at this point. 3 fading teams, one average team (at home) and one good team (at home).

Beat UTEP on the road and there may be something to get legitimately excited about.

I will say that the run has helped save Benford's job and relieved a ton of pressure on RV to get rid of Benford.

I don't think coaches magically "get it" in their 3rd year. I do wonder if the assistants are FAR more involved this year than the first 2.

I am happy for Jordan Williams, who did so much to help us recruit that once magical recruiting class and has had nothing but disappointment on the court during his time at UNT. I really hope this team can make a conference run forJordan's sake. He hung in there when others bailed, and with what we saw the last 2 years, that could not have been easy to do.

[Army of Dad]

It's 5 games.

It's a nice little run, but nothing more at this point. 3 fading teams, one average team (at home) and one good team (at home).

Beat UTEP on the road and there may be something to get legitimately excited about.

I will say that the run has helped save Benford's job and relieved a ton of pressure on RV to get rid of Benford.

I don't think coaches magically "get it" in their 3rd year. I do wonder if the assistants are FAR more involved this year than the first 2.

I am happy for Jordan Williams, who did so much to help us recruit that once magical recruiting class and has had nothing but disappointment on the court during his time at UNT. I really hope this team can make a conference run forJordan's sake. He hung in there when others bailed, and with what we saw the last 2 years, that could not have been easy to do.

Wish I could +1 one this post more than once.

[oldguystudent]

It's 5 games.

It's a nice little run, but nothing more at this point. 3 fading teams, one average team (at home) and one good team (at home).

You sound like the outfield fans in Major League.

[CMJ]

I think oldguystudent more or less said what I feel has happened. Coaching is more than X's and O's -- I doubt Coach K knows that much more about tactics than Benford does. Coaching is about getting your players to buy in, being able to teach your knowledge, etc..

Benford has no doubt improved on that aspect. Whether it's enough to have us competing for league titles only time will tell. It's obvious though that the kids are actually responding to him now versus a month or so ago.

Edited February 27, 2015 by CMJ

[Mean_Green09]

1. We are making shots. Before the UAB game UNT was shooting 43% from the field. These last five games its been close to 47%

2. When you shot the ball better the offense opens up.

3. There is a better flow to the offense. The offense has been simplified to run more set/plays. Less random ball screens and movement. Move from a motion offense to a flex.

4. The rotation is set & players know their roles.

5. Sr's have stepped their game up. Voss has opened up the spacing on the floor with his ability to shoot mid range. T.J Taylor is finally healthy and playing like the player we all though he could be. Jordan Williams just keeps playing at a high level. You have a group of Sr's who didnt want to go out on a bad note. The rest of the team has responded to those Srs. Everybody has stepped their game up

6. DeAndre Harris has matured into his 6th man role. He gives us instant offense off the bench.

7. Defensively they are using their athleticism and playing man to man when they should. Against the good shooting opponents like Rice, Charlotte, FIU they went man. If a team isn't great at shooting they get in their zone. Its great to be able to play both well.

8. Like the other guys have mentioned before me, buy in. Good coaches always preach if you buy into my program we will be successful. Buy in combined with Sr leadership is a huge reason to the turn around.

9. Playing complete games. Not just a half

10. I mentioned before the season started that this team would struggle early because they were a group of guys that hadn't played much together. I also said that I expected them to finish the season strong. I believe the talent is finally gelling into a team. These guys are now comfortable playing with each other. You look around at a lot of the top mid major programs in the country and they are teams loaded with Srs or guys who have been playing with each other for 3 or 4 years. We didnt have that luxury.

I hope the good times keep rolling!

[emmitt01]

I think he just finally "turned them loose". It may pain some on here to hear it but I think it's the Johhny Jones method. We will never get the most polished, most finished, products when we recruit...but we manage to get above average athletes. So, once a coach gives them a system to loosely play within the parameters of, they flourish. I think Benford may have been attempting to micro-manage and punish small mistakes too much. This ain't the Princeton offense out there.

[IslandEagle]

I think oldguystudent more or less said what I feel has happened. Coaching is more than X's and O's -- I doubt Coach K knows that more about tactics than Benford does. Coaching is about getting your players to buy in, being able to teach your knowledge, etc..

Benford has no doubt improved on that aspect. Whether it's enough to have us competing for league titles only time will tell. It's obvious though that the kids are actually responding to him now versus a month or so ago.

The unspoken issue is that Benford inherited a couple (actually 3) bad apples, whose main agenda seemed to be that no coach could tell them what to do and that they were far more important than the rest of the team. One of the reasons Benford was cut some slack is that it has taken a while to rebuild team morale. Not to make excuses for him, but AD and his staff were well aware of what was going on. It is possible another coach could have managed it better, but I suspect many coaches would have said "hasta la vista" to these players a little faster than Benford did.

[emmitt01]

The unspoken issue is that Benford inherited a couple (actually 3) bad apples, whose main agenda seemed to be that no coach could tell them what to do and that they were far more important than the rest of the team. One of the reasons Benford was cut some slack is that it has taken a while to rebuild team morale. Not to make excuses for him, but AD and his staff were well aware of what was going on. It is possible another coach could have managed it better, but I suspect many coaches would have said "hasta la vista" to these players a little faster than Benford did.

Player cancer...that took all of, what, seven posts in this thread?

[Quoner]

Man, you could tell they knew the situation was that unstable all the way back then because of the way they barely promoted all of the returning players and talent as something special.

[greenit]

I would have thought the Big East offense he brought here was more about freelancing and individual creation, putting more responsibility on the players to have to read the defense and react accordingly.

Some, like Jones seemed confused as to what they were supposed to do when having that responsibility.

Now, there seems to be more prescribed plays. I would thought most players would have preferred the freedom, but it seems to be working, so kudos to whoever figured it out, at least for the current team makeup. Keep it going.

Edited February 27, 2015 by greenit

[CMJ]

The unspoken issue is that Benford inherited a couple (actually 3) bad apples, whose main agenda seemed to be that no coach could tell them what to do and that they were far more important than the rest of the team. One of the reasons Benford was cut some slack is that it has taken a while to rebuild team morale. Not to make excuses for him, but AD and his staff were well aware of what was going on. It is possible another coach could have managed it better, but I suspect many coaches would have said "hasta la vista" to these players a little faster than Benford did.

Yes, I am sure all the cancers that JJ recruited over the years really hurt him. Give me a effing break.

That also doesn't explain some of our RIDICULOUS losses this year.

[golfingomez]

I'm thinking the real reason has been Quoner's PRE-game pep talks... they have been strangely efficient

[UNT90]

Not to make excuses for him.

Your entire post was not only an excuse for the LAST 2 1/2 YEARS of this program, but also an excuse for the AD that caused those 2 1/2 years to occur by hiring someone who clearly wasn't ready to be a head coach.

[Quoner]

I'm thinking the real reason has been Quoner's PRE-game pep talks... they have been strangely efficient

We're 8-4 in games with previews attached to them. I'm a bigger, stronger, thicker Tony Denton for 2015.

[MeanGreenTexan]

I think he just finally "turned them loose". It may pain some on here to hear it but I think it's the Johhny Jones method. We will never get the most polished, most finished, products when we recruit...but we manage to get above average athletes. So, once a coach gives them a system to loosely play within the parameters of, they flourish. I think Benford may have been attempting to micro-manage and punish small mistakes too much. This ain't the Princeton offense out there.

I think this is the correct response... or at least, on the right track.

It's so sad that we squandered some of the best players to come through here in the past few decades while Benford had to learn to let them play.

Then, we get those guys (who were somehow amazing, non-cancerous, players just 9 months prior) thrown under the bus after they leave because they weren't allowed to be "turned loose" to play during Benford's initial year.

I'm not going to hope Benford falls flat, because that would negate the hope I have for Jordan & the guys to go out on top. I'm not happy with HOW we got to this point, but I'm glad we're here now (not the .500 record, but the 5-game win streak).

If Benford's gone in 3 weeks, I'm fine with that. If he's here, I hope he wins... cleanly.

[ChristopherRyanWilkes]

Who knows, whatever it is just keeping doing it.

[Greendylan]

It's 5 games.

It's a nice little run, but nothing more at this point. 3 fading teams, one average team (at home) and one good team (at home).

Beat UTEP on the road and there may be something to get legitimately excited about.

I will say that the run has helped save Benford's job and relieved a ton of pressure on RV to get rid of Benford.

I don't think coaches magically "get it" in their 3rd year. I do wonder if the assistants are FAR more involved this year than the first 2.

I am happy for Jordan Williams, who did so much to help us recruit that once magical recruiting class and has had nothing but disappointment on the court during his time at UNT. I really hope this team can make a conference run forJordan's sake. He hung in there when others bailed, and with what we saw the last 2 years, that could not have been easy to do.

I get what you're saying, but requiring a win against UTEP on the road is a pretty tough standard. I believe they've only lost twice at home this year: Arizona and Louisiana Tech--and both were by single digits.

I'm cautiously optimistic now, but I'll be really excited if we are able to beat a top 50 RPI team on Saturday.

[KRAM1]

For those of you who have been attending the games, what has been the reason for the turn around in our level of play? Has Benford found his mojo? Is it player chemestry? Easy part of the schedule? Opinions, please.

GO MEAN GREEN!

I would only touch this question in private.

[Andrew]

UNT is tied for the second longest conference game win streak with LA Tech. Only UTEP and WKU have longer. Each won 7 games in a row. I say lets win out and make it a 8 game win streak and dominate the conference tournament.

To answer the question.... Whenever you bring in JUCOS guys and rebuild a team it takes time (whether it was warranted or not). I think Benford has become a better coach and I think the players are buying in more. The

chemistry is there. We still are not as deep a team as we could be (hoping for next year), but our 9 eligible guys are showing up each and every night.

Edited February 28, 2015 by Andrew

[emmitt01]

I would only touch this question in private.

K

[FirefightnRick]

K

As long as he's not offering to touch your privates in private.

By the way, Island didn't get that panel of excuses about the cancers on this team by watching and studying them in person. He lives in Corpus Christi, or somewhere in South Texas. With that, not including gmg, I'll give you three...., no, two guesses where he heard it from?

Rick