untgeorge

I have to wonder what is going on at ULM. Preseason picks to win the west division. Played an agressive early schedule, playing Kansas and MichSt. Has a good win at Iowa, and beating a Big10 team at their place is nothing to sneeze at (to be sure, this is not the Iowa of old, this year probably the worst Big 10 team, it's wins are over Idaho and Simpson and NIowa and the likes). ULMs losses at SFA and Nicholls makes one wonder. The guy expected to be ULMs leader, Brandon Roberts, is no longer starting and did not play at all vs Nicholls. Last season the team collapsed after Roberts was hurt, is his injury lingering? Grades? What? The freshman, Raphael, who was to bring much needed help to their inside game, is no longer starting and did not play vs Nicholls. Grades? It's that time of year. Conference play is different, and it is too early to downgrade ULM. Guys like Tony Hooper can beat you on any given day and he seems to be stepping up his game. But I wonder what is going on with Roberts and Raphael.

Leading Scorer - Anthony Winchester (now deceased and who's eternal soul haunts the Super Pit) 17.9ppg Winchester is deceased? Dang, I am sorry to hear that, good ballplayer.

Good interesting scouting reports. Thanks.

Article should be pinned.

Should be pinned.

Should be pinned.

Dallas Morning News article of a couple of weeks ago addressed this issue, which is more than just a UNT issue. But as to UNT, 2007 games last more than 3:45, 2006 games about 3:00. Times are up all over college football. UNTs 3:45 wasn't even in the top longest.

This is to me an interesting, fun conference. You have your finesse team (WKU), your teams relying on the 3-pt shot (Troy and maybe ULM), your physical defensive teams (UALR and ASU), your uptempo types (UNT and ULL), ball control teams (MTSU), and the real wild card in Denver. It's a different game every night. Plus perhaps the most colorful coach in the country in Sergio. The power is still in the East, mostly in the persona of WKU and USA. Gotta go with Courtney Lee and all those guards. But college basketball is still a coaches game, and Ronnie Arrow is the kind who can turn a league around. Who knows about the West. ULM needs help for Brandon Roberts and UNT needs for a lot of new guys to come thru and for its two bigs to stay out of foul trouble. It will be fun. Thanks, CbL. What you did required a lot of work. Labor of love, I suspect.

This is a team which could go either way. The team lost 8 conf games and then lost its best players: KD and CWat. It's big guys (including Howerton) have been foul prone and we didn't recruit a backup. During the conf tournament Howerton didn't look ready to assume a bigger role. We have some potential in the recruiting class but a lot of people have to come thru to replace KD and CWat. One positive is that Ben Bell substantially raised his game in the Belt tournament; hopefully that will carry thru. CWat was surely the tourney's Most Outstanding Player, Bell may well have been is most valuable. He dominated the ULM guards on a day when KD and Sturns combined for something like 0-25 from the field (I don't have the exact #s) and his steal at the end of regulation kept ULM from having a last shot at us. He continued his improved play the next two games. Another potentially bigger positive is that the team improved its defensive play late in the season. UNT has been a poor defensive team for some time but turned it up late. That trend HAS to carry through. This could be a very good team, or it may not. That is what the season is for, isn't it. Great write-ups, CbL. I love talking basketball this time of year.

There are hints (more than hints, actually) in the NO press that UNO has failed to deliver on promises to its coaches, promises as to facilities and other support. Keep in mind that two coaches have left UNO in two years, both for assistant jobs. It is not certain that Williams is totally to blame for his departure, but we will never know all the facts. The real longer range question is can UNO continue as a D1 program. It has two (or is it three) years remaining to get into compliance with D1 membership requirements and it is not clear that progress has been made. Perhaps it has and UNO will be a strong long-term member, but until we know they qualify, don't keep hoping Denver will leave, we may need them. Tough situation. For now CbLs write-up, excellent as usual, is on target: i.e., somebody has to add balance to their game so they are not totally dependent on Bo. In the past McNeilly has been UNOs only other scoring threat and, as CbL has said, Paltrow is no McNeilly. My real hope is we can beat them, at least once, before Bo goes.

This topic should be pinned.

Can't argue with you on the significance of the Brandon Roberts injury, I have never seen him play. I am reminded, however, that we lost KD for a significant part of the season and he had a stomach ailment which affected him in the conference tournament, and others stepped up to carry the team. No one stepped up for ULM, which speaks to their depth and reliance on one player. They were younger than we were, and that could have made the difference. As to shooting percentages, Troy and USA shoot as many 3s as ULM and had better overall shooting %s. Their shot selection at Lafayette wasn't very good, but as you pointed out that could be related to the Roberts injury as well. A better PG helps create better shots. ULM is the popular favorite and probably should be, with Roberts and Early and the new players. But don't be surprised if it goes the other way. I laughed out loud at "modified Grinnel" .... that's a good funny line.

...Ronnie Arrow is simply a better coach than Darrin Horn.

LY ULM was running away with the West Div but lost 3 of the last 4, fell into a tie w ArkSt, and lost the #1 seed. They won their 1st game in the conf tournament then lost to UNT. Meaning, they lost 4 of their last 6, and both their wins were over Denver, arguably one of the worst teams in D1. In the conf tournament (the only time I actually saw them) they were lacking a go-to guy and depth, and seemed to lack floor leadership. So which is the real ULM? The team that was 10-4 in conf at one point in time or the team that finished 2-4? It's a small team, often playing 4 guards and without a true center. It didn't shoot well (10th in conf). All stats, offense defense and rebounding, were in the middle of the conference. But somehow, for most of the year, they got things done. But they were young, having only one senior on the squad, thus they have a lot of experience coming back, and they still have possibly their most important asset - coach Orlando Early. Early has been a HC only two seasons but he has eight years as an assistant at Charleston and Alabama; a solid resume. Winning 18 games with a young team with no size and lacking in shooting ability and playing in a new conference is no small accomplishment. You can expect to see a team with solid fundamentals and which plays solid defense. Perhaps the season ending injury to Brandon Roberts caused their late season decline, if so, they could be a tough out. I am not discounting their favorable press, but it will be interesting to see if the late season decline was a fluke or if the other coaches in the conference just figured them out.

You can't count a Steve Shields coached team out. He has won two division championships in his 4 years as HC at UALR, one of those championships in what was thought of as being a rebuilding year. Finding a 282-lb player on his roster and another at 260 should be no surprise, he stresses defense and rebounding, typically finishing high in the conf in fewest points allowed and low in scoring and in shooting %, and seems to be able to get the tools to make his system work. He also recruits players who graduate. He gets quite a few JUCOs and D1 transfers. Sometimes this can backfire as it seems to have last year, after his starting PG was booted out of school. Who knows, it may be hard to get good HS kids to Little Rock. Maybe you won't see UALR at the top of the standings this season, but they are another team whose physically punishing defense and fundamentals can make them very dangerous at any given time. To do really well Shields has to figure out a way to build a team which can shoot and still retain their very definite distinctive personality.

"36% of Jmo's yards came on that 42yd touchdown run in the 2nd qtr. I'd like to see his numbers for the 2nd half.

Tulsa's stadium looks much nicer than it used to. I believe the Fort Worth Star Telegram even had a different name for it as it used to be called Skelley Stadium; BTW, the TU stadium seats about 40,000. Wonder if OU would have booked games with Tulsa U if it had seated, uh, 30-32,000?

Watching Denver should be a lot of fun. Their disciplined style can be very efficient and at the same time test their opponents poise and efficiency. In an earlier day Princeton won a lot of games against opponents with superior talent by breaking down their defense and frustating them at both ends of the court. This style should be well suited for a school like Denver, whose academics make recruiting a lot of big timers very difficult. They will have smart talented people playing within themselves and taxing their opponents. That having been said they need a year or two to build the squad they want to have. This year look for them to be a spoiler and a very dangerous one at that. They could be a serious challenger in very little time.

Dang, this was put up when I was out of state and I didn't see it until the last couple of days. Games between UNT and ULL look like intersquad games: both coaches seem to be trying to do the same things, on both ends of he court. As a result the team with the best big man won. Since Southall's departure that has been Wooden, and one would expect more of the same this current year. But Lee's teams have shown toughness and determination and they could well serve as spoilers this year.

Maestri plays a different game. In the 2006 conference tournament, Troy set an NCAA record for number of 3s made in a game (27? something like that). Maestri's Troy has owned the record before and my memory tells me that of something like the top 10 games for most 3s in NCAA history, Troy owns 6 or 7 of the spots (I am away from my home and don't have the exact numbers with me). Last year again, Troy tried most 3s in the conference. There in a nutshell has been Maestri's game. Their problem in this league has been that while they have had a lot of shooters, many were spot-up shooters - the run to a spot, wait for the ball, take a shot if they are open, pass it off if they are not. Remember our George King from our Southland days? George could shoot lights out if somebody got him open but he was extraordinarily slow. Troy's 2006 team had about six George Kings. After setting the record in 2006, their 3-pt shooting was shut down the next night by defenders who went out beyond the 3-pt line to defend them, and troy had only a couple of players who could penetrate. My guess is Maestri's 3-pt or nothing style won't win this conference without players who are more agile and can penetrate and rebound. Certainly USA shot a lot of 3s but they could also do other things. Maestri's game is entertaining, but limited. Maybe being in this conference will allow him to recruit better, but it is clear in the past he had recruited a certain type player. I don't have a clear fix on Maestri's defensive style. In 2006 they were all man, I hear that in other games that year they played some zone. They did not play every energetic defense in 2006 and the night they made all those 3s, they gave up 90 or 100 points. To win, they also have to play better defense; maybe they are on track to do that, didn't I read a Troy players was accorded defensive player of the year in the conference meeting a few weeks ago?

Thanks everybody, I appreciate the thoughts. Just think: 71 years waiting for a new stadium.

I should add: good job, CbL. It takes lots of research and time to pull this stuff together. I hope everyone who follows basketball appreciates that.

Well, i don't know about up-tempo, MTSU finished the conference last in scoring offense and 1st in scoring defense. They didn't score as much as 80 points in a game even once during the season. Against USA and UNT in the conference tournament they tried to control the tempo and play at their pace, winning vs USA 63-60 in OT and losing to UNT 52-59. In other words, they neither gave up nor scored 60 pts in any conf tournament game, and they took only 44 shots vs USA. Davis is very good at making you play his game, which was a hard-nosed physical game, and he certainly kept both USA and UNT out of their offenses, which he had to do in the conf tournament because he didn't have the quickness or the athleticism of either USA or UNT. That having been said, Kanaskie and Yates are solid blocks to build on. I liked O'Neill, too. It is surprising that a 215 lb newcomer would beat out Hudson at the center spot, Hudson's was his team's top scorer and rebounder in the tournament; but CbLs analysis (he is slow) is right on. However neither Wooden nor Williams or anyone else pushed Hudson around. It is hard for an old dog to change his spots (is that a mixed metaphor, or what?) and Davis has been a take-your-time, take good shots coach at A&M and Idaho. He also coached under Brady at LSU; Brady thinks 65-64 is a high scoring game. It will be interesting to see Davis can change like that, even with an infusion of new athletic talent (hopefully quickness will come with that talent). I am an old cynic, so I will bet against.

The scenario presented by CBL is not that far fetched. Wichita had a good run in the NCAAs a couple of years ago with 7 kids recruited out of Texas high schools, 4 from the Dallas/FW area and 3 from the Houston area. Wichita is still recruiting the Dallas area heavily. In other words, the power conferences aren't getting all the kids who can play and who can stay eligible. We need to do a better job of getting our share. The current South Alabama situation is a reminder of the potential downside of relying on transfers. Some work out fine, but it's hard to know who is a good kid who left for a better opportunity and who became persona-non-gratis at his current school, for reasons having nothing to do with basketball ability. Pelphrey's big success was in getting the transfers to play as a team, until his luck ran out. As to Arrow, his last CC team had 3 JCs and one TxTech transfer; 3 of his top 5 scorers were transfers. His teams at CC shot far fewer three's than did USA under Pelphrey. Who knows if that is a difference in philosophy or just a difference in personnel; he did have a 7-footer at CC. USA will be a mystery. It will be interesting to see what happens.