GrandGreen

A blog on official site stated that the football team would have a series of competitions to highlight the end of conditioning prior to spring training. I would find it interesting to see the winners but alas although promised, no results have been posted. Anyone know the results, like who is the fastest player?

Twenty win seasons mean little anymore, as most teams load up on sub-par competition in the out of conference schedule. NT's five straight years winning twenty is a heck of an accomplishment for a Belt program, but not going to impress many. The primary focus is all about getting into the NCAA's and having a high rpi. Only oc games I think make sense in conference play is a game to keep team sharp in a long conference layoff and this should be against a weaker team. I though NT's oc schedule was very good last year with both Rice and Tech at home and challenging away games in LSU and KU. I hate to break it to many but a more competitive oc last year would have just been more loses and would not likely have helped the rpi. Playing better teams is not easy to do either for a team like NT. As stated most teams want cupcakes mixed with a few high profile teams during the oc. NT is generally too good to be a cupcake, but not good enough to be a marquee game to most programs.

Both were fired. Simon was reassigned but as far as I know did nothing but collect checks for a couple of years. Jank may have agreed to leave given no other alternative, the AD was set on bringing his buddy from UT, Trilli. Story is that Jank would not agree to the crazy scheduling that Helwig had lined up to finance the program and was shown the door. Remember that NT probably had the toughest schedule in basketball and it backfired spectacularly.. They canceled most of the schedule and would not further play lower level conferences like the Southland. The AD with Trilli's help almost killed the program. Not only the losing but the disgraceful way they reneged on commitments including renewing most of the ships of the players recruited by the prior staff.

This should be the best year for NT softball. They returned a very good hitting club, but pitching was a major concern. It appears that both Kirk and Simmons are quality pitchers and I look for a good conference result.

Jank did not quit, he was fired and did not take it well. Simon was also terminated, where are you getting your information? Only coaches to move on from NT in decades were Jerry Moore and Hayden Fry in football. Spika quit as basketball coach after Rust was made AD and Harry Miller took a job at another school after only one year as basketball coach. There was a woman's bb coach who left for A & M and Judy Nelson who left after her husband was fired. JJ has been here a long time in coaches' terms, I hope he stays longer; but he had very mixed results this year. He got the 20 wins, a good accomplishment at NT even though the conference was weak and so was most of the oc schedule. He led the team to a great end of season run particularly with the shape of the team at that point. He however failed to have the breakout year I and others thought this team would be capable of. He failed to add anything to a strong senior nucleus that would have made this team stronger and had a devastating mid year slump. There is no doubt that JJ has been a great coach for NT and resurrected a team that was at its low after Trilli. Five consecutive 20 year win seasons is great for a program like NT. On paper he has the best recruiting class since the Robbins Tubbs area. I really don't think JJ is going anywhere unless he get the big offer with the success he has at NT and the recruits he has coming in. He is playing the negotiation cards now, and I wish him luck.

Yea sure, the end of games would look like roller derby if calls that obvious were not usually made and I don't care how much basketball you've watched. Referees tend to eat their whistles late in games and play off basketball is normally rougher. Calls are missed all the time and no one expected the push offs and minor fouls to be called but knocking someone off his feet for a late three would be called most of the time even in the NBA playoffs. I have seen few that have argued that UALR didn't deserve the win or that NT didn't collapse at the end of the game, but it was an inexcusable non-call that should have been made. Not to mention that referees should not call 90% of a tournament one way than convert to in your "let them play" basketball in the championship game. I am not sure you even saw the play from your comments, again calls are missed, but to infer body blocks that flatten the defender are just part of a basketball game and commonly ignored in a well refereed game is ludicrous.

For a player ranked the seven best in the state pre season, and averaging over 21 points a game; I will repeat it was a disappointing state tournament performance. Frankly, having seen him early in the season, his last two games were way below par. I think part of it is the offense, Johnson has chosen to run with emphasis on outside shots, but based on the two state tourney games, I would rate Williams about the 5th best player on the team. I think he is much better player than that, in fact I think he will be an excellent player for NT. I agree he will be a good team player, playing on basically a high school all star team should serve him well at the next level. His skills should fix real well at a wing for the Green.

Disregarding the fact that UALR is a senior member of the conference and isn't going anywhere unless they want to, why? Not picking on you, but this is a continuous topic on most Belt boards, what difference does it make? Do people think this gives non-football playing members an advantage in other sports, make scheduling harder, provide better competition, etc? No one is concerned that other schools don't play all the others sports. I do think it would work better with a balanced number, so I wouldn't be against adding another non-football member.

Even though Kimball won the state championship, it was not a good tournament for Williams. Did not start and for someone who led the team in scoring was not a big part of the offense. Everyone has slumps but Williams was little more than a role player at the state tournament. Why is anyone so concerned with Henry? Per his coach NT is not a factor in his recruiting.

Chris Jones picked player of game, with 24 points, 3 rbs, 5 assts and 6 steals. Also had a monster dunk, this guy can play.

Actually the refs did have something to do with the loss. NT should not use the refs as an excuse for the loss as it should not have come down to a couple of calls or non-calls. However, the refs play a part in every game, in this game they seemed to be determined to let them play far more than the norm for a Belt game. The referees to a large extent dictated the pace of the game. Particularly in the first half, Thompson was mugged several times going to the basket without a call. He would have had a lot more free throws if the game was called like the rest of the tournament. I actually prefer they let them play more, but to state the officiating had nothing to to do with the results is just wrong. Teams should adjust to the officiating but bad calls such their failure to call Bozeman pancake block definitely have an impact on the results. You don't think that if that had been called and the three waved off and NT getting free shots wouldn't have changed the game?

Kimball 50 Cedar Park 36 Jalen Jones led Kimball with 19 points. I think Jordan Williams was the leading Kimball rebounder but he did not shoot much. Not to knock a team as successful as Kimball, but with a front court going 6'6, 6'6 and 6'9, their offense seems to be take the first outside shoot available.

Another knock on Knox. We will have to wait and see. Some games he looked like there was hope, others not so much. Just remember a lot of tall guys gel late, so don't give up. Personally, I think he can play but he has little confidence. I still don't believe he passed to White to shoot when he was standing under the basket. NT has 3 ships left to give, but one most likely will be held for Mitchell. Point guard with Jones and Norris plus combos Walton and A. Williams should be in good shape once they get use to a higher level of play. The wings will have A. Williams, J. Williams, B. Walton and perhaps Holmen. The bigs returning are Hogans, Edwards, Knox, and Holmen. With Robinson being added and J. Williams also who in hs is basically an inside player. Ideally you would want a big rebounder and another wing. Wings are the easiest position to fill but a good big men are hard to find. Of course, if Tony Mitchell is eligible he could play either wing or post and probably be great. With the class NT has already put together, it seems to me that NT should have a relatively easy time getting two more excellent recruits. In truth, NT already has a lot of posts on ship; but Edwards and Knox are both questionable. Holmen was coming on at the end of the year and Hogans plays with great emotion. Problem, neither has proved to good rebounders. I will echo some other opinions and hope that NT can land a juco big man. The other ship could be used on the best player available no matter what position and I would even consider a transfer who has to sit out a year.

Huh, Chris Jones is already signed. In fact, a recent DMN column rated him the number 2 player in the area behind only Nash. It is obvious that he is at least a 3 star recruit, and right now is probably playing the best of NT's class. Rivals is not always logica or right.

Sheridan CC beat Casper CC 85-73 in region playoffs Brandon Walton regular season stats: 15.3 ppg, 4.0 rbs, 2 apg . fg% 38.4, 3% 33, ft% 73.5 Not exceptional numbers but JJ has a way of finding jucos without stellar stats who fit the program: McCoy, Johnson, Shorter

Not that NT would even be a consideration, but NT wouldn't even benefit much from inclusion. NIT is a great way to help develop next years team, but NT having only three underclassmen Edwards , Knox,and Hogans currently active, it would be of little benefit as a development tool especially considering Hogans and Edwards are both in more need of r & r and perhaps surgery than playing experience.

Yes, Kimball is listed as being 36-2 yet the 29ppg average is derived from 22 games. I appreciate the paper's high school coverage but it looks like they would monitor their stats a little better. This is not a one week error either, There were only a few games all year were Williams had over 29 points, his actual average is not close to this number. Makes you wonder, about all the other errors that are probably in their data.

I'm all for it. I think the whole old Southland should be div 1 in football. La Tech, UNT, ULL and ULM already are. UTSA and TSSM have already announced. Lamar has reestablished football. Rumblings about UTA, SHSU and SFU moving up. McNeese can't be far behind. Of course, Texas football will continue to be weakened below the AQ level as more and more teams recruit to the division 1 level. Also as more lower level teams are added to the mix, the likelihood of another split in D1 is more likely. I don't blame any school for their ambitions, if I was an alum of those universities; I would be all for the move. The reality is that in the long run, it won't be a good thing for NT and I believe Texas football in general. It is imperative for NT to continue to distance themselves from these start ups.

Great article. I don.t think Jones is going anywhere but you can never be sure. I don't believe long term contracts work for lower tier schools, but I'm all for raising JJ salary as much as practical. Small point, I don't believe Jordan Williams was anywhere close to averaging 29 a game although that is what the DMN reports, much closer to 20.

I can say it was a push as many times as you can deny it. I also watched it over and over and in stop motion, so there. I have not seen one comment that said that UALR didn't deserve the win. Can't speak for others, but I am not bitter, it was a very exciting game that was as close as possible. I think the biggest factor in the loss was NT's lack of a bench but in a game that close; you could pick almost anything. Too many turnovers and a great performance from Bozeman would be high up on the list.

Extremely hard played game, UALR really got NT to play their game. Both teams had to be just running on flumes. NT controlled the boards especially in the second half, but had way too many turnovers. Ironic that White who seemed destined to be the hero, was upstaged by another great senior Bozeman. Strange play of the game, 6'10 Knox with the ball under the basket got an assist by passing the ball to 5'8ish White for the bucket from three foot out. Three well deserved all tournament selections for the Green: Odufuwa, White and Thompson. Thompson was sick during the game but still managed to break the all time tournament scoring record. I hope Hogans gets some R&R, he looked like he belonged more in a hospital room than a basketball court. Thompson and Shorter were class acts in the post game interview, both offered no excuses and took blame for the loss. I wondered about Bozeman being the Belt MVP, but he certainly proved it was deserved. Wonder about quote from UALR broadcast guy who stated that Bozeman may have got Belt MVP because he and 2 WKU were the nominees and that may have split the vote. I assume that you may have to be a first team AC to be nominated, but wonder why Thompson was not considered. You know that JJ has advanced the program when a 22-11 year is largely taken for granted. In many ways a disappointing year for the seniors but they handled it with class. They have been thanked on other threads and deservedly so. I am looking forward to seeing Hogans and Knox next year joined by the injured Alzee Williams and Holmen and hopefully another class of players that can equal or surpass what this group has accomplished on the court.

There was a push off, but it is just about never going to be called. Even the announcers commented on it, something to the effect it got him the room he needed for the shot. It was a heck of a play and shot and the game should have never come down to that, two threes in the last 22 seconds not to mention another missed three that almost went in.

Great end of year effort from the guys. They got beat by an inferior but emotional team who made some incredible shots including two threes opened up by an illegal screen and a push off. Ironically, the lack of bench got NT in the end even though both teams played the same number of games.

You are right about the fouls, but they were calling it very loose all night, they certainly were not going to call one with the game on the line. Lack of a bench finally caught up with NT. UALR make the plays at the end and NT didn't make enough plays and continued to turn the ball over.

Why I love the stall at the end with a lead. Take away all the momentum, and get completely out of rhythm.