Andrew

Weren't we recruiting him.

There were mistakes made by everyone. Coaches and players. Stop dealing in absolutes. That is what keeps me out of the "fire Benford" crusade right now. I'm not going to just blindly attack him. As you can see his subbing patterns were not what they were last year. And yes we were stagnant on offense. That is both coaches and players to me. Coaches do set up offenses, but players create. It's a two street. Honestly it all is. Ultimately coaches will take the blame because they will always be there while players will come and go. I just want UNT to succeeded. Keep or remove Benfoed I will never miss a game and support the team. I will be worried no matter who the coach is what will happen after next season. There could be issues.

I was there. I was still getting settled but to my knowledge we pretty much started out in man. I figured we would when we realized were undersized. I was hoping we would deny the ball more and over play their guys.

A month ago people jumped all over Bemford because "obviously he does not tell his players to box out" when we gave up a few rebounds, what is the man suppose to do? Apparently no one can be happy... You act as if other coaches do not say this which shows you know very little about the college game. Perhaps the game in general. Sure Benford is not cutting it but saying these things during games is no different then any other coach. Middle Tennese's coach talked the entire game yelling shooter, box out, and ripping a guy for picking up a foul. He ripped him bad too. The students started yelling his name and flailing their arms like he did. Did you not pay attention to UTEPS coach walking the sideline screen shooter or double double etc.. I'm guessing not because it's clear it's one giant which hunt for Benfords job and nothing more. This is the reason I will be on the other side. Just because JJ would squat at the end of the bench does not mean every coach has to. We also have zero clue as to what a Benford practice looks like. I have heard it ins similar just more rigorous then a JJ practice. So somewhere in all of this something has gone sour. It's a mixture of things and coaching is one of them. But stop putting it all on ones mans shoulders.

We went man pretty much the entire game on defense. Offensively we just need to take shots. UTEP took contested shots and made them, when they missed they unbounded. We just looked for the open shot which rarely came and then sucked our head and took it into the paint. That is a mix of both coaching and players. I just think we need to shoot. I am not half as good as I use to be but if there is even 6 in between me and my defender I am going to shoot it.

Agreed. I have no choice but to be on the opposite side because it's either support a losing coach or support low basketball IQ community. Not saying I am much better, but I have enough sense to know what is wrong and say it without blindly attacking him.

True that. Of course no one will bother asking a former NCAA player. They just want to act like they know. Because they are fans.

They are young and big. How did they even land number 41?

Ward will be a Junior so he is not going to be a long term solution. Hopefully we can find a guy like Jordan next season. A inside and out kind of player with good size.

Or someone just shown up Monday and ask questions.

I think everyone is a bit worried about that.

I don't follow. People bash Benford for his players failing to box out.... Then they bash him for telling his players to box out... That makes zero sense (referring to NT90s post above).

I'm hoping Ward is like a Walton or Vaughn's type guy who ca knock down the three and give you 14 on a solid night. Mo can score but he is inconsistent. I do like that he is willing to at least shoot the ball. There are times when I have no idea why others are not putting the ball up. Unless Jordan is double team or 8 feet behind the three point line he needs to be shooting. He is 6'6" and has length to see over the defender. If someone plays off of me a foot or more I am going to shoot the ball all day. These guys need to take more shots. Not sure if Benford is saying no or they are just passing up the opportunity, but either way they need to put the ball in the air.

I'm not saying he has faults. I just think it's ridiculous people just jump on the man. Instead of saying we did this right, but let's improve on this they just bash the man none stop. It gets old. Then they want to praise JJ who was also bashed left and right. It makes for a very weak fan base. Especially when you consider people come on and read what is posted.

True but that is another body to sub in and out next season. I, hoping to see CJ, TJ, and Jordan get solid minutes (32-25) a night. More bodies on the bench means more subs under this regime.

Maybe we red shirt him and give him a year to grow. Needs some muscle for sure.

Working with the bigs is a must. Not sure if we need another big. Not sure what Combs will be/do next season. Gaines and Colman need to join the little jumpers and do some jump rope over the summer regardless of who the coach is next season.

There we go now we are having a basketball discussion! That makes sense and yes they have. They have shown small bursts of improvement but as a whole they have been very poor outside of Voss. They have improved but not to the level of 41 today who is a freshmen. We would have scored less if we had gone big but I do think UTEP would have scored less as well.

I just wish someone would have anything constructive to say like: Benford lost from the beginning when he played a smaller line up. That makes sense and that is on the coaching, instead people just want to complain for the sake of complaining just for a lose. Try blaming Benford for that. That is his job and he did fail in that regard tonight. I think he tried to go small thinking we could get them in transition but we had few opportunities to get out and run because UTEP shot well and was also all over the boards. Was that difficult? That is one reason we lost and that is Benford's fault. But no just keeping blaming him for a lose without a reason... There is a good reason and I hope someone asks him about it on Monday. It forced us to play from behind from the beginning. Throw in our lack of shooting and that is why we lost. And most of that is on Benford for this game. Mo playing the 4 against a 6'10 guy is a bad idea. Especially when we do not get out in transition or press the ball. Which we did very little of tonight.

I had never seen them play. They are very large. Not trying to hype them but number 41 is a good pick up for UTEP all the way out of Canada. I have hyped 4 teams this year if your claiming this... Oklahoma (was top 25 ranked), BYU (a bubble team for the tournament), SFA (two losses I think and going to the dance), and UTEP for is very large. All four teams have a chance of going to the big dance... If all four two will you then get off my back? I never ran around going whoop we beat FIU and they were tough... Or whoop we lost to Idaho but man they are a great team...

We won't be make a conference run at all without a bye... I think it's UTEPS to loose but if not UNT I will be pulling for La Tech.

Oh well there is always Thursday. You won't win any games if you shoot 16 for 66. I think UTEP might win it all (in conference). They will be out home, with a good crowd, and they have some big boys. UTEP had mismatches almost across they hoard from the tip. Benford should have tried a larger lineup of course seeing Colman and Gaines on the floor at the same time might have not helped either. Number 41 for UTEP is very good for a freshmen, for 7-1 that kid is very coordinated. We got out played and shoot poorly plain and simple. It was tough to watch but I am sure tougher for everyone who was involved. Let's go get Tulsa on Thursday. If we lose to Tulsa and in the first round of the tourney then let's talk Benford seeing the door. Let's try to finish strong Thursday.

I was not trying to bash anyone. I to wish both coaches the best. I was simply defending my statement from earlier. We will beat UTEP. I can feel it.

Speaking of bad schedules in JJs first season they played UC Santa Barbara, Mcneese State, Northwestern State, Mississippi Valley State, Chattanooga, Houston Baptist, and Bethune Cookmen as their Out of conference home schedule. That sounds fantastic right? NT90 would have loved those teams at home... Include Boise St, UC Irvine, and Marquette on the road and that was their schedule in 2012. This year they played 4 southland conference teams. Benford just runs a JJ schedule. And people at LSU were not at arms. It takes a coach 3 years (with any team) to show you what they are capable of. Regardless of what they inherit and schedule.