Denver game thread

[IronMan4]

We came out in the first half doing our Bracey Wright impression. The 20 point lead was awesome and I thought we were going to run away with it. But we didn't. Three things that made the game closer:

1) Denver started hitting the shots they missed in the first half.

2) We weren't on fire anymore.

3) Most important, I was very unhappy with the offense. To tell the truth, I did not even notice the offense in the first half, it was running smoothly. Then in the second half we went to some kind of motion set and every time Johnson got the ball, he was out on the perimeter. The Denver center was decent, he was good at creating his own shot and blocking out, playing smart, but we should have been pounding it inside. I have heard that the players were upset at our offense, and I could see why in that stretch of the second half, it was not putting our guys in position to do what they do best. If we would have posted up Johnson, it would have slowed the game down and given us offensive success, and killed their momentum. Luckily we made enough our free throws to keep Denver at a safe distance late in the game. I think I heard on the radio we shot 51% from the floor, which is excellent.

The atmosphere was much improved over last game. I was proud of our student section tonight, who really got in the game and had fun. It was very ironic that stebo won the freaking steak when he had to be talked into going. The student section finally won a steak and it was stebo.

Now, to what we all want to talk about...Johnsons slam. Holy crap that was the best dunk I have seen in the Super Pit since I have been here. Reached over and tomahawked it on the poor dudes head. That was worth the price of admission for everyone there.

Cerebus, if you have a picture of this, please do all basketball fans a favor and post it. If there is a good pic out there, it should immediately be made into a poster with the home schedule and plastered all over campus.

Edited January 16, 2004 by IronMan4

[Zeke]

I didn't realize his dunk was that spectacular. I am hoping Cerebus was taking pics then.

[Guest e-bone]

I also want to see the oop to Will Smith.

[emmitt01]

And don't forget Erin's sign "The only pioneers we know are women." is now in the hall of fame.

On a side note, I'm told that when Sho Jo dunked on that guy he told him "You can't hold me n****!" Classic.

[Pierow 2]

First, those signs were great. That took some effort, I need to get up off my touchas and do the same. Also, the first half was awesome.

Now the down part: why did we allow such a momentum shift in the second half? We should have buried them. They had several runs of six or eight points where JJ did nothing. He kept trying that "Shawnson at the top of the key" stuff. It makes you really want to scratch your head. It wasn't broken but they were trying to fix it anyway. Maybe they wanted to adjust early to negate whatever adjustments they thought Denver would make at halftime. I don't think Denver MADE any halftime adjustments. Like Iron Man said, they just made the shots they missed in the first half.

I am still very happy to have beaten a conference foe. But I hope they aren't all this close. The NMSU game should have been won, but we lost that at the last. This weird trend needs to stop. I think we have more talent than to fall apart at the latter part of the game.

We should SMOKE Fla. Atlantic. At least I hope we do. See ya Monday night...or tomorrow if you're going to the banquet.

GMG

[Cerebus]

First half explosion was two things:

1) We went inside out. Get ShawnDog (which he prefers to ShoJo) in the low post, feed him the ball. If no one helps, he takes a shot. If the defense collapses (which it did most of the half), he kicks out to an open shooter. We hit those shots.

2) Denver was freaking COLD. Nothing was going in. This is the best shooting team in the league and they did nothing the first half. Alot of that was good hustling defense on the wings, Watson at 6'5" can really put a bother on thier guards.

Second Half:

1) With a big lead, I think we tried to get another part of the offense working, the give Shawnson the ball high and let others cut to the basket, it didnt work.

2) Denver shot like they should have.

Overall, I thought it was huge for this team to win. They blew a 20 pt lead, but still where able to overcome that and win.

A huge point is that many people consider Denver's center to be the best in the league, better than Marcus was last year and better than the ULL center. He has owned us in the poast, and he could do nothing last nite. He was also in foul trouble from trying to guard Shawnson.

The bottom line is that if we get good consistent shooting from the outside, we can beat anyone in the league. Thats what happened in the first half, but if we cant get that, we are in deep deep trouble, like the second half.

[Brent]

Get ShawnDog (which he prefers to ShoJo) in the low post, feed him the ball.

In the press conference, someone asked what he thought of the nickname ShoJo.

He said he had never heard it until then. Said he didn't hear the PA guy say it or the sign.

I seems to be an unauthorized nickname.

I hadn't heard about ShawnDog.

[Cerebus]

I hadn't heard about ShawnDog.

ShawnDog is what I have heard some of the players call him.

[IronMan4]

Honest to goodness basketball talk....I love this thread.

More on the offense...Mitchell is not an offensive point guard. He can't handle the ball under tight pressure and certainly is not a shooter. I like having him cover the opposing team's point guard on defense because the last thing we need is Jerome to get tired or in foul trouble, but on offense Jerome should handle all (if possible) ball handling duties. Calvin Watson has a chance to really prosper with Johnson here this semester demanding all that attention. I didn't really elaborate on this in my first post, but the thing I did not like about the offense in the second half (other than Johnson outside) is that it required our perimeter players to create their own shot by driving or creating space. The only two guys I think can do this with any regularity are Leonard (and he has struggled with it this season because of the injury) and Jerome (who can't finish inside due to size...he did get one down low last night ). DeGrate had a nice move off the dribble last night, but he doesn't show that ability enough to count on. That's what I didn't like about it. This team operates on offense at it's max when Johnson is down low scoring and drawing double teams and the perimeter guys get open looks. And when that is clicking, we can beat anyone in the conference as Lorenzo said.

[Gakusei]

I don't think anyone should forget how on fire Justin Barnett was last night. He came out and maybe about 3 or 4 incredible plays right away. I've heard talk that Coach Jones is seriously considering going with the two big men in the starting lineup. I'd love to see that.

[UNT_92_Fan]

Barnett was hot last nite....7 in 7....cant complain...he was pretty pumped after the game....

[Guest e-bone]

I don't think that Barnett is going to be the "inside presence" that some think he is. However, it is great that he can come off the bench and give the team a spark. He is kind of like the Eddy Najera of UNT. Well, a taller, slower Najera that gets hung on the rim

[Gakusei]

I disagree on Barnett not being/going to be an inside presence. Anyway, RPI's are still a little messed up, but I thought it was nice to see we jumped 46 places after last night's game, from 312 to 266. Denver fell 25 spots.

[hope24]

Barnett was hot last nite

I think he's hot period.

[UNTFan23]

I think he's hot period.

I wish Jessica Alba played for UNT.

*le sigh*

[IronMan4]

If Justin Barnett played heavy minutes he would not look nearly as good as he did against Denver. Credit JJ for knowing when to play him and how to utilize him. He may be an alright player, but yall shouldn't be wasting your time getting a man crush (or regular crush Hope) on him. Calvin Watson is a freshman with a sweet stroke and rangy body that will learn how to play defense. Barnett has started to step up from seeing him at the scorers table and holding your breath, to seeing him at the scorers table and feel OK about not falling apart while he is in there. Being an inside force is much later down the road.

[Brent]

Watson is also still not 100%. He said after the game that it still bothers him but is playing through it, and trying not to let it show.

He is already looking good out there as a freshman. I can't wait to see a healthy CW.

[Guest e-bone]

Also, why is Mike Jones not getting a whole lot of playing time? Early in the season before Johnson was eligible, Jones impressed me more than anyone else on the team. I thought he was going to be the best player on the team. He can shoot from outside and has good size.

[CaraBear]

PUT IN JOHN FRANKLIN!!!!!

[Gakusei]

If Justin Barnett played heavy minutes he would not look nearly as good as he did against Denver.  Credit JJ for knowing when to play him and how to utilize him.

Barnett is still recovering from injuries, which is why he's seeing limited minutes. I think he and Watson will be key in our teams for the next couple years. Once these two are at 100% and put together with Michael Sturns from N Crowley at PG, I think this is going to be a seriously big and good shooting team. Sure wish we had Shojo for another couple years, however.

I agree on Jones. He shot 2-3 (both made from 3pt) and had some nice assists and rebounds. I'd definitely like to see him playing more. Also, I'd definitely like to see Hopkins playing less. He's trying to make all kinds of shots that just aren't there, and it definitely shows in the box score. I don't care who we put in there, just get him out.

Edited January 17, 2004 by Gakusei

[CaraBear]

Gak, you defend Barnett by referring to his injuries, but want to yank Hopkins despite the fact he is obviously not fully recovered from his latest injury?

[Gakusei]

Gak, you defend Barnett by referring to his injuries, but want to yank Hopkins despite the fact he is obviously not fully recovered from his latest injury?

There's a difference between not putting up huge numbers, and making dumb plays. For the past couple games I've seen Leonard try to push into a crowded lane time after time, just to miss his shot and give the other team the ball. If he can take smarter shots and move the ball when there's nothing there, then it'd be worth it to have him playing the kind of minutes he's playing currently.

I think that at one point Hopkins would've been a great player for the team, he even had a couple nice games earlier in the season, but I feel like he's not doing much good outside of free throws at this point.

Don't get me wrong about Barnett, he still has a long way to go, but he's showing some potential that I'd like to see JJ capitalize on over the next couple years. He still has problems with reading the defense (I've seen numerous times where he had the chance to roll around one defender for an easy basket and didn't), and needs to have some of Shojo's intensity rub off on him.

Edited January 17, 2004 by Gakusei

[MrStrange62]

Barnett is rolling. He is playing hurt. He cant even practice. But after the show he put on, he deserves huge props! But, like said before, he still has a lot of growing to do still.

GMG!!!