Post 23-24 season evaluation for men

[Ross Hodgeson]

I have conflicting thoughts when looking back.  On the one hand, when healthy and hitting shots, we could stand toe to toe with pretty much anyone.  But with injuries and lack of a shot we could lose to teams like UTSA.  I do think Ross overall had a very good year with big shoes to fill but this team won the NIT last year.  Looking at the depth that FAU displayed in terms of size and guard play last night is daunting.  If we could somehow get Rubin, Aaron and Jason back and hopefully keep CJ, Buggs and Rondel and put some quality big men around them I feel like we too could be elite.  If not it will be very difficult to compete in this conference with the likes of FAU, UAB, Charlotte, USF and Memphis.  UAB has proven they can basically reload every year similar to WKU.

[greenjoe]

Interesting that 3 of your 5 examples are former CUSA teams new in the AAC.

[Glory to the Green]

I have no conflicting thoughts at all. Hodge put together a really good team that competed/beat pretty much every team we played. Injuries to our veteran PG really hurt. His game management will only improve.  We still have the AAC Tourney. GMG!

[NT80]

It's actually not post-season yet considering we still have a regular season game remaining plus the Tournament.  

The status to this point is we are capable of hanging with anyone, but have trouble finishing.   We lack quality depth and yet are only a couple of players away from being really, really good.   I hope Ross can reload now that he has seen a year as HC at this level.  Spots 9-15 on the bench need players that justify more participation in games.

[Tom McKrackin]

I think we are very close.   They need more depth.

[MeanGreenZen]

This is going to be the weirdest offseason we have ever seen with Pay-for-Play (not just NIL) now legal and unlimited transfers. 
I would not be surprised if we had 100% complete roster turnover this offseason. 
The good news is that Ross has always been a good recruiter and talent evaluator. And he has been a winner at every job.
His JUCO roster-building experience could really come in handy. Hopefully everyone reading this is donating to the Mean Green Collective because it is about to be roster Armageddon across the entire college basketball landscape and we need to give our coach plenty of ammunition. 

Edited March 8 by MeanGreenZen

[tmjerm]

You guys are talking sense.  This a tough league and that’s what we wanted. We are sitting here with an opportunity that we wanted and now we have to rise.  It’s kind of like we got a promotion to a better job and we’ve been working our way through it and now it’s time to just say we are gonna get it done.  
 

We are finally healthy again, I know depth is a problem, but it’s not impossible to win it.  But I don’t look at this season as a disappointment.  There’s been a lot to work through.  Do I look at it as a success? No.  But seeing through clear eyes it’s also not a disappointment.  The way these guys fight and the way they play and dig so deep and care…they really REALLY care.  Damn do these dudes care.  And I want to pause here in this thought for a minute because that has become so very rare for kids to really care.   Players don’t have this much heart very often anymore.  Aaron Scott is on my mind as I type this.  He is a fighter.  I know he goes too far sometimes but he is a total fighter. I guess my point is.. THIS IS OUR PERSONALITY as a fanbase and I’m so glad we have a team that reflects it.  Dig deep, fight for every inch.

The close losses have sucked so much and we gotta fix that and there’s no other way about it.  BUT I am so proud of these guys.  They represent who we are so well.  This is the sports I’ve wanted for so long.  

[Tommy Gadberry]

@tmjerm is right you have to love the fight in this team no matter what the outcome this season we hung with some very good teams and won some big games despite the injuries.  I feel like the injuries will always put an asterisk on 23-24 sadly.

[keith]

With the tournament still to be played, the story of the 2023-24 edition of men's basketball has not been fully written yet.  While this is far from a exhaustive analysis and only looks at our regular season games, this team was sooooo close to repeating the success we had in the regular season last year.  

Finishing the regular season at 17-13, our average margin of victory in our 17 wins was 15.12 points.  On the flip side, our average margin of defeat in our 13 losses was only 5.38 points.

In our 17 wins, 2 were one possession games and 2 more were two possession games.  13 of 17 were double-digit wins.  

In our 13 losses, 6 were one possession games and another 4 were two possession games.  Only 2 of the 13 were double-digit losses.  One other was a 9 point loss.  Another shot or two drops over the course of a 40 minute game and things may have ended differently and flipped a loss to a win.

 

 

Edited March 11 by keith

[NorthTexasWeLove]

4 hours ago, keith said:

With the tournament still to be played, the story of the 2023-24 edition of men's basketball has not been fully written yet.  While this is far from a exhaustive analysis and only looks at our regular season games, this team was sooooo close to repeating the success we had in the regular season last year.  

Finishing the regular season at 17-13, our average margin of victory in our 17 wins was 15.12 points.  On the flip side, our average margin of defeat in our 13 losses was only 5.38 points.

In our 17 wins, 2 were one possession games and 2 more were two possession games.  13 of 17 were double-digit wins.  

In our 13 losses, 6 were one possession games and another 4 were two possession games.  Only 2 of the 13 were double-digit losses.  One other was a 9 point loss.  Another shot or two drops over the course of a 40 minute game and things may have ended differently and flipped a loss to a win.

 

 

Good insight. 

If both Rubin and CJ stays healthy we are a 20+ win team and a probable top 4 seed. 20-10 feels right. If we would've locked in during some of those noncons I believe another +4 in W/L could've easily happened... tough losses vs Fordham, LSU, Boise and St John's. 24-6 to end the reg season was a possibility and the talent suggests that. 

But a season isn't judged by the what could have happened. A promising AAC showing is important. Stacking another 20 win season is more important. 

Edited March 11 by NorthTexasWeLove

[HoosMeanGreen]

On 3/7/2024 at 11:21 PM, tmjerm said:

They represent who we are so well.  

 

Edited March 11 by HoosMeanGreen

[NorthTexasWeLove]

7 minutes ago, HoosMeanGreen said:

 

 

IMG_2755.mov 34.46 MB · 3 downloads

Omg dude... 

 

Lol.

How much are his feelings hurt his handshake isn't cool? 

No normal fan digs for stuff like this. You are definitely a parent or a cousin. Maybe a disgruntled HS coach? Hell, is this you Jason? 

[HoosMeanGreen]

24 minutes ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Omg dude... 

 

Lol.

How much are his feelings hurt his handshake isn't cool? 

No normal fan digs for stuff like this. You are definitely a parent or a cousin. Maybe a disgruntled HS coach? Hell, is this you Jason? 

Hoos feelings? What are you talking about? A cool handshake?? They barely acknowledged each other - after a WIN.

Dig? It was on the broadcast. I have stated all season that they do not like each other. I saw it in their body language early in the season. This is not a Rubin doesn’t like Jason thing or a Jason doesn’t like Rubin thing.  It is clear as day that they do not like each other. CRH knows it too.

I only went back to watch the end because a poster stated how the announcer sucked at the end. Another poster stated that the play by play guys said something about the last possession. If the posters never mentioned the end of the broadcast then I miss it. The conspiracy theories are too much.
 

How about you dig (too funny) into CRH’s rotations. When one sits, the other subs him. I give CRH credit for attempting to manage it by giving each “his time on the floor alone”. 
 

Am I the only person that wonders why this team is not as good as expected? This team was losing games before conference play. I wanted to know, so I paid attention to what I was watching. It was evident early in the season and it is on full display at the end. Impossible for this team to have any success when guys don’t like playing together. 

And as a former player, we “see” the game differently. A player (former player) will see things that the average (never played before) person doesn’t see. It’s not a “I’m better” spiel, we just know that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes and right in front of you that the normal person doesn’t see.

 I actually thought I was providing insight. I value being shown things that I don’t know.  Maybe, the next time you watch this team play, you will pick up on it. If nothing else, it may explain why the results are what they are. 

Edited March 11 by HoosMeanGreen

[NorthTexasWeLove]

11 minutes ago, HoosMeanGreen said:

Hoos feelings? What are you talking about? A cool handshake?? They barely acknowledged each other - after a WIN.

Dig? It was on the broadcast. I have stated all season that they do not like each other. I saw it in their body language early in the season. This is not a Rubin doesn’t like Jason thing or a Jason doesn’t like Rubin thing.  It is clear as day that they do not like each other. CRH knows it too.

I only went back to watch the end because a poster stated how the announcer sucked at the end. Another poster stated that the play by play guys said something about the last possession. If the posters never mentioned the end of the broadcast then I miss it. The conspiracy theories are too much.
 

How about you dig (too funny) into CRH’s rotations. When one sits, the other subs him. I give CRH credit for attempting to manage it by giving each “his time on the floor alone”. 
 

Am I the only person that wonders why this team is not as good as expected? This team was losing games before conference play. I wanted to know, so I paid attention to what I was watching. It was evident early in the season and it is on full display at the end. Impossible for this team to have any success when guys don’t like playing together. 
 

I have no idea to what kind of legitimacy this has...BUT...How about they both grow tf up? Instead of being a mitigator of fragility, Ross should have taken them into a room alone and told them to shut up and nut up OR leave. Then, I'd give credit to Ross. Otherwise, he's pandering to bullshit. 

[Big Z]

24 minutes ago, HoosMeanGreen said:

Hoos feelings? What are you talking about? A cool handshake?? They barely acknowledged each other - after a WIN.

Dig? It was on the broadcast. I have stated all season that they do not like each other. I saw it in their body language early in the season. This is not a Rubin doesn’t like Jason thing or a Jason doesn’t like Rubin thing.  It is clear as day that they do not like each other. CRH knows it too.

I only went back to watch the end because a poster stated how the announcer sucked at the end. Another poster stated that the play by play guys said something about the last possession. If the posters never mentioned the end of the broadcast then I miss it. The conspiracy theories are too much.
 

How about you dig (too funny) into CRH’s rotations. When one sits, the other subs him. I give CRH credit for attempting to manage it by giving each “his time on the floor alone”. 
 

Am I the only person that wonders why this team is not as good as expected? This team was losing games before conference play. I wanted to know, so I paid attention to what I was watching. It was evident early in the season and it is on full display at the end. Impossible for this team to have any success when guys don’t like playing together. 

And as a former player, we “see” the game differently. A player (former player) will see things that the average (never played before) person doesn’t see. It’s not a “I’m better” spiel, we just know that there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes and right in front of you that the normal person doesn’t see.

 I actually thought I was providing insight. I value being shown things that I don’t know.  Maybe, the next time you watch this team play, you will pick up on it. If nothing else, it may explain why the results are what they are. 

I saw Rubin and Jason standing and talking to each other when the girls were cutting down the nets on ESPN + 

[NorthTexasWeLove]

1 minute ago, Big Z said:

I saw Rubin and Jason standing and talking to each other when the girls were cutting down the nets on ESPN + 

Can't be. Their handshake is lame. They clearly despise each other. He has video evidence. 

[Big Z]

1 minute ago, NorthTexasWeLove said:

Can't be. Their handshake is lame. They clearly despise each other. He has video evidence. 

For real, they both were standing next to each other the whole time during the broadcast 

[UNTLifer]

1 hour ago, Big Z said:

I saw Rubin and Jason standing and talking to each other when the girls were cutting down the nets on ESPN + 

I was there.  They were setting a day and time to meet up and rumble in Maple Park.