Basketball Team Not Deserving Of Criticism

[Rudy]

Just logged in after work. What the hell did I miss?

[UNTLifer]

Part of the problem with scheduling is getting the higher ranked teams to play us when their conference schedule is full of teams rated higher than 200. There was a couple of articles regarding this last year that I will try to track down later today.

[wardly]

Part of the problem with scheduling is getting the higher ranked teams to play us when their conference schedule is full of teams rated higher than 200. There was a couple of articles regarding this last year that I will try to track down later today.

another problem is that we are trying to make our home schedule more attractive, and its difficult to get the bigs to come to denton. we can probably get all the road games we want, but it would be great if we could get some 2 for 1's.

[SUMG]

As to scheduling....I can probably think of 100+ schools that would give us home and homes....that would help our strength of schedule and thus our RPI. There are I think 33 leagues.....so there's a huge gap between the top 5-6 leagues and the bottom 5-6. We seem to schedule way too many games with the bottom 5 leagues (Southland, SWAC) and NAIA/Division II schools. Not saying to avoid the Southland....but contact some teams from other leagues. The Horizon, the Big West, the WAC, the Missouri Valley, the Atlantic 10....and many, many more.

Or we can keep doing what we do: Play a lot of Sisters of the poor, rack up a lot of wins that don't do anything for our RPI......and then bitch when a 22-11 record doesn't get us a NIT bid.

Edited March 16, 2011 by SUMG

[foutsrouts]

As to scheduling....I can probably think of 100+ schools that would give us home and homes....that would help our strength of schedule and thus our RPI. There are I think 33 leagues.....so there's a huge gap between the top 5-6 leagues and the bottom 5-6. We seem to schedule way too many games with the bottom 5 leagues (Southland, SWAC) and NAIA/Division II schools. Not saying to avoid the Southland....but contact some teams from other leagues. The Horizon, the Big West, the WAC, the Missouri Valley, the Atlantic 10....and many, many more.

Or we can keep doing what we do: Play a lot of Sisters of the poor, rack up a lot of wins that don't do anything for our RPI......and then bitch when a 22-11 record doesn't get us a NIT bid.

I don't mind getting our feet wet with a Henderson State, but the schedule has got to improve drastically from there if we want a chance at anything other than automatic bids or CBI/CIT. Unless of course our conference mates show some major improvement.

Yes, too much SWAC/Southland and too little USA/MWC and such. Normally LSU and TT wins would have helped that RPI a lot, but unfortunately not this year. I suspect another 4-5 wins would have gotten us close to the NIT, but a pretty good (but erratic) Baylor team didn't even make the cut. Oh well, I'm already looking forward to next season.

[dahbeed]

just remember this.....you could be us!

very good posts by all. one of the saner boards in the belt.

ours is a bit kookoo for koko puffs right now with us keeping mcdonald for another year.

every aspect has been beat to death on our board.

back on point. another good year by the mean green. even with the small swoon.

[aztecskin]

Other things not deserving of stuff: Rantings on a message board, especially by the AD.

[Got5onIt]

Wow, I must have missed the criticism threads. The team damn near won the whole thing with a short bench. Guts, heart, & experience got them there. Sometimes you just run out of gas.

How could anyone complain considering the expectations going into the tournament??????

[SUMG]

Wow, I must have missed the criticism threads. The team damn near won the whole thing with a short bench. Guts, heart, & experience got them there. Sometimes you just run out of gas.

How could anyone complain considering the expectations going into the tournament??????

I think you missed the criticism threads......because they weren't there.

[untjim1995]

I think you missed the criticism threads......because they weren't there.

Then why is the AD posting on here complaining about this? Seriously, I don't get why he posted this. If someone complained, ignore it. The team had a good season and missed the Big Dance because UALR's best player nailed a clutch bomb with a second to go. Maybe he has been swamped with calls and emails at the office, but I haven't read anything out of line on here, except from a questionsable few that I wouldn't take their advice on ANYTHING. Very odd to me, even though I think RV is awesome most of the time.

[Censored by Laurie]

Then why is the AD posting on here complaining about this? Seriously, I don't get why he posted this. If someone complained, ignore it. The team had a good season and missed the Big Dance because UALR's best player nailed a clutch bomb with a second to go. Maybe he has been swamped with calls and emails at the office, but I haven't read anything out of line on here, except from a questionsable few that I wouldn't take their advice on ANYTHING. Very odd to me, even though I think RV is awesome most of the time.

It was apparently 1 in the morning...and I feel most if not all of us have made some technology-based attempts at communicae that we regretted the following morning.

[CaribbeanGreen]

Good grief, I missed it too... in fact, this was one of the calmest, most sane and positive responses you could imagine (on a college sports message board) after a gut wrenching loss in the conference title game.

Add to the fact this was a senior laden team coming off a NCAA bid, one we almost ALL expected to have a special year and run all-but-roughshod through the Belt, and I feel like a 4 seed in the SBC west with double digit losses and a completely unexpected (by even the most stubborn of pessimists) .500 record in conference - culminating in a gut wrenching 7 point collapse in the final minute plus of the conference tournament - was a season and result that would send other message boards into a bloodlust-worthy tizzy. I'm not just talking about Big XII schools, either... with our expectations and our results, Hilltopper Haven (among others) would be a load nastier than this place was, I assure you. Still, around here, no one was bashing the players. No one wanted the coach's head (some questioned his strategy, but where/when does that NOT happen?). No one said anything but glowing things about this senior class, and rightfully so. It's okay to admit this season was a disappointment and still laud the seniors, the staff, and their achievements - and from everything I observed, this crazy-ass board did a pretty decent job of that.

If THIS warranted a bowing-up, defensive personal reply from the AD, I pity the poster who is going to end up with a hockey mask wearing, machete wielding RV come football season.

I miss the good ol' days, when ADs ignored fan boards, and when Bill Byrne personally threatened to beat your ass via voicemail. You know, keeping it in house.

[foutsrouts]

Maybe he was mad at himself for missing the opportunity to play smu down at Moody tonight? Then again maybe not.

Either way, it's nice to see that "management" monitors this board on occasion. Almost makes you feel like your posts mean something whether they like them or not.

[NM Green]

What is the goal for this team next year. Listening to Fisher his goal was to get SDSU their first win ever in the tournament. That was BYU's goal last year.

The time is now for this program to have explicit goals expressed. Maybe we did have that goal expressed and I missed it, but two realistic goals for this program in my opinion are to: 1. break into the top 25 and 2. win a tournament game (NCAA, NIT, CBS (whatever the heck it is). We are leap years ahead of programs like TCU and SMU and because of that we must express goals. Maybe our goal is to win the Sunbelt. With wins come expectations and the foundation is laid. I am hoping we play with a clear goal and purpose in 2011-2012.

I would also like to see our football team do this in the fall. How about a goal of 6 wins or an undefeated home slate.

GMG

[CMJ]

Hell, next year I just hope we beat UTA and come together by the end of the season to be a tough out in Hot Springs. With so many youngsters, I have very low expectations next season. No matter how talented they are, it's too much of an unknown factor.

Edited March 17, 2011 by CMJ

[NT03]

We are leap years ahead of programs like TCU and SMU

This is probably going to get me ripped , but TCU is about to join the Big East. The Horned Frogs will see a improvement over the next few years with better rercuits and probably a splash hire for hoops soon. As much as I dislike them, SMU plays in a superior conference , has a very nice recruiting class coming in & just won a post season game. We are not leap years ahead of either and if we stumble anytime soon both could pass us by pretty quick. The one thing that currently seperates our programs is Johnny Jones & the coaching staff

If Tony Mitchell suits up in December then I will expect to be playing again for the title in Hot Springs !

Edited March 17, 2011 by NT03

[KoldBeer]

I agree that we shouldn't have high expectations for next year. I'd look to be competitive in Belt. I don't know how good other teams will be but I'd like to get to 0.500 and get everything clicking by conference tournament.

Getting in Top 25 will be very hard. Unless you knock of a powerhouse program (i.e. Kansas on this year's schedule), you'd have to only lose one or two games to get ranked. Look at Utah St. They've been really good for the last several years and they only lost 3 games this year. They spent half the year unranked. You'd need a couple really good years to get the attention of writers and coaches to get ranked.

[CMJ]

I'm also fearful of TCU's potential NT03. However, Depaul has even more potential with their rich history, and they've been stuck in the Big East basement for years now.

Edited March 17, 2011 by CMJ

[foutsrouts]

smu managed to pull off a CIT win in OT tonight against Oral Roberts, despite the fact that 2-3 of their Seniors (including their star Dia) played injured. They next host Jacksonville who beat East Carolina. Would have been nice for us to have been there. Sorry to post it here, but I didn't think an smu victory was worthy of starting a new thread.

[NT03]

I'm also fearful of TCU's potential NT03. However, Depaul has even more potential with their rich history, and they've been stuck in the Big East basement for years now.

True , it's sad how far they have fallen off the basketball map

But if someone wants to play in the Big East , TCU will have the best weather , hottest chicks & the best football program. I don't think they will struggle for too long

Edited March 17, 2011 by NT03

[CMJ]

smu managed to pull off a CIT win in OT tonight against Oral Roberts, despite the fact that 2-3 of their Seniors (including their star Dia) played injured. They next host Jacksonville who beat East Carolina. Would have been nice for us to have been there. Sorry to post it here, but I didn't think an smu victory was worthy of starting a new thread.

Yeah, I didn't want to make a thread about it either - because I already feel like we spend too much time looking at them. But it was a nice win for SMU, that's for sure. Especially after ORU forced overtime.

[Mean Green Matt]

True , it's sad how far they have fallen off the basketball map

But if someone wants to play in the Big East , TCU will have the best weather , hottest chicks & the best football program. I don't think they will struggle for too long

TCU experiencing success does not necessarily mean that we will not be. Both can happen at the same time. If we can move up a conference we will be fine. As far as SMU, until they actually show they have some balls, they are insignificant to me.

Edited March 17, 2011 by Mean Green Matt

[MeanMag]

True , it's sad how far they have fallen off the basketball map

But if someone wants to play in the Big East , TCU will have the best weather , hottest chicks & the best football program. I don't think they will struggle for too long

I've been holding off on posting about TCU for a while, mostly because I don't want to acknowledge what might be and really don't want to admit it.

TCU has access to $$$ that currently, we don't. It doesn't mean we can't, but we don't right now. TCU sold out it's game this year against BYU and Jimmer Fredette. Not because of TCU fans, but because that game attracted basketball fans. The Big East teams that come here will attract basketball fans to TCUs stadium. They will soon outgrow their current digs and will have the $$ to build a new one.

TCU will be looking for a coach next year provided Christian has another year like this. One that can recruit. Billy Gillispie is probably a name on their short list. Many TCU alumns felt that Christian should have been fired this year, but I don't think that's fair.

All it takes is one or two decent season of basketball significance in the Big East for TCU and they're off to the races. It will take a while to build and it won't be easy. You can't build a D1 basketball power overnight, let alone the Big East, but I'd say their potential bar just got a bit higher.

[KoldBeer]

True , it's sad how far they have fallen off the basketball map

But if someone wants to play in the Big East , TCU will have the best weather , hottest chicks & the best football program. I don't think they will struggle for too long

I think South Florida might have an argument about better weather. I think TCU will get better but I don't think they'll ever finish in top half of Big East. There is very little turnover between top half and bottom half of that conference. St. John's is the only team in the past several years that went from bottom half of conference to top half of the conference. I still don't think TCU will get that many players from northeast (only players they'll have a shot at will be guys with Providence, Seton Hall, etc type offers) and guys from this area will want to play with Big 12 schools. They'll be able to get better guys than they get now but I don't see them developing into anything better than a bottom half BCS conference team.

Billy Gillispie is going to Tech so you don't have to worry about him going to TCU.

I don't think there is a great difference between TCU, SMU and North Texas in basketball right now. UNT has been the better program the last 4 years but TCU and SMU could catch up pretty easily (esp if UNT slips a little with all the new players). SMU had a decent season in conference and are showing some signs of life for the first time in Coach D's tenure.

[UNTLifer]

Back to the original intent of this thread, I don't think the players were the target of the criticism late in the year. I was probably one of the most critical of the program this year, but the target of my criticism was not the players, but the mirage that our record, up until the late season swoon, was full of wins against poor competition. The result of these wins didn't fully prepare us to face the tougher competition in conference and along with the numerous injuries, resulted in the losses late in the year. Now I did question some of JJ's strategy which I think is fair considering he really has a track record of questionable in-game management. Back to our schedule, we celebrated wins against Tech and LSU which were nice considering their conference affiliations, but were actually not as impressive as everyone thought considering the year those two programs had. Yes, it is nice to beat schools from the "power conferences", but I felt those were nullified by losses to questionable teams such as Sam Houston, Troy, etc...

Then again, maybe RV didn't realize my posts throughout the tournament were a tongue-in-cheek inside joke. Of course, my first post in that series of posts was how I truely felt. I was shocked that we turned it around late in the season, which I think is a testament to the character of the players on the team.