Sun Belt Tournament Preview

MeanGreen61 · March 5, 2013

9 SEED—NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN (12-19, 7-13) Coach: Tony Benford

STRENGTHS: Tony Mitchell is a sure first round NBA draft pick, and, although his numbers are down a little from last year, he’s a double double waiting to happen every time he steps on the court. He’s an unselfish player on the offensive end and the best shot blocker in the league, although he doesn’t have the most blocked shots. Sophomore Jordan Williams can really score the basketball. Roger Franklin is a very good rebounder despite being undersized. And, the Mean Green have Chris Jones back after he missed 16 games with a broken foot. Jones is an excellent point guard who averages nearly five assists per game. UNT has some depth at just about every position. Very good free throw shooting team.

WEAKNESSES—Mitchell and Franklin are prone to foul trouble. This team doesn’t shoot it very well from the perimeter, less than 29% from three point range. Williams can shoot it, but the others are hit and miss from the perimeter. Team doesn’t force a lot of turnovers.

OUTLOOK:–But let’s face it. This team puts the dys in dysfunctional. The players never bought into Benford’s system and it’s pretty obvious there have been chemistry and locker room issues all season. The injury to Jones notwithstanding, this has been the biggest underachieving team the Sun Belt has seen in recent memory. And, it can all be traced, at least for now, to the selection of Benford. It’s too early to call him the Todd Dodge of basketball, But AD Rick Villareal probably isn’t a happy guy right now. But make no mistake. The talent is there. And, this team has put it together in Hot Springs before. The question is, can they do it with Benford as coach.

http://espn1420.com/sun-belt-tournament-preview-bracket-one-from-the-birds-nest/

greenminer · March 5, 2013

By Jay Walker of LaLa's radio network.

mgfan · March 5, 2013

This is a one suit coached team

foutsrouts · March 5, 2013

"UNT has some depth at just about every position."

Unless he's counting our wounded that's news to me.

KRAM1 · March 5, 2013

Seems he took that report right off GMG.Com. No real work, just read this forum and copied and pasted! :goodjob: Man, is he ever going to be shocked at what LaLa sees on the floor Friday. Will be fun to watch UNT take a very overconfident LaLa down! Looking forward to being in Hotr Springs to see this win for the Mean Green!

UNT90 · March 5, 2013

Seems he took that report right off GMG.Com. No real work, just read this forum and copied and pasted! Man, is he ever going to be shocked at what LaLa sees on the floor Friday. Will be fun to watch UNT take a very overconfident LaLa down! Looking forward to being in Hotr Springs to see this win for the Mean Green!

I would assume the LaLa radio announcer has some pretty good connections inside the league, and I know one LaLa assistant definitely has connections inside UNT's locker room.

Maybe that LaLa coach has an agenda, maybe he doesn't, but to suggest this guy got his info from this website is kinda silly.

Beer at Lucky!s

emmitt01 · March 5, 2013

"Very good free throw shooting team."

Gasp! I bet this guy thinks those clouds over there are innocent too.

Greendylan · March 5, 2013

9 SEED—NORTH TEXAS MEAN GREEN (12-19, 7-13) Coach: Tony Benford

STRENGTHS: Tony Mitchell is a sure first round NBA draft pick, and, although his numbers are down a little from last year, he’s a double double waiting to happen every time he steps on the court. He’s an unselfish player on the offensive end and the best shot blocker in the league, although he doesn’t have the most blocked shots. Sophomore Jordan Williams can really score the basketball. Roger Franklin is a very good rebounder despite being undersized. And, the Mean Green have Chris Jones back after he missed 16 games with a broken foot. Jones is an excellent point guard who averages nearly five assists per game. UNT has some depth at just about every position. Very good free throw shooting team.

WEAKNESSES—Mitchell and Franklin are prone to foul trouble. This team doesn’t shoot it very well from the perimeter, less than 29% from three point range. Williams can shoot it, but the others are hit and miss from the perimeter. Team doesn’t force a lot of turnovers.

OUTLOOK:–But let’s face it. This team puts the dys in dysfunctional. The players never bought into Benford’s system and it’s pretty obvious there have been chemistry and locker room issues all season. The injury to Jones notwithstanding, this has been the biggest underachieving team the Sun Belt has seen in recent memory. And, it can all be traced, at least for now, to the selection of Benford. It’s too early to call him the Todd Dodge of basketball, But AD Rick Villareal probably isn’t a happy guy right now. But make no mistake. The talent is there. And, this team has put it together in Hot Springs before. The question is, can they do it with Benford as coach.

http://espn1420.com/sun-belt-tournament-preview-bracket-one-from-the-birds-nest/

So, let me get this straight. One could summarize the writer's "OUTLOOK" as essentially saying, "the team has plenty of talent and experience, but is it enough to overcome the ineptitude of the head coach?"

KRAM1 · March 6, 2013

No surprise here that some feel that report was journalistic wonder ness as they just might have been the contributing co-sponsor/writer.

Skimming the surface for any analysis is easy and takes no effort or skill. But, if the National Enquirer is your cup of tea rather than the Wall Street Journal or Christen Science Monitor then this guy hit it out of the park for you.

Am sur all the LaLa fans think he's great. Let' see what he says after UNT ends LaLa's tourney run in game one.

UNT90 · March 6, 2013

No surprise here that some feel that report was journalistic wonder ness as they just might have been the contributing co-sponsor/writer.
Skimming the surface for any analysis is easy and takes no effort or skill. But, if the National Enquirer is your cup of tea rather than the Wall Street Journal or Christen Science Monitor then this guy hit it out of the park for you.
Am sur all the LaLa fans think he's great. Let' see what he says after UNT ends LaLa's tourney run in game one.

John Edwards would disagree about the National Inquirer.

Seems they have broken several stories that the Idoit media couldn't.

Again, this is a guy that travels with LaLa coaches on every road trip. Not too hard to figure out where he is getting his info.

Mean Green Matt · March 6, 2013

I can't take a "journalist" and "broadcaster" seriously who posts on the Sun Belt message board. I'm not saying he is wrong, just an unprofessional homer.

Censored by Laurie · March 6, 2013

No surprise here that some feel that report was journalistic wonder ness as they just might have been the contributing co-sponsor/writer.
Skimming the surface for any analysis is easy and takes no effort or skill. But, if the National Enquirer is your cup of tea rather than the Wall Street Journal or Christen Science Monitor then this guy hit it out of the park for you.
Am sur all the LaLa fans think he's great. Let' see what he says after UNT ends LaLa's tourney run in game one.

What did he get wrong?

GangGreen · March 6, 2013

What did he get wrong?

Quit being so stupid.

emmitt01 · March 6, 2013

Quit being so stupid.

That's not an answer. Again, what did he get wrong?

Unless of course you were being sarcastic...in which case that was a very clever and veiled sarcasm.

GangGreen · March 7, 2013

Thought I would just save time and answer for others. Sorry. My wife hates when I do that.

UNTLifer · March 7, 2013

What did he get wrong?

This sentence for one:

Sophomore Jordan Williams can really score the basketball.

What in the world does that mean? I swear ESPN is ruining the English language. It is like when they speak of an injury, say a sprained ankle, as they say, "Player so and so is out with an ankle."