I don't get it...

[greenblooded_gal]

Why is everyone seemingly calling for Coach Benfords head? We DO have a better record than last year AND it is our first year in C-USA which is a better Conference than the Sunbelt. Seems a step in the right direction to me. Coach Mac took 3 years with the football team. Perhaps we need to give Coach Benford a chance.

GO MEAN GREEN!!

[Ben Gooding]

I like the optimism, but he is a bad hire. It's as simple as that. There are no consistencies to speak of on his behalf. I like the 4 game win streak, but reality is reality.

[CMJ]

CUSA isn't as good as it used to be. It's a step up from the Sunbelt, but not a major one. Our record is better than last year, but we also have 3 Non D1 wins. Basically our record is about what it was last season if you look at it that way.

[Green92]

Plus blowout losses to awful teams.

[GMG_Ryan]

Benford didn't exactly inherit the greatest team there is either. Give the man some time. I'm pretty impressed with this current streak of wins in a tougher conference.

[Green92]

He inherited an NBA player. That may be the worst post of the day.

[Mean_Green09]

No need to anoint Benford as a good coach or the right choice. The jury is still out on him.

We just beat 4 teams who were not very good. I'll take em none the less but those teams are not top tier teams.

I'm glad this team has stuck together through all the doubt and negativity.

[bstnsportsfan3]

McCarney took the Dodge dumpster fire and rebuilt it in 3 years. Benford took JJ's well oiled machine and threw it into a dumpster and lit it on fire....that's about it.

[CMJ]

Benford didn't exactly inherit the greatest team there is either. Give the man some time. I'm pretty impressed with this current streak of wins in a tougher conference.

I guess you don't remember all the press we had about being a potential Mid Major to watch, do you?

[GMG_Ryan]

He inherited an NBA player. That may be the worst post of the day.

One NBA player does not a good team make. Pardon me for straying from the hive mind and actually being happy for a team that has to see the garbage 90% of the people on here post.

[Green P1]

One NBA player does not a good team make. Pardon me for straying from the hive mind and actually being happy for a team that has to see the garbage 90% of the people on here post.

You did kinda trash the team you're supposedly being happy for.

[Green92]

There is a lot of garbage posted. However, implying he didn't inherit a good team is just inaccurate. There is no reason that team couldn't have blown through the Sun Belt and gotten into the tournament. That team was almost unbelievably mismanaged. Sorry, you can make a lot of judgment calls but to say he didn't inherit a good team is false.

[Andrew]

Plus blowout losses to awful teams.

What awful teams were blow outs...? SFA is awful? A 26 win awful team..l BYU and LA Tech are awful? Both 20 win teams. But they are awful...? Even our next closest loss I believe was Oklahoma who was a top 25 team. I am not debating that we were once a good team or what someone inherited. I am only saying our major losses were against very solid competition.

Edited February 28, 2014 by Andrew

[chrisfisher]

Benford didn't exactly inherit the greatest team there is either. Give the man some time. I'm pretty impressed with this current streak of wins in a tougher conference.

Not true. We even had some Top 25 predictions coming out of major sports news media. Tony Mitchell was a top lottery pick, and our coach accepted a head coach position at LSU. All signs that our program had truly turned a corner and headed in the right direction. Even Tony was quoted as saying he saw no reason why we would not be top 25 team in his first year given our roster and winning history.

[greenminer]

L O L

[GMG_Ryan]

I obviously need to do some research y'all. And I apologize. I'm a freshman and I really do love this school and want to see it succeed. I just do see improvement with benford at this point, and I don't think our problems could be fixed with just another coaching change.

[CMJ]

As much as I have called for Benford's head on this board, what I want more than a coaching change is for him to prove me wrong. Trust me, no one would be happier than me, to offer up an apology on here in a couple of years as we are winning 27 games and getting a 12-13 seed in the Dance.

I just don't see it happening.

Edited March 1, 2014 by CMJ

[MeanMag]

One NBA player does not a good team make. Pardon me for straying from the hive mind and actually being happy for a team that has to see the garbage 90% of the people on here post.

Having had to watch the garbage that was on the court earlier in the year, I'll call it even.

[eulessismore]

As much as I have called for Benford's head on this board, what I want more than a coaching change is for him to prove me wrong. Trust me, no one would be happier than me, to offer up an apology on here in a couple of ears as we are winning 27 games and getting a 12-13 seed in the Dance.

I just don't see it happening.

Well, that is an interesting take from someone who has been around North Texas basketball since the days of Bill Blakeley.

[CMJ]

Well, that is an interesting take from someone who has been around North Texas basketball since the days of Bill Blakeley.

Were you saying I go back that far...or you do?

I mean I was sorta around NT basketball when Blakeley was coach, since my Mom wrote for the NT Daily and knew he and the staff. I don't think i was really aware of NT basketball as a thing till Gales was the head man though.

[NM Green]

I have lost interest in the bball program but I do love our recent streak. I also have to check myself that these kids are student athletes who chose to play for my school. It's not an easy dilemma for fans to be in but in the end we all want the Green to win.

I will never forget the NE shirts they wore at one of the football games. I asked what it meant and they said, "No Excuses." However, the team walked around the stadium almost expecting to be heckled and laughed at before the season ever started. Maybe that is why I have not been that interested this year - it is just an ugly scene at the Superpit with empty seats, blowout losses and fans craving for a change. Weird energy.

Thank you for supporting the kids. It will work its way the way it is supposed to.

GMG

[foutsrouts]

Well, we made the decision to hire a coach who has to go through on the job training, so I guess we've got what we've got for the time being. How we perform over the next couple of weeks will be very telling.

[outoftown]

The team has just won 4 and if it can build on that, then this may turn out semi ok. We all hope that they all prove us wrong and finish the season with a bang.

But I feel like the goal has to be to really contend for the tourney almost every season and have a real shot at a seed that gives NT a real shot a the round of 32 every once in a while. I think that JJ proved that these goals are attainable.

That said these are the reasons why some serious unhappyness with Benford is around:

The team is 211th in sagarin and similarly placed in most other advanced rankings. And that is after 4 wins in a row, so the hole was pretty deep. I just am of the opinion that even in down years UNT should not be outside of the best 200. There is not one top 100 RPI win on the resume. There are some ugly losses to teams well outside of the RPI 200. There are some real beatdowns against the better teams on the schedule. There is the feeling that UNT could have had a NBA first round pick on it's resume if he had left before Tony Benford arrived. People have not yet forgotten Alabama-Huntsville. There is the disgrace of ditching UTA for a DII team, and just generally the weakness of this years out of conference schedule, a schedule that said pretty loudly that they expected not to contend for the tourney. Oh and some people are unhappy about the circumstances under which some former players left the program.

Edited February 28, 2014 by outoftown

[Army of Dad]

Not true. We even had some Top 25 predictions coming out of major sports news media. Tony Mitchell was a top lottery pick, and our coach accepted a head coach position at LSU. All signs that our program had truly turned a corner and headed in the right direction. Even Tony was quoted as saying he saw no reason why we would not be top 25 team in his first year given our roster and winning history.

And we were the unanimous pick among Sun Belt coaches to win the west in out last year there. Instead we supplied half the wins ULM got that season and lost to a D2 team.

[IslandEagle]

There is a lot of garbage posted. However, implying he didn't inherit a good team is just inaccurate. There is no reason that team couldn't have blown through the Sun Belt and gotten into the tournament. That team was almost unbelievably mismanaged. Sorry, you can make a lot of judgment calls but to say he didn't inherit a good team is false.

Actually there was a reason why this didn't happen. The AD is aware of this and Benford isn't the primary reason for this. Those players who want to win know who the problems are.