Cold Hard Facts Basketball Style

Disclaimer I’m tired of the negativity that continues to poor out of me. You may not believe me when I say that I’m generally not a negative person. I want to be positive. I want to share with you my thoughts of why this UNT basketball team can turn it around. Unfortunately I cannot do that with you today. So if you were looking for a positive post please exit now and stop reading. If you want to hear a little bit of the truth then stick around.

1. North Texas just lost at home to one of the worst teams in CUSA. Not that playing at home is that much of an advantage for UNT, because there were only 1628 people in attendance. Watching the game from home I’m not so sure that attendance number is correct. Anyways you can’t lose that game if you’re UNT. Yes you were without 2 key players in T.J Taylor and Maurice Aniefiok, but you still have enough talent to win that game. If you want fans to take your program seriously then don’t consistently lose to bottom dwellers.
2. The defense is good statistically not fundamentally. The one thing that UNT has hung its hat on this year was its defense. Well the past two games it hasn’t been that good. UTSA broke down the zone early with good crisp ball movement. Almost every team has been able to penetrate against the UNT zone and get open looks with kick outs. UNT is not a bad defensive team, but they aren’t great either. Let’s just say that UNT is average on defense and could be in for a rough stretch during conference play.
3. Talent is not the issue. Fans will immediately look at the talent on the floor as the issue. Well folks that is not the issue. UNT has plenty of talented guys. The problem is that it’s just a group of guys. It’s not a team. It doesn’t function as a team on the court. All I see when I watch them play is 5 guys playing basketball individually. I don’t really blame them. They were brought here for that purpose. Tony Benford is pretty good recruiter. He has brought in talented guys. I get the feeling that he trying to collect as much as talent as he can and hope that it somehow produces a winner. The end result is the pieces don’t fit or the system is flawed.
4. We have a Coach who can’t reach his players. I’m not one of those that argues that Coach Benford can’t coach. I believe the man knows basketball. He has been around at a lot of places. He has been at places as an assistant where they won too. So the man knows what a winning program looks like. The problem is he can’t convey that to his players. For whatever reason since he has been here his players have not bought in or the message isn’t clear. Coaches have to be great communicators. I get the sense that Coach Benford is not a great communicator. You don’t have so many guys walk away from a program like UNT has had if you have a great communicator at the top.
5. We have an athletic department who is willing to settle. At some point you hope that the athletic department hears or sees the message. Fans don’t believe in this basketball program. They aren’t going to show up until the AD and administration starts to take this seriously. Right now UNT is being passed in almost every sport by other programs within the state. It’s not that far off to state that UNT is dead last in men’s basketball and football amongst Div 1 schools in this state. The message coming from the AD’s office is one that is he okay with that. He is okay with no change. He is okay with minimal standards. When is UNT going to take athletics seriously?

After yesterday’s loss I have hard time seeing this team win more than 4 or 5 games in conference play. It would not surprise me if they go 10-20 this season. It’s a sad thought. Jordan Williams and Colin Voss deserve better. Unfortunately it doesn’t look like things will get better.