March Senility

(Not Quite Madness – Yet)

-Ted Hall

The North Texas Men’s Basketball Team is the Sun Belt Tournament Champion.

A week ago, I would only have dreamed of typing that sentence, but today that same team is one week away from making it a reality.

Last Thursday, I arrived alone at the EagleLair (I refuse to call our Colosseum the “Super Pit”… sounds like a prescription deodorant or something). I showed up late because I had to stop at the concession stand to pick up my favorite combo (popcorn, hotdog, small soda, underage Asian cashier). I sat down in the seats at mid-court and surveyed the situation. We had the lead, seemed to have control of the game and ?uestlove was directing the band again. Things looked good. Going into the half, we led 40-29 and I’d written off the game against Arkansas State as a victory.

Bad call.

Arkansas State was outmatched. They had more size than the Mean Green (especially Little, their center), but didn’t have the skill or speed to keep up with Kendrick Davis and the bunch. But as we’ve seen far too frequently this season, the Eagles had trouble closing out. They had poor shot selection, they weren’t able to take advantage of the holes left by the full-court press (like they had against Troy), and they were lethargic, refusing to move without the ball. In fact, I would like to completely retract everything I said about Ben Bell two weeks ago. Ok, maybe not everything. But honestly, how can you expect a point guard to create any shots and see where to put the ball if the entire team stands still during every offensive possession. Bell also sported an interesting striped sock combo that was pleasing to this knee-sock aficionado, which may have contributed to his being forgiven. Arkansas State fought back from their deficit and pulled out a win in the end. I sprinted out of the EagleLair, depressed and disenchanted, and determined that, even though they had one more regular season game to prove their worth, North Texas would not fare well in the upcoming Sun Belt Conference Tournament in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Today was Round 1 of the Sun Belt Tourney and the no. 5 seed Eagles matched up against the no. 12 seed University of Louisiana – Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns. The Eagles had played the Cajuns only four days ago in Lafayette and won 72-70, accumulating a stat line that would hardly guarantee victory this evening. The Eagles, however, had a surprise for all their loyal fans: they decided they wanted this win. We, as fans, and others (the evil sports media) focus on stats and superstars so much that we forget about the importance of desire and focus and heart in every victory in everything we do; especially in sports, especially in college sports and very especially in basketball. Momentum and emotion play so much into the game that anything from a spectacular dunk to the chance for a bid in the Big Dance can be the difference between victory and defeat.

Enough with philosophy. The Mean Green were fantastic tonight. They played great basketball. They got quality play from the maligned Ben Bell, who found open teammates and drove to the basket. Coach Johnny Jones got a great game out of star Kendrick Davis who had a season-high 24 points and was 6 of 8 from three. The team was fluid moving up and down the court, dominated the boards and scored 16 points on fast breaks. Though the quality of competition left something to be desired, the North Texas basketball team began to show some promise for the first time in weeks.

It was this game I needed to be convinced that this Eagle team could win the Sun Belt. Mr. Jones, consider me sold. I know now that if this team continues to play like this down in Lafayette for the rest of the Tournament, they could easily win it all. With that, let’s take a look at the rest of the field of the Sun Belt.

Round 2

• 5 North Texas v. 4 Louisiana – Monroe
• The 4^th-seeded Warhawks shouldn’t be the challenge for North Texas they were the first time the two met this season. The Mean Green lost 66-62 on February 10 in Monroe. At the time, NT wasn’t playing as cohesively as they are now and shot 39 percent from the field. UL-Monroe has played a tougher schedule than the Eagles with losses to LSU and Alabama (who they played relatively closely), but losses to weaker Sun Belt teams when playing away from home (at Denver, at UL-Lafayette and at New Orleans) show some real vulnerability that North Texas can and will exploit.
• 9 Middle Tenn. State v. 1 South Alabama
• Middle Tennessee doesn’t stand a chance, although the fact that South AlaBAM didn’t play a particularly tough schedule and lost three in a row to end the season against weak Sun Belt teams gives some hope to potential opponents in the Tournament Semifinals… ahem… mean green…ahem.
• 6 Florida Atlantic v. 3 Western Kentucky
• Western Kentucky should really come out ahead in this one, but don’t be surprised if FAU can pull one out against the Hilltoppers. North Texas did beat WKU twice this season, after all.
• 7 New Orleans v. 2 Arkansas State
• ASU should win this matchup, but as a North Texas fan (and bigger fan of the Crescent City), I’m rooting for New Orleans. If, by some act of God, we end up facing one of these two in the conference finals, I’d rather it be New Orleans than Arkansas State, who have beaten us twice. The first was an old-fashioned ass-whooping and the second was the tragedy I watched a week ago.
  

Assuming that North Texas can get past the quarterfinals on Sunday, Coach Jones will have quite a challenge against their likely foe, South Alabama. The Mean Green played the Jaguars once already this season, losing 90-89. If Kendrick Davis and Keith Wooden can keep it close again, NT will be able to advance to the Finals. If they do so, they’ll most likely face either Arkansas State or Western Kentucky. They’ve lost twice to ASU and won twice versus WKU. Nonetheless, the Hilltoppers still scare me and I don’t really want the Eagles to have to face either of those teams. Though these teams will tough to conquer, Ben Bell and Co. are capable of beating all of them, and if they can do so, they’ll be Sun Belt Conference Champions for the first time and will have a spot in the NCAA Tournament for only the second time in team history and for the first time since 1988 (when they lost in the first round to North Carolina – for you trivia addicts).

Before all that, before the excitement, before the 24-hour TV coverage begins, the North Texas Eagles are going to have to get motivated, get themselves through a weekend in Acadiana and get through three more quality basketball teams.

And they will… because now they’ve got the heart.