University of North Texas Athletics
Green Gang: Things To Look For Tonight
11/5/2009 12:00:00 AM | Return to Play
By Steven Bartolotta, November 5, 2009, 6:05 a.m.
Speed limits, warning labels on the Big Mac, 45-minute Super Bowl halftime shows, and exhibition games. I might not like them, but you have to have them, no matter how much it hurts.
Tonight the North Texas women's basketball team plays the first of its two exhibition games against TWU at 7 p.m.
While the games don't count, for coaches, they are invaluable when it comes to seeing how much progress their team has made....or not made in two plus weeks of practice.
The evaluating of players and progress they have made will be worth as much as the final score.....unless you're Syracuse.
I'm excited myself to see what type of team that Shanice Stephens will have put together as a lot of new faces will take the floor for the first time in green.
There a lot of questions swirling around the team as they head into the 09-10 season and so we thought we would put together a list of items to look for tonight.
- 1. Watch for the new faces. There are plenty to choose from but Stephens is likely to get all of the newcomers a lot of work tonight. The two I'm most interested in seeing are the transfers. Brittney Hudson and Niq'ky Hughes both make their unofficial debuts in Mean Green uniforms tonight. Hughes is going to counted on to do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to the scoring while Hudson is likely to a versatile player for Stephens, playing potentially all three guard spots at one point or another this season.
- 2. Watch for the old faces. Jeanee Thompson and Brittani Bailey, both with the Mean Green last year, are now at TWU. It simply adds a layer of intrigue to the matchup tonight as you would think the players from both sides would be a little more motivated going against former teammates.
- 3. How will the freshman do? Practice is one thing, but when the lights come on it's another and this will be the first time for the freshman to play at the collegiate level.
- 4. Who will start? Great question because I've got no idea either. I think Stephens has a pretty good idea as to who she would start if the season was today, but I also think she's going to use these exhibition games to see who could make an impression and possibly play their way into the starting lineup.
- 5. Turnovers. Nothing will make a coaches hair go gray faster than TO's. This absolutely killed North Texas last season as they averaged just over 20 a game. Stephens wants that figure to be closer to 15 or less per game. She has spent a lot of time emphasizing ball security in practice, but with some inexperience at the point guard spot, that is something to watch.
Other storylines will undoubtedly come from this opening exhibition game, some good, some bad. So while the game won't count officially, the start of a new season and journey is all that counts for this team.
