UTA-OU (UTA fan saying hi)

UTAmav91

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one of your members visited us over at utamavericks.com...just wanted to see if we could get a little discussion going about the game.

Here's a longtime UTA fan/grad/season ticket holder perspective for what it's worth:

Obviously Mavs fans are really excited about this game--with a very popular coach, a new conference, a team that won 24 games last year and a beautiful new arena we've only played 4 games in...it's a great time to be a UTA fan.

After years of playing on the stage at theater/arena Texas Hall and having schools like Sam Houston or North Texas being our big home games, it's nice to have a facility and a talented team worthy of hosting an OU or other similar big-time programs every year now. And maybe pull off an upset once in awhile. :)

We return most of our players from last year, but did two our leading scorers to graduation. Our center Reves, TCU transfer forward Butler, and TxTech transfer guard Outler should be main offensive options. But last year we played a deep rotation of 9-10 guys that contributed a lot of minutes.

We're not a real tall team in the paint, but do have a roster with lots of strong, athletic 6'5-6'6' forwards that can play the 2-3-4 positions. I think we were #14 or something nationally in rebounding last year.

I'm not sure how big the win over Cal-Bakersfield on the road was the other night actually was, but early games can be unpredictable, close games teach teams a lot and I've heard UCB may actually be a pretty good team. Obviously OU (even at home) will be a tough test for our Mavs. Saw you shoot the ball real well from outside against UL-M sunday on TV.

Last year our team's energy and effort seem to really feed off the big crowds in the new gym, so if the Sooners don't get the crowd out of the game early we could make it interesting. It's a neat arena, and for a school of our size, the perfect capacity (seats 7,000).
 
Thank you for sharing that.

After three pretty miserable years, OU fans are finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Most of us are pretty excited about the potential of this team but only cautiously optimistic given the results the last few years. I sure hope your guys are not good enough to pull off the upset. The last thing this team needs is to suffer an upset.
 
ULM wasn't much of a test, but UTA should be a different story. It is the first road game for a team that gives 3 freshman significant minutes. Arlington is just down the road and we should have some fans show up so this one ought to be a softer road trip though.

I'm glad you stopped by to tell us about the team and developments in the program. It sounds like you all have a bright future ahead of you all. Here at OU we are hoping this season turns the corner for us and puts us back into the post-season. I'm excited for this Friday and our first serious challenge of the season.
 
Thanks for the post, UTAmav91. I wish your team a great season, except for one game later this week :). If rebounding remains a strength for your team, that will certainly give us some fits. That definitely has not been an OU strength to this point, though we certainly looked better in that area against an outmanned opponent on Sunday.

OU's main strength so far is depth. Even if the lead by either side never reaches double digits, OU will definitely go 10 deep, maybe even 11. There is no superstar on this team, but have guys at the 2,3,4,and 5 positions who can all make outside shots. I think this OU team will wear down a lot of opponents with their depth and pressure defense. The lack of a true go-to guy and rebounding might be OU's biggest weaknesses.

I have no doubt this will be a great test for the Sooners. Stop by here anytime.
 
For what it's worth, we had like 52 or 54 rebounds saturday night (good for 6th in the country after one game for us/opening weekend across the country) and held UCB to 26% FG shooting. Again, not sure how good UCB is, but the numbers look good anyway :). Several nights last year, on nights when our shots wouldn't fall, our extra possessions gained by offensive rebounds helped us stay in games we should have lost.
 
Welcome Mav. Glad you made your way over here.

Any good suggestions for places to grab a bite to eat/drink before or after the game near the new arena?

I am thinking you will see OU go with its continued "hockey line" of substitions on Friday. Coach Kruger seems set on having guys battling it out with pretty equal court time.

A couple of questions regarding the Mavs (pretty cool if you are a Dallas Mavs fan as both teams wear blue):

Who is your top 3 point shooter?
Who is your best on the ball defender?
Who is your best athlete?
Who would you want to take the game winning shot/drive?

Looking forward to the game. Heard your new arena is really nice.

-BT
 
Welcome, Mav. Great input.

I'll actually be at the game with two UTA alumnae (my wife and her old college roommate). Looking forward to it.
 
Welcome Mav. Glad you made your way over here.

Any good suggestions for places to grab a bite to eat/drink before or after the game near the new arena?

I am thinking you will see OU go with its continued "hockey line" of substitions on Friday. Coach Kruger seems set on having guys battling it out with pretty equal court time.

A couple of questions regarding the Mavs (pretty cool if you are a Dallas Mavs fan as both teams wear blue):

Who is your top 3 point shooter?
Who is your best on the ball defender?
Who is your best athlete?
Who would you want to take the game winning shot/drive?

Looking forward to the game. Heard your new arena is really nice.

-BT

There's still a lot of new development near the arena that's under construction. Mellow Mushroom pizza and The Flying Fish are north of the arena a block or two and highly recommended. UTA is in the middle of town, but most of Arlington's restaurants are near the I-30 corridor by SixFlags/Rangers/Cowboys or south of town all along I-20.

Top 3-point shooter: we lost our two major 3-point shooters last year to graduation (Reed and Ingram, Reed is playing in Belgium now, and Ingram is playing in the NBA D-League) so I guess our first-year Tech transfer sophomore SG Jamel Outler or senior SF 6'5" Karol Gruszecki. Karol was about the 4th or 5th scoring option last year behind some really good seniors, but in games where he got a decent amount of minutes, he shot the ball very well. He should start for us this year or at least get 15-20 minutes a game. He avg. like 18-20 pts. in junior college. Outler is probably our best overall shooter on the team.

Defender: probably our point guard Shaq White. He's only 5'8" but opposing point guards have a long night because he's so active on defense. Any tentativeness on their part and it's stolen for a layup. He's also a great passer, probably the best PG at UTA ever.

Best athlete: Greg Gainey is a first-year junior college transfer (another 6'5" SF) that can score and really rebound, similar to TCU transfer Kevin Butler who was last year's best athlete. Even on nights where we didn't play great, Butler was the motor and heart and soul of our team last year.

Winning shot: either our 6'10 center Jordan Reves (really developed a nice inside game the last year or two and shot 76% FT) or Butler.

How about OU: who should us Mavs fans watch for?
 
Recommend Flying Fish...great spot for some solid eats. Wish I was making this one, but just not in the cards.
 
There are a bunch of places right near campus and the arena. The arena is on the far eastern edge of campus, and the places to eat are slightly north and east of the arena in a downtown Arlington that is coming back. On Abram St.: Flying Fish has been mentioned, and is pretty good. Also on Abram: Twisted Root, Free Birds, Hooligans (these Abrams St. options are all together). Sports Bars: Monkey Grease north of the train tracks on Center, Mavericks Bar and Grill on east Main (have to hunt for it). Of course, the old stand-by, Gilligans is still around. Mellow Mushroom is pretty cool. It's north of the tracks on Center across the street from Grease Monkey.
All of these places have some "atmosphere." They cater to the college and community crowd. I'm sure I missed a few. Oh, also, the College Park District (east side of campus, and contains the arena) has a some places opening up. I now Pie Five is has opened in College Park. I'm sure I missed a few.

In terms of parking, you should have no problem. There are two giant garages in College Park, directly north of the arena. They are concealed behind the retail, dorms, and College Park Lofts.

Great to have you guys coming down. Looking forward to watching the Sooners take-on our Mavericks!
 
Looking forward to this roadie... most important question - where is the closest In-N-Out Burger to UTA campus?!?!
 
Because there's not a ton of time between getting off work at 5 p.m. driving across town for a 7 p.m. Friday night tipoff, I think our crew is hitting up the Grease Monkey. I guess our friends know the owner, so go check it out.

http://www.greasemonkeyburgers.com/
 
Is it just me, or is tomorrow taking forever to get here? I'm ready to see some more Sooner hoops!
 
Looking forward to this roadie... most important question - where is the closest In-N-Out Burger to UTA campus?!?!

There's one along I-20 about 2 miles away:

http://goo.gl/maps/EYrjh

Driving directions to In-N-Out Burger

From:
College Park Center
601 S Pecan St
Arlington, TX, TX 76019


1. Head south on S Pecan St toward W 3rd St
0.7 mi

2. Turn right onto W Park Row Dr
0.3 mi

3. Turn left onto S Cooper St
0.8 mi

4. Turn left onto Matlock Rd
2.1 mi

5. Turn right onto I-20 Frontage Rd
Destination will be on the right
 
Looking forward to this roadie... most important question - where is the closest In-N-Out Burger to UTA campus?!?!

They're are quite a few of them in DFW now. You shouldn't have any issues finding one. Your taste in food, on the other hand, is up for debate. :)
 
They're are quite a few of them in DFW now. You shouldn't have any issues finding one. Your taste in food, on the other hand, is up for debate. :)

My wife thinks so too... I think it's a really good fast-food burger. Always fresh and consistent, which is rare nowadays. I dont get much into the burger wars, I like them all, but In-N-Out is near the top IMO. I will say their fries suck unless you go Animal-Style.

My taste in food... LOL. I'm not sitting here at 240 lbs. by being picky.

Boomer Sooner, see ya in Arlington. I'll be the guy in crimson :)
 
OU's main strength so far is depth. Even if the lead by either side never reaches double digits, OU will definitely go 10 deep, maybe even 11. There is no superstar on this team, but have guys at the 2,3,4,and 5 positions who can all make outside shots.

Gosh I forgot how long it has been since I have been able to read this about an OU team...thank you for coming Coach
 
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