[MBB] Game #25: 2/13/19 - 7:00PM vs UMass-Lowell

[Clickclack]

46 minutes ago, godanesgo99 said:

I got to the game a little late last night. I think they were losing 11-4 at the time. As soon as we walked through the door, my 9 year old looked at me and said that it "felt weird" in the gym. I have said that in the past when I had an anxious feeling, or the environment just wasn't right, so he got that from me. By the time I sat down, I knew exactly what he meant. The air pressure was off, the sound of the crowd was off, and most definitely the players were off. 

I ended up staying till the final horn, but I have to say: I almost walked out early with about 4 minutes left for the first time in over a decade of attending every game possible. The team just didn't have "it" last night. 

A few thoughts: 

• Lauderdale checked in during the first half and saw like 30 seconds of time. Not sure he was ever in again that I noticed. What was that about? 
• If the long ball isn't falling, why do they keep chucking? I know shooters have to shoot themselves out of a funk, but that was crazy last night.
• DeSousa looked pretty good for the most part last night, especially with his length on defense. He might be an actual shot blocker for the team. There was one play where he tried to force a bounce pass down low in the first half and it was stolen. Brown took him out immediately and sat him for almost the rest of the half. It felt like a Patsos play where the second someone made a mistake he was out. That is no way to build confidence in young players. 

I still have high hopes for this squad. I don't think they are a bunch of non-D1 players as others have posted. There is a lot of talent top to bottom. They just need to figure out something to change the offensive and defensive scheme, because Will Brown grind doesn't work with the horses the team has. 

I strongly disagree on a lot of talent. There's a lot of talent with Rizzuto, Healey, Lulka, good physical tools with De Sousa and even if completely crazy half the time Clark...that's it. 

On point 1 - Lauderdale isn't very good except for a few fouls. Against UVM 11 minutes = 2pts/1rb, against Bing in 11 minutes 0pts/3rb, against UNH 8 minutes 2pts/3fls/0rb...I understand they needed some size but he can't play at the D1 level

On point 2 - With the exception of Lulka who doesn't demand the ball, there is ZERO inside, no one can back anyone down, catch the ball inside by some chance it gets tossed in there, or score back to the basket. What you see if a team relying on either Clark driving and something usually completely idiotic happening or Healey and Rizzuto bombing from 3 or even Clark. Clark yesterday was unhinged, shot 5-17, a NUMBER of IDIOTIC step backs with plenty of time on the clock. At least 2 3's were blocked if memory serves. So that's why they bomb, because they have zero back to the basket and they have a PG that while talented is not a winning player. 

On point 3 - Agreed...wish Brown would take every single Campbell minute and give it to De Sousa...without exception. Quite frankly, De Sousa is FAR better on defense then Campbell. Devonte is a great guy I'm sure but shouldn't be in the rotation at all. 

We are 25 games into the season the entire recruiting class with the exception of De Sousa who sees little minutes is a bust. I'm not counting the red-shirted kids. Miller is 8th or 9th man in a rotation if that. Flory injured and even when he was in there looked like there is no future with him in D1. French not a D1 player, Lauderdale not a rotation piece. Brooks D3...maybe, not even sure why he was recruited. 

 

I will continue to insist that the core of this team that will be here for the next 3 years is very good but the rest of this roster will be quickly forgotten and that includes Clark. The talent level on this team besides the 4 kids is some of the worst I've seen in 15+ seasons. I HATE with a passion the strategy to recruit JUCO kids...THIS, this here is what you get. For every Travis Charles or Even Singletary who you have to develop for 50%-75% of the time he's in the program before he makes an impact...you get a roster of people who are taking up scholarships...a never-ending stream of Matt Conways, Costa Andersons, Maquees Graysons, Jaraan Lands, Terrel Martin-Garcia's, Jamir Andrews, Richard Peters, Tre Green, Anders Haas, Levan Shengalia ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON AND ON...

I WILL NEVER EVER EVER UNDERSTAND the strategy that Brown employs when he builds a roster. You can bet your ass 2 or 3 jucos recruited will be gone after this season as well and if they aren't this team will struggle to get to .500 next season. 

This team when they are competitive it's ENTIRELY because one or more of the freshman are standing on their head...which bodes well for the future but gets you results like last night when they are all off. 9/13th of this roster is useless...that's no way to build a team.

 

It is absolutely CRITICAL and mission #1 this season to find a 4 year PG to pair with Doherty and Hutch. If you see departures replaced by more JUCO's I'll take it as a horrible sign going forward. Again. 95% of all JUCO recruits stink...I know that will ruffle feathers but it's true. The decomposing basketball carcasses of 10's of kids who were brought in as JUCO paint a brutal picture!

Edited February 14, 2019 by Clickclack

[Clickclack]

P.S. when this is your starting PG...you are screwed! 38% from 2 27% from 3, sky high usage...(you'd think he'd stop bombing but NOOO!!!) offensive efficiency is cratering. High assist rate negated by a brutal turnover rate. No flow created when non-stop forced step-backs and drives into 3 defenders. 

 

Edited February 14, 2019 by Clickclack

[Clickclack]

P.S.S. Take a guess how many JUCO's Vermont has...not sure it's a coincidence that they are on their 11th season of 20+ wins. They are completely dominating year in and year out the AE with horrible facilities. 

[Dane Pound]

5 hours ago, Clickclack said:

I strongly disagree on a lot of talent. There's a lot of talent with Rizzuto, Healey, Lulka, good physical tools with De Sousa and even if completely crazy half the time Clark...that's it. 

On point 1 - Lauderdale isn't very good except for a few fouls. Against UVM 11 minutes = 2pts/1rb, against Bing in 11 minutes 0pts/3rb, against UNH 8 minutes 2pts/3fls/0rb...I understand they needed some size but he can't play at the D1 level

On point 2 - With the exception of Lulka who doesn't demand the ball, there is ZERO inside, no one can back anyone down, catch the ball inside by some chance it gets tossed in there, or score back to the basket. What you see if a team relying on either Clark driving and something usually completely idiotic happening or Healey and Rizzuto bombing from 3 or even Clark. Clark yesterday was unhinged, shot 5-17, a NUMBER of IDIOTIC step backs with plenty of time on the clock. At least 2 3's were blocked if memory serves. So that's why they bomb, because they have zero back to the basket and they have a PG that while talented is not a winning player. 

On point 3 - Agreed...wish Brown would take every single Campbell minute and give it to De Sousa...without exception. Quite frankly, De Sousa is FAR better on defense then Campbell. Devonte is a great guy I'm sure but shouldn't be in the rotation at all. 

We are 25 games into the season the entire recruiting class with the exception of De Sousa who sees little minutes is a bust. I'm not counting the red-shirted kids. Miller is 8th or 9th man in a rotation if that. Flory injured and even when he was in there looked like there is no future with him in D1. French not a D1 player, Lauderdale not a rotation piece. Brooks D3...maybe, not even sure why he was recruited. 

 

I agree with some of this but wanted to add...

Point 2 kind of negates Point 1. I don't think we'll see if Lauderdale has a post game because the ball almost never goes inside. I don't think Lulka gets enough touches either. You're right, there are too many ill-advised outside shots.

Point 3 - Maybe I'm wrong but I thought De Sousa and Campbell were on the floor at the same time. We played Devonte at the PF spot sometimes to guard Gantz (who I am very happy is graduating.)

I like Miller and there are many times when we look steadier when he's on the floor.

[UA1882]

If I had the time I would make clips of lulka attempting to get the ball on the post. He is terrible at it. Need to get your butt out and feet wider. All he does is put his hand up and get pushed off the block. 

I thought earlier in the season we needed to get the ball down low, however I believe we are trying to do it,  but cant. 

I hate to say this, and many will disagree but Duquette , at least last night, looked like a much better coach then brown. Offense sets were crisp. Ball moved quickly with a purpose. Ect, ect ect. 

[cwdickens]

10 hours ago, dslyank said:

Its ALL my fault. I put TOO much pressure on the team. I did not think that they actually read this stuff. I guess they did, because they certainly played like they HOPED they'd win; instead of like the KNEW they'd win. I take full responsibility . {I know don't flatter myself.} Coach says chalk it up just a BAD outing. Maybe it is time to admit, it is just a BAD team......... 

This is not fan created problem.  Yes, as fans, we are suffering from the realization of no post season tournament games.  After listening to a follow season ticket holder, this is a young, inexperienced team with a few other upper class players who may have and/or have checked out.  I have been asked to be patient.  To our red shirt freshmen and freshmen ... you have my understanding.  To Ahmad Clark, please take a seat at the end of the bench.

Edited February 15, 2019 by cwdickens
Missed something

[cwdickens]

7 hours ago, Clickclack said:

P.S.S. Take a guess how many JUCO's Vermont has...not sure it's a coincidence that they are on their 11th season of 20+ wins. They are completely dominating year in and year out the AE with horrible facilities. 

I agree about the facilities... What they have is 3400 sports crazed UVM loving fans... Packing Patrick Gym or Gutterson Arena.... Good athletes love playing in front full arenas at home.

[dslyank]

Not to nock burlington; but uvm is pretty much the only game in town; and they are NOT 2-3 hours away from NYC & Boston with their media and sports offerings and cultural and entertainment offerings. Not to raise the smallbany topic again; but when winning, UA will match or exceed them in average attendance. So IMHO it is about WINNING, and how a winning team is put together; and not how athletes are attracted to vt by the crowd. Of course elite athletes want to go to Duke, North Carolina, Cuse, etc; but neither vermont nor UA is even remotely in that class. So, I disagree that vermont gets better athletes than us because of the large grazed fans in burlington. I don't know maybe they win because of less distractions up there; but somehow doubt they win because of their fans. The fans come because vermont wins, not the other way around; and like pretty much everywhere else {@ our level at least}, if they start losing their attendance will go down.

[cwdickens]

9 hours ago, dslyank said:

Not to nock burlington; but uvm is pretty much the only game in town; and they are NOT 2-3 hours away from NYC & Boston with their media and sports offerings and cultural and entertainment offerings. Not to raise the smallbany topic again; but when winning, UA will match or exceed them in average attendance. So IMHO it is about WINNING, and how a winning team is put together; and not how athletes are attracted to vt by the crowd. Of course elite athletes want to go to Duke, North Carolina, Cuse, etc; but neither vermont nor UA is even remotely in that class. So, I disagree that vermont gets better athletes than us because of the large grazed fans in burlington. I don't know maybe they win because of less distractions up there; but somehow doubt they win because of their fans. The fans come because vermont wins, not the other way around; and like pretty much everywhere else {@ our level at least}, if they start losing their attendance will go down.

This reply limited to UAlbany 🏀 vs UVM 🏀

I want to expand on my comments about UVM.  To start, I started following UVM sports when UAlbany was DIII. Back then UVM was primarily a hockey school then women's basketball had a perfect regular season only to lose in the 1st round of the NCAA.  However, the seeds were sown and the seeds sprouted.  Men's basketball continues that tradition.. Ice hockey has had its up and downs as it navigates Hockey East.  Burlington VT is New England's Queen City with a great music & theatre scene, a vibrant downtown with bars & restaurants  ... By the way 90 minutes from Montreal!!! Let's talk about the ski scene.  Talk about distractions. Sadly most other sports at UVM have not enjoyed a lot of such like at UAlbany.

[UA_MA_2000]

22 hours ago, dslyank said:

Not to nock burlington; but uvm is pretty much the only game in town; and they are NOT 2-3 hours away from NYC & Boston with their media and sports offerings and cultural and entertainment offerings. Not to raise the smallbany topic again; but when winning, UA will match or exceed them in average attendance. So IMHO it is about WINNING, and how a winning team is put together; and not how athletes are attracted to vt by the crowd. Of course elite athletes want to go to Duke, North Carolina, Cuse, etc; but neither vermont nor UA is even remotely in that class. So, I disagree that vermont gets better athletes than us because of the large grazed fans in burlington. I don't know maybe they win because of less distractions up there; but somehow doubt they win because of their fans. The fans come because vermont wins, not the other way around; and like pretty much everywhere else {@ our level at least}, if they start losing their attendance will go 

Perhaps enthusiasm for college basketball in general has gone down in this area. Our attendance is down, but so has Siena's attendance (compared to prior Coaching regimes). And Siena is playing well in their league and only 1 game out of first place right now. The TUC should be well attended for their games (notwithstanding the fact that their offense is worse than ours; they just play tough defense to win).

I think our attendance would go up if we were winning; this isn't really debatable. But I think there has also been a dip in interest and attendance for both Siena and UAlbany basketball in this area. I might speculate, however, that interest is the same but attendance is down because people can watch the games on the Internet or through ESPN 3 or ESPN+. 

Edited February 16, 2019 by UA_MA_2000