Dane Pound

I think they did a little of that against Hartford. Takes some of the pressure off Clark not to have to score and handle. Also keeps Healy and Rizzuto from having to play a ton of minutes. Healy had 19 points in 22 minutes and Rizzuto had 21 points in 24 minutes. That's good stuff.

Rizzuto named Rookie of the Week for averaging 21 ppg in the two games last week.

I was curious to see Lulka and Carroll on the court together. Carroll has been an all-conference player and Lulka looked like a stronger, more athletic version of Carroll. The last few games we seem to have an identity and a rotation. Nice to see the aggression and rebounding from Rizzuto. We were able to survive a good shooting night from UH from 3 and all the different zones they threw at us. I was afraid we'd look like a deer in the headlights but we attached the zone pretty well. Terrible tech taken by Dunne for taunting our bench. Kind of a head-scratcher from a senior The officiating was kind of surreal tonight. I'm guessing with 5 seniors Gallagher doesn't have to coach much and can just yell at the officials for 40 minutes.

I think early in the season Clark had to do a lot. Now, the freshman have grown, his role has changed and he has to adjust. I actually thought he showed great patience getting that shot to tie. I thought he was going to hoist a three before driving for the layup.

You might have left out the best part. Saturday is Australia Day!

So, um Malachi De Sousa. He might be pretty good. We're a different team when Hank can stay on the floor and Rizzuto can score. I honestly think Clark is in his own head a little much the last few games. As the frosh develop, he doesn't have to carry us offensively anymore and is struggling. He didn't seem to quite know a good shot from a bad shot.

This post held up well. Monmouth just beat Iona to move into second place in the you-know-what MAAC.

I'm sure I'm in the minority but I didn't blame Cremo and Nichols that much for not winning while they were here. We never filled in around them with talent of a similar caliber. It takes more than two guys.

Should be an interesting game for Hank. He's been playing against a lot of undersized AE bigs who shoot from 3 and he hasn't gotten a ton of minutes. Stony Brook has more of a traditional big guy that he can battle with down low (hopefully.)

Clark had a lot on his plate being the main ball handler and asking him to be a primary scorer. He's more effective attacking when Miller or someone else facilitates and he doesn't have the whole defense facing him. He tries to do too much sometimes but he plays his tail off. He was in foul trouble today and played with limited minutes but still was our leading rebounder. Have to wonder if Rizzuto has hit the freshman wall. He played pretty well his first 7 games or so but has struggled since then.

In general, we played with more grit than we have. No poise during crunch time. Moving Clark off the ball and putting it in Miller's hands was a good idea. I think we've covered all the different ways to lose - blown out from the tip (Vermont) lose a big lead (UML) and now the knife in the heart at the end.

He's not as dynamic as Clark but we seem a little more patient on offense with Miller running the point. Tough shooting half Rizzuto but nice block. He looked like Donte Divincenzo in the national championship game.

Hopefully Rizzuto can get things going today. I remember the Iati brothers tended to get a big crowd at UMBC since York is only an hour away. Also a homecoming for Ahmad Clark as well.

I like this group and I think they'll be good. If we lose to UMBC by 20 I'm still going to like this group and think they'll be good. I don't think Lulka gets enough credit. For a freshman big guy, he's putting up good numbers and Healy is scoring like a guy who will be over a 1,000 point scorer. It's too early too tell for Rizzuto, De Sousa and Hank. It's funny how before this season we all knew this was going to be a rebuilding year and everything was peace, love and understanding. Then we lose three in a row and it changes how we see the program's past and the future.

I understand your frustration but not your solution. I like four year guys also but during our three straight NCAA years we had one or two JUCO starters on those team. When Singletary and Sanders were here, they started from game one and we were 48-18 over their careers.

All I can really say is... This doesn't reflect well on the MAAC at all.

UML got lucky Rivera wanted to stay home. He had some bigger offers out of high school. Reminds me a little of JJ Barea of Northeastern which is probably why we don't like him.

Didn't like the foul on Lulka knocking the guys over. BUT it's nice to see Lulka knock a guy over.

Granted, we haven't seen Mitch yet but should we start recruiting his younger brother already? Shea Doherty, Acton-Boxborough – Mitch’s little brother is very skilled for his size but both longer and more athletic than his older brother.

I hope Flory can contribute at some point. Right now he seems unsure when he's on the floor. For the most part, Clark and Healy have produced consistently but beyond them has been a mystery. If Rizzuto, Lulka and Campbell give us a little offense we look OK. If not, we look pretty awful. Miller has helped us when we look like a Dane in the headlights against different zone looks sometimes. Other than SBU and VT, I still think we are bigger than most teams in the conference and would like the ball to go into the paint much more.

I disagree with some of this. Billy Allen was good until he was injured. Jacob Iati was redshirting that year after transferring from High Point (I think.) My takeaway from that 09-10 year was that our freshman class (Black, Metcalf and Puk) took their lumps that year but became the foundation of a really good run. They won 9 more games the next year (16-16) and finished their senior year knocking off Washington and then playing Duke at Well Fargo in the NCAA tourney. I'm under no illusions about this year but I hope that's where we're headed with this group.

Hank going 1-6 doesn't help. Without that, we were 10-14 from the line which is about average.

Every year I watch UML I think, if I were a Bing fan I'd have to wonder how we ended up with Dempsey when a guy like Duquette was out there. Gantz is a PITA for us every year. Our big guys struggle with him on the perimeter.

I've wondered if Rizzuto is a PG in the future. Otherwise, I dunno.

Funny, the preseason "wisdom" was that UMass Lowell was going to stink without Jahad Thomas this year. That didn't quite pan out. Pat Duquette can really coach. They've finished higher than they were picked preseason just about every year.