MaineBull

As of today our roster looks as follows: Guards: Dunn, Fulcher, Sabol, Boldin, Akot Wings: Wilson, Mcveigh, Michaels, Batchelor, Jackson Bigs: Oboh That gives us the following class breakdown: Freshman (4): Michaels Oboh Jackson Akot Sophmores (4): Sabol Boldin Wilson Mcveigh Juniors (2): Fulcher Batchelor Seniors (1) Dunn That leaves us 2 scholarships left. Hard to predict today with 2 spots left to fill but here is my guess at starters for next season as of now: PG: Dunn SG: Sabol SF: Boldin PF: Batchelor Center: Grad transfer to come I would like to see staff fill the last two roster spots with a grad transfer big who can start and provide some veteran leadership and a freshman true big man who we can develop in our system who can play with his back to the basket and rebound and protect the rim. I like the direction this team is headed and I am looking forward to next season. This team is going to surprise some people, especially with their ability to shoot. Lets hope the staff can bring in a few more solid pieces to build on what they have started. Go Bulls!

You guys both bring up some great points. I agree with UBinMD that I feel like this coach and staff are trying to build a roster around kids that are interchangeable on the floor defensively and offensively both from a size and athletic point of view. These coaches are clearly looking for kids who are willing to play defense, are good athletes, and are unselfish hard workers. I think you can describe all of the freshman from last year under those categories. Those are clearly the type of kids this staff is after. I think this is the formula started by Villanova and now used by many schools, like Uconn. Obviously the talent level at these schools is above the level we are recruiting at but the type of kids are the same. The kids this staff is after are willing to sacrifice their own accolades for the good of the team. This describes, Sabol, Boldin, Wilson and Mcveigh all of this staffs recruits last year. I agree with MuchMany who feels that the veteran leadership from last year never took on these characteristics and they were a non complimentary group of players left leading this team. They were selfish players and were not willing to sacrifice for the good of the team. All of the lazy play from last year falls squarely on the shoulders of Chatman and Adams. That is why we won so little of our games. These kids let us down by being selfish and lazy. I think this staff will be the first to tell you there mistake was to allow Chatman and Adams and Smith the ability to return and their choice to continue to play them heavy minutes down the stretch of the season. It was destined to fail when the only reason these kids stayed here at UB was because they did not want to have to sit out another year because it was all of their at least second transfer if they chose to move to another school. These kids had no interest in playing for this coach, after all they came here to play for Whitesell. They had no interest in buying into what this staff was selling. That was the major issue last year. I wish the coaching staff had just benched them. It was a weird dynamic all year and I think this was the crux of it all. I think this staff is trying to follow the mold of Villanova and Uconn but we did not get a chance to see it much last year. I think they are trying to create an identity of interchangability, with athletes who work hard and are willing to sacrifice and play unselfish. Personally I think this is the approach to take in our situation. We go after the kids who are loyal and are willing to stay and play as a team. I also think this a reason you see this staff recruiting these kids who dont have a ton of other offers. They are under recruited and have a chip on their shoulder to prove themselves. I think next year we are going to see a vast improvement and I think it will be an entertaining brand of basketball. Trust me, I was as frustrated as anyone this past season. I drove 550 miles to see three games of Chatman and Adams being ball hogs and lazy on defense. I was the one standing and clapping when Chatman was kicked out of his final game, BYE! I am not happy with the status of this program but after I have let my emotions settle and I have reviewed our situation, a plan emerged that I think this staff is aiming for. Will it result in wins next year like we all want, I doubt it, but I think it takes time to build a program. I will support this approach and I hope you all will as well. I look forward to next year. I want to see a team identity based on interchangeability, athleticism and unselfish play where the players sacrifice for each other to allow for team success. If we see this from the team it will be a fun season and we can all get behind that approach. Go Bulls!

As of today our roster looks as follows: Guards: Fulcher, Sabol, Boldin, Akot Wings: Wilson, Mcveigh, Michaels, Batchelor, Jackson Bigs: Oboh That gives us the following class breakdown: Freshman (4): Michaels Oboh Jackson Akot Sophmores (4): Sabol Boldin Wilson Mcveigh Juniors (2): Fulcher Batchelor That leaves us 3 scholarships left. Personally I would love to see two graduate transfers for a PG and Center who can be starters and contributors right away and one more freshman, preferably a big. That would round out our roster nicely both from a position point of view as well as a class point of view. A graduate PG can make room in 2025 for PG Cooper who has committed already to play at UB. Hard to predict today with 3 spots left to fill but here is my guess at starters for next season as of now: PG: Grad transfer to come SG: Sabol/Boldin SF: Batchelor PF: Jackson/Michaels Center: Grad transfer to come I remain confident in what this staff is trying to assemble. I am hopeful that they can pull in a few graduate transfers under our current NIL situation. I know it will be difficult to accomplish but I am hopeful they can find some upper level players that are not getting the playing time they feel they deserve and they are willing to come to Buffalo for a year and mentor our young players and contribute right away. The more I look back on last season the more I am convinced the season was lost because of a lack of leadership from the older players. Look at the NCAA tournament and how important it is to have older experienced players that are leaders on your team. I am hopeful this staff can bring in a few senior leaders to both contribute and lead this team over the next year. I am excited about next year and I am curious about your thoughts on the construction of this roster thus far. Go Bulls!

I have supported this team since 1994 when I decided to come to UB. You will regret the statements about the coach and this roster. Good luck and I hope you can find a way to find some balance and happiness in this world. Good luck next year routing against your school.

I am sorry this is the approach you chose to take for being a fan for a team, betting against them for coming seasons before they even assemble a team. This approach surely takes all of the fun out of it. I hope you find a way to get some enjoyment out of this team in the coming years, as that is what it means to be a fan and that is the reason we route for a team to begin with.

This is like banging your head against a door. You are too emotionally invested to make an objective opinion. I am moving on as this is not fun for anyone. Your missing the point to no ones surprise. We will have to agree to disagree. Go Bulls!

They are freshman. Lets re access this statement in a year or two and see if you have the same opinion then. We all know you will not. By the time they graduate my guess is two of these freshman will be strong players on very successful teams. I think you need to get a better understanding of the game before you say some of these opinions.

That does not even warrant a response. The idiocy speaks for itself. I want to be clear and get on record you don't feel there are any D1 players on this roster outside of Adams, Chatman and Smith. Is that your opinion?

Your clear love for Adams is clouding your judgment. I am afraid you are too emotionally invested for some odd reason to be able to look at this objectively. Lets just agree to disagree on this issue. The simple fact remains Adams (and Chatman) were selfish and lazy players who took this team down and were an anchor for this team. We will be better off without them. To be successful in basketball it takes a team, look at James Harden and Russell Westbrook, great players but cannot win, why cause they are selfish and don't play team basketball. It takes team players to be successful. Adams and Chatman, were not those players. If they were not on the team last year the shots could have gone to the open player, whomever that was. That is how you succeed at basketball. Ball movement and passing that breaks down the defense and results in an open shot for whatever player is in the open spot on the floor.

Well said and spot on!

I think you need to get a better understanding of the game of basketball and how to be successful at it. I can tell you that the games of Adams and Chatman are not in the recipe for success, they are players on bad teams that can put up solid numbers nothing more. The game is won on the defensive side of the ball and Adams and Chatman were two of the worst defenders in the country last year. There are no numbers needed to back that up. We all watched each game painlessly watching Adams playing lazy defense (especially on the glass) and Chatman trying to break the school record for blocked shots by going after everything and goaltending constantly all while lazily getting back on defense. Adams led the team in assists yes, but his passing and ball movement in the flow of the offense are sub par, cause he is a selfish player. We all saw it, we all witnessed the insanity that was his game last season. It was awful to watch. He is a low level mid major player and he should be the third or fourth option on that team, that is his role and in that setting, I agree he could be successful potentially. UB is better off with those two players gone, anyone who feels otherwise needs to get a better understanding of how basketball is meant to be played. I am not lumping Jo into this mix as I felt differently about his game. He worked hard and was on an island on the glass last season with no one willing to help him. His game on the offensive end does not translate at this level, he is too small and frail to be a big with his back to the basket and he does not have the offensive tools to play on the perimeter, his handle is too weak. I will miss Jo and thank him for all of his effort the last 2 seasons. I wish him nothing but the best.

Any body willing to defend Adams is not watching the game close enough. Adams (and Chatman) let this team down tremendously last season. Adams is one of the most selfish players to ever play at UB. He was second in the conference in turnovers per game and he had the worst shot selection of any player I have ever seen at UB. His effort on the defensive end (and rebounding) was laughable at best. This program is in a much better place with him (and Chatman) gone. I wish him the best and good riddance. I personally like what I am seeing for recruits coming in. I think this is going to be a slow build to get where coach wants this program to be. We all need to be willing to commit to that, as clearly the University and Admin have. I think that is what they were sold on when HGIII was hired. I have a feeling we will next see some experience added to the roster thru the portal, likely a PG and Big. I think we can start to see an identity forming around, unselfish players that are willing to work, stay loyal to a program for 4 years and are solid defenders who can shot and are willing to be unselfish for the benefit of the team. I like this mold and am willing to be patient to see it built. Like BB, in year 2, I suspect to see a big jump, year 3 should be when things really get rolling. I think looking back the coaches will reflect and understand the mistake they made last was to allow the players to return from Whitesell's teams. Would have been better to clean the cupboard and start over. Tere is a very stark difference in the type of player HGIII and staff covet versus those that Whitesell recruited here and more importantly there is a big difference in the system they play both offensively and defensively.

This was one of the hardest seasons of UB basketball to watch that I can recall. Us as fans and these coaches and players all need to do some self reflection and make some hard decisions this offseason. I have been a huge fan of this team since I attended UB in 1995. I have watched every game and I have supported the team religiously. I make an annual trip to Buffalo each year from Maine to watch the Bulls in person. I attended the final three home games last week. I felt the game day experience has been improved slightly from last year. The band was spot on for all three of these games! The crowds were disappointing but that is to be expected for weekday games for a team with 4 wins on the season. I did attend the girls game on Wednesday and was impressed with the crowd for this game. Becky Burke has something brewing with this girls team. KLW and Alexis Davis are going to be superstars in this conference! Future is bright for the girls. The coach was in a tough spot with this men's team. He painted himself into a corner when he allowed both Chatman and Adams to return. They are not his type of players and do not fit his system. Chatman and Adams let this team down by being selfish and lacking effort especially on the defensive end. Chatman played hard but was the most selfish player I have seen at UB since maybe Zid. He came here to play with his high school teammate Curtis Jones and coach Whitesell, both of whom left, hence he lacked motivation to do as he was asked. He chose to do as he pleased and it hurt this team tremendously. Don't get me wrong he played hard but he only cared about his stats and not the success of the team. He was more concerned about not getting hurt then he was whether this team won or lost. If you pump fake he would jump out of his shoes. He got himself out of position all season long by trying to block a shot that would result in an easy basket. If I am ranking UB players with worst defensive ability he is definitely in the top 5. He spent the entire season taking ill advised shots. His game is to use his strength and back down his opponent and try to get to the line using his athleticism. Sadly he rarely took this approach instead choosing a contested three that he shot under 25.7% at. He is a great athlete that could have done much more on the glass then he did but he did. This team really needed help in rebounding. I am so happy this bozo is leaving us, our program is much better for it. His lazy running up the court or complaining to an official constantly and terrible attitude will not be missed. Watching him in person on the final game versus NIU was sickening. He is the opposite of blue collar basketball. Honestly I am shocked the coach allowed his behavior all season. As mentioned above the downfall was letting him return, coach was in a tough spot as he clearly was not listening to what the coaching staff was preaching. Adams let this team down even more than Chatman did this year. It is mind blowing how poorly he shot the ball all season long. His shot has no arc what so ever. Its flat and barely gets over 10 feet high. He has flawed mechanics that at this point cannot be fixed. field goal% for year under 40%, 3 point percentage 22.8%. Those are atrocious! His shot selection is terrible. The coaching staff was trying to develop an offense with lots of ball movement, but that was impossible with Adams on the floor. The ball stops when it gets to him every time. GO back and watch film, every time he catches the ball he jab steps and puts ball down in front of him. Yes, he lead the team in assists, I get it, but his game is not conducive to the type of offense the coach was trying to run. He is a selfish player and he showed it all season long. As we all know this team needed help on the glass, poor JO was on an island all season long with not much help. Adams, like Chatman, could have been the help we needed. But again he is too lazy to take this on constantly. I have never seen the amount of lazy turnovers that Adams consistently produced this season. He and Chatman combined for a staggering total of 169 turnovers on the season. That's 5.5 a game! Over the course of the season those two alone resulted in 5 to 6 points a game just with their turnovers! That's god awful and I blame the players for not correcting the issue and I blame the coaches for continuing to play them when they were hurting the team. I would have benched both of them down the stretch of the season. Give the minutes to the kids who want to be on the floor and are willing to lay it all on the line for the success of the team. Look back at the NIU game, once Chatman was kicked out and Adams was benched down the stretch, look at the results, that is when we made our run and made a game of it, cause the kids on the floor may have had less talent but they were working together and were working towards once goal, the success of the team. Basketball is about one thing, effort and sacrifice, both Adams and Chatman have none of that in their games. They let this team down so much and this program will be better for all now that they are both finally moving on. I liked what I saw from our freshman, Boldin and Sabol. They could be good players at this level if they continue to develop. The fact they got so many minutes this season in the end will help their development. I hope they don't transfer. The fact Boldin dressed for final game versus NIU tells me he is still committed to team. If he was planning to transfer I don't think he would have any intentions of playing in that final game. I really liked what I saw from Wilson as he continued to get minutes. His effort on the defensive end was impressive and he is a remarkable athlete a lot like Boldin. He needs to shoot 1000 shots a day all summer to improve his jump shot as that will be key to his success. McVeigh seemed to slowly improve all season. He looked lost early in the season, especially on the defensive side of the ball. I liked his ability to rebound and his effort was always really high. I am hoping this staff can develop each of these players and they remain with the team this off season, but that seems unlikely at this point. I would love to see Williamson and Fulcher return as I think each of them showed some ability and I think they can be pieces on a successful team. Like Wilson, Fulcher needs to get a ton of shots up this summer and Williamson needs to improve his defensive rebounding. Jo appears to be gone since he participated in Senior day and that's a bummer for this team in some ways. I loved his effort and his motor, it never quit. He is a great rebounded especially on the offensive glass. His game does not work with the offense this coach is trying to run. He is not strong enough with the ball on the perimeter to participate in this offense. They had to sit him down often this season as a result of this. I really like his game but him moving on is best for this team. We thank you for all you did for us and we will miss you Jo and wish you all the best. Where do we go from here? The coach is likely here to stay since he was hired to build a system. After Year one I am hesitant and nervous about the future of this program. I am not convinced this is not the coach for the job but at this point he has to step up and make a big jump in year two. I think moving on from Whitesells players of Chatman, Adams and Smith is a big first step. Next he needs to bring in some high level recruits to compete in year two. These players needs to be able to do the two things this coach came here looking to do, shoot the basketball efficiently and defend. That is the recipe for success. I support bringing in transfers or freshmen, which ever this staff feels can help them the most. Transfers will result in better success next season but I think that is not the end goal. I think this admin is ok with a slow build, I think this coach came here selling his system and how it takes time to build it. Year one was painful but here is hoping year two can be better. If not, I am afraid admin has no choice but to move on. It saddens me how far this program has fallen since the Oats years but I will remain steadfast in my support of this team and this program. We will return to those days, lets hope next season is a big step in the right direction. Go Bulls!

I would agree Adams has been bad defensively but Chatman may be the worst defensive player to ever done a UB uniform. All he cares about is getting a block. He plays with such a lack of effort it makes me sick honestly. You are exactly right he literally trots back on defense every play. Watch him tonight, it's so frustrating to watch a guy who could.be a great player on both ends just lack the desire to ever want to try. He play like a kid who transfered to a school to play with his buddy (Curtis Jones) and a coach he liked in whitesell only to have to sit out a year because it was his second transfer and then both Whitesell and Jones are gone and he does not want to sit out another year so screw it I am going to breeze thru the season and do what I want and give an awful effort. It's so bad. The major reason this team is ranked 345 currently in kenpom rankings and that is because of the lack of good play by the supposed leaders of this team Adams and Chatman. I welcome the off-season where both these guys will.be gone , hopefully, and coaching staff can bring in some.of their own guys who are willing to do what is needed on the defensive end to win.

He was definitely like this last year. He is a good third or fourth option on a team. The difference this year is he he is being asked to be option 1 or 2 and he does not have that ability. He is also being asked to be a leader and we can all see how that is going. This team will not have success with this type of player on a roster. We cannot support a player giving such poor effort, it's flat our embarrassing and setting this program back. The best situation for all is he grad transfers out of program. Best way to assure that happens is to make an example of him, and establish culture by saying lack of effort has consequences. As a result he gets upset and transfers. BYE!