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Buffalo V. Bowling Green


Dabulls

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1 minute ago, UBinMD said:

From what I'm seeing, we are very undisciplined. The players seem to think their athleticism will carry them, but it doesn't work that way at this level. There does not appear to be a court leader. Segu is trying, but we are committing silly fouls and taking terrible shots.

100% agree with this.  Since Oats left all we've heard is that this team is athletic.  We shown it in flashes but last year and so far this season it looks like we haven't grown as a team.  No consistency, no closer mentality and we aren't doing the team oriented things that win tight games.  Good news is we have until March to fix it.  Just gotta finish in the top 8. 

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I'm gonna be honest - UB played better than I expected them to play today.  Frankly, I was expecting them to lose pretty easily; I was not expecting them to lead for the majority of the second half and be right in it at the end.

This game plays out differently if Mballa is playing.  It's not an excuse for the Bulls, but it's pretty undeniable that Mballa makes a big difference for this team.

I am pretty confident in saying that Segu and Williams have "arrived".  Williams in particular appears to have taken his game to the next level, from what I have seen.  Graves is Graves and is the closest thing that UB has to a premier scorer.  The three of them are carrying a massive load right now, and overall, big picture, I don't think there's anything to complain about with their performances.  I'm pretty confident in Mballa when healthy.

If BG is the class of the MAC, then UB is pretty clearly still right there.  UB's star trio (sans Mballa) outplayed BG's best, but the best player in the conference hit 15 free throws and scored 33 points.  That'll happen sometimes.  What UB really needs is more production from the rest of the team.

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Mballa will make a big difference, the team played so much better with Brock in the game

Mballa will also allow different line ups and more rest for segue/graves/williams

But yeah last 2 games very disappointing, when you have leads in the final 4 minutes of a game you need to close it out

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I think Whitesell needs to step it up too. He’s gotta make sure they get good shots out of timeouts, try and minimize if not eradicate possessions where each player tries to go 1 on 1 then cough it up to a teammate who tries the same then to another teammate who does the same while bleeding shot clock leading to bad shot or turnover. He has to step up recruiting too be it out of JC or freshman class. 
 

I repeat BG was not impressive tonight. Was that their full team? We’re they missing anyone? They were far more athletic last year. I’m looking forward to seeing Ohio, Kent and Akron. If we can get our crap together we could do well. 

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4 minutes ago, Erie County said:

BG isn't the class of the MAC. I think they were 4th in most places. 

BG didn't play very good at all. The refs helped them a lot in key spots. 

Army certainly isn't the class of D1 either. Safe to say this is a .500ish MAC team

It's looking like Ohio may be the class of the MAC, but I think it's a little disingenuous to say BG was projected "4th in most place".  3-Man-Weave had them as conference favorites.  They were the coaches' poll selection favorites.  Busting Brackets had them at #1.  Do some publications have them outside the top spot, sure, but they're on-paper the preseason favorite.

I don't disagree with the rest of your comments, but they also don't invalidate the rest of my comment.  They can look like a .500ish MAC team and play better than I expected them to play; those are not mutually exclusive.  I'm not particularly pleased with it, but that's where UB is as a program right now.

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7 minutes ago, Erie County said:

BG isn't the class of the MAC. I think they were 4th in most places. 

BG didn't play very good at all. The refs helped them a lot in key spots. 

Army certainly isn't the class of D1 either. Safe to say this is a .500ish MAC team

I agree early season Ohio looks to be team to beat.  

I do agree Mballa will make a difference, but team needs to improve play at end of game, get more from bench and improve free throw shooting.

For what it is worth Army beat La Salle at home by four.  Possible Army is a little better than thought.

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22 minutes ago, UBlearns said:

BG has the killer instinct.  UB doesn't.

Bench play has been poor. That’s been the story of this young season. No energy from coach. Cannot picture Whitesell turning this horrid start around. He doesn’t have it. Alnutt’s going to have a decision to make after this season. I’m willing to be patient, but I’m not too optimistic. On the positive, Segu has improved and can score in many ways. Williams can score in bunches too, but he is less reliable on defense. I think we will go as far as Mballa takes us. 1-0 with him. 0-2 without. Hope he is back soon.

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As down as many of the posts are, if we shoot FTs better, we may have won. It's disheartening to see how frequently we have struggled from the line across many seasons. Turner certainly didn't have that problem tonight for BG. Considering the team was without Mballa, they had a shot to win in the final 4 minutes of the game and just didn't do it. It was a very odd game as a whole in my mind, with so few assists and a million FT taken by each team. I like that the team hit the glass hard (as they generally have over the past few years). It's going to be an up and down season with a lot of games looking similar to this one, where it'll be nip and tuck, with either team able to pull it out in the end. This is how the MAC games always were, until we got spoiled by the loaded team over a couple of seasons where we just figured that we would win every one. It isn't like that anymore, and we need to get used to that, unfortunately.

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Pros: 1)We pounded the glass 2) We showed flashes of potential that lead one to believe that we can be a top 4 MAC team.  

Cons: 1) Horrible FT shooting. Recurring issue under both Oats/Whitesell 2) Poor 3pt shooting.  Which is a recurring issue under Whitesell. 3) End of game execution. Another recurring issue under Whitesell. 4) No bench contribution. Which is unusual for us as a program.  We major in 6th man awards.

Areas we need to improve: bench production.  That will improve instantly when Mballa returns.  He will be the 6th man and on the floor in late game situations. We need easier buckets.  To get that we need better defense.  I would like to see more set plays and offensive cohesion.  Not iso ball and wild drives to the basket that end in wild off balance shots. I'm afraid the days of running and gunning, aka Oats ball, are gone. We aren't back to "Reggie Ball" but Whitesell needs to accept who he is as a coach and coach to that. Stop trying to keep this team in the Oats identity.  Find your own identity. Mainly because it is evident that he can't coach Oats ball.  

Here is what I hope for this team...to grow and mature while competing and contending in the MAC.  Yes I want to win every game but lets be honest, this team will most likely be a .500 or slightly above .500 team in conference. After a season and 3 games under Whitesell, we are who we are. We need to beat Miami next then use the non-conference games to gain experience.  Stay in the top 8 and the hope is we can make a run in the conference tournament.  But with a sample size of a year and 3 games...might be wishful thinking (last year's home lose in the tournament has scarred me).

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1 hour ago, skrabukes said:

As down as many of the posts are, if we shoot FTs better, we may have won. It's disheartening to see how frequently we have struggled from the line across many seasons. Turner certainly didn't have that problem tonight for BG. Considering the team was without Mballa, they had a shot to win in the final 4 minutes of the game and just didn't do it. It was a very odd game as a whole in my mind, with so few assists and a million FT taken by each team. I like that the team hit the glass hard (as they generally have over the past few years). It's going to be an up and down season with a lot of games looking similar to this one, where it'll be nip and tuck, with either team able to pull it out in the end. This is how the MAC games always were, until we got spoiled by the loaded team over a couple of seasons where we just figured that we would win every one. It isn't like that anymore, and we need to get used to that, unfortunately.

I think we need to keep expectations high and hold Alnut, coaches and players to a high standard. Once you lower standards you never meet them and regress at least in my opinion experience. 

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1 hour ago, skrabukes said:

As down as many of the posts are, if we shoot FTs better, we may have won. It's disheartening to see how frequently we have struggled from the line across many seasons. Turner certainly didn't have that problem tonight for BG. Considering the team was without Mballa, they had a shot to win in the final 4 minutes of the game and just didn't do it. It was a very odd game as a whole in my mind, with so few assists and a million FT taken by each team. I like that the team hit the glass hard (as they generally have over the past few years). It's going to be an up and down season with a lot of games looking similar to this one, where it'll be nip and tuck, with either team able to pull it out in the end. This is how the MAC games always were, until we got spoiled by the loaded team over a couple of seasons where we just figured that we would win every one. It isn't like that anymore, and we need to get used to that, unfortunately.

I think we need to keep expectations high and hold Alnut, coaches and players to a high standard. Once you lower standards you never meet them and regress at least in my opinion experience. 

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1 hour ago, skrabukes said:

As down as many of the posts are, if we shoot FTs better, we may have won. It's disheartening to see how frequently we have struggled from the line across many seasons. Turner certainly didn't have that problem tonight for BG. Considering the team was without Mballa, they had a shot to win in the final 4 minutes of the game and just didn't do it. It was a very odd game as a whole in my mind, with so few assists and a million FT taken by each team. I like that the team hit the glass hard (as they generally have over the past few years). It's going to be an up and down season with a lot of games looking similar to this one, where it'll be nip and tuck, with either team able to pull it out in the end. This is how the MAC games always were, until we got spoiled by the loaded team over a couple of seasons where we just figured that we would win every one. It isn't like that anymore, and we need to get used to that, unfortunately.

I think we need to keep expectations high and hold Alnut, coaches and players to a high standard. Once you lower standards you never meet them and regress at least in my opinion experience. 

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3 minutes ago, UB85 said:

I think we need to keep expectations high and hold Alnut, coaches and players to a high standard. Once you lower standards you never meet them and regress at least in my opinion experience. 

I agree.  We set a high bar with our recent success.  So a regression was inevitable.  I have not lowered my standards, which is why I am very bitter about losing to Army twice.  Which is why losing a first round home tournament game is bad.  Which is why 20 wins isn't a good measuring stick. We've come back to the rest of the MAC, so while my standards are high for the program and administration, my expectations for this team aren't. But in tempering myself, the goal should be to improve each time out, stay in the top 8 and make a run in March.

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1 hour ago, Jeseph said:

The Reggie years are back baby!

Hurley and Oats were high-water marks and moved on to greener pastures.  Alnutt had the opportunity to keep the momentum going at the most attractive point ever in the history of UB basketball...but was (obviously) not effectively prepared for Oats' departure and, apparently, didn't want to open up the pocket book to get the right coach (or  an up-and-comer).   He came back to Whitesell as a last ditch effort to try to keep the team together (which worked) and we now have what we have.   

I don't think anything I have written above is opinion, by the way.

We are now somewhere between the Reggie years and the Hurley/Oats years.  

I do hope the team gets healthy and goes on a run.  I will always be a fan.

Go Bulls!

 

 

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23 minutes ago, UB92 said:

Hurley and Oats were high-water marks and moved on to greener pastures.  Alnutt had the opportunity to keep the momentum going at the most attractive point ever in the history of UB basketball...but was (obviously) not effectively prepared for Oats' departure and, apparently, didn't want to open up the pocket book to get the right coach (or  an up-and-comer).   He came back to Whitesell as a last ditch effort to try to keep the team together (which worked) and we now have what we have.   

I don't think anything I have written above is opinion, by the way.

We are now somewhere between the Reggie years and the Hurley/Oats years.  

I do hope the team gets healthy and goes on a run.  I will always be a fan.

Go Bulls!

 

 

I feel we are in the middle as well, almost like we have the Hurley/oats athleticism with the reggie coaching ability

Its almost like whitesell doesn't coach in game, just lets the players play

The poor 3pt attempt out of a time out with 2 minutes left down 4? Like what? 

 

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At this level you can choose to put your money and resources into Football or basketball.  I feel like Danny White chose basketball and Allen rode the coattails of that.

Alnutt has made it clear we are a football school.  He was extremely cheap when it came to choosing a head coach and anyone that follows his twitter account can see he is more concerned about his Kansas City Chiefs than our men's basketball program.

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22 hours ago, BullBoy said:

At this level you can choose to put your money and resources into Football or basketball.  I feel like Danny White chose basketball and Allen rode the coattails of that.

Alnutt has made it clear we are a football school.  He was extremely cheap when it came to choosing a head coach and anyone that follows his twitter account can see he is more concerned about his Kansas City Chiefs than our men's basketball program.

Get rid of Alnutt and Whitesell, bring in an aggressive AD. Hire John Beilein 

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16 minutes ago, Erie County said:

Where do I sign up for that

I’m not really mad at the last two games after seeing K state get beat by a d2 team, let’s beat Mercyhurst and a weak Miami team! If we drop any of the next two games then I’m fully on board for firing Whitesell

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On 12/9/2020 at 8:26 PM, Dabulls said:

I’m not really mad at the last two games after seeing K state get beat by a d2 team, let’s beat Mercyhurst and a weak Miami team! If we drop any of the next two games then I’m fully on board for firing Whitesell

When a P5 team loses to a D2 school that means its time to blow it all up.  K-state is a mess. We are not that, however that does not mean we should lower our bar.  If we pride ourselves as being the class of the MAC and perennial MAC contenders then we should always beat a D2 school and treat them as what they are...glorified exhibition games.  Bc a loss to one, means something is fatally wrong. 

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