Bold Predictions for Dartmouth

[squire17]

Dreadful.

[UBminicre]

Absolute horror show. 

[MKBullsfan]

Their game was atrocious like their shorts tonight

[mikescherrer8]

A game we normally destroy in. Yikes. 

[UBminicre]

Back to reality.. it was a magical run.

[UB05]

The transfers for the most part did not come to play. Johnson, hardnett and Grant were flat out bad, and nickelberry didn’t see the court. Mballa looked great though IMO

Edited November 9, 2019 by UB05

[YoungChow]

So what exactly were we doing on offense? Looked like we came in without a plan. Interior defense was atrocious. We just let them attack at will. 

[Ubbulls84]

Wow this was bad, unbelievably bad. And it wasn’t Dartmouth they weren’t doing anything special, it was us. How many wide open layups? So many players looked horrible, Jeenathan and Segu did not look good at all. Graves had a rough game even though I have confidence he’ll be fine. Besides Mballa, all our big men are soft. It’s just one game yes I get it, and yes not end of world. But boy we have no one on this team like Nick Perkins who can just get buckets when the outside shot not falling. This team has no chance against Harvard I just don’t see us winning that game unless we shot absolutely lights out. 

[DocCas86]

5 minutes ago, UBminicre said:

Back to reality.. it was a magical run.

Was a horrible outing, no doubt. Let's remember that they have talent  but they will have growing pains.  That said, I would like to see them come out with more energy on both sides.   They came out really tight.  I think if they go back to roots on defense, that will help with nerves and create opportunities for higher percentage shots.  Goal is still the same - win the MAC championship.  I know they didn't show it tonight, but this team can grow into the team that can win the MAC.

[Tee4three]

They started playing better the second half of the second half. Just can start as poorly as they did and expect to win games

I think it might be segu's time. Let him run the offense and allow Jordan do what he does best pressure defense

The transfers besides mballa had a rough go tonight.

I'll be positive because how they ended and the intensity they ended with. So I hope they used this game as a game to get rotations and chemistry down. After all its basically an entire new team

[clodney]

Defense, defense, defense... that’s how we won the last few years. Turnovers and fast breaks. Where the hell was that tonight?? We looked like an NBA team on defense. 

[zigo230]

Tough loss but these guys will establish some chemistry and jell soon enough. The automatic home wins are over with for now. Just get better. Who knows, maybe Dartmouth will prove to be a very solid team this year?!

by the way, are the Volleyball lines on the basketball court all season? 

[DooleyBull06]

1 minute ago, zigo230 said:

by the way, are the Volleyball lines on the basketball court all season? 

Most likely not.  But the volleyball team did have a match a few hours before tip off.

[MDBullsfan89]

16 minutes ago, Ubbulls84 said:

Wow this was bad, unbelievably bad. And it wasn’t Dartmouth they weren’t doing anything special, it was us. How many wide open layups? So many players looked horrible, Jeenathan and Segu did not look good at all. Graves had a rough game even though I have confidence he’ll be fine. Besides Mballa, all our big men are soft. It’s just one game yes I get it, and yes not end of world. But boy we have no one on this team like Nick Perkins who can just get buckets when the outside shot not falling. This team has no chance against Harvard I just don’t see us winning that game unless we shot absolutely lights out. 

Damn good thing we got the waiver for Mballa. I shudder to think how screwed we'd be in the post otherwise. Might still be on nights he gets in foul trouble.

[UB05]

12 minutes ago, clodney said:

Defense, defense, defense... that’s how we won the last few years. Turnovers and fast breaks. Where the hell was that tonight?? We looked like an NBA team on defense. 

They scored 68. We should be able to put up 70 on Dartmouth every day of the week

[121Merrimac]

13 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Most likely not.  But the volleyball team did have a match a few hours before tip off.

... and, they host Senior night tomorrow.

[DocCas86]

1 minute ago, UB05 said:

They scored 68. We should be able to put up 70 on Dartmouth every day of the week

Yes, however, I think the defensive intensity last year allowed us to create some higher percentage shots / fast break points.  We only had 9 fast break points for the game.  We need to come out more aggressive in coming games to create opportunities for the offense.

[121Merrimac]

How many players were injured last year?  I don't remember a single one. 

And, this year... Fagan, Nickelberry, Jordan & Bertram have all already missed time.

[Ubbulls84]

13 minutes ago, MDBullsfan89 said:

Damn good thing we got the waiver for Mballa. I shudder to think how screwed we'd be in the post otherwise. Might still be on nights he gets in foul trouble.

100% true. Has to learn rotations better but the talent is there. Was the only player who impressed me this game. Everyone else underachieved besides maybe Jordan, if he can hit his fts lol

Edited November 9, 2019 by Ubbulls84

[UB94Bull]

Bad night for Whitesell. Loses his first game and his ace recruiter

[DooleyBull06]

We knew things would be different but this was pathetic.  I'll start with coaching...where was it?  We had very few set plays run on offense (lots of iso ball), the team forgot how to rotate and play defense and there was no rhyme or reason to substitutions.  Whitesell just seemed to be subbing in guys hoping something would work.  The team lacked energy and a leader on the floor.  Jordan tried to be that in the 2nd half but down 17 was too big a hole.  This was not the same team that played against Daemen. Yes I know Daemen is D2 or whatever but there is no reason we should lose at home to Dartmouth.  Self inflicted loss.  I saw a lot of heads hanging low, we looked winded (poorly conditioned) and poor demeanor.  We are too talented to play like this. First order of business is to figure out a starting 5 and a rotation.  That will come with trial and error but wow this was ugly.  Good thing its only the first game.  Lots of issue to begin correcting so hopefully there is nowhere to go but up.  Just a disappointing start to the season. I could go on but we all witnessed the same thing.  

[enrique14150]

The Bulls simply could not overcome that many mistakes in order to get a win tonight.  Coach Quarles said it right, the better team won tonight.  It looked like they were shooting blindfolded and with oven-mitts on in the first half.  I don't think Dartmouth played that great.  Most teams like that are going to compete with UB by shooting well from outside, and that wasn't happening much.  UB didn't have to be great to win today but they had too much bad for too long.  And it looks like I'm in the minority but I was okay with the defense today for the most part.  A few times when they didn't box out well, but they got some steals, forced some bad shots, forced them way down the shot clock.  I was okay with the work rate.  They just couldn't shoot today.  I don't want to really diagnose it further than that right now.  As others have said there are a lot of new pieces in play out there (and I'm trying to imagine some of the first games with Hamilton/Conner and company, but they didn't look this rough), and yet...how many of them have been practicing with the team for some time, how many are transfers with college experience?

We've seen Bulls teams the past couple teams that come back AND keep that composure to take the game over, get over that hump in the score to make the other team chasing it.  This team tonight lost their cool in the last couple possessions at the end.

Jordan - good and bad.  Good intensity on defense, got some steals, hit some three's in the second half to get them back in the game.  But was unbelievably bad at the line, and made some bad decisions going to the net.  It's one game, but in previous seasons he looked like he took steps forward.  Tonight, he looked like the same-old.
Graves - I expect him to be the go-to guy on offense this year, playing a ton of minutes and being an impact player at both ends.  He was incredibly quiet in the first half (maybe 2 points?  and didn't even take many shots) but got to what I figure he'll average in the second half.
Mballa - I see so much potential in him.  It took a while but he started to figure out he could own that space underneath.  Once he gets the directness and confidence that a guy like Perkins developed, watch out.  He'll get better at positioning and boxing out.
Hardnett - another guy that looks like he has a ton of potential.  Like Mballa he just needs to play bigger and tougher.
Rondo - besides an ill-advised cross court pass that got picked off in the first half, I was okay with his game.  Frankly he should be giving Jordan a run for minutes at the point right now.
Jeenathan - I mean, he looks a little more built than last year but still, he continues to look awkward with the ball.  I want to see more purpose with it, more touch on his shots.  He's a supposed 4-star recruit, he's no longer a freshman, he's in a position to be a major player on this team, I expect better than last year and I saw the same thing.
Antwain - he strikes me as a feisty defender who isn't a great shooter.  We've had plenty of those guys over the years, and they're a key component in things.
Grant - when I saw that he and Johnson are seniors, I expected better.  I realize they sat out a year, but from what I saw tonight, we could get some freshman to look that raw and rusty.  I hope it's just rust wearing off.
I'm not sure who else is hurt right now but after that first half, I thought "anyone else on that bench should be able to get in this game and show what they can do." 

Crowd - a decent turnout for a Friday night against an opponent that isn't going to fire anyone up.  The band was good, the student section was full though it took them a while to show some life. 

Things the guy next to me (who was at least nominally rooting for UB) said:
-Heckled a UB player for an air-ball
-Asked his friend, seriously, "I don't think Dartmouth is a Division 1 team, are they?"
-Asked his friend, seriously, "was UB ranked in the top 25 last year?"
-Said in the second half, "This coach should be fired right now."
He and his friend left early with the Bulls down double-digits in the second half, before they roared back.  I was thankful...but please tell me I don't have an entire season of this ahead of me, I was about to lose it in the first game!

I don't like to see a loss, but hey it was fun to be back, always fun to see a banner go up, fun to leave with my voice hoarse from that second half comeback.

[UB05]

38 minutes ago, DocCas86 said:

Yes, however, I think the defensive intensity last year allowed us to create some higher percentage shots / fast break points.  We only had 9 fast break points for the game.  We need to come out more aggressive in coming games to create opportunities for the offense.

I don’t disagree, but you should still win holding Dartmouth to 68

[Ubbulls84]

1 minute ago, UB05 said:

I don’t disagree, but you should still win holding Dartmouth to 68

Normally in agreement with you there, but when the offense is this horrific, you just got to find a way to win, and way to many wide  layups allowed. If they anchored down and had right rotations, they would have found a way to win this one.

[dutchcountry7]

1 hour ago, UB05 said:

The transfers for the most part did not come to play. 

I am always skeptical of guys that transfer down to a lower level.  Picking a MAC school in the middle of a coaching change always makes me think that the recruits were passed over by a lot of other programs and were pushed out of their old team for a reason. 

But look on the bright side, maybe the big game in Toronto is still within reach.  Harvard lost tonight too.