Buffalo at Vanderbilt (12/3 @ 8 pm)

[MaineBull]

Lets continue to see the growth of this team tonight.  Come out looking to create turnovers with our ball pressure that will result in easy transition baskets on the other end.  Don't settle on offense for three pointers, look to attack off the dribble and put pressure on the defense by getting to the line.  My prediction if we can rebound with them and make our free throws we win this game.  I love this team and the potential we have.  This team could be a handful come MAC play.  The MAC is going to be a battle this season.  Go Bulls!

[DooleyBull06]

This is our first true road game of the year, so it will be a test. Vandy is coming off a loss at home to Tulsa so they have some frustrations they will be looking to take out on us. Their best player is a 6’6 wing (Nesmith) who can stroke the 3. One of the best in the country. They have height on their side so, as per usual for us, we will have our hands full with that. On offense they tend to get stagnant and turn the ball over. So with a good defensive effort and rebounding, we can win this game. Winnable game, go Bulls.

2 interesting notes about Vandy. 1) they are coached by Jerry Stackhouse. And 2) yes that is Scottie Pippen’s son on their roster.

[UBinMD]

I believe the game is tomorrow night, but in any case, I feel good about our chances in this game. I don't know a lot about Vanderbilt as a team, but even lower end SEC schools such as them get high level talent. You can start seeing some of the new players getting into the "blue collar" mentality and our defense is starting to pickup. We still give up too many offensive rebounds for my taste, so we need to clean that up. The shooters are starting to find their groove too, so hopefully they can get in sync on a new court quickly and not get down early fighting out of a hole. This could be a huge win and turning point for this team.

Coach Whitesell's impact to this team was clearly underestimated by me over the last several years. Coach Oats certainly personified our teams mentality and was the bell cow, but Whitesell was obviously a huge part as well, you can tell by how he speaks to the players, how he encourages them and continues to coach them during the game! It was great to hear him when he was mic'ed up and I was very impressed. It is obvious why we lost NO PLAYERS from our current team during the transition, they seem to love him. I can't blame the recruits who baled out, in this day and age, there are so many people in your ear, once there is a chink in the armor people go after it and you can talk an 18 year old into greener pastures. Unfortunately for some of those kids, they may have made a poor choice.

Final thought, I don't know what kind of player he will become and seems to be our lowest expectation recruit on the current team, but Savion Gallion is fun to watch on the sideline. He is so into the game, the first guy to congratulate guys coming to the bench, he seems like a great behind the scenes cog in this team. He probably is a menace on the practice squad for game prep too if he uses that energy for that purpose. He has really stood out for me.

[961819]

1 hour ago, UBinMD said:

Final thought, I don't know what kind of player he will become and seems to be our lowest expectation recruit on the current team, but Savion Gallion is fun to watch on the sideline. He is so into the game, the first guy to congratulate guys coming to the bench, he seems like a great behind the scenes cog in this team. He probably is a menace on the practice squad for game prep too if he uses that energy for that purpose. He has really stood out for me.

He absolutely is and does. all effort all the time. Looks great in practices because he’s always working his ass off. His minutes this year are falling victim to how much guard depth we have. Next season (depending on how much time Chanse and Josiah get) we should see more of him. I can see him developing into a taller version of Caruthers honestly with how hard he works

[UB92]

10 minutes ago, 961819 said:

He absolutely is and does. all effort all the time. Looks great in practices because he’s always working his ass off. His minutes this year are falling victim to how much guard depth we have. Next season (depending on how much time Chanse and Josiah get) we should see more of him. I can see him developing into a taller version of Caruthers honestly with how hard he works

That's high praise you give Gallion as Caruthers was DOPY in conference.   We'll see.   There is high-energy and then there is effective-energy.  But in the past he mentioned he has focused on defense, so if that is his calling card, that's fine.  

[UB05]

If I’m looking at this correctly the game is only on SEC+? So none of us will be able to watch? That sucks

[Jeseph]

23 minutes ago, UB05 said:

If I’m looking at this correctly the game is only on SEC+? So none of us will be able to watch? That sucks

It looks like it will stream via ESPN+

[961819]

26 minutes ago, UB05 said:

If I’m looking at this correctly the game is only on SEC+? So none of us will be able to watch? That sucks

I’m currently watching the Tulsa vs Vanderbilt game which aired on SEC+ but it’s on ESPN+ as well 

[961819]

1 hour ago, UB92 said:

That's high praise you give Gallion as Caruthers was DOPY in conference.   We'll see.   There is high-energy and then there is effective-energy.  But in the past he mentioned he has focused on defense, so if that is his calling card, that's fine.  

He may not reach the point that Caruthers did but I meant it as his game may resemble Caruthers closely. He’s a high energy guy that’s willing to work hard and take charges. 

[961819]

After watching the Vanderbilt vs Tulsa game just now I came away with some key takeaways that we need to do to come away with a win. 
 

Vandy plays very aggressive perimeter defense on guards, often times double teaming them. This leads to an open player somewhere on the court so a big key will be dribble penetration and finding that open man. Tulsa got many of their points slashing straight to the rim, as well as driving and taking advantage of the help defense with drop off passes down low to their big man for an easy basket. If we can get to the rim like we have been recently, we should be able to get easy points to Mballa, as well as wide open 3’s on dribble drive kick outs. 

What we can’t do is hold the ball deep into the shot clock. Vanderbilt has too much length and will cause a bad shot/blocked shot if we find ourselves scrambling to get a shot off in time. So drive penetration and look for the open man or score at the rim if it’s there, and don’t hold the ball long.

Defensively, Vanderbilt struggled when Tulsa switched to a 2-3 zone defense. The key with attacking any zone is to penetrate the middle of it around the foul line which leads to an open shot or easy assist when help defense comes to the ball. Vanderbilt didn’t even attempt to break the zone and instead opted for hero ball - dribbling into double teams/bad shots. The only drawback to having to play a 2-3 zone would be that since Vandy has good guards that can shoot very well from 3, it will have to be a high 2-3 to deny the perimeter which would then become prone to allowing wide open 3’s from the corners. Vanderbilt also rarely sets ball screens which should help us to better guard Nesmith at the perimeter. If we show a solid mix of tight man defense as well as zone defense, it should help to prevent Vandy from finding an offensive rhythm. 
 

Lastly, towards the end of the game Vanderbilt switched to a full court press which was really working well for them and gave Tulsa all kinds of issues. Their particular zone focuses on trapping the ball in the corners on the inbounds pass and then again in the corners once the ball crosses half court. 
 

So if we drive and look for the easy drop off pass or open man on the perimeter, keep them guessing on defense with some strong zone looks, and avoid the corners in their press we stand a really good chance of winning. They aren’t the most impressive SEC team but and SEC is still an SEC team with SEC talent. 
 

Looking forward to it, Go Bulls!
 

[BrooklynBull]

Game is not yet showing up on the SEC Network overflow channel or the extra ESPN channels on Directv.

[ntsfinest]

Looks like Vanderbilt opened as a 2 pt favorite

[DooleyBull06]

59 minutes ago, ntsfinest said:

Looks like Vanderbilt opened as a 2 pt favorite

It’s basically a toss up. Go Bulls!

[MKBullsfan]

Any word on a return visit by Vandy or DePaul to Alumni next year? I feel like it is more realistic to schedule these caliber teams to come to UB that are in the middle tier of their high major conference than the bigger name Dukes or UNCs.

[UBCourtside]

9 hours ago, 961819 said:

After watching the Vanderbilt vs Tulsa game just now I came away with some key takeaways that we need to do to come away with a win. 
 

Vandy plays very aggressive perimeter defense on guards, often times double teaming them. This leads to an open player somewhere on the court so a big key will be dribble penetration and finding that open man. Tulsa got many of their points slashing straight to the rim, as well as driving and taking advantage of the help defense with drop off passes down low to their big man for an easy basket. If we can get to the rim like we have been recently, we should be able to get easy points to Mballa, as well as wide open 3’s on dribble drive kick outs. 

What we can’t do is hold the ball deep into the shot clock. Vanderbilt has too much length and will cause a bad shot/blocked shot if we find ourselves scrambling to get a shot off in time. So drive penetration and look for the open man or score at the rim if it’s there, and don’t hold the ball long.

Defensively, Vanderbilt struggled when Tulsa switched to a 2-3 zone defense. The key with attacking any zone is to penetrate the middle of it around the foul line which leads to an open shot or easy assist when help defense comes to the ball. Vanderbilt didn’t even attempt to break the zone and instead opted for hero ball - dribbling into double teams/bad shots. The only drawback to having to play a 2-3 zone would be that since Vandy has good guards that can shoot very well from 3, it will have to be a high 2-3 to deny the perimeter which would then become prone to allowing wide open 3’s from the corners. Vanderbilt also rarely sets ball screens which should help us to better guard Nesmith at the perimeter. If we show a solid mix of tight man defense as well as zone defense, it should help to prevent Vandy from finding an offensive rhythm. 
 

Lastly, towards the end of the game Vanderbilt switched to a full court press which was really working well for them and gave Tulsa all kinds of issues. Their particular zone focuses on trapping the ball in the corners on the inbounds pass and then again in the corners once the ball crosses half court. 
 

So if we drive and look for the easy drop off pass or open man on the perimeter, keep them guessing on defense with some strong zone looks, and avoid the corners in their press we stand a really good chance of winning. They aren’t the most impressive SEC team but and SEC is still an SEC team with SEC talent. 
 

Looking forward to it, Go Bulls!
 

Spot on post man. I'm doing my preview now and in regards to the aggressive perimeter defense and struggling against a zone you hit the nail on the head. This wasn't just Tulsa either, in 2 other games I watched they did the same thing, but they were able to win due to inferior competition 

[961819]

32 minutes ago, UBCourtside said:

Spot on post man. I'm doing my preview now and in regards to the aggressive perimeter defense and struggling against a zone you hit the nail on the head. This wasn't just Tulsa either, in 2 other games I watched they did the same thing, but they were able to win due to inferior competition 

Glad someone else sees it, guarantee the coaches are on it as well. I think their record is inflated by some pretty weak competition. I know Coach Stackhouse was a hell of a player but this team just looks poorly coached at times. The average high school team has it drilled into their head to get into the middle of a zone defense to pick it apart, but this SEC team couldn’t figure that out. I can see Davonta having another fantastic game with possible double digit assists 

[DooleyBull06]

I might temper expectations on playing a zone. You don’t just wake up one morning and say we’re going to play a zone d today. For years we’ve been a man to man defensive team. Unless zone is something we practice (?) I wouldn’t expect zone at all. I can’t recall the last time I saw us play a zone. It’s not something you just whip out. Stick to what we do best man to man in your face defense. Plus zone weakens rebounding, which some have mentioned we tend to give up o boards. 

[961819]

1 hour ago, DooleyBull06 said:

I might temper expectations on playing a zone. You don’t just wake up one morning and say we’re going to play a zone d today. For years we’ve been a man to man defensive team. Unless zone is something we practice (?) I wouldn’t expect zone at all. I can’t recall the last time I saw us play a zone. It’s not something you just whip out. Stick to what we do best man to man in your face defense. Plus zone weakens rebounding, which some have mentioned we tend to give up o boards. 

They do practice it, both as a potential game use situation as well as with the scout team mimicking different defensive looks 

[mikescherrer8]

We match up pretty well against them. This is gonna be a test to see if we can play some defense, especially from Williams as he is probably going to be seeing Aaron Nesmith frequently. 
 

Vandy hasn’t really played anyone that spectacular except above average teams like Richmond and Tulsa. I expect them to be competitive at least and keep it close.

[blue]

What is all this zone talk? I've never seen us play anything but man D. Now some here are suggesting we become something we're not. Syracuse's Boeheim can have his zone, I love our man to man. Cultivate your better self and don't try and be a chameleon. There's not enough time in the day - guaranteed way to lose!

[Jeseph]

The line has moved to -3.5

I tend to agree with @blue even if we can play zone... can we play it well? A weak zone gets you absolutely SMOKED. Do we try to implement it only to revert back to man when it's not working? How long do we stick with it? I say we play to our strengths and lock down with man-to-man and make adjustments via switching etc. as opposed to changing up our game for a singular opponent.

This is a tough game on the road, a win would be a huge confidence builder for me (and hopefully the team lol).

[Ubbulls84]

I watched the vanderbilt vs Tulsa game. Granted vanderbilt had a rough game I think this is a very winnable game for us. I expect Jordan to step up and have a good game. Mballa will also play big role, need him to stay in the game most importantly and not get in foul trouble. Nesmith will get his points, just got to limit him from having a huge game. I’d stick with man, that’s our bread and butter, maybe show a zone look once or twice during game just to confuse them but that’s it. 

[Gxtrex]

5 minutes ago, Ubbulls84 said:

I watched the vanderbilt vs Tulsa game. Granted vanderbilt had a rough game I think this is a very winnable game for us. I expect Jordan to step up and have a good game. Mballa will also play big role, need him to stay in the game most importantly and not get in foul trouble. Nesmith will get his points, just got to limit him from having a huge game. I’d stick with man, that’s our bread and butter, maybe show a zone look once or twice during game just to confuse them but that’s it. 

They should also mix in full court press every so often. That has worked well for them   

[Jeseph]

20 minutes ago, Gxtrex said:

That has worked well for them   

Even early 1:1 pressure from a guard was effective at throwing off W&M's ability to set their offense.

[UBCourtside]

-4.5 now for Vandy...pretty decent line movement there