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Buffalo vs NIU (1/4 @ 2:00 pm)


Jeseph

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MAC play begins. NIU comes in just over .500 without any impressive wins on their resume. They "hung" with Pit (lost by 9 in a low scoring affair) Slow down German and find some offensive rhythm against a defensive minded team and start 1-0.

Go Bulls.

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1 hour ago, mikescherrer8 said:

Wonder if we see Brock Bertram play. He was warming up last game so I wonder if he gets the green light for some minutes.

If we can get Brock in there, it can totally change our offense. Play the 6-10 Bertram at the 5, move Mballa over to the 4 which is probably his more natural position.  Have Williams play the 3, Graves the 2, and Jordan the 1.  Then Johnson can come off the bench, which might be a welcomed change for him.

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23 minutes ago, BullBoy said:

If we can get Brock in there, it can totally change our offense. Play the 6-10 Bertram at the 5, move Mballa over to the 4 which is probably his more natural position.  Have Williams play the 3, Graves the 2, and Jordan the 1.  Then Johnson can come off the bench, which might be a welcomed change for him.

Can Johnson come off the bench for NIU?  haha

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29 minutes ago, BullBoy said:

If we can get Brock in there, it can totally change our offense. Play the 6-10 Bertram at the 5, move Mballa over to the 4 which is probably his more natural position.  Have Williams play the 3, Graves the 2, and Jordan the 1.  Then Johnson can come off the bench, which might be a welcomed change for him.

I'm hoping to get Brock and Fagan back as much as the next guy, but the idea of him jumping right into the starting lineup seems preposterous to me. He's been a light role player during his time here and many are clamoring for him to be a superstar after 2 months of being out due to injury. Having the 2 injured guys back would aid in moving people to more natural positions, but thinking that you're going to get 20-30 minutes/game out of them seems crazy, not to mention whose minutes are being taken away. I'd love to have him back gradually for some short burst here and there, to rest Mballa, but is his time going to take away from Hardnett or Williams' time? While Hardnett has not been great all season, he's shown some growth during periods of time this season, and I'd like to see that growth continue moving forward (remembering that he's only a freshman). Williams and Mballa have played well at the forward positions for the most part.

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My guess would be it will be gradual, and in the end will not expand rotation - there will be someone who will be on the bench.  I am hopeful with the addition of Brock, it may afford Hardnett more minutes in his more natural position, as he will not have to spell Mballa as much.  If so, perhaps we see even more from him during MAC play.

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1 hour ago, SGBull said:

If those two are back, I am really interested to see what Whitesell does with the rotation. Will he expand it to a 10-11 man rotation or is someone getting benched? 

It would be great to think Fagan and Bertram could help in some way. In my opinion neither have played any appreciable minutes since they have been here and especially this year with either one even being on the floor with the other players, At the minimum maybe they could spell the starters for a few minutes but as of now I don’t know how they can help the team and contribute any minutes. Potentially I thought Fagan had a better upside than Bertram. I do not see how UB or for that matter any team can have a 10-11 man rotation. Hope to see a good start against NIU and play a consistent 40 minutes. Go Bulls!!!!

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18 minutes ago, Ubbulls84 said:

Why do people think we getting back this star or big role player. Mballa will still start at the 5. Brock will be good for 5-8 minutes off the bench, that’s it. Fagan maybe couple min also but neither gonna play big roles. 

I would not sleep on the impact Fagan can make. Grant and Nickleberry haven’t exactly been great, and his advanced metrics and per 40 stats were fantastic a year ago in very limited minutes. 

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28 minutes ago, Ubbulls84 said:

Why do people think we getting back this star or big role player. Mballa will still start at the 5. Brock will be good for 5-8 minutes off the bench, that’s it. Fagan maybe couple min also but neither gonna play big roles. 

Do agree. Again it would be great if Fagan and Bertram could provide some positive, productive minutes but up to this time neither has shown they can help. Looking forward to see how Whitesell can navigate the rotations. Go Bulls!!!!

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1 hour ago, UBCourtside said:

I would not sleep on the impact Fagan can make. Grant and Nickleberry haven’t exactly been great, and his advanced metrics and per 40 stats were fantastic a year ago in very limited minutes. 

Hope you are right. There is definitely a need for production off the bench.  We are definitely lacking there, looking for one of these other guys besides Segu to step up. 

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2 hours ago, SGBull said:

... Brock will be nice to have if/when Mballa gets into foul trouble. 

After he fouled out in 15 minutes against UConn, I was nervous about him being in foul trouble all the time.  Since then I’ve been pleasantly surprised how little trouble there has been... only gotten 4 fouls once in the past eight games.  Hope he keeps it up. 

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4 hours ago, 121Merrimac said:

After he fouled out in 15 minutes against UConn, I was nervous about him being in foul trouble all the time.  Since then I’ve been pleasantly surprised how little trouble there has been... only gotten 4 fouls once in the past eight games.  Hope he keeps it up. 

I used to think he was good for a few minutes and 5 fouls, too. He improved, and once I saw him starting vs Deamen, his stats fit what I imagined of his contribution: 11 mins, 3 pts, 4 boards, 0 fouls. If he can average 10 mins, 4pts 4 boards off the bench, body up the big uglies of the MAC like Vander Plas and Knapke, perfect.

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13 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

This should be a pretty easy win. 

NIU has beaten us the last 2 years when we had much better/more consistent teams. I think we are better than them, but we also lost to Army and Dartmouth. This should not be the attitude for any of our games this year.

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