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An exhibition game in which we had to fight back to win…I’ll take that any day of the week over a 50 point showboat fest. This builds character. Let’s keep it in perspective…it was an exhibition and the first game for the coaching staff and most of this roster. Rome wasn’t built in a day. Summer is over, now the real work begins.

Got there late from my grandson’s hockey game. But, I really liked the energy from the team and coaches. Didn’t feel like same old same old. Also, we grinded it out at the end, where I feel like the last few years we always wilted in pressure situations. Rebounding defensively was bad. Fulcher was much quicker and more athletic than I expected. Think he’ll be a solid PG. Adams and Chatman taking over in late 2nd half gives me some good feelings. Really liked Boldin, but seemed like a newborn fawn trying to stand up for the first time. Felt like he was all gas. End of the day, I feel like we’ll compete this year. To me, this is a different team in a good way.

His contract was officially converted to a two way NBA contract https://x.com/MikeAScotto/status/1716534508298682778?s=20

The state (parking lot) people were just doing their job. If they let you park there for this game, you might think you could always park there. If you had a parking pass and couldn't get a space, you would have a problem with that. They leave shortly after tipoff if you want to avoid them. About the "green shirts", the event staff has new management this year. They always did kick students out of the 100's if it's obvious it isn't their seats. If I went to my seats and found somebody sitting in them, I wouldn't be happy. I got a "talking to" by the new head events person at volleyball because I was standing in a "prohibited" space (way far) behind the end line. Both are just doing their jobs.

Chatman got into early foul trouble and only was a factor at the end. I think Fulcher 38 minutes is not sustainable for the season. Good that they kept turnovers to a minimum in second half. Rebounding and points in the paint are areas for improvement.

There’s live stats and a box score on ub’s athletics website. Just click live stats in the schedule feature. Overall, at least they won. And looking for a positive, Daemen is a very good D2 team that is experienced and have played together a lot. Hoping we can have a decent year and return most of the freshman next year instead of losing them in the transfer portal

Buffalo is actually a huge basketball city. Always seem to be high in ratings during NBA playoffs

I think it's partly the fact there are just more games and you can move from one to the next and not have to wait a week (or more). We have also had more success and I think a lot of us have more of a connection with specific players. Football is hard to engage with a specific player like in basketball. I could be wrong, but I know that goes a lot into my engagement. I am also excited about a new chapter. A lot of the issues from the game are correctable if they guys want to get better. Effort and rebounding need to improve and that will be obvious on tape. We also need to know who the guy will be to stop the payer with the hot hand on the opposing team, we did not solve that. Depth at PG and size on the inside could pose a problem in some games this year as well. What is Plan B if Fulcher has an off night, gets into foul trouble, etc.? I'm encouraged overall and think we have some nice pieces, just not sure we have enough pieces.

I don't want to draw too many conclusions yet, and certainly not from an exhibition game against a D2 school. That said, credit as always to Daemen. They are always a well coached, well organized team. I thought they brought some good size and confidence with the ball and that caused UB problems, especially when they started shooting better. They had some good drives to the hoop that caught some UB defenders a step slow. After the first half I was like, get #33 a transfer right now. I was impressed with Fulcher, he's quick and can shoot from outside. Adams is what he was - a polished outside shooter, good at blocking shots, but doesn't get as tough as you'd like sometimes under the net. Boldin gave some good minutes. Chatman looks like a confident guy that I would like to see a little more intensity from. He really stepped it up at the end, and the team needs a go-to guy in those situations. Jo Smith is like last year - he's trying to play tougher but he needs more body mass. Sobel has a lot of potential but may be a year away. Kanye was sloppy, he didn't look any better from last year. First impressions? I hope Graham can come in and be a double digit scorer and a go-to guy. This team looks like it lacks inside presence, which is no surprise. If Daemen's players gave them trouble and out-rebounded them, Mirambeaux and Freeman are going to run over them.

The 4 state workers guarded each lot entrance as if it was Fort Knox. Had to make sure the 1000 people in attendance parked in the proper lots. Much like the attendants in the green shirts who kicked numerous people out of the 100 level seats into the endzones, for the scrimmage. Way to make those students feel welcome (likely in their first game attended), even though 101-105 was maybe 1/3 filled at the most.

I sure hope some of the guys in the warm-ups can play, otherwise it's going to be a long season. Fulcher is definitely fast. Maybe even Ceaser fast, but also a bit bigger and stronger, which is a plus (he was fun at times though for sure). Boldin will bring something to the table. Sy is solid as advertised. We have a very lean bench based off of today, again, hopefully some of those not suited up will be for the opener.

I like 21 assists on 26 makes. And 9/25 from 3 is pretty decent. Baby steps!

I’ll be interested to see how those that saw this live react. What was the body language? How did the coaches do and interact, what was the bench energy like. Stuff like that.

I just looked at Chatman's career stats - he has averaged ~2 PF per game - so hoping tonight is a bit of an aberration.

I’m listening too, similar impression. It sounds like Boldin could be a bright star for us. It was nice hearing Williamson is showing things in practice, hopefully he can contribute. Fulcher sounded good on the radio 😂. I’m hoping Chapman is not a fouler like Jo Smith was last year. I don’t think we can handle much foul trouble with our limited roster. I also liked to hear that our FT shooting may be a strength. It’s been a while since we could say that.