squire17

I recently posted here that the Bulls had a very good chance of plowing through the Conference undefeated until the game at Toledo. I was wrong. This Buffalo team has issues. But at least it didn’t lose to Niagara.

1 minute ago, mikescherrer8 said:

Negativism, often times mistaken for fans who have standards. You should get some.

Whoa! Or should I say Woah?

I think that the nattering nabobs of negativism should just take a deep breath. The Bulls have the talent, leadership, and coaching to get it done.

Bulls starting to pull away. Just killing it on the boards, and playing tough D. Go Bulls!

There are fewer than 100 in the stands.

I’m watching a Canisius meltdown after being up by 21 on Florida Gulf Coast. But perhaps they’ll win with a trey at the buzzer. How did they ever beat UB? They are horrendous.

3 hours ago, dutchcountry7 said:

Top-100 team.  Winning record.  75% of losses by one possession.  Top ranked team in the conference.  You can be disappointed and want more but those are not bad results.

A conferences are not judged by how good the top team is in the conference.

The metric most commonly used by programs for ballparking competitive level is KenPom.  It's an easy metric for people to follow and is made public. 

 

The equation now is very different than it was just a few years ago.

This is why we are just now getting good games.  UC Irvine, North Texas, Western Kentucky are big games.  Those are solid teams that Hurley and Oats could not get scheduled.  They were not able to schedule anticipated top-100 teams.  And we've won those games and done it on the road.

Mid-majors struggle with scheduling because of the risk of turmoil.  So few programs sustain success.  The boom and bust cycle is common in mid-majors.  Many mid-majors find success but very few of them sustain it at a conference level let alone at a national level (as judged by overall rank among D1 programs).  Stability long term is the sign of a strong program--which is very different than a strong team which is more fleeting.

This is what makes a job attractive.

And the job wasn't as attractive as many think when Oats left.

There were a lot of coaches that were skittish about UB. 

 

I disagree. IMO, Buffalo played tougher OOC teams under every Oates led team, and even a few Witherspoon seasons - remarkable, considering where the program was during his helm. I’m not necessarily saying this is Whitesell’s fault. Take a look at where Western Kentucky, UCI, N Texas, and St Bona are ranked now according to kenpom. Not even close to who UB faced in comparison with 6 or 7 previous seasons.

A lot has, deservedly, been written here about a seeming lack of motivation, hustle, poor coaching. At least one Bull has gained my attention by exhibiting the traits that help to win in team sports, and that player is Tra’Von Fagan. His shooting and rebounding stats are good, he hustles, dives for loose balls, seems to be a pretty reliable defender. Is he as good as Brock Bertram, or Skogman? I would give him more minutes than he has been getting, that’s for sure.

Barring a spate of injuries, or Covid throwing a curveball, there is a very good possibility that the Bulls overall record will be 13-4 against DI competition and 8-0 in the MAC heading into the game in Toledo. Five of the games in that stretch are against teams that are way down in the rankings: the 3 Michigans, N Illinois, and Ball St. The other games are all at home against UCI, Miami, BG, and Kent. Go Bulls!

That quote is not in any Bible. “He who is without sin, cast the first stone.” is the correct quote.

Re UB men’s BB scheduling (rank is final kenpom for that year other than 2022, for which rank is current):

2016 (Oats): Old Dominion (100), St Joseph’s (43), St Bona (89), Duke (17), Iowa St (20), VCU (31)…UB lost to all but won the MAC and played well in the NCAAs

2017 (Oats): Xavier (31), Nevada (54), Creighton (28), St Bona (91), Pittsburgh (79)…UB lost to all and lost to MAC champ Kent St

2018 (Oats): Cincinnati (4), S Dakota St (78), St Bona (68), Syracuse (41), Texas A&M (29)…UB lost to all but won MAC and trounced Arizona in NCAAs

2019 (Oats): West Virginia (95), San Francisco (67), Syracuse (39), Marquette (33)…UB beat all but Marquette, won the MAC, trounced Arizona St in NCAAs, and lost to runner-up Texas Tech

2022 (Whitesell): Michigan (10), St Bona (42), UC Irvine (92)…so far lost two games

Other than MAC opponents or 2 wins in the NCAAs, UB’s record against top 100 ranked teams is 3-19 in what most would consider the best stretch of their men’s basketball’s program’s history. My point is that I love that UB was playing against top programs, and playing competitively in most of those games. This year is a step down as far as scheduling is concerned. This is what concerns me…pretending to be striving for relevance, but falling well short. If you only play mid level opponents, there is no way you can expect to be viewed as a serious program. The overwhelming majority of the games played against the teams mentioned above were AWAY games. If that’s all you can get, then take it. 
 
This is not a knock on Whitesell or the current players. 

1 minute ago, mikescherrer8 said:

Our friend has been missing, can anyone find him?

He’s at the NBA tryouts.

UB has to win this or all our players and coaches are losers. You fucking assholes!!

That’s what I’m talkin’ about!

Plenty of time left to eke out a W.

Bulls are in this. Osunnyi/Mballa match-up is key. 

Plenty of time left

Plenty of time left to get back in this. Who will foul out first? Mballa or Osunnyi? 

2 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

Offensive foul and out of bounds calls.

They’ve missed traveling by both teams, but what else is new? I have no problem, so far, with this crew. Both teams play scrappy in-your-face defense, and the refs have only whistled 13 times. 

Not getting any offense from 2 of the Big 3. Mballa owned by Osunnyi so far.

I think the refs are letting them play, which is fine. Bulls should have legs at the end. 

14 minutes ago, mikescherrer8 said:

Seriously anyone got the game yet, the stream will not load 

Mine is working

OK, I’m planning on watching the Bulls dismantle the Bonnies tomorrow 84-67. It better be on.

Mark Turgeon has stepped down as coach of the Maryland Terps. Danny Manning has been named the acting coach. 

2 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Steaming streaming streaming  

That’s what I do. But it appears as though tomorrow’s game is not available. And so I’ll beat the dead horse again. Why?