DooleyBull06

If this ain’t a sign. Even tho it says no commit. Just yet...hopefully. If Hawkins commits to us first thing I want the training staff to do is get reallocate his weight from his midsection to his upper body.

Another reason for Oats to stay away from UNLV

Other than the money it would be a lateral possibly a step backwards move. Why move from one mid major to another? Especially a program that has been irrelevant comparative to us recently. I think this shows that Nate isn’t all about money. Bc as said above double the salary in a no income tax state. Money out there goes a looong way. I love that Nate is betting on himself and by doing so putting unspoken pressure on administration to get the ball rolling on a student rec center and AA upgrades.

I think we could see different lineup combos. The lineup of Jordan, Graves, Johnson, Allen & Rojas is a small lineup. But conversely the lineup of Allen, Williams, Rojas, Graves & Jordan is a taller lineup. Imagine how much taller it is if it’s Hawkins, Allen and Rojas up front. Where do Cadwell and Grant fit in? What role will freshmen play? Who starts? Whose plays the Perkins/Caruthers role? All fun questions.

Is his Nike bombshell still gonna happen? Lmao

Here we go again. Just hope we aren’t involved.

I see talent and potential in the squad. The key will be how the coaching staff develops them and meshes them together. Lots of interchangeable parts so some guys won’t get minutes eventually. I just wanna warn that we can’t get ahead of ourselves in projecting a freshman into a starting lineup. Maybe later in the season sure but from day one is just be weary of saying Hawkins will be a starter. I wonder how the backup point guard spot will shake out. Does Segu make improvements or will Williams be better for the role. Either way it’s an important role. If we land Hawkins our front court gets a massive height boost. As stated in games against P5 schools we are lacking in length which has been a big reason we lost to Kentucky and TT. While they didn’t have 7 footers they had athletic lengthy forwards. A front court of Hawkins, Allen and Williams/Rojas could make noise. But integration, chemistry and figuring out a lineup and rotation will be key once the season begins. Now begins the development off season work.

I forgot who tweeted it, maybe Bronstein, but I remember seeing a tweet about the range Johnson has. Other than seeing them on the bench during home games haven’t heard much. I’ll try to find that tweet.

I echo all that was said above. As an alum I’m so proud of both programs and grateful for this run. Who knows what the future holds but at least I can say that in my lifetime Buffalo basketball dominated the MAC and won some tournament games. Let’s keep building. The best is yet to come.

I strongly agree with this statement. For the first time Nate’s game plan and in game adjustments, or lack there of, came up small. My biggest criticism was the constant attempts to drive to the rim into 3 lengthy defenders and force up shots or turn the ball over. It was clear TT was collapsing the defense yet we made no adjustment to penetrate and kick out to shooters on the perimeter or rotate the ball to an open shooter. We kept trying to force an up tempo style, which yes is our style, but we’ve proven we can also win games that are slower paced. We had success in the 1st posting Perkins up (they had no answer for him down low) yet we completely abandoned that and went back to iso ball with little ball movement. 11 assist 16 turnovers. Credit TT but top to bottom we were outclassed for 2 hours. Not indicative of who we were all season.

I’m gonna start by saying that there will be a drop off. It’s going to be hard to go 16-2 in conference again. It wouldn’t shock me if this was a team that got better as the season progressed. Meaning we start out slow and things look rough as we buy in, gel and grow together. I expect us to have a better late February into March than November - early February. We have to temper expectations of incoming freshmen. Specifically if we land Hawkins. I don't expect us to be ranked to begin the year. We could receive votes but I think next year is a year in which we are out of the spotlight then bam all of a sudden come March we are right back in the fold. The MAC east will be up for grabs and us and BG should be the favorites. Other teams in the east are having transfer issues so we should expect to be able to win the MAC east. As always is the case in the off season you hope returning players develop. Jordan needs to improve his FTs and continue to grow as a floor general. Rondo needs to eat a burger and hit a weight room and continue to grow as a player. Become a better floor general and develop a mid range pull up jumper like Wes Clark had. Graves continue to blossom. Improve FT shooting and become a little more aggressive on offense. Grant - Haven’t heard much about him but hopefully he is a tough defender and useful role player. Johnson - have heard that he has great shooting ability. Range that could rival Calvin Cage. And Cage could shoot it from anywhere on the court. I expect scoring from Johnson and senior leadership. J. Williams - I really hope he makes the biggest jump. He has the length to become a player like Jarrett Culver who we just played. Not saying he is that, but that’s who we can model his game after. I loved the rim attacking Williams we saw late in the season. Hopefully he develops an outside shot, a handle and uses his length better on defense. Incoming JUCOs - I’m going to lump them all together. Love the height we have coming in with Allen and Rojas. Heck even Cadwell is 6’5. As evident the last two years in the round of 32 we need height. Hopefully they come in hit the ground running and bring rebounding and defense first and integrate and gel with returning players. Fagan/Bertram - I don’t expect them to transfer. Brock will be a senior academically and Fagan has already used a redshirt. So I expect Brock to earn his degree then probably grad transfer like Smart did. Fagan should come in hungry and ready for competition. Incoming freshman - If we land Hawkins I would expect him and Williams to play a background role unless they come in and are just super talented. We know Oats won’t let you play unless you rebound and defend. So if they do those well they could earn minutes but it will be unfair to them to expect them to be starters right away. All that said next season will be about integration and developing chemistry. I couldn’t tell you what a starting 5 would be, so it’s going to be important that we establish roles and a rotation and guys buy in. We might start off slow but come March I expect us to compete and be able to win the MAC tourney. I have all the faith that Oats will schedule well and he and the coaching staff will get the best out of these guys. Grow, develop and gel on the court. Future remains bright.

Either way...splat. Lol Go Bulls. Sh*tty ending but great season.

While we will end up losing this game what a valiant effort by the women. Got down big time but battled back against almighty UCONN on the road and have given them a challenge. Incredible effort in defeat. Great season for the women. They continue to lead the way.

Guys let’s keep it civil. We each handle defeat differently. Today sucks. But one day doesn’t ruin a full season of accomplishments and heights never before reached.

Obviously this is painful. Obviously we all thought this was a second weekend caliber team. Obviously this wasn’t our best effort on the floor and coaching. It may be some time before we get another group of seniors like this group. We have talent returning and coming in next year but slice it however you want there will be a drop off next season. Next season comes down to 3 days in March. And next season we go back to being just another mid major and potential Cinderella. This season was a fun ride. Just wish it wouldn’t have ended with a lackluster 20 point blow out. It wasn’t his best game plan today but as long as Nate is here we will bust through someday.

Just sucks it ends this way. A complete melt down from top to bottom. At least last year it was a game until about the 10 minute mark before Kentucky ran away. I just didn’t understand the game plan of forcing drives and forcing shots. TT was allowing us to drive then surrounding the driver with 3 long bodies...at that point we should’ve kicked the ball out and swung it around the perimeter to the open shooter. Like we’ve done all season...instead tonight we forced up shots. I don’t get it. Why was that the game plan and why wasn’t it abandoned quickly.

That 3 by CJ is what we should’ve been doing all game. Drive and kick. Not drive and force a contested shot. Poor game plan, poorer execution and lack of adjustments.

This performance is disappointing. It’s disappointing to go out this way. But this season was great. Just hard to swallow

Heads are down the boys are done.

Just start shooting 3s. That’s better than what we’ve been trying to do

We haven’t scored a FG since we took that short lived lead.

This game is over. We have to stop just recklesslsy driving into trees and throwing up shots. We need to work the ball around the perimeter. I rather die chucking 3s at this point than what we’ve been doing.

The body language isnt there. Instead of attacking the rim carelessly and having to deal with their inside length I rather just start chucking 3s and take my chances that way

This one is in danger of slipping away

Leave it all out on the floor. We’ve gotten some looks just haven’t shot well. Need to get CJ going. We need outside shots to fall to loosen them up inside.