DooleyBull06

I almost wanted Toledo to win just so they can get it out of their system lol. In case we come across them in future tourneys.

Ok so right off the top I don’t see Williams and Mballa returning. Segu is a question mark but I don’t see him returning either. Brock is finally out of eligibility. Same goes for Brewton and Jack. Fagan, I believe, has eligibility left. I would welcome him back with open arms. I’ve always liked his game, he was just derailed by multiple knee injuries. But he has good court IQ and is one of those guys you need on your team that isn’t a star but can contribute rebounds, defense and scoring. With room for further development. Ok now onto the core group: Jones: I definitely saw growth in his game. Grew and looked more comfy ball handling and handling the speed of the game. I have questions as to whether he is a true PG or more of a shooting guard. I would like to see him become a more assertive shooter and continue to be a floor general that we will desperately need. Blocker: Looks crazy athletic from the little we saw of him. My assumption is that he was not up to speed defensively. Bc I can’t understand why he never saw the court if that wasn’t the case. We will need him to become a big threat as the SG. A guy who can get to the rim, hit FTs and make outside shots. He’s a piece you build around. Devin Caesar: Let’s temper expectations on incoming freshman. He is a big recruiting piece and piece for the future but let’s not put it on his shoulders day 1. He’s a 6’1 guard who can be dynamic with the ball in his hands. Let’s hope he comes in and earns playing time. The quicker he develops the better. Perry: is he just a guy on the bench or can he be a useful contributor off the bench? Regardless of who is the PG one thing is for sure…we need better team ball movement next season. Skogman: the crown jewel of the team. The only returning player of significance, in terms of scoring and minutes. He is who we build around. His game is super versatile and he probably has the highest on court IQ. He can stretch the floor, score down low, not afraid to rebound and knows the nuisance of passing from the post. A player you can run pick and roll/pop with. We must surround him with good ball handlers and shooters. Are Jones/Blocker/Caesar those guys? Hardnett: had a confusing season. Was he injured? Did he forget how to play? Then the last two games was great off the bench. We need him to be a veteran leader next year along with Skogman. Will they form our front court? I’m gonna need more from Hardnett next season. Mading: Very raw. Would he have benefitted from a redshirt season? Or was sitting on the bench good for him? He has potential as a lengthy player who can alter shots defensively. I don’t know what his game offensively is. I don’t judge by cut up highlight reels. He’s a thin big man who needs a lot of seasoning. We are gonna need him to grow much like Skogman has. Williamson: Was he redshirted this season? I assume he was. He is a beefy tweener. Looks like he can bring the muscle that we are going to lack down low. We are gonna need that. I expect him to be a banger down low. That’s the roster. Very young. Inexperienced. A team that has no star. A lot of questions. Who will be the PG, where will the scoring come from, will we rebound like we’ve come to expect. Where will the blue collar come from? But lots of potential. Lots of players that need off season development. Obviously expectations will be low. Middle of the MAC pack fighting for a lower seed go get to Cleveland. I looked around the MAC and other than Ohio losing Van der Plaas and Carter…we are being gutted by graduation. Akron, Kent, Toledo are all returning pretty much everyone. Barring the portal of course. Ball state and CMU should be improved. So you can see where we fit in the mix. Finally: what do we need? We desperately need wings and shooters. A nice 6’7 wing would be nice. And a shooter who can hit at a higher % than Brewton’s 27% would be nice.

Dynasty she says huh. Hope she doesn’t bounce at season’s end. Otherwise yes…we have a great foundation. Great job by the ladies. All season. Battled adversity at times, injuries, lack of depth but have been tough and are really clicking. Let’s hope they close it out tomorrow. Take nothing for granted and let’s go dancing!

I agree with what you said about Schmidt. But two things can be true at the same time…he won’t be canned or on the hot seat but this season was a failure. It doesn’t make you negative saying that. It’s the reality. It’s ok to be negative when warranted. Come join the dark side lol

I’ll let others handle this. I’m not privy to the nuisances of that search. But from an outside perspective there was a lot of confusion mismanagement of the situation whatever you wanna call it. If I recall…it wasn’t a smooth process. And I’m not saying we were unprepared but it seemed that way. Remember Oats had just gotten an extension. Maybe Alnutt thought he was gonna be around one more year, then bang Alabama stole him. And it seemed like the AD was left saying WTF.

You say no it wasn’t a failure? In a multi bid league as the preseason favorites. Ranked. Don’t make the tournament finals. Won’t make the big dance. Yea I say that’s a failure. Again not saying their coach gets fired or on the hot seat. Just calling it for what it is.

Hahaha Toledo Toledo’d yet again in the tourney. Hahahaha. They will be back next year. No seniors of note on that roster. Will be a top regular season team next year.

I’m not saying Schmidt will be or should be fired…but do guys consider this season a failure for Bonaventure? If you are objective you should say yes. Much like if you are objective about UB basketball you would consider this season a failure for us.

Akron up 10 at half on Toledo. At one point they were up about 15.

There’s no way Whitesell is fired this off season. UB isn’t gonna pay him for 3 years not to coach the team and pay another coach to coach the team. To answer @Tee4threequestion…if we miss Cleveland, I think he’s a lame duck coach headed into the final season of his contract. I believe he’s under contract for 3 more seasons and UB has a cheap track record.

Totally agree. That list should be in their pocket at all times. That way they aren’t caught off guard. Which takes me to Oats…we knew he was gonna be a hot commodity and it seemed like we were unprepared for that.

Excellent question…my personal expectations as constituted…anywhere from a 5-8 at best. And that’s only because the bottom of the MAC is so bad. Just imagine if we played Ohio and Akron twice and not fed off the bottom teams in February. We are gonna young and inexperienced. Especially in the back court. We don’t have any perimeter shooting. Lots of bigs. No wings. And a lot to be desired on the defensive end.

To this point let me ask those who support the coach and have a rosy outlook…if there was no cohesion with this group of player, stagnant offense with little player or ball movement and lots of iso ball, isn’t it on the coach to make the players adapt to his philosophy? Not just let the players freelance on the court? Who is running the team Whitesell or the players? Was Whitesell afraid to be tougher on this group for fear they would transfer? Yes a good coach adapts his philosophy to the players he has but it always seemed one sided…the whole square peg round hole argument. The players never bought in. Especially defensively and it seems Whitesell was ok with that. The whole players coach/softy argument.

Does anyone believe we will get an invite to a postseason tournament? The NIT is highly unlikely (?) but what about the CBI or The College Basketball Classic (formerly the CIT)? I know it’s not what we envisioned but it’s another chance to play an extra game or more. Another chance to practice. Or will the school be cheap and not bother? Which I think sends the wrong message.

I’m not happy about it either. But we are where we are. Facing a rebuild. Now all we have is hope that this pans out. Cuz one thing is for sure, not many of us have faith in this coach.

100%. Who knows…wouldn’t shock me if Mading and/or Blocker transfer. It’s a delicate thing recruiting and roster building. Bringing in the wrong transfer can derail things. One philosophy is to get kids out of high school. Another is to get ready made transfers. I will say this…we tried the ready made plug and play transfer philosophy…how’d that work out?

I agree with the first half. Hence why I said it was championship or bust. But if he inherited a team that was gutted by the portal it would’ve been a “fresh start” with little to no expectations at its onset. In some ways we may see a version of that this off-season slash next season. I wanna win every game and make the big dance every year but gotta be realistic. Realistically this group had 3 years to get that done. Fail. Realistically next years group won’t be expected to compete for a title.

😭. While I tentatively agree I will say that we have been a older group and maybe it was harder to develop older players. Some of whom were going through the draft process and just worried about getting theirs. Maybe with a younger group we see more player development. Just hoping at this point. I think we saw growth in Jones and Skogman. Hopefully Hardnett is better next year. We develop Mading, Blocker and see some Williamson. Hopefully Caesar comes in and contributes. Let’s temper expectations now on him. Let’s not put him on a pedestal.

My final thought. Ultimately Whitesell was doomed by the fact that he kept players from transferring when he got hired. By doing so there was a championship or bust expectation. Then by reaching the championship game last year and returning the core group of that team, expectations remained high. Had the program been gutted when he got the job who knows how his tenure turns out at this point. Now we get a look at what a rebuild under Whitesell will look like. Bc the last 3 years have been a win now and reload mode.

And I hope this coaching staff can develop them.

Hey look…they deserve blame today too. Where was Mballa? He gets a lot of blame. But where’s the coaching that gets in his ear and says to him…stop shooting 3s. Get your ass in the paint and eat. How does Williams not touch the ball at all on that possession out of a timeout with the game tied? And on that possession Mballa gets a touch 3 feet beyond the 3 point line. And Brewton, who sparked the comeback no doubt, was the one taking an off balance prayer shot. Throughout the season we as fans, who have never played the game at that level, could see the issues with this team. Yet the coach never game played to hide our deficiencies or short comings. Often times it felt like we were trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

😭

I do agree there’s talent on the roster going forward. We are just going to be younger and experience growing pains of that youth. If all players stay and grow quickly…hopefully we can compete for a title in 2-3 years.

You think he’s a good tactician? Serious question. We have failed numerous times to execute offensive plays coming out of timeouts. Heck we fail to get the ball inbounded cleanly often. One more question…what has been our identity under Whitesell?

Agree. But that’s on the coach. He builds the roster. He recruits players for his system. Here’s a question, what is Whitesell’s system? He’s not a great X and O guy. May be too player friendly rather than demanding. Has missed on a number of shooters in terms of recruiting. And more importantly…has earned the Can’t Win The Big Game label