John

13 hours ago, UBinMD said:

I discount Wooley a bit since she was just following her coach, but certainly a thing to keep in mind with those numbers. KLW has been truly amazing and I would say more impactful than Wooley as a freshman. Hopefully we finish strong and can keep the team together. I also saw there were a couple former players in attendance from last season so that’s always nice.

I guess I am confused about the transfer portal. I thought there was the covid transfer one time and one other transfer for a player without sitting out a year. I thought after that a player could transfer but has to sit out a year. I did not think there was unlimited transfers. Maybe this is not the forum to bring all of what the NCAA rules are.

4 hours ago, UBinMD said:

One player that I think will make a big leap next season is Alexis Davis. She is a bit raw, but she has fire in her belly. Get her a few more moves on the block and play a little more straight up D to stay out of foul trouble, she will be a very nice added piece. Also, 2 more really solid adds to the roster coming in. Let's hope a P5 school doesn't throw a bag of NIL money at Watson over the summer for her final season.

Do agree with the Davis assessment. She has a knack for rebounding and being in the right place. Staying out of foul trouble and becoming  more under control and confident on the offensive end will be the key. I thought Watson was done with her transfers?? The key will be for Coach Burke and staff to keep players from leaving and any recruits coming in to stay at UB. Just did not know what we were getting with this team but very happy we have one team that is competitive.

4 hours ago, Blue03 said:

I can confirm that there is absolutely nothing around campus to promote sporting events. Outside of friends and true blue, I can probably only mention 3 times I’ve ever heard UB sports brought up by other people. Half the people (and I wish I was joking) don’t even know that we’re D1. There is 0 life for our teams around campus

I have been saying this for years. We have had family members and friends go to UB and there is nothing done by this administration or previous ones to get the students involved. All these people in administration and marketing and others that are paid do nothing but collect paychecks. This admistration is run like they are in D11/111 and that is where UB should be. Again there is no accountability for the jobs that are being done. There are only a handful of people we have talked to over the years that really cared about promoting athletics at UB. With NIL and the transfer portal many of the mid major programs will  lose the majority of support from donors and fans that have supported our student athletes. A sad result of what college sports used to be when money becomes the main reason for anything that occurs in sports. 

7 minutes ago, RapidsFan said:

Another Halcovage quote from Lenzi's report on the game:

UB men’s basketball drops eighth consecutive loss, 83-52 against Kent State

UB took too many outside chances, but also had too little inside production. The Bulls scored only 20 points in the paint, and had only seven rebounds to Kent State’s 21 in the first half. Kent State finished with 46 rebounds (including 14 offensive rebounds) to UB’s 22.

“We’ve got to learn how to mix it up with the guys out there, because we talk about it, a lot,” Halcovage III said. “We want to catch to shoot if we’re open, and if the shot’s not there, make the extra pass or get in the lane. We didn’t get in the lane enough. And sometimes, we got in there and we weren’t strong and tough with the ball, and we turned it over.”

All decent quotes from Coach H. But and and big but what he is saying that if that is what he is telling his players they have not done that all year. Now all of a sudden he is talking like a coach. Give me a break. If some of these players are not listening take them off the floor, chew them out. Do something. The heat is really on now with losing some of UB’s  fans. I am sorry for my rants as I have been out of town for awhile and getting back and watching some replays and talking to my family and friends we are as frustrated and disappointed with what has happened over the last few years.I will close with staying off and just listening to other opinions.

4 minutes ago, RapidsFan said:

Don't worry everyone, instead of chewing Halcovage out for last night's performance, Buffalo News gave Halcovage an open forum to explain away how bad he is:

Ryan O'Halloran: UB's George Halcovage III hopes lessons in losing pay off with future wins

I asked Halcovage about experiencing the “Here We Go Again Syndrome,” when a game turns and for the Bulls, often turns quickly. Instead of being proactive and dictating the game’s terms, they are usually reactive and playing uphill.

“Have to keep bringing it every possession,” Halcovage said. “All we have to do is keep trusting that, if we keep grinding one possession at a time at both ends (of the floor) and take care of the ball and value it in crucial moments as well, we’ll get better and we’ll learn from it. You have to keep playing and know that’s how you’re going to eventually wear somebody else out.”

Halcovage was remarkably calm considering the circumstances; he was more apt to clap and pat-on-the-hip a player than berate. But even the most upbeat of coaches have a breaking point and his was with 4:14 remaining. Kent State led by 30 and Halcovage let the Bulls have it during a timeout. He didn’t like what he was seeing and didn’t want this to become a 40-point loss.

His message?

“We play for each other and no matter the situation, we’re going to play hard and play together for a full 40 minutes,” Halcovage said. “Sometimes, we don’t do it, but that was an opportunity for us to say, ‘Hey, we didn’t do it, but we have to do it now and we have to learn from this.’”

The learning lessons will stack up even if the losing streak continues. Hopefully for Halcovage, a year from now, they’re the team around .500 or better.

“There is another side to this and we just have to get to that other side,” Halcovage said. “The great lesson we’ll learn is hopefully we come out on the other side and we all have this the rest of our lives that they can get through anything.”

Don’t you think “His Message” should have been stressed since day one or at least when MAC play began?? Those players especially Chatman and others should be on the bench and not playing. You are losing with them playing like selfish players. You do not have anything else to lose at this point of the year.

2 minutes ago, Sportsfan said:

The hope was we got a "Jay Wright", unfortunately, it took Jay a few years to have some success.

I wonder if back in the good old days coaches were given more time to turn a team around. The college landscape has changed dramatically since then. No coach is probably going to get years and years to have a winning competitive team. The result is losing many of your fan base.

7 minutes ago, TheCommish said:

I’ve only seen individuals and shoot arounds

Thanks. To late now for a lightbulb to go off in any of these coaches or players and decide they are playing the game of basketball or should I say team basketball.

24 minutes ago, TheCommish said:

The practices are “technically” open. Carry a racket or run the stairs. Hurley was the best practice coach. A lot of fun to watch. George….in my opinion, is running his first practices and learning on the job.

Has anyone seen any of their practices?? 

56 minutes ago, NC_UBfan said:

EMU has 3 athletic forwards 6’2”+  that are active rebounders they keep two on the floor running a lot of post 2 post actions. Size and athleticism in the post is a weakness in our roster so Johnson, Davis and Ogden have to box out and stay out of foul trouble. Pushing pace and paint touches by our guards hopefully will lead to easy points and EMUs posts collecting fouls. I think Rana matches up really well to have a good game same with Lopez. Limit extra possession, stay out of foul trouble and keep TOs below 10 we win🤘🏽

I seen that also. The bigs average between 9 to 7 points a game but do shoot over 75% from the line. EMU only averages 57 a game and give up 67. Do agree if we can stay out of foul trouble and hit some three’s and mid jumpers it should be a positive outcome. Go Bulls!!

2 hours ago, Blue03 said:

Not sure if it’s been posted yet, but this is the company she’s keeping. A big showing tonight could possibly put her behind only Clark

Wow!! Some elite company. Another reason for more fans to come out. The big question will any students show up?? What does the UB administration do to get more students to show up?? They do really nothing and just collect their paychecks. Time for a purge of these people.Go Bullls!!!

26 minutes ago, trueblue32 said:

I disagree. Halcovage was a complete unknown, it’s extremely risky to just hire a young guy off a high major staff when you have no visibility into what role he actually played in their success. Bucknell interviewed Halcovage, for whatever reason he didn’t get the job, and even they have 9 D1 wins now.

This is really not excusable for Alnutt. He fired Whitesell too early implying that he had some plan that he clearly didn’t and cost UB extra money. He then very publicly got dunked on by like 10 candidates that turned us down. Then hired the Bucknell rejectee and has since watched our program spiral to uncharted depths.

I was willing to be optimistic because high major assistants are unknown and maybe he works out. He very clearly has not. It literally almost cannot get any worse. People seem to be taking the stance that there is no performance that is fireable in year 1. There’s nothing to suggest that this will get any better after the few D1 caliber players from Whitesell disappear off the roster. We’re going to run this program into the ground for another season just for the prayer that he somehow magically puts it together in year 2?

We’re painted into a corner here financially but I’d truly pay a top Buffalo high school coach whatever to be the coach. We know Halcovage isn’t the future so let’s start playing the lottery, even if it’s the $1 scratch offs until he and Whitesell off the books

Our family were divided with the hire at the time. There are so many assistant coaches on power five teams that are riding on the coat strings of good coaches who have some of the best players in college basketball. Coach H reminds us of Canisius coach Marbach who was a terrible head coach. That being said it is beyond frustration when a team does not show any improvement as the season goes on. Really do wonder what these kids and coaches are doing in practice?? Playing and watching basketball for over 50  years we have never seen such a terrible display of basketball especially at this level.Alnutt’s track record is to give Coach H another year but the majority of the fan base is gone and we would not be surprised  to see the majority of players leave. 

29 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

Amazing player. And to think she shot just 1/7 from 3 vs Ohio and still managed to raise her season scoring average.  

Looking back to think of some of the talented players over the last few years!!! Dillard, Fair and Reid and there are many more. It sure has been some of the most exciting years and here’s hoping there are many more. Just wish more fans would b paying more attention to this present team. Go Bulls!!!

29 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

BB and staff obviously is good at halftime adjustments and is willing to say the hard things to get them going. 5 players in double figures including 27 from Watson. Probably the best overall game so far, even with a rough first 5 minutes. Had a few sloppy TOs late when the game was in hand, but otherwise really nice game.

Agree. A good overall game against an Ohio team that we matched up with and most of the Ohio lineup totally different than in past years. It does look like Coach Burke and staff have settled in with a good seven player rotation. Pleasantly surprised with the play of Gines who does seem to becoming more comfortable as she gets more playing time. Good all around game from Ogden with 15 points and 6 rebounds and Watson with 27 points,9 rebounds and 7 assists. Rana with a very quiet night but Lopez contributed and spelled her as the point/off guard. Looking forward to the EMU game on Saturday against another team we should match up against on the positive side. Hope to see a larger crowd to see this very interesting team. Go Bulls!!!!

1 hour ago, Bluebird96 said:

Given who his dad is and the success he had as a star NFL player, I could see Boldin bolting for a more upward trending mid major program next year.  Just my gut feeling and hope I’m wrong because I think he shows a lot of promise.  GH3 sure has his work cut out for himself in building next year’s roster and proving that he’s capable of better results than we’ve seen so far.

With the nonexistent offense Bolton barely touches the ball. He seems to stand out on the wing and even when a shot goes up does not go to the boards. He is barely taking 5 shots a game. Again no offense flow, no cutting to the basket, no screens or picks which I thought was the X’s and O’s of basketball. Let one player take a three and the rest of the players stand around and watch. A sad commentary of basketball. I watched the Alabama/Auburn game tonight and that is how college basketball is supposed to look like.

4 hours ago, NC_UBfan said:

Way to close out the game great hustle by KLW to get the chase down block. Looks like Burke had enough of the non production from Ogden I hope she gets her shooting touch back soon. Lopez provided solid mins and as usual Davis did very well off the bench.  The surprise of the day was FTs and rebounding!!  This may have been the best all around defensive game played. Although BG ended 30% (8/26)from 3pt the team fought over or switched on just about every screen contesting almost every shot. Weakside rotation helping the helper limited BG to only 7 Orebs. They fought for every 50/50 ball and had only 5 TOs. Going to need the same level of intensity for Toledo 

 

Do agree about better defense and switching out on the perimeter to contest the 3 point shooters. They did not do that against WMU and that is one of the reasons they lost that game. The big key is the team is learning and listening to the coaches. As I said before this coaching staff is more engaged with the players during the game. Don’t see much of this on the men’s side. Another tough test for the women against Toledo so it should be interesting. Go Bullls!!!

11 minutes ago, NC_UBfan said:

Way to close out the game great hustle by KLW to get the chase down block. Looks like Burke had enough of the non production from Ogden I hope she gets her shooting touch back soon. Lopez provided solid mins and as usual Davis did very well off the bench.  The surprise of the day was FTs and rebounding!!  This may have been the best all around defensive game played. Although BG ended 30% (8/26)from 3pt the team fought over or switched on just about every screen contesting almost every shot. Weakside rotation helping the helper limited BG to only 7 Orebs. They fought for every 50/50 ball and had only 5 TOs. Going to need the same level of intensity for Toledo 

 

Do agree. A very evenly contested and exciting game.Some of the stats tell the difference in the game. UB 17-19 vs BG 8-18 from the line, UB 42 vs BG 35, Turnovers UB 5 vs BG 12, Steals UB 9 vs BG 2. In a tight game that usually spells the difference. The BG center Porter was a load but Johnson and Davis did a decent job. Watson as usual was very good the only negative was she committed two silly fouls in the first half. She just needs to be smarter along with Lewis-Williams and Davis as they need to stay on the court. Rana had a good game also assist wise and scoring after she struggled against WMU. If we can get some semblance of consistency out of Ogden this could be an exciting rest of the season. Go Bulls!!!

13 hours ago, eyjee said:

Getting real close to deeming this offense unwatchable. I don't know enough about basketball X's and O's to even try and think what system GH3 has in place for this team in the offensive zone... but man... if I see one more iso fade-away mid-range jumper...

Ball State has such a great thing going having Jihad and Hendricks on the court at the same time. Jo covering Hendricks and having Jihad on Isaiah or Sy is the whole reason we're in the foul trouble we find ourselves in.

Jihad and Hendricks is what our Skogman/Mballa should have been.

Playing basketball and coaching this is the worst team basketball we have seen in years. There was no offensive play. One player playing iso ball and the other players standing watching. No player went to the boards when a shot went up except Smith. I wonder what Coach H is drawing up at timeouts. Unfortunately this team is losing more season ticket holders and general fans. Just so demoralizing to see what has become of UB basketball. Watching this game there were no set plays, no picks and no screens. Watching this coaching staff we could see how upset Calvin Gage was and another coach clapping his hands like all was good. No life on the bench and especially from Coach H. With two road games coming up maybe this team will give a better performance.

20 hours ago, NC_UBfan said:

I don't agree but I understand. It was to match up with the WMU all guard line up they ran in the 4th.  Gines is a big guard 5'10 better perimeter defender has more speed than Ogden but lacks the size and is not a threat to hit 3s which would have deterred WMU from blitzing Watson. Two passes and you would have either Ogden or Rana with an open look. We are a young team made ALOT of mental mistakes and I think they played down IMOP.  If they had the same intensity as the Ball St game we walk them 15+. This is the first and hopefully last bad loss on the way to a 10+ win conference record. 

Good point about Gines but still think Ogden would have helped on the offensive end especially since she hit a few shots and would have had the confidence level up. Before this game Gines has barely played at all so to put her in the game was a little baffling. One other point was the three point shooting of WMU which coming into the game put up a crazy amount of 3’s and UB did not put enough pressure on their 3 point shooters which came back to bite them and lose the game. It is up to these coaches and players to adjust and they failed. It will be interesting to see what game plan Burke can come up with against Bowling Green which is a big step up from WMU. Go Bulls!!

On 1/21/2024 at 4:33 PM, 1975 said:

Yes. Any of 1 or 2 fewer unforced TOs (traveling), 1 or 2 more kick-outs to an unguarded Ogden beyond the arc, 1-2 fewer attempts to drive in the paint against 3 defenders, 1-2 fewer cheap calls from UB-killer Steratore. 

Both Rana and Lewis-Williams with way too many turnovers and we have seen the trend now from these MAC teams. When Watson gets the ball out on the perimeter they double her and pressure her and she still tries to drive through them. Other players have to be open and you would think the coaching staff should figure out a different offensive philosophy.  Do not understand why Ogden was not on the floor in the 4th quarter especially when she did hit some early three’s. Still think Davis needs to play more minutes if and it is a big if she can stay out of foul trouble. Still think this team is a work in progress and will see if anything will change as the season continues. The Bowling Green game on Wednesday will be a challenge as they have a better overall lineup than WMU.

11 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

Watson has been as good as advertised. A bit of a rough shooting night at 10/30, but has now scored 20+ in 8 straight games while shooting >50% from the field in 5 of those.  

Do agree. Any win on the road is a positive. A lot of positives - only 9 turnovers, winning the rebounding battle, getting 9 steals, a decent game from Lopez and Johnson. Ogden still in a funk going 0-5 and not scoring and the free throw shooting from Lewis-Williams and Davis has to improve in order for us to beat the top teams. This team continues to battle through some tough moments in games. Looking forward to our next home games and see if they can continue their improvement. Do like this coaching staff who seems to engage the players on a positive side. Go Bulls!!!

On 1/15/2024 at 7:59 AM, ChubbyHubby said:

The male ref made a couple of terrible foul calls within the last minute or 2 that nearly cost us the game.  I believe one was on Lewis-Williams, one on Davis.  He's also the one that called the inbounds violation.

I thought all the MAC AD’s had input about the officials in the MAC?? Do any of these so called refs get any kind of feedback and are shown all their terrible calls and put on the spot to improve or be gone at the end of the year.  

42 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

Valiant effort by the ladies.  As the announcers said, UB’s weakness is their reliance on 2 players to score the bulk of their points and unfortunately it burned us tonight when nobody else could seem to make a basket when we needed it most, especially after Lewis-Williams fouled out. 

That being said, this team seems to have a ton of heart and plays with an intensity that we just haven’t seen from the men this season.  Watching them put up this kind of effort against the best of the MAC is encouraging to see.

Do agree. Positives that we outrebounded a more experienced and physical team and fought to the bitter end. Negatives that only two scorers, Rama and Ogden 1-11 from threes and critical free throw misses. Disappointed in Ogden who many of us thought would show marked improvement from the three point line and she has gotten worse. With only Watson and Lewis-Williams contributing on the offense end we will be on the losing side on a constant basis especially against the better teams. Looking forward to see how this team can compete as the year continues. Go Bulls!!!

21 hours ago, NC_UBfan said:

 

Not sure if there could be a worse first half of play. Seemed like everything there was challenge by the player to do all the things to lose a game leave shooters open, poor communication, weak passes, feeble  box outs, poor shot selection or not shooting. And once the hole was dug turn everything on its head and almost win. 


 

For the first time in a while Lewis-Williams played like freshman. Inconsistent with securing the ball 5TOs. Only taking 3 shots the entire game as the secondary scorer. 
 

Freshman Davis had by far her best game of the year when the ball went to her after halftime.

Ogden’s and Rana’s inconsistent shooting was agin on display.Rana did make a few 3s the second half but Ogden was 2-13 1/9 3p

The other two freshmen guards Wangolo and Lopez played tough defense when they got in the game during  second half. Neither had a offensive impact but the communication picked up when they were in  

Watson made this is a respectable game but counting on daily 30pt performances is not ideal.  If they only put together 3 decent quarters this could have been a come from behind win. Young team they have a quick turnaround game on the road Saturday can only hope they flush this one and get ready for CMU  

 

 

A game that I was afraid of from the get go. Figured Kent coaching staff knew how to defend from watching film. Kent players doubled and pressured Watson and Lewis-Williams and she never adjusted and Watson was able to adjust somewhat and had a better second half. Davis did have a good game on the boards but she was the only one. Do not understand why Coach Burke does not get Ogden to play under and around the basket to help with the rebounding. Ogden again in a funk with her shooting. Looks like we will continue to have a tough time with many of the other MAC teams. Also the defensive effort in the first half was not good with no pressure on Kent from the three point  line. They did play better defense on the perimeter in the 2nd half but if UB’s shooting does not improve it could be a long year. Hope this coaching staff can make adjustments now that they have film on how many of these MAC teams will play us. If Davis gets in foul trouble we don’t have any other player with any low post presence. To UB’s credit they came out in the second half and played better on both ends of the floor. 

2 hours ago, UB92 said:

Great, great, great to get a win.  You have to learn how to win.  

Let’s keep it going!!

Just good to see a game where they kept on fighting even when the game got close. Great to see Smith have a good game with not missing a shot or free throw and we really need him to have a positive game on the boards. Interesting to see Bolton Jr play 37 minutes but only taking five shots. If Coach H can get both Bolton and Graham more involved on the offensive end it could help take some pressure off the other players. Looking forward to the women’s game tonight and see how they fair against a good Kent lineup. Go Bulls!!!

17 hours ago, zigo230 said:

I don’t know much, but i do know the Hurley/Oats era was an amazing time.

It took a few years for the AD to tear it all down and make MBB one of the worst of 360 programs. So that took some doing. Hopefully other MAC teams are weak and they can get immediate help from the portal after this season.

Yes it was!! Our family and friends talk about it often. All those years with both teams in the national spotlight and being there the whole season and then in Cleveland with our whole family and friends will be memories of our lifetime. No matter how far the teams have regressed that can never be taken away!! Go Bulls!!