John

13 hours ago, enrique14150 said:

What an outstanding performance tonight by the Bulls, start to finish, front to back.  Every phase.  Usually basketball games ebb and flow, each team takes turns going on a run...except tonight UB went on a run mid first half and never looked back.  Defense, offense, they were focused on the task and sharp in execution.  30 assists!  Thirty!  56% shooting, held BG to 35%.  BG had twice as many foul shots, rebounds were the same...UB made their shots.  Credit to everyone for a great response tonight after the last two on the road.

Curtis - he can shoot from anywhere.  He's getting deadly from three; he can drive to the net; he's working on those CJ or Lamonte-like floaters. 
Zid - his best game so far? Plays with so much purpose and confidence - sometimes too much, but just right today.  Looks to be healthy and rolling.
Foster - as time goes on we're seeing him try more and more ambitious passes.  When they work they're really nice.
Jonnivius - his best game so far?  He has REALLY picked up his intensity and workrate, he fights a lot harder for the ball now.  You could tell how pumped he was too by his reactions during the game and after.  Great to see him taking positive steps.
Jack - compare to where he was 2 months ago.  His defense is a lot better, and his movement inside to the basket for passes is getting really good.  Teams are going to start watching that on film, I'm curious to see if they back off to guard that, what other things that opens up for the Bulls offense.
Kanye and Kidtrell - it's great to see guys coming off the bench and playing meaningful minutes like this, they have good depth at guard
Adams - got in some early foul trouble, which limited his minutes.
Caesar - I don't know what's up but I'm not going to speculate, nor am I interested in speculation.

BG - it was just not their day.  We expected a close game since they had the same record.  They matched the Bulls on rebounds but that wasn't enough.  I thought early that with Hardnett out, BG would try to get inside and get the big guys into foul trouble, which would limit UB's options.  UB is getting better at boxing out and battling under there, tipping the ball, keeping it alive.  Agee looked like he was so mad he was going to do something worthy of a technical at some point.  For a guy averaging 11 points a game, they gave him a hard time.  The game was topped off by a sour old BG fan behind us whining about his own team, UB, everything afterwards.

The next steps for this team are to play better on the road, but first, how they match up against Toledo, one of the best in the conference.  Tonight the three's were dropping and they were moving it around at will.  We saw on the road that they have to figure out what to do when the outside shots aren't dropping, or the big guys get in foul trouble, or they have to play a different way because the opponent is shutting something down.  All part of the progress process.  Great job tonight Bulls, keep it up.  I'm trying my best to just ignore the people who get down after the first ten minutes or have already made their mind up about everything.  This team keeps being fun to watch and I really want to see what they can do with a fired up crowd backing them up.

Do agree. A. Great game and just a complete reversal in all of their stat lines from previous games. With a limited bench because of injuries maybe a blessing in disguise when Adams played limited minutes and other players like Blocker and Kanye Jones got more playing time. What a difference it makes when Jack and Smith have productive games both offensively and defensively. The big question is can UB be close to having that same kind of consistency?? Toledo will definitely present a totally different challenge on Friday. Are we going to get some larger crowds today and Friday? We will be there as we always are. Go Bullls!!

31 minutes ago, BullBoy said:

Agreed.... I actually think the marketing during the Top 25 year was awful, but they didn't have to work very hard to put butts in the seats.

I DO AGREE. During those great runs the team and coach marketed itself and of course the news covered both teams more because of all the hype. Coverage in the news today was good but of course it was a rather slow sports day for the Bills and the Sabres losing again. It does not seem like Alnutt and company can or want to market the teams. Penny wise and pound foolish. Last night’s game was suppose to be Veterans appreciation day?? As far as I know they marketed the game on their website. Common sense would be to promote with all veterans half off tickets?? Our family still enjoy local college basketball but not sure if we will ever get the excitement level back but again we enjoyed the years when UB was in the limelight. Go Bulls!!!

16 hours ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

We opened the show discussing Buffalo's past two losses and dove deeper into Jim Whitesell's future in the program. I've always been a firm believer in hiring young, up & coming assistant with solid recruiting ties to lead mid-major programs. Feel free to comment.

 

Thanks for the good commentary. Food for thought on all the Big 4 topics. Our family and many fans agree that Hodgson should of been hired and we think Whitesell would of been a good assistant helping Hodgson with the X’s and O’s. We needed someone who had a track record of recruiting and with some energy. We see that in Coach Burke with the women who have bought in and do now have an identity. Total disappointment with the men with no identity and no direction but we will know after this week with games for both teams coming up. Do agree the blame lies with Alnutt who has ruined all the momentum with the men’s program. Kudos with his hiring of Coach Burke who had the player pedigree and the early coach track record of success in her previous jobs. Hope for a successful week for both teams. Go Bulls!!

1 minute ago, John said:

Do agree, Something has to change in both the players and coaches mindset and attitude to turn this around. Powell and Adams seem to want to play one on one ball with no team attitude and along with others on the team become very frustrated, Their track record of terrible three point shooting, terrible free throw shooting and 15-20 turnovers per game spell disaster in many games. Will a light bulb go off for this team to change course I guess we will see. I can see several players wanting to leave especially some of our younger players who are getting minimal playing time like Caesar, Maudig and Williamson just to name a few. Will see on Tuesday.

28 minutes ago, clodney said:

My opinion is that these inexplicable losses are no longer outliers in the data. They are a trend. We now have no signature wins and 3 really bad losses to sub-280 teams. We are at our lowest ranking in 2 decades only 4 years removed from the greatest team in UB history. Whitesell was handed a hot rod and he drove it off a damn cliff. In all true honesty, I'm more upset with Alnutt for making such a boneheaded decision and I'd actually prefer to see him fired over anyone.

We all knew '22-23 would be a struggle with so many new faces but just a couple weeks ago many of us felt confident that our boys could compete with the top dogs in the conference. Now, I'm not even sure we're in the top half at all. We still haven't played a top MAC team outside of a struggling Ohio squad who we barely beat at home. I'm sure there will be chaos in the weeks ahead but I just can't picture us topping Kent State or Akron when we can't compete with CMU and Miami on the road. Those are the games you need to win.

If we don't seriously turn it around I'm not sure what salvages Whitesell's job beyond a complete commitment from 100% of the roster to stay and build for next year. If any of them leave they should probably take JW with them. We cannot afford another rebuilding year. Our entire brand is on life support.

Do agree, Something has to change in both the players and coaches mindset and attitude to turn this around. Powell and Adams seem to want to play one on one ball with no team attitude and along with others on the team become very frustrated, Their track record of terrible three point shooting, terrible free throw shooting and 15-20 turnovers per game spell disaster in many games. Will a light bulb go off for this team to change course I guess we will see. I can see several players wanting to leave especially some of our younger players who are getting minimal playing time like Caesar, 

5 hours ago, bullsbball said:

Season ticket prices haven't changes in several years.  The "Additional Seat Fees" also haven't changed. I'm paying the same price I paid last year.

Prices went up 3-4 years ago when they were good. Would be nice if they lowered the price when the team isn't good. I'm sure season ticket sales are down because not many players returned from last year and were expected to not be good.

Also, new "tax" laws several years ago make the "additional seat fees" no longer a "charitable" donation.

To clarify you could be right on the seat fees but in our case we went down one seat and we had to pay more in seat fees to keep some of our perks. Do agree that probably with all the turnover in players and coaches and with the not so great marketing efforts that was probably the factor in loss of season ticket base.

21 hours ago, Erie County said:

He's lost anyways. No reason to be lost AND let them plan the exact backdoor play they wanted

Was Hardnett injured?? Williamson Has not played any decent minutes except for mop up duty so not sure if he is ever going to be productive. Shooting 23% from the 3 point line, again 63% from the line and 20 turnovers will not get it done in most games. This really looks like what we will see the majority of the year. Anxious to see how the team responds at home on Tuesday. Go Bulls!!!

On 11/19/2022 at 6:17 PM, JFH47 said:

I totally agree- get rid of both of them. I am a season ticket holder and while I suspected this would be a disaster of a season and so far that’s just what it has been.  There are rows and rows of empty seats that were once season occupied by season ticket holders.  The addition seat fee of $250  per is ridiculous and there are no fan amenities plus the guest internet service is actually no service.

At this point I am not sure if I will hold my nose and renew next year
 

 

I do agree. The additional seat fee has caused many season ticket holders to give up their seats. At a time when both teams lost the majority of their market players they should of had more enticements and marketing efforts to keep their season base and try and increase it. Alnutt and administration do not have the pulse of the fans and of this area. It is a shame that they might lose more of the true diehard fans unless they change their mindset. Trying to stay positive but it is becoming harder. Go Bulls!!!

20 hours ago, UBinMD said:

3 bulls with 20 and Winfield went off. Back to back steals to cap it off.

Very impressive game by the entire team. Was concerned before the game seeing the overall frontcourt size of EMU. We lost the rebounding battle but battled the whole game. This looks like it could be the trend during the year being smaller than a lot of the teams but where we make up for it is our athleticism and quickness especially of Winfield, Stone and Winfield. As the game wore on we were just so much quicker than EMU and caused a lot of fouls being called. Another game where we shot 50% and shot 80% from the foul line and played good defense. It is familiar with the past Coach Jack teams that can play good defense and keep teams scoring at 60 points or lower. Very impressed with Coach Burke getting these players to buy in on the playing style to be competitive and win games. Looking to forward to Wednesday’s game against Ball State and hope for a larger crowd. Go Bulls!!!

16 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Wish I was in town to see this live, but I’ll be watching the stream. I think Winfield is going to have a big day. Looking to keep the momentum rolling with these ladies. Defense and rebounding has been key. Stone has found herself and Young is also playing a key role in her final season. Go Bulls!!🤘🏻🤘🏻

Will be there with my brothers. We usually sit in the area of the visitors bench to see how the coach and players react during the game. Go Bullls

12 minutes ago, 121Merrimac said:

What a crazy start to the 3rd quarter.  Back to back to back to back steals. 

Crazy is the word. Some good stats out rebounding Ohio 36-27, 11 steals, shooting 44% from the field, 73% from the free throw line and getting solid contributions from Salmons, Mashaire and Perkins and productive games from Stone and Young and of course Winfield even though she had an off night shooting 2-14 but was productive on the assist and rebounding side. With their limited bench for this team to play with energy in the 4th quarter is very impressive. Go Bulls!!!

1 hour ago, skrabukes said:

2-1 in MAC. Who'd have thought that after losing to Canisius to open the season, or watching the D2 loss vs Mercyhurst? 6-1 in the last 7, what a turn around. If they go .500+ in MAC, she should win coach of the year hands down.

Do agree. The last two games UB has really clamped down defensively allowing only 8 points in the 4th quarter. Good sign that we can still win a game when our best player in Winfield has an off night on the offense end shooting 2-14 but she had 8 rebounds and 5 assists. It is interesting that Salmons has not played in the 4th quarter but with Perkins in the lineup she is a quicker more athletic player especially on the defensive end. What works for Coach Burke and we win let’s enjoy this ride. Hope we can see a bigger crowd for Saturday game at 2 pm. Go Bulls!!!

6 hours ago, ChubbyHubby said:

D-1 teams should be shooting a minimum of 75% on free throws.  Sure, you're gonna have that Shaq on the team that can't buy one, but there should be an Ernie D. on the team to offset that.  They are FREE throws.

You really do wonder how much practice they put in on free throws?? Just sad on players that have played all their life and can’t improve on foul shooting.

35 minutes ago, enrique14150 said:

I agree with you that this is going to be up and down, because of the nature of the team right now.  I hope people realize how much better this team looks now than it did 2 months ago.  And how much some players have progressed.  Curtis didn't play much last year, look at him now, in just his sophomore season.  Look at Isaac Jack, starting to become a regular piece of the equation, how much he's come along in just a couple months.

"play more team ball" - the Bulls are 3rd in the MAC right now with 14.5 assists per game.  Assist-to-turnover ratio isn't as good...but those tell me that they're trying to work it around, sometimes they don't do it well.  I feel like as they get better as a team, those turnovers may come down.  And turnovers will be more of a problem for teams like UB that, since Hurley, want to run the floor at a high tempo (as they say in football, "live by the blitz, die by the blitz.").  I totally agree that they can get better at this, but in terms of assists they're actually one of the best in the conference right now.

www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/conferences/statistics/team/_/id/14/stat/assists/sort/avgAssists

I feel like yesterday they were trying to play team ball and pass it around, but Miami was doing a good job of shutting that down.  Curtis wasn't getting good looks outside.  Down the stretch, 'Foster taking it to the net' was the thing that was working best (in this game).  

I do agree with your comments. What has seemed to happen in many games is they do have stretches of very good team ball but in many stretches they go back to one on one ball but again that can because of the other team’s defense of how the game is being played. The big buckaboo could be because of our poor 3 point shooting and I think the biggest obstacle is our free throw shooting. I think they will still have some good free throw shooting games but can they have any consistency at all?? Time will tell and still feel like progress has been made in many areas and hope we can be more than a 500 team. Go Bulls!!!

2 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

Another stat that I think needs to be looked into is MOH 2pt %, They shot over 60%

Stats can always be an interesting aspect of any game. IF UB on average in a game shoots 17% from the 3 point line, shoots 60% or less from the free throw line especially when they get 38 attempts,, have only 10 assists and have double digit turnovers and as in many games so far this year have players start playing selfish that can usually result in a loss. This does appear like this will be an up and down year with some good performances and some not so good performances. The question is can this coaching staff change the attitudes of some of these players to play more team ball?? I do think we have some very talented players on this team and of course will continue to support both teams in what looks like a roller coaster year. Go Bulls!!

Will be interesting to see how the energy levels of the players can hold up as many of these MAC games will be physical and high intensity. It seemed like the players came out in the 3rd quarter after that big lead and could relax a little. To the players and coach Burke’s credit their defensive and offensive intensity changed in the 4th. With their smaller and very young frontline they will have problems with bigger and stronger frontlines of other teams as what happened against CMU center that dominated in the 3rd quarter. If Winfield, Stone and Young can continue their excellent play and Mashaire and Salmons can continue to play on both ends down low and continue to improve it can be a very exciting year when at the start of the year the unknowns were there in full display. Just a good and promising start to conference play by both teams. Go Bulls!!!

17 minutes ago, WRUB said:

I believe it came down to the last 3 plays.

The offensive possession before the layup w/ 4 seconds left was a really nicely designed play that got us a wide open 3 that we missed. If the team next year can find some shooters it really will do wonders for the squad.

The layup was a really nicely designed play w/ the option to use the screen but choose not to and got the nice layup.

I don't think it was offensive on KSU on that last play. However, if we flop perhaps we get the call.

Really impressive last few games for both hoops programs. Neither team shoots the ball terribly well but both play some really solid D that could make some noise in Cleveland. But man alive could we use a Jeremy Harris.

Don’t agree with you on the last shot. Seen it on replay and looked like the UB player was standing there and established position but that is the beauty of our different views. Do agree it looks like we will be hurt in many games with not having any pure 3 point shooters and the few we do have are all young players with very little experience. Looking forward to the CMU game on Saturday with looked like a not very good team who won their first MAC game after a terrible OC season. Go Bullls!!

15 hours ago, promotherobot said:

Textbook charge by KSU player on a UB player with feet set in the paint outside the half circle. MAC home cooking strikes again.

WOW! Now that I have seen the replay it looked like a charge. Again typical terrible officiating as usual in the MAC. An encouraging sign for this team if they continue to battle and if they get positive contributions from Mashaire, Salmons and Perkins. This looks like the group that Coach Burke is going to utilize. Looking forward to CMU game on Saturday. Go Bullls!!

7 hours ago, enrique14150 said:

I joked with a couple people around me, "was there a gas leak in the locker room?" Sometimes I shake my head because basketball is a game of runs.  How many times have these games come down to the last 3 minutes/6 possessions?  Last night did.  All game I kept thinking, this won't be easy and it'll be close at the end.  I'm not on the bench so I don't know this - but I wonder if, down the stretch, the coaches wanted them to protect the ball and don't give it back right away off a fast break turnover.  

And to someone else - the only thing that went cold at the end was their foul shooting.  Two big buckets in the last couple minutes gave them a 5-6 point cushion and left Ohio chasing it.  Do better at the free throw line and they win this going away.

But I'm trying to realize that this was a tough game and wasn't always going to look pretty.  There are a lot of guys on this team who are not the finished article yet - or the complete package - but so far they're finding a way to combine those things into something like a team.  Which coming into this season was a serious concern.

A lot of good comments of many fans tonight. Do agree in these MAC games the difference will be who makes free throws when so many of these teams will be evenly matched. I think we all noticed that in the last few seconds of the first half that Jack missed a layup that would of put us up by I think double digits and Ohio threw up a three pointer from just over half court that went in and we were just up be seven?? We came out in the second half like we were sleep walking and were still thinking of what happened at the end of the first half. Ohio went on that run and Whitesell called a timeout and really lit into the players. The team and especially Hardnett came out with great intensity with some rebounds and hustle that permeated to the rest of the team. Also the officiating is what it usually is where the fouls were light in the first half where they let the players play but as in most games the officials call crazy amount of fouls that really bog the game down. UB needs to be able to close games out and get the ball to their best player in Jones. Also Powell was dressed and was in warmups but did not play. What is his status?? On the marketing, UB does not market this team at all and I wonder how many season ticket holders gave up their seats after last year?? The years of Hurley and Oats this team marketed itself with their great play and the marquee players they had. This administration is just sitting on the hands and just collecting a paycheck and Alnutt is just looking for an upgrade in a job. Overall a good team win and looking forward to Saturday. Go Bulls!!!

3 hours ago, xDerekRx said:

The men had an uneven challenge level on the schedule in December which is frustrating but is what it is.

That being said I liked the GM and SBU games quite a bit. I also liked things I saw on the msu and WVU games as it pertains to potential in the MAC.

My expectations also fall in a Top 6 MAC finish then hopefully make noise come tournament time. Any more than that will be great. 

This isn't a polished group expected to top the MAC coming into the season after losing the entire roster but for an expected "rebuild" I like what we have here. 

Will be interesting to see how they fare against the MAC teams. Are they going to play some semblance of team ball and can some of their frontline players control inside play and rebound?? Is Powell now healthy or is it more long term?? Similar to the women can we get some positive contributions from some of the secondary players?? I think that will be the key for both teams to see how they mesh and play tam ball. Go Bulls!!

15 hours ago, promotherobot said:

They really recovered from rock bottom when they lost to Mercyhurst. They looked great vs SBU.

Do agree. They seem to have a better understanding offensively on their ball movement and they seem to be better defensively. 

Two  very good comprehensive analysis of the team. Probably wishful thinking that our three main players in Winfield, Stone and Young will have great games all year. As stated before the key will be to get positive contributions from one or a combination of other players like Salmons, Mashaire, Perkins among others. It showed in the Bona game where Young had a tough game but Salmons with 10 rebounds and Mashaire had two crucial buckets in the last couple minutes of the game. Very impressed with Winfield with not only a scoring threat but with her rebounding which will be crucial for us to win some games. Am impressed with Coach Burke who does seem to have the pulse of this team with an entire new lineup. Looking forward to Mac play and see how the other teams look with many new players. Go Bulls!!!

23 hours ago, Windycityfan said:

Thank you.  I will be waving and cheering right behind our bench

Good holiday season to all 

 

Go Bulls 

 

The question is do we have any chance in this game?? Michigan State does not seem  to as strong as other years. They have four players that average in the 14 to 12 per game. They are averaging 69 and holding teams to 66 per game. As. Always they are strong and very physical so we will see. Go Bulls!!

8 hours ago, promotherobot said:

Women have improved since I saw the Mercyhurst game. 

I do agree. The team is dependent on three players who look like they have to play the entire game. We know who they are: Winfield, Stone and Young. The big question is can Coach Burke get any positive minutes and contributions from Mashaire, Salmons, Perkins, Ogden and Ellis especially with Johnson now lost for the year??? I have not heard any word on Nwora who was out due to personal reasons. There front line is very inexperienced and not very strong on the rebounding side and that could be a big negative on both the offensive and defensive end. Still will be a very interesting year with a coach who really seems to have the pulse of the team. Go Bulls!!

1 minute ago, John said:

Thanks for the update. 

I was happy to see Mading and Williamson get some playing time. I really do wonder if either will get any meaningful playing time going forward. If they don’t I could see both going the transfer route next year. Caesar looks like a player who should get some rotational playing time but what I have seen of him that in lacks on the defensive side and looks like he probably had to play very little defense in high school.