Big 4 Hoops Blogger

This was my highlight of the afternoon! Maniac is a cool dude but I was giving him crap after that performance lol

I think this site would go downhill quickly if I took over!

Never easy playing at EMU. Won’t be much of a difference between tomorrow at noon and tipping off with their normal crowd. Let’s hope UB is energized because that building has been known to get some ugly performances from road teams.

Believe me, I understand what you’re saying. I’m not a Whitesell guy. I like him as a person and wish him the best because I support UB basketball. I was simply speaking from the perspective of those that do support him, they would compare him to previous regimes prior to UB’s “golden era” and say that’s a more fair standard. I’ve been critical of Whitesell during my podcasts in the past due to the current talent level on this squad. As I’ve stated in previous threads in the past, I thought Buffalo should’ve went with someone else but I don’t want to start a completely different discussion lol

Great win for Buffalo tonight! They did exactly what I was hoping they'd do and then some! Good teams go on the road and find a way to defeat inferior competition. UB went to BG and HANDLED the Falcons. Josh Mballa had one of his best games of the season with Jeenathan Williams and Rondo Segu looking solid as well. Buffalo is starting to click. The big question, which we won't get an answer until the end of the regular season is whether this is the result of a team finding itself or if it's due to playing weaker competition. Final two games of regular season against Toledo and Kent State will be very telling.

I feel confident tonight. I don’t think highly of this Bowling Green team and the metrics back that up. It’s never easy winning on the road but I’m hoping for a comfortable UB victory.

Great numbers. This Toledo team felt different to me and the numbers apparently back that up. I was more so referring to not using previous results to predict future outcomes but I understand where you’re coming from and those changes could be huge for the Rockets moving forward.

Sometimes it’s hard to articulate points through text on a message board. I was simply stating that based on previous UB expectations, Whitesell’s resume to this point would be considered solid by many. If you compare him to the Reggie years and early Hurley/Oats, Whitesell is doing fine. But if you judge him based on recent expectations since Oats final two seasons, many would be upset. And as I stated in another post, I wasn’t just referring to expectations from the players and coaches. I was including media hype as well. The fanbase thought this was a 20+ team that would win the MAC. As of now, that’s not likely. They could win the MAC Tournament but will most likely be no better than 3rd in the regular season. I was explaining the divide between the positive and negative posters. My post wasn’t complicated. I’m sorry you didn’t understand it. That’s partly on me but as I mentioned, it’s hard to get your point across on message boards sometimes but I thought you could’ve had a more polite response.

Definitely wouldn’t take a miracle for UB to win. In fact, I think the Bulls have the type of team to give Toledo problems. I was just stating that they’re a notch above everyone else. Doesn’t mean they’ll win in Cleveland based on past experiences. Skogman developing into an offensive threat is a huge bonus closing out the season. With Mballa’s offensive struggles down low, they needed another big to pose a threat to provide more balance when they’re on the attack.

I’m lumping player expectations with media expectations. I should’ve worded that better. When I was referring to player expectations, my point was more this: If Williams and Segu were thinking of a regular season title and Sweet 16 before the season, what do you think they’d say about their current state of things? They’d probably be pissed off but say they still have a chance to make a run in March. Thats what I’m essentially saying. The people upset on this board have every right to be mad. But there’s still plenty of reasons to be optimistic and hopeful. UB can still make a run in Cleveland. There’s no reasons for us all be attacking each other because one side is more optimistic and the other group of people are pessimistic.

The reason for my initial post on this topic is because I’m tired of the stupid fighting on this board between the positive and negative posters. This place has become toxic and it’s apparent that many people avoid the board now because of what’s taking place. My recent posts were addressed to both sides to basically admit that I can see the logic from the positive and negative posters on this board. It’s okay for people to have different expectations for this program, positive and negative and neither side makes them an idiot. my post about expectations is simply based on how expectations impact people’s perceptions of a team. I’m experienced with this stuff from working in broadcasting and sales in the past. This post is not directed at any individual poster.

I am not saying that players shouldn’t believe that they’re capable of winning at a high level. I am saying there is a portion of the UB fanbase that is disappointed with this squad because they have failed to meet their high expectations that the team AND the media set for them prior to the season. I am essentially saying that it’s fair for the “negative posters” to be discontent with this squad while at the same time also having the chance to win in Cleveland which is what all of the “positive posters” believe is a successful year. It’s an expectations game and is a delicate balance. The same thing is used in politics, sales, and many other regards in life.

To be fair, Buffalo has the 2nd best offense and 4th ranked defense. UB has a shot in Cleveland. They’ll just have to play their best ball that weekend. Another sneaky team is Akron. They’ve done alright in conference play outside of getting swept by Kent State.

If you go according to KenPom, the top 3 defenses in the MAC are Ohio, Kent State and Toledo. The best offenses are Toledo (by far), Buffalo and Ohio.

That should be the goal but that’s also why fans get upset when they don’t live up to expectations. Also, there’s a big difference between saying “Sweet 16” and “Making the NCAA Tournament.” In sales, they say “undersell, over deliver.” When you do the opposite, it leads to a disappointing customer experience. For that same reason, there’s many upset UB fans that wanted more from this squad.

Starting posts like this is why this message board has become polarizing. It’s okay to state differing opinions but starting a response like that isn’t the way to do so.

Totally agree with you regarding Toledo. Time will tell if they made the proper adjustments to win in Cleveland or if they’ll continue the Rockets disappointing March play. I completely agree with your final paragraph. As much as it sucks battling Kent/Akron in Cleveland, I’d much rather avoid UB if I were the top seed. There’s a reason why runs like what UB pulled off, winning four MAC Tournaments in five years never happens. It’s tough to win this conference tournament.

This is a very legitimate post. I agree with Brooklyn Bull that there’s no point being worried about their seeding. It is what it is and you just have to play the schedule in front of you. Buffalo would likely play a similar combination of teams regardless of where they’re seeded. BUT… It’s asking a lot of this team to win three games in three days against three of the top 5 teams in the conference. Buffalo has the talent and ability to pull it off but they haven’t shown the consistency to play a solid 40 minutes of basketball in three consecutive nights. It’s going to be a tall task asking a lot of our starters to carry UB to a MAC Championship in Cleveland. They’re going to have to elevate themselves to a level we’ve rarely seen this year outside of a few stretches.

We can keep saying that and we might be right but there’s no rational reasoning behind that logic other than pointing to past results which aren’t relevant to this year. I hope you’re correct but I think this Rockets squad is a notch above everyone in the MAC.

One other thing to add to the conversation, if you asked Nate Oats, Bryan Hodgson, Jeenathan Williams and Rondo Segu about where this current UB squad is at, what do you think they’d say? I spoke to everyone of them except for Oats before the year. Williams and Segu mentioned winning a regular season title with Williams adding the words “Sweet 16.” The people that are critical right now are upset because the team put those type of expectations out there. Now, things don’t always play out the way you want and you have to re-adjust your goals during the course of a season. To the positive posters out there, there’s still a lot to play for. You guys are all correct. But this year is what it is, pretty meh with some hope of a run in Cleveland. Just gotta hope for the best!

While it wasn’t realistic to expect them to remain at the level they were during Oats’ final two seasons, I think many were hoping for more than what they’ve shown during the past three years. There have been numerous programs over the past two decades that have elevated themselves after special seasons and tournament runs. Jim Whitesell has done well based on previous UB standards but many saw potential for growth in the program and that’s why they’re critical. I honestly understand both perspectives and think the positive and negative posters are equally biased and flawed in their approaches.

Good job for UB to battle adversity and come away with a win. They were clearly the more talented team today but had some rough stretches overall. Jeenathan came up big with Rondo, Skogman and Mballa stepping up when needed in the 2nd half. With the way the standings are shaping up, unless UB can get themselves the 3-seed, they can expect a difficult game like this in the quarterfinals in Cleveland against most likely, Kent State or Akron. This is what MAC Tournament games are like. They passed the test today but will have many more to come.