Big 4 Hoops Blogger

I think Jim Whitesell has had a disappointing tenure *so far* as UB head coach but still think he can fix the ship. What makes it incredibly hard to judge him is that he's off to one of the best starts by any coach in program history but replacing the best head coach Buffalo has ever had. So the question is, do we judge him based on UB's historical precedent (which he'd be doing great) or by where the program was when he took over? (obvious regression) Then you have to factor in that he took over a re-building roster but had two of their highest recruits of all-time. That's why opinions are all over the board. With what he inherited and the transfers he brought in, anything short of an NCAA Tournament appearance this year would have to be considered a disappointment based on his two predecessors instant success coaching the Bulls. They don't even need to be a high seed. Just get in and be somewhat competitive and that'll buy him good will with the fanbase. The worst case scenario is if they fail to make the MAC Finals and he's forced to deal with another rebuilding project next year. Then, the momentum from Oats will officially be gone and they'll need to figure things out.

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Appreciate it! We love breaking down their bigger games when we’re able to. Have an interesting poll for those who want to vote.

Kevin and I preview the St. Bonaventure game for Trainwreck Sports:

Hey guys, Kevin and I previewed the upcoming Buffalo/St. Bonaventure game for Bullet Points! Make sure to check it out and give your thoughts.

St. Bonaventure ranked 25th in Coaches Poll.

St. Bonaventure is a very good team and should win the Atlantic 10 but do have some legitimate concerns. Like Buffalo, they have a short bench and can be stagnant at times. They’ve already have two double-digit comebacks against Canisius and Clemson. They get off to slow starts far too often. They should be a tournament team no matter what but it’ll be interesting to see what they do against UConn and Virginia Tech.

I don’t know how they came to be but this was the explanation I received. I’m paraphrasing… “They’re easy wins at home that don’t negatively impact your metrics at 1/4th of the cost to schedule a bottom tier D1 opponent.”

That’s a fair point but he has elevated the recruiting at each of his stops. Maybe he wouldn’t hypothetically attract 4-star guys to Canisius but he would improve their recruiting which would help their program overall. Obviously, Nate Oats helps him bring in top level players but Hodgson has an ability to identify and attract talent. For example, was Alabama bringing in 5-star recruits before he was there?

This times 1,000! There’s a reason teams have coaching staffs. The obsession with Hodgson was that he was just named one of the best recruiters in the nation and he’s largely responsible for Alabama having the 3rd best class in NCAA. He’s not just a good recruiter, he’s one of the best in college basketball. That’s a game changing attribute. You can mask his deficiencies by surrounding him with a well rounded staff. After a few years, I’m sure he’d be caught up. I don’t think he’ll ever coach UB but his naysayers are being ignorant if they don’t understand his appeal.

Don’t be sorry! I agree with virtually everything you wrote. It’s a shame that it’s turning out this way but the power conference teams have found a way to essentially cheat the system while consistently putting mid-majors at a huge disadvantage.

Below, I listed a link to a really good article on the demise of at-large bids for the Mid American Conference. It wasn't necessarily that the MAC got weaker, instead more so the NCAA started changing their criteria for selecting teams in a way that favored power conference schools. https://www.cleveland.com/sports/college/2017/03/march_madness_2017_how_did_the.html

That's been true for the past two decades but didn't always use to be the case. There's only been a handful of MAC teams during the past 20 years that have been in the at-large conversation. Buffalo in 2004-05 (not selected) and 2018-19 (Won MAC) Kent State in 2001-02 and 2007-08 (Won MAC both times) Ball State in 2001-02 (not selected after beating two Top 5 teams to open their season, made deep NIT run) Akron in 2012-13 (Won MAC) There might've been a few other instances I failed to mention. The majority of the time, these dominant MAC teams take care of business in Cleveland. To get an at-large bid, a mid-major conference needs their best program to choke in the conference tournament. That just hasn't happened the few chances the MAC has had for an at-large. It's not impossible for MAC teams to get a bid, it's just very unlikely given how little their margin of error is.

Recruiting is more important than coaching in this day and age of college basketball. Top level recruiters are hard to find but have to the ability to continually re-load their rosters which is a necessity with the transfer portal making a tremendous impact. You can always surround yourself with a talented staff of coaches that can help teach the game and develop players but it helps when you have higher caliber players to begin with. What’s baffling with Whitesell is that he’s brought in some highly touted recruits and transfers but the majority haven’t panned out besides Mballa. I would’ve thought with his coaching pedigree that we should’ve expected more by our newcomers in recent years.

He was a longtime assistant at Ohio State who graduated from Ohio. He knew the state well and had recruiting ties throughout the Midwest. Although his record was far from stellar at Stony Brook, OU looked at that as a trial run before giving Boals the job. He was discussed by many as a possible candidate when the Bobcats hired Jim Christian and Saul Phillips. So essentially, 1. He had Ohio ties 2. Very good recruiter 3. Had head coaching experience

I think to the casual observer, the Bonnies struggles offensively are hard to overlook but you’re absolutely right. St. Bonaventure is elite defensively and it’s been that way for over a year. If they can ever find some consistency and avoid some of their cold periods offensively, they could elevate themselves to an even higher level.

Perfect explanation of what took place. Kentucky out-rebounded Ohio 53-17. Once Bobcats went cold, it got ugly fast.

I’m sure there’s some on their board who are upset with their 2nd half performance and that’s fine if they are. It’s an expectations game. Ohio is very good but lost Jason Preston to the NBA and Dwight Wilson is out with an ACL injury. Bobcats opened the season around 100 in most metrics and have gotten off to a good start. An 18 point loss to #13 Kentucky after trailing by two at halftime isn’t a disappointment for the majority of their fans based on where their expectations are. UB however returned their big 3 and was trailing by 20 in the first half at #6 Michigan before fighting back. The Bulls are projected as high as 60th. That disparity in expectations is why people have different reactions. It’s like in car sales, you never want to oversell, underdeliver. Ohio does have some depth. Not a ton but they normally go four deep on their bench. Just because their role guys didn’t perform well tonight doesn’t mean they lack them. Ben Roderick and Lunden McDay are their 4/5 scorers and both averaged over 10 ppg last year. They just don’t have quite the depth they should with Wilson injured. That said, they have a 6-8, 3-star recruit freshman, AJ Clayton hitting 3’s for them early in the season at Kentucky, proving you can play freshmen in important non-conference road games.

The Bullet Points crew gives their thoughts on the Bulls performance against North Texas:

Here’s our weekly Bullet Points preview:

From what I’ve been told, Hardnett has been banged up and hasn’t been able to be a consistent contributor during practices. Don’t know the extent but was told that it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll have a major role early on in the season.

That’s fair and I tend to agree with your point about Buffalo’s best being better than Ohio’s best. Didn’t realize Wilson was dealing with an ACL issue. That’s tough for the Bobcats.

I'm biased but I disagree. I thought Ohio looked really sharp. Mark Sears had 27 points on 10-11 shooting with six rebounds and four assists. Xavier transfer and returning Bobcat, Jason Carter had 20 points and 10 rebounds. OU was missing Dwight Wilson with an injury. Don't know what's up with that. One thing obvious watching the game is that Ohio can score well in the halfcourt. They have have plenty of shooters and bigs that can spread the court with their range. Belmont entered as the 2nd ranked mid-major in the country behind Gonzaga according to the Mid-Major Top 25 (flawed poll I understand). That's a quality win for them to open their season.

Obviously, we’ve been drained of our enthusiasm for UB football following the Bowling Green loss. It’s gameday and we haven’t had a post in four days lol With that in mind, let’s get the Miami thread started. Both teams are 4-5 and coming off bad losses. Miami was down 28-0 against Ohio before making it a game in the final minutes. Brett Gabbert is one of the better QB’s in the conference and has two solid receivers in Jack Sorenson (elite MAC WR) and Penn State transfer Mac Hippenhammer (who I covered when he was in HS). The RedHawks defense is solid as well by MAC standards. This game really comes down to can the Bulls secondary contain Miami’s passing game and can UB continue to run the ball effectively. I think it’ll be close but have Miami pulling it out.