Big 4 Hoops Blogger

My apologies. Obviously, we understand why Bona and UB have vastly different budgets.

Mark Schmidt has a long track record of success and built that program from a laughing stock in the A10 coming off probation to a school that has made three NCAA Tournaments (should be four), a NIT Final Four and a perennial contender in a Top 10 conference in college basketball during his tenure. One year doesn't destroy his reputation, especially when they didn't have one returning player from his team last season. So while both teams were especially awful this year (Bona 200, UB 204 in KenPom), I'm more inclined to give Schmidt a pass than Jim Whitesell. Whitesell has been a D1 head coach for over a decade and hasn't made a NCAA Tournament at this level. Spending money doesn't guarantee success but it certainly helps.

It was a big responsibility filling your void!

I'm on the same page with you on all of that and typically don't post during games for that reason. Believe me, I'm not a doom and gloomer with UB basketball. I still think they have the building blocks to be a successful program. It's just been a frustrating year.

And to add to my previous point, Ohio fans are upset that they're 18-13 (10-8) and don't believe they have any shot in Cleveland despite being 134th in KenPom. Some of the posters on this board are content because we're entertaining and finished where we were projected before the season. UB is 15-16 (9-9) and 198th in KenPom. Ohio has not been consistently great in the MAC over the past decade while UB had one the best five years runs in the history of the conference not too long ago. Why is it that Bobcat fans have higher expectations for their program than Buffalo fans? That's a problem.

Not sure why you're calling me out or saying that Jeff Boals is my idol. I've been critical of Boals all season in my other circles regarding his rotations and stubbornness at times. I have been far from the most critical UB fan on this board. The only thing I've been hard on them is that they've decided to settle for being average rather than striving to be great.

Respect UB for coming back and getting the win when they could've easily given up down double digits. I'll be down in Cleveland for the MAC Tournament. Not expecting much but hoping they can at least give Akron a game in the quarterfinals.

I think this year is proof that many of Whitesell's critics over the past few years weren't pessimists but instead people who had the vision to see where the program was headed under him. Unless his recruiting magically improves, we're staring down mediocre basketball for the foreseeable future.

That's a good point. A lot of people have this perception that UB's strength is on the offensive side of the court because of their quick tempo but the metrics don't back that up. Truth is, Buffalo is average on both sides of the court. Their defense is near the top of the conference during MAC play while their offense is closer to the bottom group of teams in the league. It's pretty easy to point out some of the problem areas for this squad when you look at their deeper numbers.

While I understand your reasoning, I'm not sure I completely agree. Kent doesn't have a good track record in Cleveland under Rob Senderoff either. I think winning the MAC Tournament is a combination of talent, getting hot at the right time and a little bit of luck. I've seen Ohio and Buffalo win the MAC Tournament seven times since I was a freshman at OU in 2009-10. Some of those teams were great but many just clicked when it mattered the most. While defense is certainly important, the reason Kent/Akron win at a high level is because they have quality offenses to go along with their defensive ability. Toledo is very average defensively but they are ELITE offensively, 14th in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency. No one in the MAC can touch their offense. The issue for the Rockets is if they have an off night, they're vulnerable. That doesn't happen often though. At the current moment, I think there's five teams that have a shot at a run in Cleveland. Kent/Akron/Toledo are the favorites but Ball St. and Ohio could be sneaky. If UB wants to have any shot in the MAC Tournament, they'll need to continue their recent focus defensively like you mentioned.

It's never easy to win on the road in the MAC. UB's first game against Toledo was competitive but I think it'll be much more difficult this afternoon. Hope I'm wrong and watch Buffalo come out strong!

It was wrong of me to throw that last part out there. I'll delete that because I don't want to go down that rabbit hole.

Nate Oats has handled this entire situation horribly. From getting Ray Lewis involved to letting Brandon Miller continue playing and now saying "wrong place, wrong time." It's clear the only thing he cares about is winning and it doesn't matter at what cost. The moment Alabama found out about Miller's involvement, he should've been indefinitely suspended pending a review and investigation. Now, it's clear that their program didn't truly care about the murder that took place. There's a valid argument to be made that Oats and Miller should be suspended the rest of the year. I doubt that'll happen but there's people calling for Oats to be fired. I was always a huge supporter of Nate while he was in Buffalo. I've met him numerous times and got to talk to him following a few practices. He's a tremendous basketball coach but you really have to question him as a person now.

Very odd game but I'll take it any time UB holds an opponent to only 35 points! Next two games will be difficult tests at Toledo and NIU.

So, that was a tough week for UB... It wasn't unexpected but never good to get blown out in back-to-back conference games in mid-February. The Bulls are struggling and they don't exactly have freebies remaining on their schedule. Buffalo already lost to three of their four remaining opponents. Siting at 12-15 overall, it looks like they could have their first losing season since Reggie Witherspoon's final year with the program in 2012-13 when they went 14-20. John and I addressed the current state of the Big 4 and if UB is capable of making a run in Cleveland. Fast-forward to the 17:30 mark for UB talk.

We took a look at the Bulls recent play and whether or not they're capable of making a run in the MAAC Tournament this year. While not directly addressing Jim Whitesell, we did discuss some of the problems UB is facing as a program starting at the 17:30 mark.

When opposing fanbases in your conference begin to look at your team with apathy, that's normally a sign that your program is regressing and should consider making a change.

From BobcatAttack (Ohio forum) regarding Jim Whitsell:

I appreciate the optimism of some of the posters above but I just don't see it. UB is likely to be a 6-8 seed which means they'll battle either Kent/Akron/Toledo in the first round. As Erie County stated, Buffalo is 0-5 against those teams. If they want any chance, they'll likely need to finish as the 5 seed and tip-off with Ball State in the first round. The metrics are pretty revealing. UB is squarely in the middle of the pack in the MAC. There's five competitive teams at the top. There's five awful schools at the bottom. And then there's UB & NIU battling in the middle to likely see who will have the edge for the 6 seed.

Some of that is Xavier Castaneda playing lights out but UB really needs to improve defensively.

UB doesn't have a traditional basketball rival in the MAC. Bulls fans probably dislike Ohio the most but that's not a mutual feeling. Many also hate Akron and Kent as well. The problem when looking at MAC rivalries from a Buffalo perspective is that most of the schools already had someone they disliked long before UB joined the conference. Ohio has Miami. Akron has Kent. Bowling Green has Toledo. There's times when other schools will be heated with UB when there's something on the line but that's about it for now. What also makes it difficult is that outside of Akron, Kent, Ohio and recently Toledo, there really hasn't been many consistently decent programs in the conference which makes it difficult to have those intense moments that can create rivalries. For now, I'd say Canisius and St. Bonaventure are Buffalo's true rivalry games even if they don't have the same level of significance as the Bulls conference opponents.

Hey guys, sorry for the few week hiatus! John's wife recently gave birth to their second child so we had to skip a few shows. There was plenty to discuss on the show this week. Some encouraging and discouraging reactions from the Kent State loss. The Bulls played hard and can compete with anyone in the conference. That said, the sloppy play and poor defensive rebounding was tough to watch. Ohio will be a tough game on Tuesday that can go either way. Fast-forward to the 21:00 mark for some UB talk. We also take a look at UB's roster construction in comparison to some other teams in the MAC. Hope you check it out!

Great start for UB jumping out to a quick 12-3 lead at first media timeout!

I think we're at the point where the results speak for themselves. Akron is good but they're not talented to the point where they should be handling UB on the road.

NIU is about to pull off the upset. That school always gives the best MAC teams problems despite never being good themselves lol