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UBinMD

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Posts posted by UBinMD

  1. 7 minutes ago, DocCas86 said:

    2022-23 stats

    2023-24 Stats

    Well you certainly have to credit GHIII being creative in filling the roster.  Let's hope it translates into a competitive team.

     

    https://www.hudl.com/profile/16666484/Omar-MiguesHibeljic

    Some nice videos. Looks to have a pretty smooth touch and nice stroke. A few nice kickout passes too. The competition doesn't look bad, but it's still HS so the gap is considerable. Scorers usually figure out how to score though. He's probably the only guy on the current roster that I would call a pure scorer type. Good penetration and kickouts is a nice thing to add.

  2. 8 minutes ago, Ubbullsfan09 said:

    From his highlights looks to be a solid slasher and self creator, albeit on a lower level than D1 at the CCAA level. Was described one of the best in the league, but I’ve yet to find official stats. Another Canadien guy for this roster 

    Says he from Montreal, so that’s cool. Listed as a PG/SG. A good slasher that can distribute would be nice. Averaging that many points at least means he has a nose for scoring, which is a good trait. Hopefully it translates to MAC success.

  3. 35 minutes ago, Sportsfan said:

    After witnessing the Whiteshell era, it is becoming clearer that athleticism is getting ranked higher than skills in basketball players recruiting.  That formula would appear to work if you have players that are dedicated to improving their skills with hours and hours of individual work (i.e, J. Williams).  Appears those type of individuals are becoiming few and far between.
    I am becoming in the NLI ear an advocate of team basketball (euro style) at the mid major level. 

    I would prefer a "team of skilled players that stay in school for 3-4 years to graduate" over what we witnessed last year.  Last year (including the record) was an embassment of skills, effort, defense, etc.  Players at 3-4 school's over a college career at a mid major level is insane.  

    The transfer portal (except for the top schools) is nothing more than a rotation of mediocrity. 
    Mid Major coaches need a new strategy with who they recruit going forward in the NLI / Transfer portal era.

    Well said. I agree that if you could find a group that plays that Euro style basketball at the mid major level, it could create big problem for undisciplined opponents.

  4. 20 minutes ago, Sportsfan said:

    Pete truly has a personality.  The video's are very funny.

    What a difference in the vide in UB football in just 4 months.

    He really does get the leadership role and his experience is so visible.

     

    He’s letting the guys play free and easy, the previous regime looked like a military outfit with everyone scared to make a mistake. Lembo is also comfortable in his own skin and doesn’t think he has to prove anything. A true CEO that will allow his coaches to do their job. I think it will be a fun season. 

    • Like 1
  5. 6 hours ago, MuchMany said:

    Kind of rambling and unconvincing if I'm being honest. Like a guy who very well may not have the answers.

    I am excited to see if we hit on any of the new players, but I'm also excited when I buy some lotto tickets.

    The main thing I am hanging my hopes on is that 4 young guys (Sabol, Wilson, McVeigh and Boldin) saw something that made them stick with this staff. In today’s day and age, they could have bolted. I would think Boldin and Wilson could have found decent homes, Sabol maybe a lateral move, McVeigh maybe a slight move down in level. They could just enjoy playing together, but something caused them to stay.

    Now we will see if the pieces brought in to surround them can create a decent team. We will see.

  6. 27 minutes ago, DocCas86 said:

    This will be his third team.  As you said he didn't light it up at either NJIT or CMU, shooting .259 from 3 on 135 attempts.  Maybe a new team will give him a chance to shine.

    Keeps dropping down a level it seems, maybe this will click for him at Canisius.

  7. 3 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

    The one team to watch moving forward is Western Michigan. Their NIL money is near the top of the MAC. Will be interesting to see if they're able to become a consistent contender in basketball.

    Is their NIL broken out by sport or is WMU highest overall NIL or MBB only NIL?

  8. 30 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

    https://247sports.com/player/elijah-elliott-46135335/

    Ohio just secured a commitment from 3-star guard Elijah Elliott. Originally committed to Florida Atlantic following their Final Four run but decommitted after Dusty May left for Michigan. Also had offers from Kansas State, Drake, WKU and Murrary State. Top-200 HS recruit. Joins Ayden Evans as two highly touted HS recruits joining the Bobcats.

    It's been interesting tracking them this offseason. They've done a really good job with roster retention, brought in Iowa State transfer Jackson Paveletzke who was the SOCON Freshman of the Year at Wofford and are still pursuing high school talent.

    Ohio, Akron, and Bowling Green are showing it's still possible for mid-majors to put together solid rosters during this crazy climate of college basketball.

    Thank you for the update, we will see how the season plays out. There could start being major disparities within conferences between the tops and bottoms in the next few years.

    • Like 1
  9. I forget what I was actually trying to see when I started putting this together, but ended up down a rabbit hole and went back to the last few years of the Witherspoon Era up to the current roster. I color coded by which coach recruited each player and followed it along each player's path and when they dropped out. Interesting to note that Oat's final year was all "his guys" and the two main leaders (Massinburg and Perkins) were 4 year players that hit their peak in their Senior year. Caruthers and Jordan were in their 3rd seasons. Graves was a Sophomore and we hit nicely on McRae and Harris as 2 year contributing transfers. I wonder if we will ever see something like this again at UB. We had a lot of veteran players that played a lot of minutes together.

    It was also interesting to note that Whitesell did not have a single one and done freshman (I did not count Ceasar, Jack or Slaughter as they would likely have returned if JW coached last year). Malik Zachery and Ty Perry were upperclassman that came and went (Zachery, we barely knew ye). 

    We have had (8) 3-star and (1) 4-star recruit since 2010-11 (sobering). 2 of those were one and done including Famakinde (part of last season's GH3 class). He is still hocking his services on X so I'm assuming he is having trouble finding a home. Character issues or was he overrated out of HS?

    We have (1) 3-star on the current roster in Bryson Wilson.

    Oats' teams had 3 rated players in his entire tenure with us. Jeenathan Williams, Ronaldo Segu and Brock Bertram. Williams and Segu were Freshman his final season and had limited impact on that team. We all know the Brock Bertram saga.

    If you see any errors, let me know.

    UB Bulls MBB (Oats Era).pdf

  10. 1 hour ago, DocCas86 said:

    Could be a solid pick up.  Had a decent FR season with Utah, but redshirted last year due to an injury.

    https://www.deseret.com/2024/1/9/24031913/utah-utes-basketball-wilguens-jr-exacte-redshirting-2023-24-season/

    Will be interesting to see how BG turns out this year. They are opting for the P5 portal and JUCO route (not exactly sure where Wheeling falls into that group). Can you get a group like this to play together in a scheme and will they be there for more than a season. This portal world is going to be interesting. Say for example, the kid that was at Michigan comes in and scores 18-20 per game, does he then leap back to the Big10 or similar? These next 3-4 years will define a new landscape.

  11. 1 hour ago, skrabukes said:

    A few years ago we couldn't get any "big" teams to play us. Now everyone wants to. I wonder why.

    Still on the road. Also, helps in recruiting probably even more so with the portal. Figure guys come in, play on some bigger stages and could then move up. Gotta love mid-major basketball.

  12. 6 hours ago, Blue03 said:

    I’m no expert in analyzing coaches or prospects, nothing like that, but I really like the way coach handles this team. I know they’ve had troubles in the beginning with being tough, but she’s always been consistent and honest about her expectations. She expects everything out of her players and in return she gives everything from herself. Love the social media presence and the winning mindset. Definitely building a culture and identity, something men’s basketball has lacked

    She is certainly building a brand and is demanding excellence. That is not for everybody, but I really think she can build something here and become a sustained force in the MAC and make noise in the tournament. We will see if we can retain her after this season, Watson's last year of eligibility, etc. Now that she has a young family, if we can give her some annual bumps and incentives, it make keep her here. In WBB, the pay gap is less dramatic unless you get into the top 10+ programs as compared to the MBB coaching top to bottom.

  13. Not sure if any of you saw or read this. I respect him for actually giving an interview. He obviously has a plan in his head and is hopeful the guys he has returning and is bringing in can execute it. He is right about one thing, especially at the mid-major level, you have to work at it. We are not going to get the most naturally talented guys, it's going to take work. We all ooh and aah about Freeman. He was a walk-on destined for nothing, but every MAC team and many P5 teams would have loved him on their roster. You just never know what you have. Time will tell.

    https://buffalonews.com/sports/college/basketball/men/buffalo-basketball-coach-george-halcovage-roster-transfer-portal/article_d06e28ec-0bbe-11ef-8341-e7955a93de70.html?mode=comments

     

    Enrique Freeman - Look where he started, look where he ended up. How many people on the Akron fan boards were jumping up and down when they saw him added to their roster is 2019.

    image.png.3019ad750ed3be639c56f755e83114db.png

     

  14. 1 hour ago, clodney said:

    I mean, they turned out to be correct in the end, didn't they?

    Seems like everyone would have preferred what he had to offer than what we got last year. I am also not a big fan of revisionist history. I'll support what is provided to us because the athletes deserve our support. At the time, the administration chose not to use Oats success as a way to set that as a new plateau, they instead decided to make that our peak. They figured we keep as many guys as we can from the Oats era and try to ride it out. Let's not fool ourselves that if the rules of today applied then, our team would have been decimated.

    Once that decision was made, you get behind JW and hope for the best. I gave him a lot of grace and rooted for him to be successful. Did it work out? He did ok, but did not maintain the standard set by Oats. Is GH3 going to get us back to the Oats era? Not sure yet, maybe but probably not. I also am a realist and know there is no way UB is going to eat the contract. I would be shocked if he didn't get 2 years more at least. We are not in the habit of throwing money at our failures and moving on. Since that will be our reality, I will hope for the best and root for the guys we have to come together and be successful.

    Bitching about what could have been or rooting for the best of what you do you have is a personal choice. I assume those that take the time to post on sites like this at least would like there to be success. Running down a group of guys that haven't even taken the floor together seems premature. My beefs with the team last year I stand behind because I witnessed what was bad. I think the 4 remaining guys have promise and I am hoping they are successful with the new pieces, but we will still be an extremely young team, so I do not think we will compete for a MAC Championship. Making it to Cleveland is my goal for this group.

    • Like 1
  15. 1 hour ago, DocCas86 said:

    Do you think the next potential coach may look at not utilizing available NIL after one year as a negative? In other words, the administration did not support the predecessor.  Perhaps supporting GHIII is a bit of an investment in the program's future of the program in addition to giving GHIII a chance at success.

    Save your breath, it's no different than the group that wanted JW out the door on day 1. It will play out how it plays out. If there is NIL money available for MBB it should be used. As for spending on the Coach, we had the chance to parlay a larger buyout from Oats into a different coaching option and increase the baseline pay of our MBB Coach. We didn't do that and went the safe route, so we are back to square one (I'm not talking about hiring BH, we could have gotten a good D1 ready coach with HC experience and increased the pay to say $750k). Difference now is we have a collective, so it should be used. If GH3 and staff fail again this season, then there should be serious consideration to moving on from him. If he gets near .500 then I think you stick it out and see what Season 3 looks like. Time will tell and I will be rooting hard for their success.

    It should also be noted that we likely lost out on 2-3 potential coaching candidates due to our lack of NIL. GH3 was talking NIL to the administration since day 1, it got a zap in the ass when Lembo was hired (I guarantee that was part of the negotiations for him to take this job). So now here we are, what are we going to do with it and who is going to support the cause?

    • Like 1
  16. 1 hour ago, Bluebird96 said:

    According to sports reference his only FBS stats are 3 games played for JMU in 2022.  Maybe he had a redshirt season or 2 before that 

     

    A kid who was a 4-star WR recruit in 2014 just signed with Arkansas football  after a 10-year minor league baseball career 

  17. 1 hour ago, DocCas86 said:

     

    Kind of a Catch 22 situation as wins will be less likely until the coffers start filling.  I know there is some reticence committing to current staff.  However, if money is not there and a change is warranted it may be harder to attract the right people.  

    image.jpeg.a156c9fa31d0d9ef0b5b92d3fe0aedad.jpeg

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