MaineBull

I have been holding out to give my opinions on this team and the season and I cannot seem to hold back my thoughts any longer. The negativity that comes out on this board especially during games is concerning and very off putting. Sometimes it seems like some of us want to get on the team or the coaches rather than be a fan of the team. I am all for constructive criticism but have a handle on the big picture please before you comment. Please take some time to digest and keep your eyes on the big picture. Please that's all I ask, this will make for a much better experience for all of us. This appears to be one of the best teams we have ever had at our beloved UB! Lets enjoy it and get behind this time like we did the CJ/Perk/Harris team. I know many of you are not happy with the coach. I understand the criticism but I think he has gotten a bad wrap thus far. Is he the best in game coach we have ever had, no far from it. Is he strong at making in game adjustments, no. But that being said, he is just as loved and respected by his players as Hurley and Oats was. These kids play hard for him and want to succeed for him. He is a hell of a recruiter. The recruiting has not fallen off since coach took over, the class he brought in this year, if they stay may go down as one of the strongest in school history. Coach Whitesell has been able to avoid significant transfer unlike many other coaches around the country. The team chemistry appears to be amazing and the kids seems to enjoy playing in the program. The style of play is exciting both to play in and watch and should be a strong factor in future recruiting. Coach Whitesell is not a big name coach but the facts are he has over 400 college coaching wins and these kids love him. I think he deserves more credit and some of us on this board should stop looking at ways to shoot him down. My biggest criticism of this team and his coaching is the lack of ball movement. I would love to see more ball movement, get those guys willing to make the extra pass to turn that good shot into a great shot. He has not won the big games in this time hear yet, but lets see if he can get it done this year and lets enjoy the journey. Please keel in mind this is a marathon not a sprint, the goal is to be prepare for Cleveland, so we are playing our best basketball by that time. My thoughts on the players thus far: Rondo: He is nails. His jump shot, albeit not the prettiest thing in the world, it is deadly. Leave him open and he will make u pay. His defensive effort has been very high and has been a catalyst on this team. I would like to see him try to attack off the dribble more and kick out when the help comes as he is tough to stay in front off, his hesitation is one of the best I have ever seen. Rondo is an amazing player and in order to make an NCAA run we need him to lead us there and I think this may be the year he is ready to do so. Williams: The work he has put in since his freshman year is really paying off. He is the toughest matchup in the MAC. He can shoot the three and take anyone off the dribble. I would still like to see him take the ball to his off hand as defenders try so hard to cut off his strong hand. He has been carrying us thus far on the season. He is in for a truly magical season. As the season goes along I foresee teams trying to take him away where if he takes on the role of being a playmaker, we could have a lot of fun and there will be a lot of open shots if we are willing to move the ball. His rebounding continues to improve and I have liked what I have seen from him on the defensive end thus far this year. If I am coach Whitesell I am in his ear every day challenging him to try and make a name for himself on the glass and on the defensive side of the ball, that is how he finds his way into the NBA. Jack: I have been impressed with his effort and he is more athletic then I realized he was. I would like to see his shot have more arc and be less flat but you cannot argue with the results. This kid can flat out shoot and on this team there will be some open shots to be had. Jack may well be the X Factor on this team, he plays well and the Bulls play well. If he is shooting the ball well, it opens up the floor for so many good things. His rebounding is great and his defense is not strong but I love the effort and passion he brings. I really like this kid and cannot wait to see how he gels with the big 3. By seasons end I suspect we will have a big 4! Mballa: Best rebounder I have ever seen at UB! His hands are quick and he is simply relentless on the defensive end of the floor. He brings an attitude and a toughness to this team that is critical to our success. He clearly has worked on his free throw shooting, handle and foot work. I understand why they try to iso him as he is a tough guard in that situation but too often it ends in a poor shot or a turnover. I would like to see him become more controlled on offense and I think we should try to get him the ball posting on the block more than we do currently. I love this kids game and we will go as far as Mballa can take us this season. His rebounding and defense set the tone for this team and I cannot wait to see how this season plays out. I also pray he decides to come back for another year next year. Bertrum: I love his passion for hoops and this University and how dedicated he is. But that being said he is not a player that deserves minutes at this level/ His length allows him to contribute in certain situations but he has too many limitations to contribute or get minutes at this level. I have been saying this for years but year after year his minutes increase. This season he has three guys behind him, Harnett, Skogman, Mading that are all better and deserving of more minutes. I suspect he is getting so many minutes now as Hardnett works his way back to game strength. Bertrum has a role on this team, it is a captain and as a leader who plays when the opponent has a huge interior player and we need to body him and give up some fouls. That should be his role and I suspect it will be as we move along in the season. Skogman: He is a stretch four who can really shot it and should generate some open shots for us that I am confident he can hit. Like Rondo his shot is far from pretty but effective. He has limitation both on the glass and defensively, especially on the screen and role defense. He is a big part of our future and I think we will continue to see him grow and hope one day he grows into the player we all hope he can be. I am confident in this coaching staffs ability to develop bigs. Brewton: He still does not look comfortable and does not appear to know his role on this team yet. At this point I am not sure he will figure that out in time before he leaves. All we hear is he is an amazing shooter but we have yet to see it on the floor. This team really does need a scorer off the bench who can space the floor and give us some minutes and consistent scoring off the bench but I am not sure he is capable of that. I hope so, but time will tell. I will say this, his body language each time he shoots it says he is confident, he thinks they are all going in, but they seldomly seem to at this point. I hope that changes cause like Jack, Brewton could be one of the X factors for this team. If he plays well the Bulls will be really tough to beat. Defensively he is a liability especially against bigger athletic guards and that is not going to change. Hardnett: I really think his game is a perfect compliment to this team. He needs to be starting with Segu, Jack, Williams and Mballa. That is our best lineup and is the lineup that will take us to the NCAA tourney. I know he is working his way into game shape and in time will work his way into the starting group. He brings all the things this starting lineup needs, another strong rebounder and defender, toughness, attitude and an unselfish athlete who can run the floor. I really like his game and he is the perfect compliment to our big 4! I would like to see him develop a consistent jump shot and become a better screener to free up some of our wings. Hardnett starting is when this team goes on a run! Jones: I have been really impressed with this kid. It looks like we have found our future point guard. He appears to be a great rebounder and solid defender. I am really hoping Segu takes him under his wing and teaches him the importance of his role on the future of this program and the importance of the defense and ball pressure that he provides to this team. Not sure about his jump shot as we have seen so few opportunities for him in that role. I cannot wait to watch this kid develop and I am excited for his future. Says alot about his game that he is able to contribute as he has thus far as a point guard as a freshman. Mading: This kid is going to be an impact player as a freshman. Remember CJ his freshman year in Cameron Indoor? I suspect at some point this season we will see a performance like that from Mading. He is raw and has a lot to learn but he has all the tools to be a multi time player of the year in this conference. Give him a few months to get his feet wet and I think you will see him carve out a role for himself and that is when we start to see what this kid is capable of. The sky is the limit for this kid and I cannot wait to see how this plays out. I am fearful he will get discouraged and transfer if he does not get the minutes he feel he deserves. As of today he has the following players in front of him Bertrum, Hardnett, Skogman, Fagan. If I am the coaching staff I am playing Mading over Bertrum and Fagan from Day one. Once he figures out how to defend and rebound at this level I would play him more if his play warrants it. This kid is a star in the making and I want to encourage that and not limit his game behind players that are not part of the future of this program, Brock and Fagan, Fagan: I love this kid in many of the ways we love Bertrum. He is dedicated to this team and his effort to come back from multiple significant knee injuries should be celebrated but, like Bertrum, this team has too much talent for him to be getting minutes unless someone is in foul trouble. He has a nice jumper and is a solid rebounder but his defense is not strong and he tends to foul too often. I love his effort but we have too much talent for him to be seeing the floor. Blocker: Kid looks solid but he needs time to develop like Mading. I like what I see but he needs to slow down and let the game come to him a bit more. I think he has a bright future and cannot wait to watch him develop. For now sit back and learn as much as you can from our seniors so next year you are ready to contribute. Jones, Mading, Blocker sound to me like the next big 3 for UB basketball! Williamson: Please red shirt! Perry: Classic undersized UB guard. Tough as nails and willing to get in your face! Great rebounder for his size and will not have a hard time getting to the line. His lack of speed will be an issue at this level especially on the defensive end of the floor. Hope he continues to develop a jump shot and can carve out a defensive stopper role on this team. I see him playing a role like Caruthers did on a very strong UB team at some point in the future. I love this team and I think we are in for a hell of a season. I for one cannot wait for the next game and I cannot wait to see how this team develops as the season goes on. My prediction, we play Ohio in the MAC championship and win a close game in OT. UB seals the win with free throws down the stretch, yes free throws! Buffalo goes into tourney as an 11 seed and wins another first round upset in a route led by Willams and Segu! This is a special team and I would love to see more encouragement and love for this team as the season progresses. Lets fill the stands for as many games as we can. I will be out in February to see a few games and I for one cannot wait. Go Bulls!

Rumors are MTSU and WKU could move to the MAC. I think these would be solid adds. WKU has 14th most mens college hoops wins alltime. That's impressive no doubt.

I agree this move is mostly lateral but even more importantly is necessary for UB. If the rumored teams leave for the AAC here are the remaining teams in CUSA: Florida International Louisiana Tech University Marshall-WV Old Dominion-VA University of Southern Mississippi University of Texas El Paso Western Kentucky Middle Tennessee State Is this conference an upgrade? Geographically it seems to be much grander than the MAC. My thoughts are we need to do it and the decision should be based on the schools that the conference plans to add.

That is the question we are all considering tonight. Should UB consider a move to CUSA if the opportunity presents itself?

I have been holding off on providing my thoughts on the season too soon. As we all know this is a unique season with different circumstances. Sometimes we lose sight that these are college kids and they take time to develop. That being said, I feel we have seen enough of this team to have an understanding of who we are and what we may be able to become. here are my thoughts, I welcome yours and look forward to a discussion either about the team or individual players: Team: Watching this team this season has certainly been more frustrating than it has been enjoyable. We all know they have the talent to be successful. Compare the individual players on this roster to most other teams and you have to like how we stack up. Despite this fact there remains something missing, game after game this team does not produce. It feels to be like there may be some chemistry issues on the team. I suspect there may be some friction between some of the players and my guess is it surrounds Graves. This team is in a transition. last year there was no doubt this was Javvon Graves team. This season it clearly is Mballa/Willams team. I suspect there are some hard feelings about this transition that are making some waves throughout the team. I have no inside knowledge just my guess from watching the team and trying to diagnose what the problems are. The facts are both Mballa and Williams are better than Graves at this point, I would even argue that Segu is better as well. Once the team embraces this transition they will be better off. I like what I saw from the team defensively yesterday and I like the rebounding for this team, they are relentless on the glass. They need to limit the turnovers and move the ball more offensively. We have several players that can attack the rim off the dribble and put pressure on the defense by getting to the free throw line or kicking for an open three when the help comes. I think we saw that play out versus Ball State yesterday. I think this team has some issues but I remain confident they have the time to work out the issues. Our success moving forward will be determined by four factors in my opinion: Will one of our bench players step up and provide some results off the bench (looking at you Nickleberry and Brewton) Is this team willing to move the ball as necessary for team success? Can we solve our free throw shooting woes? Can the coaching staff get this team prepared to play better in the first half of games? Personally I look forward to seeing how this plays out. I am hoping yesterday was the start of this team coming together and learning how to be successful as a team. Coaching: I have been so frustrated with the coaching of this team this season for several reasons. Free throw shooting is a big problem for this team and it will burn them in a big game if they do not fix it now. I understand the players take the shots, but I put free thrown shooting on the coaches. If you cannot make free throws then you don't play, simple as that! Javvon I am looking directly at you, learn to shoot free throws, get in the gym! Put an emphasis on it and the kids will respond. This team shows up for games and they look like they are not ready to get started, that is also on the coaches. The biggest role of a coach is motivator in my opinion and thus far this staff has not had the kids ready to start games. They come out in second half ready to go but they need to start the game that way. The second most important role for a coach is end of game management and to be honest we have been a train wreck in this department all season. This needs to be fixed as soon as possible. End of game planning is easy for this team. Graves is not allowed to touch the ball unless a catch a shoot scenario arises. I would put the ball in Williams hands at the top of the key. I would spread out the floor with Graves, Segu, Brewton and Mballa (for rebounding). WIlliams attacks off dribble and when and if the help comes we kick to a shooter. Its simple basketball. The key is to be in attack mode. Thus far we are passive at the end of games and that will never work. Javvon is not a closer, never has been and never will be. Williams is our best option for success, but he needs to be willing to give it up if needed. I know this coach was hired to keep team continuity, and that's all well and good but all of the momentum this program gained over the last 5 or 6 years is disappearing. We all wanted this and this program worked too hard to get to this point to just let it go away because of a coach. Recruiting needs to improve, and immediately. We need to see results now when we have the talent or changes need to be made. I am not ready to jump ship as of yet but I am keeping a close eye on this program and the direction we are heading. We MUST keep this program going and we MUST continue our success and if the coach is not part of this then its time to move on. David Nickleberry: He is not the player we thought he was when he transferred here. How he played as a freshmen at Memphis I will never understand. He has good length and he can rebound well for a guard. He is a willing passer although he turns the ball over too much for my liking. Those are the positives. Defensively he is a liability. He struggles to stay in front of guards at this level. He is too slow to take anyone off the dribble and his jump shot is weak and allows a defender to lay off him with no fear of him making a shot. This makes him one dimensional and makes it hard to give him any playing time. This team needs someone off the bench to step up and he would be a one of the main options of the bench if he could do so. His lack of a jump shot makes it hard to play both him and Hardnett at the same time as neither of them have much of an outside game. Laquill Hardnett: I will say I like what I saw from him the last handful of games. He rebounds the ball well and is a really strong passer. Defensively he is decent but needs to improve his perimeter defense. He needs to develop a jump shot to make his game more well rounded. I like his athleticism and I like him in the starting role. He plays with passion and desire and this team needs more of that. I like the path his career is going and I look forward to seeing where he can take his game too. If I was the coaches I would have him in the gym working on a pull up jump shot, bring back the midrange game! Keishawn Brewton: He was sold as one of the best shooters to come to UB! So far we have not seen that. He does not look comfortable on the floor. I think he is struggling with the speed of the game at this level. He is a turnover waiting to happen when he puts the ball on the floor. He needs to be a catch and shoot player to be successful. Defensively he needs to improve. He strikes me as a player who is not used to applying ball pressure, maybe he comes from a team that played a lot of zone, that is my take on him defensively. This team needs a shooter and needs some points off the bench. He could be a perfect player for this role. He need to get things figured out so he can start to contribute consistently. he gets the shot off quick and with the athleticism this team has we should be able to put him in a catch and shoot scenario where he can find some success. Javvon Graves: I have been watching and following UB sports since I first attended the University in 1995 and I have never been more disappointed in a player in all those years as I am with Graves. His decline has been eye opening. He looks out of shape or hurt and has lost much of the athleticism he has been know for in the past. He simply cannot get by anyone with the ball. He has not been relegated to a spot up shooter on this team. He rebounds the ball well and is a solid passer but those are the only positives at this point. His turnovers are ugly and costly to this team. He tends to try to do too much. he has not come to grips with the state of his game and where he is in the pecking order of this team. The most eye opening issue has been his defense. It has been god awful. He cannot guard anyone at this point. Seems every game his guy goes for a career high. If he is hurt, reduce his role and put him in a situation where he can succeed. If he is out of shape, hold him responsible for his actions and reduce his minutes as it is hurting the team both in his play on the floor and in the chemistry department on this team. Javvon can be a great complement to Williams, Mballa and Segu and he needs to embrace that role. The only thing I can come up with is his inquiry into the NBA did not go well and it broke his will and desire to play and he has been upset about it and stopped working on his game in the off season as a result or he is injured. I hope he can find a way to turn it around as this team needs him to be successful. We need him to be a complimentary player and not the alpha dog for this team. Ronaldo Segu: He may be our most improved player. I really like his game. He runs the offense when he needs to and has become a very dependable shooter from the outside. He has the ability to attack off the dribble and is more than a willing passer when the help defense comes. I would like to see more of this throughout the season. Defensively he is a pest and he never quits. He works hard and sets a great example for the younger guys. Offensively he could handle a larger role if needed. I like the trajectory of his career and I think the future remains bright for him. I am hoping he comes back for two more years after this year. Jeenathan Williams: Despite his shooting the last few games he has shot the ball really well this season. He has developed an ability to attack off the dribble going to the right and is simply a matchup nightmare for every team that we face. He rebounds the ball well and will say I have never liked his effort defensively but he has shown signs this year of becoming a good defender as we all new he could become. For him it is all bout the effort and we are starting to see him commit on the defensive end. That should be scary for all of the MAC teams. He and Mballa are our best players and the offense should go thru them. Attacking off the dribble looking to get to the rim or get to the free throw line. His skills in the open court are fun to watch when they get running. Like Segu I hope to see him return for 2 more seasons after this because of covid and this season not counting towards eligibility. He has a chance to play at the next level with this length and athleticism. I would love nothing more than to watch him develop those skills here and take his game to the next level and become a MAC POTY! Travon Fagan: He works hard and I like that but his game is one dimensional. He cannot take anyone off the dribble and he cannot play with his back to the basket. He is a stretch 4 but has not shown that ability this year. I like his game better than Bertrum but I dont see him ever being more than a role player on this team. He needs to become a better rebounder. Rebounding is his role, embrace it! Josh Mballa: I don't think we have ever had a player that works as hard as Mballa does at least if we have I don't recall one. The guy is an animal. He is a great rebounder on both ends of the floor. His game has been taken to the next level this season with an ability to put the ball on the floor and attack of the dribble. I will say he has been known to take a bad shot in this scenario in the past but I like when he is in attack mode. He is a great passer and is willing to give up the ball for team success. He has shown improvement in his jump shot and I would like to see that continue as he can get a jumper anytime he wants it. Josh is the glue that holds this team together, he is our leader and the alpha dog on this team. Before his career is over he will win MAC DPOY. Our success this season will be determined by how he plays. He continues to attack the rim and get to the free throw line and this will cause other teams problems. Like Williams he is a matchup nightmare and we need him to be in attack mode at all time, going at the other teams bigs and kicking out when the help comes. I love his game and everything he brings to this team. He is the perfect personification of what this team is about and we need more players like him to be successful. Sacrifice for the well being of the team! Brock Bertrum: I have been saying this for years but he is a role player and always will be. At the end of the day his foot speed and athleticism dont match up at this level. he has become a solid rebounder and shot blocker that can prove serviceable when we play a team with a true back to the basket big man but otherwise his role should be limited. There are players behind him that are more athletic and can defend better and shoot the ball better. I love that he is a senior and he is dedicated to the program and its success but his role should be limited to spot duties when needed only. No reason at all to start him. MBalla should start every game! David Skogman: He is long but wow does he look lost out there, especially defensively. He needs so work on his game and his ability to defend the pick and roll. He needs to become a better rebounder. He is only a freshman so I know his day will come. If he continues to work I know he can become a big part of the future for this team. It appears he is a stretch 4 and not a back to the basket guy but that has yet to be determined. I hope he continues to develop and get better so he can help us next season but this year he cannot get on the floor until he is a reliable defender and rebounder and thus far he has not shown that. Am I ready to give up on this team this year, not a chance! I am very frustrated with many things that I have seen this year but I am trying to keep the big picture in mind that this is an odd year. I am hopeful this team can find an identity and start to use their superior athleticism to beat people. To me its simple, hold the players accountable. Demand they play defense tirelessly and everybody rebounds the ball. If you don't do that you don't play, regardless of who you are or what you were told when you were recruited. You need to earn your time on the floor here in Buffalo! Offensively you need to be willing to move the ball and make the extra pass and if you cannot knock down open shots you don't play and we find someone who can and is willing. That is the recipe for success and I remain hopeful this staff and team can figure it out. I love this team and I remain hopeful they can get to where they should be and string together 3 straight wins in March in Cleveland. I look forward to hearing what you all think about these players and this team moving forward as well.

I believe this team can win as well. I think we have seen enough of this team so far this season to see a series of trends that have defined whether they win or lose. They can win if they limit their turnovers, take quality shots (meaning make the extra pass) and defend and limit the easy baskets in the post. The three other major factors that will determine if they win or lose is how they deal with the adversity that they will face tonight, if they hang their heads like they have in games in the past this season it could be trouble as they will no doubt face adversity at some point in this game. Also they need to get out in transition after turnovers and get a few easy buckets, unlike they were unable to do against Kent State. They also need to shoot the ball better. This team seems to get down when they are not shooting the ball well and you can see that in each of the loses they have suffered this season. This team is athletic and can get to the rim and put pressure on the defense by getting to the line. If the shots are not falling look to attack off the dribble. Our free throw shooting has been a bit better the last few games (minus Kent State I know). I think this team shows up tonight and trades blows with Akron on the road. At this point I think we are a better team on the road. I think it comes down to who makes a few plays down the stretch to win this game. Win or lose this game and it does not define our season. The key to this season is continuing to improve so that come Cleveland we are ready to play our best basketball of the season so that we can make it 5 in 6 years. A top 4 seed would help, but is not critical to the success of the season. Play our best come Cleveland and we have a chance to win this conference. I like where this team is headed and I want to see them continue to grow and improve tonight against the best team in the conference. I am one looking forward to this game tonight! Go Bulls.

Josh, is a perfect player for our system. First and foremost he loves the game of basketball and that is evident when you watch him play. He is hard working and willing to do anything the teams needs to be successful. He has a bright future here and I cannot wait to watch him develop. I suspect he will win a DPOY award in the MAC conference before his career is over!

I have liked what I have seen from the coaching staff and the team over the last handful of games. Things seem to be coming together. I am trying to stay away from reacting after each game. We will know a lot more about this team after the next three games versus the top 3 teams in the conference. This team will be a tough out if they continue to defend as they have recently. I am a bit concerned with our shooting percentages bt am hopeful they can turn around. Limiting the turnovers as we have the last few games has really helped in this area. I am a huge fan of the lineup with both Mballa and Hardnett on the floor with Williams. There is no team in the conference that can deal with that athleticism and length. At this point Hardnett deserves more minutes and I will stick to my position that Grant does not deserve minutes off the bench. I will give him that his defensive effort has been much improved but his shot selection and ability to move the ball have been horrible. I look at the bench and I see all of the guys cheering on their teammates and I see Grant sulking. He has not been the senior leader that this team needs and his selfish play does not warrant minutes. I need to apologize for my early season reactions to Johnson. I was the one screaming he needed to be benched. I admit I was wrong. Unlike Grant, he has proven he is willing to commit to the defensive effort required to play for Buffalo. He has reduced the number of poor shots he is taking and he has adjusted his shooting form to up his shooting percentages. He has shown he can be tough and physical and is willing to put it all on the line for his team. This team needs him to play this way and if he continues to do so, this team will be a much stronger unit. I feel really good about where this team is at currently. If we continue in this direction we are going to have a fun season. As I said above we will know a lot more about this team after the next 3 games. We face the best of the best and I for one cannot wait to see how we fair against them. Go Bulls!

I am finding it very hard to not be really disappointed in this team. I would like to think the Harvard and Depaul games were what we should expect from this team. But thru 11 games they have made it clear that those games may be the outliers and the reality is this team is the other team we have seen. A team that shows flashes but cannot put it together for long periods of time. They clearly lack a leader and the killer mentality needed when things are not going our way. My biggest concern with this team is how we handle adversity. We seem to be like a turtle that crawls into our shell. Coach and or a leader on this team need to fix that immediately. We have too much talent to disappear. My other two concerns are the ball movement on this team. We show it well in flashes but for the most part we struggle to move the ball to be an effective offense. See below where I lay into Grant and Johnson again, they are glue when the ball gets in their hands. Hard to have any ball movement on this team with either of them on the floor. My final concern is our ability to give up too many easy baskets. We never, and I mean never gave away easy baskets last year. Because our team was tough, hardnosed and physical. This year we are not that and coach needs to turn that around. Stop giving up easy baskets, move the ball and keep your head up when things are bad, fix those and I think we can be that team that we saw versus Harvard and DePaul. I saw a lot I did not like in the game and a lot I liked. Some positives, we had 50 rebounds and got contributions from all positions. We limited turnovers in second half but still finished the game with 18, that's too many. We finished the game with 19 assists, that's a reasonable number but still would like to see better ball movement. 7 for 24 from 3 (29%) is not going to cut it against good teams, this team needs to shot the ball better. Free throws are bad, again we shot 9 for 18 as a team, that is the kind of thing that makes u lose a game in march in Cleveland. Each of these kids needs to be in the gym everyday shooting free throws. Mballa and Hardnett are going to spend a lot of time at the line in the next 3 to 4 years, they need to get dialed in from the line. I am so tired of Grant and Johnson. The style of play each of them plays is just gross. it goes against everything that UB has become known for. We all know why coach continues to play them, he got them here by promising them playing time. To me we have gotten to the point where their play no longer warrants the playing time. At this point each of them is hurting the team. The coaches job is to do what is best for the team, and right now that means limiting minutes for both Grant and Johnson. I will break down each with some numbers: Johnson-I think he deserves some minutes as I would argue he has been better than Grant but not much. I do not think he should be starting. Segu should be starting. Johnson is much better defensively than Grant but he makes some very dumb mental mistakes each game. Defensively he is too aggressive and it burns him a few times a game. Simply put, he is not going to be a consistently affective player at this level. He has taken the second most shots on the team with 119 prior to last night. He has only made 40 of those shots, meaning he has missed 79 shots on the season. That is more shots that both Mballa and Segu have taken on the season. He is shooting 33% from the floor and 25% from 3. These numbers do not deserve playing time. If he was putting up these numbers and was a great defender I would understand him playing but we all can see is an average defender at best. No doubt we have kids on the bench who can shot much better, move the ball and play better defense. Segu should be starting in his place and if you need another bench player I think its time to give Gallion a shot with some meaningful minutes, it cannot be as bad as Johnson has been. Grant-He is the worst defender I can remember in the last 10 years at UB. He and Brock are currently battling for this award! he simply cannot defend at this level without either giving up an easy bucket or fouling. His shot selection is terrible. How many times do you see the ball swinging around the perimeter from one side to the other trying to switch the defense and when it gets to Grant the ball movement stops and he chucks up some deep ill advised three and he bricks it. With a player standing in the corner wide open waiting for the reverse pass. ON the season he is 14 for 50 from the floor (28%) and 9 for 33 from 3 (27%). Those numbers along with his terrible defense do not warrant a single second of playing time. I don't care what coach promised him to get him to transfer here, he does not deserve to be on the floor. His minutes should be given to Hardnett and Nickleberry. I am so tired of watching these two guys be anchors on this team. Coach needs to wake up and make the changes needed. Sometimes a coach needs to make these hard decisions and now is the time. UB is about defense, effort, passion and ball movement. Why play two guys who play the complete opposite of who we are as a program! Some thoughts on a few of the other players: Mballa-I love this kid. He plays hard at all times and is willing to do whatever he can to help this team. Without him inside this team would likely have only a handful of wins. Thanks goodness he was given his waiver. This kid has a bright future and I cannot wait to see it develop. His game is meant to run up and down, he is at his best when we are running. Williams-Another solid game. he hit a big three at the end and he did not take a single ill advised shot in the game (he was 5 for 7 from the floor). I love his ability to defend and rebound especially on the offensive end. I still think he needs to be able to attack off the dribble to his right! Williams also has a bright future ahead. Graves-He is either hurt or going thru something emotionally. Two games in a row he has acted disinterested, as if he would rather be someplace else. I have never seen this from him in his career here. I am very nervous about what is going on here. This team needs Graves to be who he is, aggressive and athletic. Time for coach to have a heart to heart with this kid to get to the bottom of what is going on. Jordan-He saved UB in this game! We have seen him take over the leadership role from Graves in the last two weeks. Jordan is the leader of this team. He does what he needs to do to help this team win. He hit some big shots in this game and his ability to get to the rim and finish are a dynamic this team desperately needs. Jordan has come so far with his jump shot in 4 years, when he arrived here he could not shoot at all. Its very impressive. Jordan is going to blow up the MAC when we get to MAC play. Hardnett-This was by far his best game. He rebounded the ball well, he defended well and finished around the rim. He continues to get more and more comfortable on this team. I would like to see him hit his free throws, but I like what I see from him and he also has a bright future. When we get a legit big inside he will be fun to watch on the perimeter. He deserves more playing time. Segu-He continues to impress. He defends, moves the ball, is one of our better shooters. He defines everything that UB basketball is! He deserves more playing time immediately. I am tired of the argument that he is our only backup pg. Coach can stagger him and Jordan and have them both start. Both Graves and Nickleberry are also capable to run the 1. Segu needs to start as this team is better when he is on the floor. His ability to create his own shot or a shot for a teammate is unmatched on this team. When the shot clock is running down he is one of our best creators. Nickleberry-He is starting to figure it out. You can see his confidence building. he deserves more minutes as stated above. Gallion-Time to give this guy some meaningful minutes. Lets see what we have in him. I like what I see defensively and on the bench from this kid. I am frustrated with this team and how it has been handled thus far. It is time for some hard decisions and time to tweak the rotations. This team will be much better in the long run for it. Give these guys a few games to figure it out before MAC play begins. As we have said here this season is about one thing and one thing only, getting prepared to play our best in Cleveland. Despite all my frustration, I continue to love and support this program. I cannot wait to see the Bulls play on Saturday.

He has a career total of 41 points and 32 rebounds thru 2 plus seasons! Sure seems like a force to me

Big win. Sloppy finish but these young guys learned a lot from that game. They learned how to finish a game. This is huge for their development. Young teams need to learn how to grind out close games and we did that. I have been very happy with our OOC performance thus far. This team has shown flashes of what they are capable of. I see big things from this team this season. Coach needs to make a few tweaks and we are off and running as we head into the easier part of OOC schedule and begin MAC play. I like a lot what I see from Coach Whitesell thus far. He is a good leader and I like how he demands effort and will hold kids accountable. I think he is making a big mistake with both Grant and Johnson. They do not deserve the minutes they are getting right now. But he is sticking with them in hopes they will turn it around which I am sure they will. They are both overmatched with our OOC schedule. They will perform better in MAC pay where the mismatches are not as prominent. The fact he is sticking to them tells me coach is not too worried about winning and losing in these OOC games, more concerned with getting these kids comfortable with their game. The defense we played versus DePaul was amazing. Minus Grant and Johnson, albeit Johnson showed some improvements from the last few games. Grant is one of the worst defenders this program has had in the last 5 years, He is too slow footed to stay with anyone and he reaches too often. I will say Grant rebounded the ball better yesterday. Defense is the staple of this team and if guys are not putting the effort in that is needed, or are not able to defend to that level they should not be playing. I am looking at you grant and Johnson. The fact we shot the ball at only 37% in that game speaks volume to our defense that we were able to pull out a win. We shot the free throws better, especially when it mattered at the end of the game (12 for 16 on game). We outrebounded the long DePaul team, 53 rebounds from this team, an outsized team, is very impressive. The guards continue to rebound the ball well for us, looking at you Graves. I would like to see less turnovers, 19 is too many. Sloppy at times but will take the win against a very hot quality team. Great win and I love this team. Coach needs to limit playing time for Grant immediately. He is hurting this team with poor shots and terrible defense along with sloppy turnovers. His minutes need to go to Hardnett. Coach also needs to limit minutes of Johnson. I do not believe he should be starting, Segu should be. Johnson should lose minutes to Segu and Nickleberry. Johnos is not a smart player on either end, he is hurting this team with his selfish play. Grant and Johnson figure it out they can get their minutes back up, but until then they should sit in my opinion. Mballa-Great game yesterday. I love this kid. He was outsized as he has been most of the season and he secured 14 rebounds yesterday. He is single handedly holding down the interior for this team, impressive for a sophomore. This kid has a big future and I cannot wait to see how far he can go. I have a feeling one day we will talking about him being the best big man who has ever played at UB! Williams-Coach rightfully limited his minutes versus DePaul as we looked a bit scattered. He has become too predictable on offense, always looking to go left almost exclusively. He needs to go right to keep the defense honest. I would also like to see him mix in a jump stop in traffic. Graves-7 rebounds yesterday, 7 big rebounds that this team needed. he got his hand on a bunch of other balls and was able to keep the ball alive, especially on the offensive glass. He hit some big shots yesterday, a couple big threes and a big floater down the stretch. I really like how he lets things come to him in the first half and in the second half he comes out in attack mode. It seems he looks to take over the game early in the second half. He is our leader and I like the way he leads by example. Johnson-I thought he played better defensively in this game, but still not up to par with the other guards. He simply cannot be on the floor when he is shootings so poorly (3 for 11 yesterday and 1 for 6 from three). He takes poor shots and does not contribute to the ball movement that the other players employ. How many times yesterday did we see the ball get swung to his side of the floor and it stopped with him. He needs to step up. Time for coach to send him a message by limiting his playing time. Coach simply has not choice but to do this. Jordan-He was closing in on a triple double in this game, Like Graves he hit some big shots, none bigger than the deep triple late in the game. Baffles the mind how a guy can shoot over 40$ from 3 on the season and under 30% from the free throw line. He has a hitch in his form when shooting foul shots. His PT late in games needs to be limited, as a smart team will simply foul him. I was happy to see him hit a few late in that game. You cannot say the kid is not clutch! Defensively, he was very impressive as always. He or Mballa will win DPOY in MAC. Grant-This was a pathetic performance by him. Chucking up bad shots, playing atrocious defense and turning the ball over in critical times of the game. He was 2 for 9 from the floor and had 4 turnovers in limited minutes. Athletically he is not prepared for this level. He is a spot up shooter, nothing more. To be used in spot situations when a big three is needed. Until he can prove otherwise, that should be his role. Hardnett-limited minutes but I liked what I saw from him again yesterday. His continued growth for this team will be critical for our success moving forward especially without Brock and Fagan. I look forward to seeing him play at his natural position. He has a big future. Nickleberry-I liked what I saw from him yesterday. He played good defense and had some nice passes and rebounds. Him an Hardnett can take this team to the next level if they continue to develop. Segu-I love this kids game. he can get off a shot against anybody and his defense is fun to watch. His energy is contagious and he is the future of this team. I love a sophomore talking junk to a Big East Team as he torches them. This kid define everything that buffalo basketball stands for, heart, determination, effort and passion. I cannot wait to watch this kid continue to grow. He should be starting. I love this team, and I cannot wait to watch them to continue to grow. I think this group took a big step yesterday. Lets not lose sight of the fact that they went on the road versus a Big East team that was one of the hottest teams in the country and were going to be top 25 ranked with a win in that game yesterday. This is huge win for Coach Whitesell and this program. This win should go a long way to prepare us for MAC play. I cannot wait for the game on Saturday, Go Bulls!

I disagree, his defense is average at best. He gives away too many easy baskets in help side. He is shooting 31.7% from the field on the season (26.4% from 3). Those are historically low numbers that do not warrant the playing time he is getting. He should be benched until he can turn these numbers around.

Hardnett and Nickleberry deserve these minutes, Grant and Johnson are hurting this team!

I could not agree more, Huge contributions!

First off those announcers were hard to listen to. Honestly, embarrassing. I am all for being a homer for your team, but that took it to the next level. I thought they were going to stop the game when the walk on hit the three and give him a medal or something! Can someone explain to me the logic of that stadium. Why would you put the benches on the end lines? I cannot get my mind around that concept at all, makes no sense in any way. It seems to make in game coaching much more difficult. I know many of us are frustrated with the results of this game. Trust me I am frustrated as well. But lets not lose sight of the fact this is a young team with a new coach playing their first true road contest of the season. There are going to be poor performances and frustration associated with this team until they get it all figured out. I suspect that will take more than half the season. This team will figure it out, we just need to be patient. We are frustrated because we all know this was a winnable game, lets be honest we play them 10 times I suspect we win 7 of them. The first 5 minutes of the game we played great. After that we were terrible on both ends. On offense we went several long stretches without a basket. We really needed our leader Graves tonight to carry us in these stretches. We had no consistent scoring option on offense tonight. With Graves off we struggled to find another scorer. The defensive effort was not where it has been the last few games. We gave away too many easy baskets. We shot 60% from free throw line, that simply cannot continue. We shot the ball poorly (39% fg) and committed 17 turnovers. Not a recipe that will win many games. Mballa-He has become such a consistent force on both ends. Solid defense and rebounding, consistent scoring. I only wish he could make a few free throws (1-4 tonight). Williams-I liked his shot selection tonight. He needs to develop an ability to go right off the dribble. He is not fooling anyone going to his left almost exclusively. Would still like to see more on the defensive glass from him. Graves-He did not look healthy to me tonight. Not sure if he is sick or has an injury. He continues to settle for too many threes, instead of using his strength attacking off the dribble. He also needs to improve his free throw shooting. Johnson-I cannot explain how frustrated I am with his play. I am not holding back anymore. He is terrible. He has terrible shot selection, again shoots 4 for 13 tonight. On the season he is shooting under 30%, that simply cannot happen. He does not pass the ball well and has too many turnovers. The sad part of his play is offensively is the better part of his game. Defensively he is a total liability on the floor. He cannot defend a wall. There were two plays tonight where he was the only player back on defense and he jumped out of the way of a player so they could dunk the ball. How about you try to take a charge! At this point he deserves no playing time at all. He is bringing this team down and coach needs to cut the anchor. I cannot put it any more simple then this, he does not have the basketball IQ, size or athleticism to contribute at this level. I don't care if the team promised him playing time when he transferred here. He cannot handle the step up in play and he does not deserve playing time. Gallion and Segu getting his minutes is what coach needs to do until he proves he deserves these minutes. Jordan-Off night shooting the ball, but he played solid defense and took the ball to the hole strong. Jordan and Mballa are our most consistent players, we know what we get from them each and every game Grant-Why is he the first guy off the bench? He is also a defensive liability. He cannot guard anyone, especially on the perimeter. He does not have the lateral quickness to defend at this level. He is a spot up shooter to be used in spot situations. Nothing more. He should lose his playing time to Hardnett and Nickleberry immediately. Hardnett-Still cannot seem to be able to figure out how to defend without fouling. He really needs to figure this out. This team needs his size and athleticism. I am pushing for this kid! Segu-Played tonight like a kid who has had his confidence rattled. He needs a good game to get him back on track. Even in his off days he limits turnovers and does not take ill advised shots and he always competes on the defensive end. Nickleberry-Has not shown much this season but at this point I am ready to give him additional minutes to see what he can do with extended time on the floor. Gallion-Deserves playing time immediately! Coach needs to play Segu and Gallion more for Johnson. I would put Johnson at the end of the bench and see if he can work his way back into the rotation. My guess is he does not have the mental fortitude to handle this benching and he will melt. He simply is taking this team down with his poor shots and absolutely embarrassing defense. Coach also needs to play Hardnett and Nickleberry more in place of Grant. With those changes I think we are significantly stronger team on the defensive end and on the glass. This will eliminate many of the easy baskets we are currently giving up. I have shown my frustration in this post. I remain positive that this season will be a success and I will be supporting this team as we build to Cleveland. I know this young team and first year coach will get this ship turned in the right direction and we will be playing our best when we need to. I cannot wait for Sunday, go Bulls!

I could not agree with this statement anymore. This season is different from last year. We will need to use the season to grow and improve. All that matters for this season is getting ready for a week of games in Cleveland. If we are playing our best basketball by then this will be a successful season. As fans we need to understand there will be bumps in the road and we there will be frustrating games like tonight. I for one chose to support this team and I will be here rooting them on all the way. Here to playing our best basketball in Cleveland and going to the big dance again!

I could not disagree with these two statements more. This is a young team with a new coach that needs time to play together to improve. Give them time, no need to jump off the cliff after one poor outing.

Lets continue to see the growth of this team tonight. Come out looking to create turnovers with our ball pressure that will result in easy transition baskets on the other end. Don't settle on offense for three pointers, look to attack off the dribble and put pressure on the defense by getting to the line. My prediction if we can rebound with them and make our free throws we win this game. I love this team and the potential we have. This team could be a handful come MAC play. The MAC is going to be a battle this season. Go Bulls!

Good solid team win against a decent team with an elite player. This team continues to grow and defend like their lives depends on it. I love the effort I saw from Buffalo today. They are making the opposing team uncomfortable with the effort on the defensive end. Bulls had 15 steals today which is a testament to that defense. 22 assists on the offensive end, sure does make the offense flow when we share the ball like this. We out rebounded them 34 to 30. If we shoot the ball well, rebound and play defense, this team is going to be difficult to beat. I would have liked to see us shoot the ball better from the line (50% in this game). We need to improve there or it will come back and and hurt us in a close game. I would also like to see us limit the turnovers a bit more as well (15 in this game). A good day for the Bulls, watching this team grow is going to be fun. Looking back I think that early season home loss to Dartmouth will end up being a moment we look back on and say we were glad it happened at that time, as it was a wake up call to this team and has set the tone moving forward for this team. I really like what I see from Coach Whitesell so far this season. He looks in control of this team and has the Bulls playing hard. These kids clearly really want to succeed for him. I love some of the plays he comes up with out of timeouts. Those will be helpful in a close game at some point this season. I liked the rotations tonight, I thought they flowed well and made more sense. I thing both the coaching staff and the players are beginning to understand all of the players roles and their responsibilities. MBalla-He did a good job of limiting his fouls. I saw a few plays where he has typically thrown his body in over the first few games and he restrained in this game and avoided the fouls. Josh avoiding foul trouble will be something he will need to do all season long. Josh rebounded the ball well and I thought he did a good job fronting Knight and limiting his touches. Josh has great anticipation and is a great help defender. This kid is going to be a stud, buckle up bulls fans we have some fun years ahead. Williams-Another solid game from him. I only took exception to one of his three pointers. The rest of the game he attacked off the dribble and was in control and composed. He is so strong going to his left. He recognized a mismatch tonight and exploited it off the dribble. I thought his defense and offensive rebounding was impressive as always. He is so long and causes a lot of deflections on the defensive end. Graves-I enjoyed seeing him not settle for jumpers tonight. He too saw a mismatch and exploited it. I have not seen a team able to keep the Bulls from attacking the rim off the dribble and Graves showed us a lot of that tonight. If that dunk over Knight goes down we are in sportscenter top 10 no doubt. Graves rebounded the ball well again and his defense was spot on. When he defends like this, the offense almost always comes to him. Graves is growing into the MAC POTY in front of us and I am loving it. Johnson-settled for a few ill advised jumpers early, but finished going hard to the basket aggressively looking to score and get to the line. He is a mush better player when he plays with this mentality. He is a slasher and that is how he should play every game. Jumpers need to remain option 2 for him. I thought this was his best defensive game, he needs to continue to grow in that department. I still think Segu needs to be starting in his place. Jordan-was 4 for 4 from the free throw line, that was exciting to see. He shot them with confidence. His defensive ball pressure was the difference in the game. He made whoever he was covering uncomfortable and took the ball from them regularly resulting in an easy basket for the Bulls. Jordan is going to be a huge part of this team this year. The Bulls will go as far as Graves and Jordan can take us. I love seeing him get his opportunities on offense after years of setting up others. Grant-I thought his rebounding was mush better tonight. He also shot the ball better and seemed to play with a lot of confidence. He is a spot up shooter, and when on he really spreads the floor for this team taking a big away from the basket. Hardett-again was forced to cover a player that is a mismatch for him in the post. I thought he did a decent job despite the fouls. He sets a great screen on the top and the Bulls used it to perfection tonight. This kid will continue to grow and get better with the more minutes he gets. I enjoyed the halftime interview getting to know him. He seems like a fun kid with a great attitude and seems to fit into this team very well. Segu-He was composed and poised tonight. The game seems to have slowed down for him and I really liked his decision making tonight in this game. He did not force anything and was always in control. His ability to knock don the open shot have made him a very dynamic player that can beat u an several ways. His effort on defense is inspirational as well. I see s HUGE season for this kid moving forward. Nickleberry-His rebounding off the bench along with Grant are very much needed. He made several great passes and smart decisions with the ball tonight. I hope he is getting more comfortable and starting to figure things out. I think his minutes continue to grow as the season goes along. Gallion/Skogman-I love the emotions and excitement they both show on the bench. Clearly both of these kids are well liked and love this program. Buffalo has a bright future with these two. A great team win with many great things to take away from this game. These games are getting us prepared to play the MAC season that will be much tougher than people anticipate this season. I am loving what I see from this team and I cannot wait for Tuesday and a chance to play Vanderbilt. GO Bulls!

Here are my thoughts on the game: A game when we certainly did not play our best but we found a way to win a game even when we shot the ball so poorly again. Sometimes a young team needs to learn how to win and I think tonight we saw that. This game was won by our defense, no doubt about it. I am happy with our performance in this tournament. We played UConn tough and we went 2 and 1 overall. We did not shoot the ball very well minus the UConn game but our defense as always keeps us in the game. This team remains with some issues in the interior but hoping that having Bertrum return and continued growth by Hardnett can get us to where we need to be. As we have all season we played good defense on the perimeter and limited the turnovers, only 9 committed in this game. We settled for threes more often than I like, overall we were 9 for 29. I would like to see us take the three when we are open, otherwise look to attack off the dribble and put pressure on the defense by getting to the free throw line. Coaching-I really enjoyed what I heard from Coach Whitesell on the all access segments. He remains calm even in the intense moments and that resonates with these kids. Coach is a a great teacher and the kids seems to really respect him and want to learn from him. I thought coach made some good adjustments in this game, especially with the adjustments he made to defend the big guy in the post after he took advantage of us early in the game. The remainder of the game he threw a bunch of different defensive looks which seemed to confuse them and limited the impacts of the big man down low. I also thought coach did some good things by getting the Bulls to attack the high post when they went to the zone. This was clearly a good adjustment they made at the half, anytime we got the ball to the high post something good seemed to happen. AS a side note I loved the segment on his brothers and all of the various jobs they have, very impressive and interesting. Williams-I would argue this was his best game for the Bulls. He attacked off the dribble and looked to get to the rim. He was his usual relentless self on the offensive glass. He kept a few balls alive with his effort on the offensive glass including a few big plays off free throws in the second half. He has a knack for the offensive rebound and his effort is tireless. He limited the turnovers and the three pointers. I was impressed with this kid. It is nice to see him coming into his own. He is going to be a handful for opposing team for years to come. Graves-He settled for too many jump shots. He takes so many jumpers with defenders closing out on him. I would like to see him pump fake and attack off the dribble. He is a much better player when attacking off the dribble. He is too athletic to become a jump shooter. His rebounding and defense were impressive as always. He looked a little tired, which I would expect with 3 games in 4 nights, he has played a lot of minutes the last 4 days. Johnson-He was flat out terrible again. I know, I know he hit a few big free throws down the stretch. He took some more bad shots and his defense was flat out bad. The last two games he has shot 2 for 23, yes thats right 2 for 23! He certainly does not deserve to start, in my mind he deserves limited minutes at this point. Segu needs to take his minutes. Johnson is not helping us now and coach needs to limit his minutes like he has with Grant. Johnson looks so awkward shooting the ball now. He is a slasher, that is his game. Shooting is not his strength. He is one of the worst help defenders I have seen in a long time. On the defensive end he sees the floor very poorly. I hope this is just a bad slump and he can turn it around and come out of this, but right now this kid is hurting us and coach needs to make an adjustment to his minutes. Jordan-He shot the bell well again and even made a few free throws. His ability to get to the rim and finish are a huge positive for this team especially when they need a bucket. Jordan along with Graves are the leaders of this team and his defense sets the tone for this team. Like Graves he has also done a good job helping on the glass when he is not getting back to stop a fast break. Jordan is going to have a huge run come conference play. MBalla-He still seems to be struggling with the fouls. He made two fouls that were necessary. I love how aggressive he is on the defensive end, but he needs to limit the fouls. This team simply cannot afford him in foul trouble as we do not have the depth needed in the post. I love what I see from him after he rebounds the ball. He looks to be comfortable dribbling the ball up the court and starting the break. He is going to be a beast in this conference. Mballa is the MVP of this team so far. He has held down the fort in the post on his own and without him we would be in big big trouble, thank goodness he was granted his waiver. Grant-Coach limited his minutes tonight. He was matched up with a post player which seemed to help him on the defensive side. I liked his shot selection a lot better tonight. I was nervous going into this game that if they played zone he may take some ill advised shots, but he did not. I thought his rebounding was better tonight as well. If he can continue to help on the glass and show he can defend he can carve out some more minutes. Hardnett-I thought he made some really nice plays. He showed his athleticism more than he has in any other game. Like Mballa he had a few silly fouls that limited his time on the court, but he seems to be getting more comfortable and I like what I see. I think this kid is going to be a stud. It will take sometime but the ability is there. As many of you have said lets not lose sight that he is a freshman. I am enjoying watching hi, develop. After listening to Whitesell teach these kids on the sideline I cannot think of a better situation to allow him to prosper. Segu-He played smart and as you saw in all access with the coach he was a bit bashful to shot against the zone pressure. Segu played hard on defense as he always does. I feel strongly as you read above he needs to take many of Johnson's minutes, Segu should be starting and playing significant minutes. He is too good to not be on the floor for most of the game. I have not researched the stats but my guess is he is leading the team in plus minus (a stat I think deserves a lot more attention in basketball). Nickelberry-He did not play tonight. I was a bit surprised. He seemed to be a bit sulky on the bench. I hope it lights a fire under him and he comes in next week ready to work. I know he transferred here thinking he would get minutes, but coach is making him earn them, I love it and the message it sends to all of these kids. Overall a successful tournament. I think this team showed some growth over this tournament and showed some things that we can build on moving forward. We have proven we can win even when we shoot the ball poorly. The recipe to do so has been to defend relentlessly and to limit the turnovers. This team is going to be good. Looking back on it, I think the Dartmouth lose will end up being a good thing for this team in the long run. I like the unselfishness of this team and as I watch them I get the feeling they all really care about each other and want to see each other succeed. This team will continue to grow as the season goes along. I personally cannot wait to watch. There will be bumps in the road but it will be a fun ride. The goal is to be playing our best come Cleveland! I cannot wait for Saturday, GO Bulls!

I have been saying it for a few games now coach needs to unleash the press. I understand his hesitancy this weekend to use it for extended periods as we have 3 games in 4 days. He has been u players consistently. I think it is time to unleash the press for periods at a time. We have the personnel to create turnovers and easy buckets in the full court press. The press won us that game last night. That was a very deflating game last night. After a hard fought loss to a tough UConn team I think we all thought we were headed in the right direction. Last night we play a weaker Towson team and almost let it get away because of poor shot selection and dreadful shooting. Johnson and Grant at this point do not deserve minutes. Grant cannot defend, rebound or hit a shot. He is a spot up shooter nothing more. Johnson, struggles to defend quicker guards and has some of the worst shot selection I have ever seen in a player. I cannot believe the bad shots he takes and typically at the wrong time in the game. Kudos to coach for benching him last night after a disaster of a 1 for 12 performance. I agree with most of the comments that clearly our best lineup is Jordan, Segu, Graves, Williams and Mballa. Those 5 have been relatively consistent minus some silly plays by Williams, that foul last night at the end of the game being one of them. I think this lineup is dynamic, they can get to the rim and they can also shot it, Segu is going to be special. You heard it here first, Segu will be the first player from UB to play in the NBA for a long time after his 4 years here at Buffalo. He has the tools for the next level if he continues to develop. He has the length needed to make an NBA roster as long as he continues to fill out. He has an ability to create for himself or others that you cannot coach. Mballa needs to be able to find a balance where he can play aggressively without fouling. He will figure it out. So far I have been impressed with him and his effort on both ends. Graves hit some big shots last night. That three in the corner when we were down with under 2 to go was huge, that's the type of shot a leader takes and makes. Jordan needs to continue to attack off the dribble, look to get to the rim or drop off as he did with great success last night. Williams is a work in progress. He shows flashes of what he will become. Williams has a bright future and we need to play him to allow him to develop. He has limited his bad shots for the most part this year which is a good sign moving forward. I have been impressed with his defense and his ability to defend quicker guards. I love what I see from him on the offensive glass but would still like to see more from him on the defensive rebounding side. Hardnett and Nickelberry to me are the wild cards of this team. If they can continue to develop this team will continue to grow. We need both of their abilities to rebound . Both of them are far superior defenders than Johnson and Grant are. As the season goes along I suspect these two will continue to take minutes from Grant and Johnson. Grant and Johnson are one dimensional players that can only bring so much to this team. Having Brock and Fagan out is really hurting this team in the interior. We are putting a lot of pressure on MBalla and Hardnett. Coach may need to consider not red shirting Skogman if Brock is out for an extended amount of time. Dominic Johnson may be able to help for a few minutes per game once football season is over but that may not be for a while. I remain confident in this team. I love the defensive effort and passion they are playing with. I am confident this coaching staff and the veterans on this team will figure it out and we will continue to improve as the season goes along. This season is all about playing our best basketball for 3 days in Cleveland. The entire season is about getting to that point. Our record and such are not too important as long as we play well by seasons end. I think this team will continue to work hard, gel as a unit and figure out their roles and responsibilities. I look forward to Sunday and the rest of the season. GO Bulls!

My thoughts on last nights game versus UCONN: Defense on the perimeter remained strong. Hard fought game that both teams fought hard for. Post defense was bad, especially once Mballa got in foul trouble. We did not move the ball very well at all, only 9 assists for the team. For a game we shot poorly (36% fg and 21% 3pt fg) it was impressive we were competitive for as long as we were against a very good UConn team. We were out rebounded 40 to 48 and most of that was a factor of Mballa only playing 16 minutes because of foul trouble. Our guards, especially Graves are doing adequate to try to rebound and help the bigs but we need more from both Hardnett and Grant. The team limited turnovers to only 9 and was 11 for 13 from charity stripe. Overall I am happy with this performance. If we shot the ball better and keep Mballa out of foul trouble, we win that game. As we have discussed all season this team will take time to figure things out. One of the ways to expedite this learning process is to lose close games. I think this team continues to get better. I would have liked to have seen coach go to the full court pressure earlier in the game. Change it up when things are not working. Also, when Hardnett is in the game are we only allowed to do a high screen and role with the point guard. For some reason that seems to be the go to when Hardnett is in the game. I know he does set a pretty strong screen and is athletic but maybe mix in something else. Whitesell reminds me a bit of Brad Stevens in his ability to draw up a nice play after a timeout. He did this several times last night and has over the last few games. each time it has resulted in an easy bucket when we needed one. I felt like we settled for too many jumpers early in the second half. UConn could not keep us from penetrating the rim and we should have taken advantage of that when the shots were not falling. We did miss too many easy buckets attacking the rim especially in the first half, but constant pressure at the rim would lead to free throws. I think at the end of the game we realized that and took advantage but at that point it was too late. Mballa-He needs to stay out of foul trouble. Without him on the floor we have NO interior presence at all. Without him in the paint our defense is porous. Hardnett and Grant at this point are not able to defend the post. I liked his aggressiveness last night especially on the offensive end. Mballa strikes me as the type of player that plays better with a chip on his shoulder. I would love to see him play that way more often. Josh will be the best defensive player in this conference for years to come and offensively he is a much better player than I expected. This kid has a big future. Williams-I think he is starting to figure out what will make him successful. Attacking off the dribble and not settling for jump shots. His length and quickness of the dribble are his strengths and he seems to be figuring that out. He struggled in the first half with the UConn length but seemed to figure it out in the second half. I like how hard he attacks the offensive glass when his teammates take a shot, although I wish he would stop grabbing the rim each time. Graves-I felt like Javon settled for too many jump shots last night. He could have gotten to the rim anytime he wanted. This would have got him to the free throw line. Javon is in for a huge year. He is trying to figure out how to lead a team and once he does, watch out. His ability to rebound from the guard position has been a crucial part of our success thus far. We are asking a lot of Javon but he can handle the work load. At this point he is playing a ton of minutes as well. Johnson-Coach clearly noticed a miss match in the second half and asked Johnson to attack off the dribble. I thought he did a good job of looking to get to the rim and finishing through contact. I wish he had continued to attack off the dribble instead of settling for threes down the stretch. He took some ill advised shots down the stretch. He is a much better player when attacking off the dribble. I have seen improvements in his defense as well. Jordan-He needs to look to attack off the dribble more often. He is so smooth at getting to the rim with either hand. He missed some easy ones last night. he also had a few sweet dropp off passes for easy baskets. Good things typically happen when he attacks off the dribble. I will never understand how a player can shoot over 35% from 3 and shoot under 20% from Free throw line. I just don't get it, makes no sense. His free throw form is a nitemare. Grant-I have to say he has been the most disappointing plater on the team this year. He is so one dimensional on offense. He is a spot up jump shooter nothing more. He does not have a strong handle and has very slow foot speed. For his size he is a very weak rebounder and he plays soft. I have been very unimpressed with his ability to defend. Case in point, watch the last play of the first half last night. Terrible effort on defense, no other way to describe it. He will continue to lose minutes until he can buy in and start working on defense and provide some rebounding help. Hardnett-He was asked to play more minutes than usual last night because of the foul trouble for Mballa. I thought he rebounded the ball better than I have seen him especially on the offense end. He needs to improve on his interior defense. I cannot help but feel like I am watching a player hold back when I watch him. He is clearly a great athlete. I would like to see him let loose and just play. Let your instincts take over and just play basketball. We need him to provide an interior presence and we need some rebounding out of him and Grant for this team to be successful. I would argue the success of this team this year will be a direct result of the improvements we see in Laquill as the season goes on. Segu- I love the energy this kid plays with. It is contagious and inspiring. He is so fun to watch. He will be the leader of this team very soon. I thought like graves he settled for too many jumpers late in the second half. When the shot is off look to get to the free throw line! Nickelberry-It was nice to see him take a few jumpers, even though they did not go in. I think he is a strong rebounder and we need that from him. Defensively, like Johnson, I think he is starting to figure out the Buffalo way of defense. I think his minutes will continue to grow especially if his rebounding and defense continue to get stronger. As I said above, overall I am happy with this performance. We showed well in this game and we continue to improve. This team will be primed and ready to go when we get into MAC play. I cannot wait to see how this season plays out and I have a feeling we will be playing meaningful basketball into March again this year. lets take down Towson tonight. Go Bulls!

I hope things work out for Jenkins, sorry to see him go. But lets be honest, kids were not coming to Buffalo because of him. They were coming to Buffalo to get to the big dance based on our recent success and because of coach Whitesell and the style of play the team plays. Those things have not changed with the departure of Jenkins and our national profile has been elevated to a high enough level that we should be able to attract a high profile recruiter to replace Jenkins. I am a big fan of filing this position with an ex high profile player, ideally an ex nba player who would garner respect from these kids. My vote would be to reach out to past NBA vets who want to get into college coaching, this recruiting position is a great way to get started in coaching and an NBA player will help on the recruiting trail no doubt. I will be anxious to see what direction Coach goes to fill this position. We have two other solid recruiters on our staff currently in Thorpe and Quarles. No reason to believe they are not taking care of the recruits they are looking at to fill the last scholarship spot for next year.

I think tonight was a much better performance. The team defense was much improved. Still some areas to work on but they continue to get better. The defensive effort tonight was the best I had seen it all season long. We took Harvard out of there comfort zone with the defensive pressure for most of the game. We turned many of these turnovers into easy buckets. As many of us have said this team is young, and has many new faces. It will take sometime for the staff to get them where they need to be. I think this team took a big jump towards that goal tonight. At this point to me the glaring weakness of this team is rebounding. Coach had a great game. He used his timeouts well on several occasions. He drew up several good plays out of timeouts that created an easy bucket for the Bulls. He was holding guys accountable by taking them out when they made a mistake and he is demanding effort if the players want to be on the floor. I really like what I see from coach and I cannot wait to see how this season unfolds. David Nickelberry-Boy did I read him wrong. He is a solid role player and will remain only that unless he can find a way to limit the turnovers and shows an ability to knock down a jump shot. At this point way too many turnovers and one dimensional on offense. On the positive side he has shown the ability to be a strong rebounder in limited minutes. Gabe Grant-He looks to be a streaky shooter. Not bashful, confident to shoot from anywhere when open. When the shot is falling, will be fun to have on floor. When the shot is not, like tonight, he will struggle to find solid minutes. He needs to be a better rebounder and defender. This team could use some solid rebounding from him, someone to help Mballa. Antwain Johnson-Showed off his shooting touch tonight. Smooth off the dribble and has a strong pull up game. Defensively, he cannot apply the pressure, like Segu, Jordan and Graves can. I thought he found a good balance tonight of attacking off the dribble and settling for jump shots, that is when he is at his best. Javon Graves-Great game by Javon. He seems to have embraced the CJ role from last year of contributing on the glass from the wing position. He was a big part of our success tonight, his rebounding was huge. He also shot the ball well and was able to get to the rim at will. I would have liked to see him attack the glass hard looking to get to the line instead of pulling up for the floater so often. Big players play their best when the teams needs it, and that is what our leader did tonight. His game continues to grow and he is in for a big next few years. Potential MAC POTY next year. Davonta Jordan-solid defense, had a few nice attacks off the dribble (especially to left hand). That drop off pass for the dunk in the second have was vintage Jordan! Jordan will continue to lose some of his minutes down the stretch with the increased play of Segu (see below) and his limitations at the free throw line. Savion Gallion-I think coach needs to find a way to get him a handful of minutes unless he intends to red shirt him. I like what I see from him thus far, want to see what he has for a perimeter game. Ronaldo Segu-We are watching the maturation of a great kid, whose hard work is paying off before our eyes. It is truly amazing to watch. The best part of his success is how excited all the players are for him, clearly they have seen how much effort he puts in and they are happy for his success, Segu is clearly well liked by his teammates. He should be starting and playing most of the game. This team is better with him running the point. I understand Jordan is a senior but Segu has earned the right to run this team and he has proven this team is better with him at the controls. His shot may take a while to get off but it is pure and very consistent. His ability to create a shot for himself or a teammate is uncanny, as we saw a few times at the end of the shot clock today. This kid has a very big future in front of him, we have only seen the tip of his potential. Jeenathan Wiliams-I would argue this was his best game as a Bull. Yes he took a few ill advised three pointers, and turned the ball over a few times when he need not too and he may even of gotten a few untimely fouls away from the basket. But he also, took the ball to the hoop aggressively. I would still like to see him finish thru contact looking to get to the line. This team needs to attack off the dribble and put pressure on the defense by attacking the rim with reckless abandon, make them foul you or the dunk. Williams is getting much better defensively, his length is going to be a major problem for players. His ability to move his feet is impressive for a guy his length. I thought he rebounded the ball pretty well tonight as well. The Bulls need him develop into an 8 rebound per night guy. Williams is growing each time he steps on the floor, these minutes he is getting will make his maturation go faster and we will be a much better team as he continues to grow. He also has a very bright future. Laquill Hardnett-He is the biggest surprise of the season thus far in my opinion. I thought he would be one of our stronger players. This team needs his ability to rebound. Mballa needs help on the glass and I would say Hardnett is the best option to provide that help. He is clearly a great athlete and I still believe once he gets comfortable he is in for some great years ahead. Lets not lose sight that he is a freshman and has not played in a while since he red shirted last year. Josh Mballa-He has really impressed me this season. He is active on defense, is a good rebounder and even better shot blocker.. If he was not granted his waiver this team would be in big big trouble. Offensively, he has shown me more than I expected. He can dribble the ball and seems to like to get out in the open court. Josh will win multiple MAC DPOY awards and his defense will be the backbone of this team for years to come. Coach hit a homerun with this transfer. I love his game and cannot wait to watch him develop into an absolute monster. As I said above we are heading in the right direction but the players need to continue to dedicate themselves to defense and pressuring the opponent every play. I loved listening to the broadcasters tonight talk about how committed the Buffalo Program is to playing defense. We have officially been given the label as a stingy defensive team and I could not be happier about it. As we all know this is a recipe for success and I cannot wait for the next game on Thursday. Go Bulls!

Simply an idiotic statement! A statement I suspect you will come to regret. I see you made the same statement on UB Bullrun as well. Classic case of too early overreaction.