JoeyRattlesnake

On 3/24/2023 at 1:37 PM, UB Horns Up said:

It isn’t the same there are a lot more Division I basketball schools over 300 than Division I football schools over 100. Ben McCollum isn’t that young he is middle aged. John Beilein had connections here and plus Canisius College was in no position to be picky with the low money they were offering. This UB candidate Ben McCollum is more a Canisius College replacing Reggie Witherspoon candidate than a UB candidate. But UB spends like Canisius College so here we are. John Beilein also had Buffalo Memorial Auditorium and no NIL or transfer portals to deal with. UB spending $500,000 only to hire potentially a Division II basketball coach with no area ties and no understanding of the UB program is concerning. Nate Oats started as a assistant to Bobby Hurley so he had a understanding of the workings of a Division I UB Bulls basketball program so it isn’t the same.

UB Bulls basketball went from the top of the mountain in the lowly MAC basketball to begging Division II coaches wonderful what could go wrong? UB is taking all the risk on the potential Ben McCollum hire I say no if it was my choice which it isn’t. The Ben McCullom is just a wreck less potential hire because of cancel culture around UB and some of the UB Donors anything but Alabama basketball insanity you don’t run a winning big time Division I basketball program like that. But what do I know I was only in Division I college basketball with the Canisius Golden Griffins in my opinion. UB Horns Up! Go Bulls! Let’s Go Buffalo 

You’re not going to build a stable program at this level. If you’re successful, you get poached.  Building the “next Gonzaga” is never going to happen.  In order to be stable you have to be willing to invest and we know UB ain’t about that.

Chiming in for the first time, and apologize if it's been said before... a Ben McCollum hire would feel awfully Lance Leipold-ish.  Established, middle-aged guy with tremendous success at a lower level.  We can only hope it yields similar results.  His absence of D1 coaching experience at any level is a bit concerning, but I remain steadfast that the only way to have success at a mid-major level, like UB, is to hire rising stars.  You've got to hope for a few years of excellence while the young coach establishes themselves, rinse and repeat.  Hiring veteran coaches with .500 records will get you... well, .500 records.  And ain't nobody got time for that.

Go Bulls

Agree with the overall sentiment here.  Rebuilding year and it will take time to develop chemistry.  That, and given we play arguably our toughest non-conference schedule ever with UConn, WVU and Michigan State all on the docket, I think we'll be hard-pressed to enter MAC play with a .500 record.  And we all know how tough the MAC can be, so best case scenario we're 6-6 entering MAC play and a great year would be 12-6 in conference play... we're looking at 18-12 or so.  Clearly not any at-large conversations happening with that resume, so it's as it always is... win the tourney or else.

I'll believe Whitesell can win big when I see it.  I've been very underwhelmed with our clock management and overall shot discipline the last two years.  I think the best we can hope for is a top 2 seed in Cleveland and a run to a 13-seed.  Nate is proving that he was who we thought he was... an elite coach.  And it takes an elite coach to get a MAC team to a 10-seed or lower.

6 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

So we win the MAC four out of five years and fail to make Cleveland one year.  Isn't that what you described as wanting?

I see this year being the norm, not the exception, with Whitesell at the helm 

Chiming in here.  I'm not privy to all the behind-the-scenes details, but it would be my opinion that we kept Whitesell to keep the roster intact (Williams, Graves, Segu) and sacrificed a lot of the equity Oats and Hurley had built.  Those two had built Buffalo into a desirable mid-major coaching position.  This was a place that, clearly, a coach could win at and spring board his career.  This hire will set us back.  And unless things change quickly (either Whitesell turns it around or a change is made) we will burn all of that progress to the ground and have to restart.

Maybe I'm dreaming here, but I had visions of growing this thing.  I truly felt that we could become, not a Gonzaga per se, but a VCU or a Wichita State.  Perennial conference chanps with an occasional down year.  The nation would know UB.  But now, I truly struggle to see the light at the end of the tunnel now.  I see another 18 - 22 win season for two more years and then being faced with the decision... is that good enough?  20 wins, some success in Cleveland, but likely not conference titles?  I know it's early and I'm likely over-reacting, but I see Whitesell being very Reggie-esque.  Again, 18 - 22 wins a year, an occasional trip to the championship in Cleveland but dreams of a run in the tournament or frankly, even getting there, have quickly faded.

Man... last year was fun.  What if had not run into Tech in that round of 32?  I guess we'll never know.

I wholeheartedly agree and tweeted about this the other night.  You could argue we have more raw talent than previous years, but we do not have a true leader.  Last year we had CJ and Perk to go to when we needed a bucket, just look at the WVU game.  Graves is a very solid complementary player with tons of skill, he just does not have that killer instinct, in my opinion.  Something needs to change in a hurry or else we are looking at a Tuesday, On-Campus MAC Tourney game come March.  We need a bye to Cleveland to have a shot.

On a positive note, this team has proven they can beat anyone in the conference on any given night.  Unfortunately, they have also proven they can lose to anyone on any given night.

Go Bulls!

6 hours ago, JoeyRattlesnake said:

I’m not going to sugar coat it, today and opening night against Dartmouth we’re bad. Each has made me panic and lose all hope of building a sustainable program beyond Oats, but parody throughout the country is a real thing. UK loses to Evansville at Rupp, Duke lose to Stephen F Austin at Cameron, Cincinnati lose tonight to Colgate. You’re seeing it night in and night out.

 This year, like every previous year before last year will come down to Cleveland. let’s hope the figure it out by then. 

Just catching up on the rest of the posts. While going 10-20, getting hot in Cleveland and making the tournament isn’t ideal, it is what it’s all about. Getting your team talked about and analyzed for the better part of a week by the entire nation is worth so much. Then pulling off an upset, like we did two years ago, will be remembered for years to come.

I’m not going to sugar coat it, today and opening night against Dartmouth we’re bad. Each has made me panic and lose all hope of building a sustainable program beyond Oats, but parody throughout the country is a real thing. UK loses to Evansville at Rupp, Duke lose to Stephen F Austin at Cameron, Cincinnati lose tonight to Colgate. You’re seeing it night in and night out.

 This year, like every previous year before last year will come down to Cleveland. let’s hope the figure it out by then. 

I'm really disappointed this morning.  I felt like last night was a huge litmus test for us.  Win and "hey, we're still here", lose and "welp, we've got to win in Cleveland".  I never expected another 32-4 season like last year, but I was hoping to continue building a solid, top-25 type program.

I think there was a lot of really poor shots, specifically from Johnson & Segu.  Johnson threw up some very ill advised 3's in crucial moments in the 2nd half.  I also did not see the same pace that we're accustomed to.  The first half was frantic, but I felt we had a lot of half-court sets that led to rejections at the rim.

Lastly, I'm very, very nervous about Whitesell.  I feel we made a hire to try and salvage the current roster, but did not make one for the long-term success of our program.  Hurley & Oats created some really solid equity, enough that we could have got a rising star.  Perhaps I'm wrong, hopefully I'm wrong... but time will tell.  We need to win these next two in Charleston and get either Vandy or DePaul.  Got to.

Just following up here.  Does anyone know how the guys looked last Saturday?

This is going to be such an interesting year.  Certainly we will not win 32 games again, as I anticipate some early season growing pains, but you can't deny the talent level.  It might actually be higher than last year (*gasp*).  The biggest problem I see is a go-to scorer.  Maybe that's Graves, maybe that's Johnson, but I don't see someone who can get their own shot and carry the team when necessary, like CJ the past couple.

Where do we stand? Hardnett got his waiver.  Any news on Mballa?

any others out there still pending?

On 9/19/2019 at 3:57 PM, SGBull said:

That will be tough to do. A lot of good teams.

I’ll go a step further.  That ain’t gonna happen. I hope I’m wrong but we would need to beat UConn, Xavier and Florida. UF is going to be a top-5 preseason team. Xavier is top 25-ish. 

On 9/19/2019 at 3:57 PM, SGBull said:

That will be tough to do. A lot of good teams.

I’ll go a step further.  That ain’t gonna happen. I hope I’m wrong but we would need to beat UConn, Xavier and Florida. UF is going to be a top-5 preseason team. Xavier is top 25-ish. 

Deeper 1-10?  That seems optimistic, but I like it.

Updated 8/26*

10/24: UB vs Daemen (Exhibition)**

11/16: UB vs. Harvard (James Naismith Classic in Toronto)

11/21: UB vs. UConn (Charleston Classic)

11/22: UB vs. Xavier or Towson (Charleston Classic)

11/24: UB vs Missouri State or Miami or Florida or St. Joseph's (Charleston Classic)

11/30: William & Mary at UB

12/3: UB at Vanderbilt

12/18: Canisius at UB

TBD: Niagara at(?) UB - [HAS THIS BEEN CONFIRMED?]

5 hours ago, rma said:

I admit I’m more excited for Myers than I would be for anybody else. Just because if he’s this good now to get the starting role, hopefully he’s a 4 year starter and we can build like we did with Willy, Licata, and Jackson.

That said, LL is 0 for 1 so far on starting QBs sooo who knows. 

Lance is 0 for 1? Please explain.

On 8/14/2019 at 12:34 PM, DocCas86 said:

Great article - if teams mentioned are accurate, I believe current slate of games is as follows:

Updated*

10/24: UB vs Daemen (Exhibition)**

11/16: UB vs. Harvard (James Naismith Classic in Toronto)

11/21: UB vs. UConn (Charleston Classic)

11/22: UB vs. Xavier or Towson (Charleston Classic)

11/24: UB vs Missouri State or Miami or Florida or St. Joseph's (Charleston Classic)

12/3: UB at Vanderbilt

12/18: Canisius at UB

TBD:  Dartmouth at UB

TBD: UB vs Niagara

TBD US vs St. Bonaventure

TBD: vs P5:   Last time I checked Creighton, NC State, Minnesota and DePaul appear to have room in their schedules.

Home / Home: Possibilities that I would like to see are Loyola - Chicago; Illinois Chicago,  or Duquesne

I thought I read Niagara released their schedule and we're not on it?

7 hours ago, MaineBull said:

Agreed this staff is putting together another strong OOC schedule.  I hope they can secure a few solid home games as well.  After our success last year my guess is a few quality home games will be hard to get.  I do love the fact that Syracuse is now scared to play us. 

Between Harvard, UConn, Vandy and one other quality opponent (Miami, Florida or Xavier) we have an opportunity to once again build a solid resume worth of an at-large bid, should we win 15+ conference games but slip up in Cleveland.  We could realistically have three Quad 1 games and another couple Quad 2.

Shaping up nicely.

Updated*

10/24: UB vs Daemen (Exhibition)**

11/16: UB vs. Harvard (James Naismith Classic in Toronto)

11/21: UB vs. UConn (Charleston Classic)

11/22: UB vs. Xavier or Towson (Charleston Classic)

11/24: UB vs Missouri State or Miami or Florida or St. Joseph's (Charleston Classic)

12/3: UB at Vanderbilt

12/18: Canisius at UB

Updated*

11/16: UB vs. Harvard (James Naismith Classic in Toronto)

11/21: UB vs. UConn (Charleston Classic)

11/22: UB vs. Xavier or Towson (Charleston Classic)

11/24: UB vs Missouri State or Miami or Florida or St. Joseph's (Charleston Classic)

12/18: Canisius at UB

So thus far we know the following:

11/16: UB vs. Harvard (James Naismith Classic in Toronto)

11/21: UB vs. UConn (Charleston Classic)

11/22: UB vs. Xavier or Towson (Charleston Classic)

11/24: UB vs Missouri State or Miami or Florida or St. Joseph's (Charleston Classic)

Any updates on this upcoming years non-conference schedule? I know we have a couple of tournaments (Toronto and Charleston, I believe).

So Nickelberry, Skogman and Gallion are all eligible immediately right?  Mballa and Hardnett are seeking waivers?  Add them to a nucleus of Graves, Jordan, Williams, Segu plus transfers now eligible (Johnson & Grant), we might be alright.  Fagan going down hurts, but I feel okay with at least 7 high-level MAC players.

On 6/13/2019 at 11:01 PM, MillenniumBull said:

Neither Dontay or Jordan were recruited as defenders.  They became them. They learned those skills and got that tenacity practicing on the hardwood at Alumni, knowing if they wanted to play here, you had to defend here.  The culture is still here.  I can see several players taking on the role.

So this post hits on my biggest concern... "The culture is still here."  Is it?  I mean that as a genuine question.  How much of the culture was Oats / Coach B and how much was Whitesell, administration, etc?  By retaining Whitesell I think we all anticipate the same style / culture and even despite his confirmation of this, Whitesell's past as a coach would indicate differently.  It will be very interesting to see how / if he's evolved with his time under Nate.