Chet

1 hour ago, UBinMD said:

I thought this was a nice article and love that GH3 was complimentary of Calvin and he’s leaving on a positive note and can be closer to family. Hopefully the new guy can bring something to the table:

https://ubbulls.com/news/2024/5/2/mens-basketball-mens-basketball-announces-coaching-addition-and-changes.aspx

Can’t agree more

10 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

So I’m guessing he didn’t actually get any NIL so at best he made a lateral move to follow someone that didn’t know he was on thin ice. Poor decision making at many levels 

Being a mid major is brutal rn. Gotta hope things change, but the portal is nuts.

21 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

 

Lembo seems like a great dude. Can’t wait to meet him. 

Wish him luck….he’ll need it.

22 hours ago, MuchMany said:

Yeah just trying to put things in perspective since it seemed like an "even NIAGARA is getting incredible players in the portal and we can't" type of post.

Totally was, but only stating a matter of fact. Williamson’s stats are strikingly similar to Sabol although Williamson played about 10 minutes less per game. Many have commented about Sabol’s potential next season so I assumed that some on the board would be interested to know Niagara is getting a player like Sabol from the portal.

it appears that Niagara is bringing in some talented D1 players from the portal. 

5 hours ago, rma said:

CJ still cannot accurately throw the ball more than 10+ yards with consistency. A number of his incompletions were poorly thrown when the WR was 20+ yards out. If we're going by passing skill I think Gray is the better QB. But if coaches think we can just run the option as our offense the entire time then CJ's the better QB for that.

Absolutely brutal that a QB wasn’t added to the room.

16 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

There is still one player to add, but I would not be surprised to see all preseason rankings showing little change from this past season.   Halcovage has added players that I would imagine are hard to predict how they will play.  Ultimately we may see, next March, they were spot on and that you are right about Halcovage.  I approach being a fan a little differently than you.  I am going to hope for the best.  That means improved shooting from 3, fewer turnovers, better defense (critical!) and a more team oriented approach.  I will wait to see if my hope is rewarded.   Time will tell.

Don’t forget about adding some basic structure on offense. How many long contested twos will we continue to see!!!!

1 hour ago, MKBullsfan said:

That’s a bummer. This was the only UB basketball that was worth watching these days. 

Sad but true. Passing on Hodgson continues to look bad. Hopefully Bulls hire Adam Bauman in the future. He should be ready to take over a program in a few years.

2 hours ago, UBinMD said:

I already gave to every sport and am HOF as well, my point was the NIL isn’t just basketball, it is everything, so if you don’t like the MBB coach to not give at all doesn’t make a lot of sense. Bitching about not having a collective then bitching about the collective 2 days later seems to me that some people just like to bitch. I’m not a Bills fan, but a lot of Bills fans are happier being miserable so that is the local fan base. Even when Oats was here it wasn’t like people were lining the streets in Bulls gear, they are still Bills and Sabers fans first and foremost. It’s only after Oats left people lament the glory days. I’m a Bulls fan, win lose or draw and will support them. If others only want to support in the good times, so be it!

Great post

Can someone share any rankings or other offers? 

4 hours ago, skrabukes said:

It will be interesting to see who they bring in to replace him. Maybe someone with an ounce of knowledge and experience.  

Take your negativity elsewhere! 

1 hour ago, UBinMD said:

Tough to be a fan of any team right now. Even Duke and Kentucky are getting hit. The only one I haven’t heard much from is UConn. Not sure how they are holding up.

For sure, but I never considered SLU a great basketball program. I just learned that the gig at SLU pays considerably more. 

Indiana State’s coach, Josh Shertz goes to Saint Louis and takes his best player with him. Tough time to be an Indiana State fan. 

2 hours ago, skrabukes said:

Well if he's an all league player next year, how many on here will continue to defend this 3 win leader? This guy can play. Plain and simple. So could Sy. Those guys were/are good. They were not put in a position to be successful this past season due to things that were out of their control. They were playing on a team that was losing to Robert's Wesleyan until a couple minutes left in the game. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever witnessed as a UB fan, alumnus, former athlete and reasonably knowledgeable person when it comes to sports. It was indefensible  if you actually watched the 40 minutes of that game live.

No lies here.

2 hours ago, UBinMD said:

Yeah, I’m pretty pissed off about that honestly. I support wrestling quite a bit and things have been on the upturn and the recruiting classes continue to get better. ADMA screwed the pooch on this a number of ways. I spoke with one of the wrestlers and also one of the former assistant coaches about this and bottom line is ADMA didn’t like Coach Stutzmans approach to fighting for his guys and their health. As I assume you all know, he really only cares about football, there is no grey area there. I am really happy with the Lembo hiring and I think he is a great fit. However, no UB athlete should be made to feel like this or be subject to these conditions. I firmly believe the administration is 95% in the wrong here. The reason I’m holding back 5% is because nothing is black and white. This is a huge embarrassment and one more obstacle for the next coach to have to overcome. 

I’ve been so frustrated with Athletics for so long. It’s time for a new bold leader. 

6 hours ago, Ubbullsfan09 said:

We are returning just 2 of our top 7 players according to Evan Miya’s Bayesian Player Performance rating, and they played limited minutes last year. Granted this is not a perfect metric, and the freshman can take a step forward but right now it’s looking extremely rough for next year. Who is going to score points next year? It seems all GH3 has recruited so far is guys who will be decent role players. By the way, Fulcher was rated as the 3rd worst player in the country by this metric, is a turnover machine and shot 19% from 3 as a guard and he’s our returning leading scorer. Ouch 

It’s going to dire.

1 hour ago, Tee4three said:

2 scholarships left? Get an upperclassmen big with experience and then maybe a freshman that you'll redshirt regardless of position 

It’s to the point where it doesn’t matter what they do with the two scholarships. On paper, this roster is considerably worse than last year. At least when Whitesell and Co. brought in Foster as a 5th year Senior PG, he was a Dll All American and was being recruited by a handful of mid majors. Where is the scoring coming from next year? What about rebounding? Defense? 

Anyone care to chime in on what brand of basketball we will be playing next year? The net loss on paper is significant and we were already horrendous.

1 hour ago, MaineBull said:

You guys both bring up some great points.  I agree with UBinMD that I feel like this coach and staff are trying to build a roster around kids that are interchangeable on the floor defensively and offensively both from a size and athletic point of view.  These coaches are clearly looking for kids who are willing to play defense, are good athletes, and are unselfish hard workers.  I think you can describe all of the freshman from last year under those categories.  Those are clearly the type of kids this staff is after.  I think this is the formula started by Villanova and now used by many schools, like Uconn.  Obviously the talent level at these schools is above the level we are recruiting at but the type of kids are the same.  The kids this staff is after are willing to sacrifice their own accolades for the good of the team.  This describes, Sabol, Boldin, Wilson and Mcveigh all of this staffs recruits last year.  I agree with MuchMany who feels that the veteran leadership from last year never took on these characteristics and they were a non complimentary group of players left leading this team.  They were selfish players and were not willing to sacrifice for the good of the team.  All of the lazy play from last year falls squarely on the shoulders of Chatman and Adams.  That is why we won so little of our games.  These kids let us down by being selfish and lazy.  I think this staff will be the first to tell you there mistake was to allow Chatman and Adams and Smith the ability to return and their choice to continue to play them heavy minutes down the stretch of the season.  It was destined to fail when the only reason these kids stayed here at UB was because they did not want to have to sit out another year because it was all of their at least second transfer if they chose to move to another school.  These kids had no interest in playing for this coach, after all they came here to play for Whitesell.  They had no interest in buying into what this staff was selling.  That was the major issue last year.  I wish the coaching staff had just benched them.  It was a weird dynamic all year and I think this was the crux of it all.  I think this staff is trying to follow the mold of Villanova and Uconn but we did not get a chance to see it much last year.  I think they are trying to create an identity of interchangability, with athletes who work hard and are willing to sacrifice and play unselfish.  Personally I think this is the approach to take in our situation.  We go after the kids who are loyal and are willing to stay and play as a team.  I also think this a reason you see this staff recruiting these kids who dont have a ton of other offers.  They are under recruited and have a chip on their shoulder to prove themselves. 

I think next year we are going to see a vast improvement and I think it will be an entertaining brand of basketball.  Trust me, I was as frustrated as anyone this past season.  I drove 550 miles to see three games of Chatman and Adams being ball hogs and lazy on defense.  I was the one standing and clapping when Chatman was kicked out of his final game,  BYE!  I am not happy with the status of this program but after I have let my emotions settle and I have reviewed our situation, a plan emerged that I think this staff is aiming for. Will it result in wins next year like we all want, I doubt it, but I think it takes time to build a program.  I will support this approach and I hope you all will as well.  I look forward to next year.  I want to see a team identity based on interchangeability, athleticism and unselfish play where the players sacrifice for each other to allow for team success.  If we see this from the team it will be a fun season and we can all get behind that approach.  Go Bulls!

A vast improvement…..what are u thinking like six wins? Our recruiting has been BAD. Where is the scoring coming from? Rebounding? Defense? I don’t see it. It’s impossible to be any worse though.

Is it now true that the Bulls have the worst D1 MBB coach in WNY?  

Really shows u the current state of affairs at UB when Adam March is offering NIL to Hodgson and Arkansas State, but this like most things in life is a relationship business. 

Adam March is a UB alum and money man behind UBTBT. Long time season ticket holder.

Harrison had scholarship offers from Albany and Fairfield too. 

23 minutes ago, skrabukes said:

Wow. Did we have any walk ons last year? Nate loved a deep bench. Bryan clearly is buying into that too. 

No denying he is an absolute savage on the recruiting side. The big question was whether he could actually coach and it appears that that question was answered right out of the gate in season 1. I’m never getting over the decision to pass on Hodgson.