enrique14150

I waited a day to see if the adjectives I would use to describe this would get better. They didn't. Thanks for putting our humiliating state of affairs on national TV last night. That's not even a powerhouse opponent - Kent was a .500 team that looked like world-beaters. I knew going in that the MAC schedule was going to be tough because UB's squad can't match the physicality and size inside that a lot of teams had. Not just that, Kent's quick ball movement opened up shots that UB couldn't deal with. Kent got sloppy at times in the second half (as teams tend to when they're up that much, despite Senderoff trying to keep them focused) otherwise it would've been even worse. I can stomach a rebuilding project, like last year, where the team actually got better over time (their ceiling wasn't that high though). What distresses me most today is that this team doesn't look any better at anything than it did in November. There are guys who were here last year that are worse out there now than a year ago (which means they were good but regressed, or they weren't good and Whitesell and company coached them well). Except for a couple games like at Toledo, sometimes they inexplicably hang in there. How does one describe the interior defense last night? Ineffective...soft...nonexistent...pathetic? In our text chain (the rest of our season ticket group didn't show up last night) during the game, one of them asked if it might be worse next year. Barring a significant influx of talent, it's hard to see it being better. I can deal with short term losing if there's hope for the future but after last night, it was hard to see hope. Show of hands who ACTUALLY thought this was a bad hire last summer. People wanted a young, ambitious coach. The buck stops at the top - but Halcovage looked great on paper and exactly the kind of guy who you want to take the next step at this level. The AD is ultimately responsible for how things are going, but based on what we all read at the time, I would've hired this guy too. Chatman - I'm convinced he's one of those guys who will put up points for you but you'll never win a thing with him. One of the worst "good" players I've ever seen here. I treat college kids differently, I'm not going to boo them, but there was one play second half where he half-heartedly reacted to the play and the Kent guy buried a three in the corner, I yelled towards the court "you going to play some defense?!". Smith - he's a nice player who tries hard but isn't going to be winning many battles against quality players at this level. There are reasons he wasn't getting minutes at the Big East level and you can see them. Sabol and Boldin - learning on the go. The best thing I can say is they've improved just by playing a lot, and they don't lack in confidence. But they play a lot because this team lacks experienced guards, not because they earned all that time. Adams - his ppg are slightly better than last year (at least before the past week) but he looks like he's regressed. I found myself yelling at him and Chatman several times after bad shots, "you're a senior!! You should be better than this!" Wilson - glad to see him get a couple minutes and hit a shot. Zakir - you have two choices. You're undersized underneath the basket in the MAC. You either start playing like an animal under there, bigger than you are (Rasaun Young played bigger than he was), or you drop the pounds and get quicker. They're not good, and most of them aren't going to get any better. We're a game or two away from me chanting "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING!!" Seriously, at this point, rotate Sabol, Fulcher, Boldin, and Wilson and play a press. You're terrible at half court defense and regularly losing by 20+ points so what do you have to lose. Defining what we're watching right now as "basketball" seems overly generous doesn't it? Kent - when they wanted to go inside, they did. When they wanted to shoot from outside, Sullinger and Santiago did. It was men against boys out there. Crowd - it was great to have the band back, they're large and loud, and they have fun. I still cheer on defense not because it's going to make any difference but because I'm at a basketball game and it's more fun when I do. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

Skrabukes - yeah, I have wondered lately if Whitesell and company actually got a lot out of that group last year and we didn't realize it. (As in, you needed to really know how to coach if you were going to get that group playing). I don't know if they would be a contender this year but it certainly wouldn't look this bad.

I think there's a sense of, Halcovage is in his first year and he gets some patience from people for that. But no one thought it would be THIS bad. They were a .500 team last year. I thought it might be a little ragged but not THIS bad. You're not wrong to cut the guy some slack in his first season - you're also not wrong to say, you came into a program that has some standards and expectations and those are really not being met. I think that Whitesell had a different situation in that he (a) picked up a better team to begin with and (b) higher expectations right away. I also think there was always a significant segment of the fans who didn't like his hiring in the first place. I too counted myself among the optimistic group in the past couple years. For all the talk of how they have a lot of new players this year - they had the same challenge last year. Between seniors and transfers after 21-22, 22-23 was a whole new team (THREE returning players from 21-22). They managed a .500 year. There's five returning players from last year (if you count Chatman, who didn't play because he was hurt). It will be big to see what Halcovage can bring in after this season and who leaves. While it wouldn't be bad to turn over a bad team, constant turnover is like running in quicksand. Big picture, it's vital that they keep the freshmen and that Graham gets playing time to see what he can possibly be. If they can't bring in recruits, if this still looks this bad this time next year, then we've got huge problems. I think programs plan along and sometimes you get a really good group (Battle/Bortz/Gilbert/Bird, or CJ/Perkins/Carruthers/Harris), but the next group you recruited to carry on doesn't reach the same level (Gamble/Robinson/Betts, Williams/Segu/Mballa). I think Whitesell and company recruited that next core of the team which was supposed to be Curtis Jones and Dave Skogman, to build around...but in today's NCAA Skogman transferred, then Jones and Jack transferred, and the bottom fell out (talent development pipeline-wise) of the whole project. And that's where we're at. So it's vital that they recruit the next core of this team in the next year or two.

I don't know what's left to say - this game reminded me of a lot of the other games this season. And I was really encouraged by how they played at Toledo. Of course I had to miss the opening run because for some reason, they had a problem scanning my ticket. As soon as I walked in, Ball State started hitting shots. At halftime we were like, "this game was just tied a couple minutes ago, what happened?" They got killed inside, which is what we figured would happen in MAC play. They took half their shots from three, which I would usually think is a bad idea but for an undersized team, what else are you going to do. What really bugged me was they STILL can't play defense. I understand losing to Toledo on the road; I can't fathom losing by 28 at home to a nothing Ball State team. But I have to. Chatman - showed what he could do and carried the team as best he could scoring-wise. Adams - has somehow regressed this year. Is he playing hurt? Smith - tries so hard underneath but can't be a big man at this level on his own. Sabol - hit a couple early ...I'm trying here. The team is trying (except for a couple times second half where they got beat too easily). I don't know what they're doing to keep that effort up. I didn't think this year would be great but man, this is brutal. Way worse than I could've ever imagined. At least in the beginning with Reggie you had the hope of a core of freshmen, spearheaded by a top-100 recruit. It's hard to see any light at the end of this tunnel right now. If they can do anything to improve right now, ANYTHING, figure out how to play better defense, consistently. That will at least get you in games. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

I have nothing bad to say about this game, considering where they're at so far, except that they fizzled down the stretch. I didn't think they had it in them, but they kept answering Toledo all second half. There was an overall greater level of intensity and competitiveness tonight. It hurts to lose it late but they played with confidence. Baby steps. Adams - he's been lackluster lately so he really stepped up tonight. Chatman - as I keep saying, he scores a lot of points but seems to miss shots at the worst possible times in the game. Fulcher - is getting better at using his speed to get to the net Sabol - he made some fired up plays defensively, which is a good development Boldin - plays big If they play like this they can beat some teams near the bottom of the league. There are plenty of times where they deserve our criticism - going on the road and playing Toledo even until the last 5 minutes or so isn't one of them.

Well said. I wondered that last weekend - if you can't get minutes on this team, this year, then I don't know. I totally agree with you when you say there's an alarming lack of basketball awareness and sense out there. Especially from some experienced guys who should know better at this point. Looking back, it's not hard to go down in the standings if the recruits you brought in don't pan out. However well regarded they are, maybe they just don't have the same ceiling, or drive, or don't fit as well together. Look at what happened after Battle/Bortz/Bird/Gilbert - Betts/Robinson/Gamble/Pierce were decent, but not as good. Then you had teams with Watt, McCrea, that had a really good couple players but without a lot of depth. Even when you think you're recruiting the next batch of players to take over, they might not be the same. Segu/Williams/Mballa - we thought they were going to be awesome. For various reasons, they didn't do as well as their predecessors, and it wasn't all because of talent... I've been trying to think of what went right in the past. What were some of the qualities of the players, the culture, etc. 1. Building something - I don't want to speak for them, in case this is wrong, but I got the sense there was pride in some of those teams where they were building something new, taking the program where it hadn't gone before. 2. Drive - they tended to get guys who had a chip on their shoulder, who wanted to play at a higher level but were overlooked. They wanted to prove those places wrong. CJ, Perkins, and on the football side, Khalil and Brandon Oliver come to mind. Mitch Watt had to learn how to walk again! McCrea was passed over despite his talent because he was 6'7" and not 6'10". Segu and Williams had to follow that and they were different players, I didn't see them with the same level of motivation and drive. Battle, CJ, Watt, Perkins, Dontay, those guys had a competitive fire that burned bright when it mattered most. 3. Getting guys to buy into a culture, a way of doing things, a way of playing, and that it may take a couple years of work to get to be a starter, good enough to play regularly in that group. For years this program was known, under several coaches, as one that played good defense. That has completely melted away. You seemed to have a torch passed along between guards that took pride in their craft at being a shutdown defender. We have been missing that person for years now. Who among this group has the competitive fire out there that leads by example, sets the tone and the standards, and picks up everyone else? As someone else said, you have some complementary parts. You'd think 'maybe' Chatman but I've been vocal about his terrible demeanor out there at times. Personally, when I take on a new team or a new group, you have to find out what everyone can do. Losing provides a good indication of who gets frustrated/angry and tries harder; who emerges as a leader; who stops trying; who doesn't care. You build with the former and move on from the latter, you set those expectations and that culture. Is that what Halcovage and company are doing right now? Will anyone they want to keep after this season actually want to stay?

And for Kanye Jones - I don't know any facts about what's going on with him right now, so it would be unfair and inaccurate of me to speculate.

We talked about that a few weeks ago, does it get to the point of "bags on heads" by the end of the season. Right now - I don't know, I can't bring myself to treat college kids the same I would professionals. They're trying, they're just not very good.

Great points about some of these guys - if they're able to carry more of the play themselves, if they need better players around them, and if they've improved. I don't know if this year to last year is an appropriate 'apples to apples' comparison, but some of the roster did carry over. The lost Jones and Jack but gained Chatman, lost Zid but gained Sabol, lost Caesar but gained Fulcher. They got a lot more production from Adams. They had a lot of the same problems inside, but this year they're missing Jack and Hardnett and didn't seem to replace them besides Chatman - is that the difference? The talent level didn't seem great last year (especially compared to so many previous teams) but it seems a lot lower this year...is it really? Did they actually get a lot more out of that group last year than others would've? Or are these guys getting much less or as much as expected out of this group? I agree with all that say there just isn't the talent there right now to compete (though I am optimistic about the progress of the freshmen Sabol, Boldin, and Fulcher). But it made me think, was there all that much talent last year? Did that .500 team overachieve based on its actual talent, or is this one underachieving. Statistically trueblue32 just showed that there are guys that have actually done better than they are this year. There are some guys on this team where I shrug and think, they're probably not going to get any better, they are what they are. At the MAC level you can get some really raw players as freshmen but with good, consistent coaching in a good culture, if they stay 4 years they can become really solid players. Calvin Cage (who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn his freshman year), John Boyer (who became statistically one of the most efficient point guards in the country his senior year) come to mind. I think the program hit on some guys talent-wise - Jones, Skogman, Jack - and in today's NCAA they take offers out of here.

I was pretty optimistic at halftime. Down 2, pretty even game, they were hitting some outside shots. Then Miami shot the lights out in the second half. A couple stats stood out - Miami shot 65% for the game. That's obscene. You pretty much can't lose if you're shooting that well. UB slightly beat Miami on rebounds, but Miami won the points in the paint 56-38. I had a feeling a few weeks ago that UB was going to have a big problem in the MAC against some of these teams that could out-match them inside, and this was one of them. Fulcher - I've been tough on him, maybe too much for a freshman, but he had his best game so far tonight. He took care of the basketball a bit better, and used his speed to the basket to great effect. Keep it up. Adams - one of his worst games. Nothing was working. Smith - he works so hard. I really want to see him do well. He's winning some good second chance rebounds for them. Sabol - continues to improve. Getting more confident with his shooting and his release looks quicker. Chatman - pretty invisible today. McVeigh - actually hit a couple of his shots today. Playing with some more confidence. Miami - I was really impressed last year by Mirambeaux, and he impressed again this time. His touch around the net is excellent. It left me wondering if he dropped 20 pounds, would he be able to play more than half the game? Or would that take away from some of his effectiveness? Crowd - about what you expect for a 2-win team, on a weeknight, with bad weather, and the students are still on break. Every game we enjoy the look-back-in-time Castle 'Clean the Glass' trivia, and they screwed it up, using Shannon Evans' picture while describing Mitchell Watt. Come on, guys. Halcovage - I'm one of those who doesn't care if the coach yells and screams or not. Maybe because I coach kids and adults and I don't yell and scream (though I have my moments, they're rare) and I don't think it has anything to do with my effectiveness. Everyone has their own style. I get why some people want to see some kind of response or reaction to games like these. But I don't think for a minute that he doesn't care, or cares any more or less than a lunatic like Hurley. The beatings will continue until morale improves.

This was an even game between two bad teams until Western created a run with around 10 to go, and the Bulls chased it after that. I'll agree with some other posters that they didn't do well in transition, and gave up some open three's that way. For UB, they played better defense at times, just not consistently. They shot better from outside. They shot way better the past two games from the free throw line. Adams and Chatman had a couple great times where they just backed their way to the net and laid it in, like the defender couldn't do anything about it. Those things have made them competitive. They're working hard, they just get beat by (a) some mismatches in size and (b) as we said, in transition and with basketball awareness of what's happening/going to happen around them. Right now they really miss a guy who can beat people off the dribble and cruise to the net. I also notice that when one guy drives to the net, the rest of them just stand around and watch. If they get in trouble, there's no one also moving that they can hit coming in from the other side. There needs to be more movement on those drives. Chatman - like I said last game, for a guy who scores that many points (which they need), I have half a dozen times where I'm mad at him for a poor shot or turnover or missed free throw at the worst times for them. I feel like he helps them and kills them. Smith - I'm always yelling for him to get big, get tough, and he did today, had some great offensive rebounds. Sabol - if he keeps improving like this he'll end up transferring like everyone else in today's NCAA. Boldin - he's big and athletic and improving too Fulcher - is so far off. The last guy who should be fumbling around simply dribbling the ball is a point guard. Adams - looks like as polished a player as he's going to ever be, hit some shots nicely. Kanye - is he hurt? Because if you can't get minutes in this lineup, I don't know what you can do anywhere. Zakir - is he hurt? Because if you can't get minutes in this lineup, I don't know what you can do anywhere. Western - didn't do anything especially well, other than go on that run mid-second half and then hit some shots at the end to keep their lead. As soon as they showed Turner Battle on the screen I was out of my seat to stand and applaud. That guy should get that every time he's there. It astounds me there wasn't a "Turner, Battle! clap, clap, clap-clap-clap" cheer right then and there. He is so much of the genesis of what UB basketball built into. I can't wait to see him get the honor he's more than deserved there for a long time. One of my favorite Turner memories: at Niagara's high school gym, game on the line, last possession, he does one of his patented drive, stop and pop, hit the jumper. Game over. Place went silent except for the Bulls fans. The team looks more competitive than it did a little while ago - is that progress? Or is the nether regions of the MAC this season truly THAT dreadful?

We have said for several games now: how does this look if they made a few more of these outside shots? An undersized team needs to in order to compete. 6 of 20 from three - but to be fair, 5 of those were Sabol. Someone hit their three's, and things went a lot better. They shot 50% overall. 20 for 22 from the free throw line. Those are more like winning numbers. It overcame 18 turnovers on 11 assists, and a lineup where the bench didn't play much. I'm happy to see them win, we'll see if it's something they can learn and build from.

It's hours later and I'm still livid about this one. I tried to remember the last time I left Alumni that angry about a loss. Niagara isn't a very good team, and the Bulls didn't play great in the first half, but they played decent basketball, good enough with a couple three's by Sabol towards the end to leave them with a 10 point lead at the half. Enough to get me out of my seat for once, the closest they've had to a 'run' in some time. They were playing good defense, forcing bad shots and cleaning up rebounds. Like you're supposed to. As one should be afraid, they came out sloppy after the break and Niagara went on a big run, flipping the script. It came down to a couple possessions at the end where UB couldn't hit a shot that they needed. When you look at the stats, yet again, when you're an undersized team you absolutely have to shoot well from outside, and this team can't. They shot horribly from the free throw line, which was also decisive in the end. They played good defense in the first half but they lack basketball sense to deal with things like back-door cuts. Chatman - the guy scores 29 points but I left furious at him. He blows foul shots when they absolutely need them. Takes a charge on a play at the end that could've given them a chance and instead of passing it off, goes right at the guy obviously set up to block him. In the second half, in successive plays, doesn't get a call so while Niagara is dribbling past him, he's focused on complaining to the ref, and in the next possession gets torched on D. They are missing a lot without him but I can't stand watching him a lot of the time. His in-game demeanor is terrible. He acts like he's a big deal, on a team that has zero wins this season against fellow D1 opponents. Sabol - again, he will be decent someday, but he's working through freshman mistakes right now. Zakir - win that tough battle underneath, great - then miss BOTH free throws. Come on. Isaiah - it was great to see him back, and he played like he was a senior leader trying to be assertive. Graham - he has a lot of potential. He just seems rusty. McVeigh - plays tough defense, but at this point is less than useless shooting the ball. I didn't miss Smith, I have nothing bad to say, he just can't match up effectively against bigger, better inside players and I don't think he ever will at this point. I didn't miss Kanye, he's sloppy with the ball. Niagara - they're not good either. Grossed out to see Bumbalough out there against the Bulls again. They made adjustments and got fired up at halftime to flip the script, credit to their coaches. By the way, I don't put too much of this on Alnutt. It's way too early to judge Halcovage, but no one saw this as a total tear-down rebuild. Linguist looked great on paper, so did Halcovage - I would hire both myself based on their resumes. One was a position coach in the NFL who can recruit; the other was an assistant at a Big East team with two recent national titles. Try and tell me you wouldn't hire either of them at this level based on that. You can't know what's to come from there. But I do appreciate the people who say, the buck stops there (at the top). I think he hired people with good resumes but he'll be held by many to their results. I was so fired up at halftime for once. I hoped this team could play with a forward winning mindset, and that melted away in a couple minutes. This was a disgusting loss, especially since I don't know who they're going to beat at all from here. They can't defend consistently inside, they can't shoot from outside, they get torched by anyone playing on a higher thought process. A poster a while ago talked about how this was their worst start since 1992. I was at those games, I was in middle school, and that's not a fair comparison. That team was in its first year in D1, with a roster of D3 players and a D3 coach plus a senior transfer John Blalock who basically was their whole offense. This team is an existing D1 team with D1 players. They don't get the benefit of that comparison. Can you tell how disgusted I am with this? I wanted to march down there afterwards and yell "where is your pride?!!" "The beatings will continue until morale improves." Or like Chief Wiggum with his tie caught in the hot dog roller at the Kwik-E-Mart, "Oh boy, this is going to get worse, before it gets better."

Based on how they've been competing in some recent games, I really hoped they'd take a step forward today. The basic problem is: they lack size, so they need to be able to shoot from outside. But they're terrible at shooting from outside. So they get burned defensively, dig a deep hole, then keep trying and claw back a little second half by playing scrappy. They took 32 shots in the first half, 16 of them from three - and made one of those. Thus you're down 20. They're trying, they play hard to the end...they're just not very good. They can't match up well under the net. Some of them might be good someday. That's about the nicest way I can sum this up right now. Chatman - had a lot of points and yet I keep thinking he's not playing as well as he can. Fulcher - is it just me, or does it seem like they're a lot better defensively when he's not on the court? I suppose I have to watch him more out there. Sabol - he's trying. I think he's going to be good someday (hopefully here). But he's learning a lot of things the hard way right now. Boldin - probably his best game so far? Plays hard, goes to the hoop hard, willing to play with confidence. Like Sabol, a guy who I think might be good someday. McVeigh - I really liked most of his game today. He couldn't hit a shot, but he battled hard for rebounds. That combination of things reminded me of Dave Barnett today. I don't expect him to be a lights-out shooter yet but I wish a couple of them went. But he was willing to take them and play hard. Smith - man, take it to the net! I fear that he's as good as he's going to be, and this is it. WKU - I don't know, nothing stuck out. They did the same things/took advantage of the same things that most teams have so far against UB. Crowd - shout out to the band, cheerleaders, and a couple True Blue people who were there and are trying. Some guy in an Aaron Judge jersey and his meathead friends sat a section over from us, somehow he was a Hilltoppers fan today and started the game off by flipping off everyone between him and the UB bench. From there, tried to taunt everyone after WKU baskets...until he eventually realized that it was all old alums, parents with kids, or just generally UB fans watching a bad team who weren't going to waste time getting into it with some guy who is talking trash on behalf of a team he just bet money online on this afternoon. Dude if I didn't get in an argument with any low-class Bona fans last week, I'm not wasting a second on you. Please please please beat Niagara.

I didn't like this (I never like losing to Little Three teams) but I don't hate it as much as I expected to. They lost but weren't humiliated. The bar is that low right now. Early on we said, "all Bona needs to do is feed it inside to #32, UB has no one to match up with him." It took a little while but they did, and he had a game. Interestingly they started Zakir and Jo Smith came off the bench. Hit some three's, and this game is closer. As another poster noted, they had a chance second half to make it a game but Fulcher missed both free throws and then they turned it over. I thought they played better second half, they did better on defense (it would've been harder to do worse than they looked a couple weeks ago), rebounds were pretty even despite Bona having a big size advantage inside (UB was doing better today at getting position). Funny thing was, nothing was going from outside (a team like UB HAS to hit outside shots, they're not built to play half-court basketball and work it inside), but they were getting most of their baskets inside today. They had some fight in them and they play hard to the end. Some signs of progress I guess. Chatman - he's trying to be a go-to guy. Finished off some dunks second half. I like when he plays with some confidence. Smith - had a nice stretch of play but then he couldn't keep going with that shoulder. I say time and again, he doesn't act big. When he does, good things happen for him. He tries really hard. Drained a couple long jumpers first half when UB needed something to happen. Sabol - he's a freshman, consistent performances are not in the cards yet. Nothing was dropping for him. Fulcher - just does some dumb things, which negates his speed. Bona - #32 isn't actually that good, it's just that UB has no one to match up with players like that. They're going to get steamrolled this season by those kind of guys. I thought they got sloppy in the second half and it let UB kinda sorta not really hang around. Crowd - are the kids on break already? Or is it just a Saturday afternoon, it's raining, the team stinks and everyone's still hungover from last night? The Bona fans were quiet. Except I got to my seat (usually all the people around us are fellow season ticket holders), and two Bona guys were in front of me. One immediately told me how lame this was, and the other told me how pathetic our athletic program is. The first guy then spent the whole game picking his nose. (I don't have anything complimentary to say about Bonaventure but I also wouldn't say it to a Bona person's face in their arena and expect them to somehow agree with it, that seems...rude.) Typical for Bona fans - but way better than the guy years ago behind me who kept yelling homophobic slurs at UB, the fans, and players. I still don't know what a "Bonnie" is. Let me get this straight, they didn't get rid of the awful DJ's, they decided to make one of them the emcee out there? Congrats, you figured out a way to somehow make it worse. I know this is a complete tear-down rebuilding year - but please salvage some pride and beat Niagara.

Does this take into account how much of those coaches' salaries are paid by donors, versus student fees and/or public funds (taxes)? Take Nick Saban for example - highest paid public employee in Alabama...but his salary is covered by donors. So it doesn't cost the taxpayer anything.

Seriously, with whose money? I still don't understand the idea that these ambitious people - Hurley, White, Oats - were going to stay here forever, in spite of offers of vastly more money at higher levels. They were compensated very well for the MAC level and for what UB could afford. They were very successful here and that success naturally led to greater opportunities. By taking those, it wasn't a snub to UB. UB doesn't have blank checks - but Alabama does. Bart: "Krusty, how could you?" Krusty: "They drove a dump truck full of money up to my house! I'm not made of stone!" Western really screwed up when they didn't keep PJ Fleck. Miami REALLY screwed up when they didn't write a blank check to Bo Schembechler.

They got really good (for the MAC level). Like Icarus, they flew too close to the sun and the wings melted off. The price of winning at this level is turnover, and keeping all that going is not easy. The only in-between is to be good but don't win trophies - Reggie's teams here, or Kowalczyk's in Toledo. This isn't an indictment of anyone, it isn't an "I told you so", it isn't for or against any of these previous coaches - it just is. You get good, and win, and you have to start over, and it isn't a guarantee that it will continue. This applies to every team, UB isn't special/brilliant/stupid. The lesson is: enjoy every minute of those highest points that you can, while you can, because they will be fleeting by their nature. I know I did - I still have the confetti I picked up on several occasions on the floor in Cleveland. I'm hopeful/confident we'll be back again, I'm just not sure when. One can both be shocked and appalled at what this team looks like right now, AND realize that any coach's project gets several years to see if it matures. I can't extrapolate what this program will look like in 3 years yet, but I can say this team currently doesn't look like one that's going to win many, if any, games this season.

You're not new here, so I won't talk as if you don't know - you get coaches that win things (or in Leipold's case, almost), they move on quick and you have to rebuild. Or you could be like Ohio U football under Solich, or Toledo basketball under Kowalczyk, who have good teams every year but never win anything. The price of winning in the MAC is starting over. If it was easy to keep replacing coaches and stay good, everyone would do it. We're paying the piper right now.

I didn't mind where things stood at halftime. They weren't playing great, but only down 6. Second half, the shooting fell off a cliff. Neither team was shooting well from three, but for this Bulls team they're dead without it. Like others pointed out, interior defense, especially on drives to the net, was poor. They're going to have to get a lot tougher really fast because the intensity goes up in league play. Adams and Smith - anonymous today. For as well as both played last game, neither had anything working for them today. Fulcher - I don't want him to be afraid to be aggressive at the point on defense. I usually don't like seeing them give up fouls that far from the net...but they're not stopping people going to the net, so go at them out there. Sabol - an improved showing. Brought a good work rate and intensity. I feel like he's a guy who needs a year, year and a half to become a consistent player at this level though. Chatman - a better game today. Tougher on both ends of the floor. He has a nice touch on his shots. In this group, with his experience, he has to be a go-to guy. Kanye - 14 points. Maybe a lot of them at the end? But I liked what I saw better today than in previous games. A little more in control of himself. South Alabama - I don't even think they played that great, it's just this UB team can't play defense that well. I was surprised their coach didn't play more guys down the bench in the second half. But he did almost break that piece of the scorer's table after a pair of missed foul shots at the end. Crowd - the band was into it. The rest of it is what we expect these days. And with games like this, I don't blame anyone for a lack of enthusiasm. The DJ's play list was straight out of the games at Alumni Arena in the mid-90's. Overall - Halcovage gets a pass for games like this because he's new here. The message board would be on fire if this was from any of the previous coaches. Someone near me said "well it's a whole new group, they're all transfers." I said, "same as last year." And as someone else pointed out here, how many other teams does that apply to? If they can't figure out things on the defensive end, first and foremost, and I don't know if they have the size inside to do so, they're not going to be competitive. I want to see what guys have the potential to get a lot better in the years ahead.

It's miserable to go on here and read, after game 1 of the new coach's tenure, people re-living what went wrong before this. It's done, move forward.

1. The commuter portion of the fanbase is probably not coming all the way back to campus unless they live close by. So for students, they probably get who's on campus. However, since a third of the season falls during the elongated winter break, they desperately need to find a way to get some of those commuters to some games. 2. Short answer? It's not fun. Few people look like they're having fun, besides the band. Most of the students that do show up just sit there, either because they don't want to do anything more, or they don't know what else to do/who else to follow. There were times in the past you had most of the end zone standing, not anymore. Short answer - True Blue has to have more fun, and more people will join in. Standing there looking at your phones, not making noise on defense or foul shots consistently, isn't going to make anything happen. For the end zone it's more of a participatory experience than it is for a lot of folks on the sidelines, and I don't know if they realize that or are willing to fill that role. Promotions? I can't say as a long-time alum what they're specifically doing to rile up students for game day, but whatever they are doing/not doing doesn't appear to be working. People want to be part of a college basketball atmosphere, they want to be part of/adjacent to fun. The entire thing comes off as they're either (a) not trying or (b) they have no idea what to do. Get rid of the DJ's. If you still need them, get better ones. They played something by Huey Lewis and the News for pete's sake yesterday, how is THAT supposed to get anyone fired up? I better not hear Cotton Eye Joe again.

I don't hate what I saw today. Tonight's opponent made UB get into it, made them have to work, and that brought out some good things. We saw the full ability of what Adams and Smith can do. We saw that this team needs a LOT of work defensively. Both teams shot really well in the first half. UB got a couple stops and tied it up late, but bricked a couple shots and FDU made some free throws. As I often say, so many games come down to the last 3 minutes or so and the last half dozen possessions. This team hung around tonight in a game that looked in the first half at times like they might get buried. In the end most of the stats were similar. With a short bench they all put in the work. They showed character to come back, they need to get sharper to win one like this. Smith - probably his best game as a Bull. I'm always saying he needs to play bigger, play tougher, and he's really trying. You know the three's are dropping when even he makes one. Adams - also probably his best game as a Bull. He's starting to show up as a more well-rounded player. Besides the three's, he had a really nice move late in the game to the hoop, balancing backing in with turning where the defender wasn't. Zakir - also probably his best game so far. Looks like he burned some pounds off and did a good job rebounding down the stretch. Kanye - looked less clutzy with the ball than last time Fulcher - plays fast, but had a tough time with an even faster guard against him. Chatman - I expect better. He plays so far with an air of "I'm too cool for this." Had a very nice drive around a potential charge for a layup first half. Sabol - hit an early three, then like most of them, got beat on defense. So far, he looks a year away. FDU - those coaches sure complained a lot. They played FAST and intense. PG #14 was really quick. Their guys were a step quicker than UB to the net in the first half, but UB did better second half against that. I thought they got some questionable foul calls their way at the end, but then again, UB didn't make their last couple shots. Crowd - not bad, not great for a Monday night in November. I saw the band practicing at the old football stadium on the way in. True Blue was trying, but they just need to keep having fun and maybe more people in the end zone will join in. I don't know everything that athletics is doing for promotions, but right now it seems their approach to flat atmospheres and attendance the past couple years is...to keep doing the exact same thing. Same DJ's playing the same stuff. Same promotions. Same cheers. Yawn. It was fun to get fired up at the end of this tonight. I hope they learn some things, like THIS is how they can play if they bring this level of intensity and workrate. If they don't, the opponents race by. They need to get better defensively if they're going to win games this season.

I don't want to draw too many conclusions yet, and certainly not from an exhibition game against a D2 school. That said, credit as always to Daemen. They are always a well coached, well organized team. I thought they brought some good size and confidence with the ball and that caused UB problems, especially when they started shooting better. They had some good drives to the hoop that caught some UB defenders a step slow. After the first half I was like, get #33 a transfer right now. I was impressed with Fulcher, he's quick and can shoot from outside. Adams is what he was - a polished outside shooter, good at blocking shots, but doesn't get as tough as you'd like sometimes under the net. Boldin gave some good minutes. Chatman looks like a confident guy that I would like to see a little more intensity from. He really stepped it up at the end, and the team needs a go-to guy in those situations. Jo Smith is like last year - he's trying to play tougher but he needs more body mass. Sobel has a lot of potential but may be a year away. Kanye was sloppy, he didn't look any better from last year. First impressions? I hope Graham can come in and be a double digit scorer and a go-to guy. This team looks like it lacks inside presence, which is no surprise. If Daemen's players gave them trouble and out-rebounded them, Mirambeaux and Freeman are going to run over them.

Thanks. It would be a shame if they didn't - I don't know how many took advantage of that, I always do, my dad always did. I can't make all the games so I don't get seasons; I get a pair of tickets for a couple games I can make. But I'm not paying $30 to see a UB football game. I like going but it's not worth that much to me.