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Reflecting On The 2023/2024 Men's Season And Discussing The Future.


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14 minutes ago, bullsbball said:

Steals by UB this year, 188. Opponent steals again UB 238.  Only the second time in the past 10 years we haven't had more steals than the opponent. The other time was 2016-2017. 

Thanks for that, certainly helps point towards a lack of good defense.

also, there were several time when we got steals and then turned it over shortly after so we are probably really worse than -50

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This was such a painful year. Wanted to watch just a team that competed and wasn’t expecting to win anything, but this team was unwatchable. I think at the end of the day, just not enough talent on the court and really no experience on the court either. I liked Boldin and Sabol, fulcher had moments but also must develop a jumper to be competitive and needs to play smarter. Only way I see this team competitive next year is bringing in couple guys from transfer portal. They need to get more athleticism and size to be competitive. I agree with what most said here that if they can’t compete next year halcovage has to go.. 

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4 hours ago, TheCommish said:

Does everyone think we will be magically good next year?

NIL - $0

I’m not expecting a good year, but it would be nice if we developed an identity. If we are going to be a 3 point team, bring in shooters. If we are going to play tough defense and want to play games in the 50s and 60s, bring in tough defenders. Give us something to hold onto as to what we are. I’m pretty tired of the pickup basketball that we have seen the last several years. The last 2 season of JW we had a lot of that as well, which got us in trouble. I’m all for freedom to create shots, but this one on three crap is no good. Then you miss a crazy shot or turn it over, which leads to easy buckets on the other other. I’m not a fan.

when they started whittling down the lead against NIU, they was ball movement and communication. They still missed shots at times, but at least they were better looks with less pressure.

i would like to still be a tough defensive team that gets on the floor, is usually out rebounding opponents and setting up quick runouts for easier baskets. Those are effort plays and effort can outweigh athleticism for a lot of things.  

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5 hours ago, TheCommish said:

Does everyone think we will be magically good next year?

NIL - $0

And yet oddly there’s plenty of teams better than us, including in our own conference, doing it with $0 too. Nobody asking for top 25 ranking. Just competitive again. 

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"Can they recruit here?" 

I should hope so.  They have in the past.  Though for basketball and football, usually it's been guys who need to prove themselves.  Mack and Oliver at football; think of guys like Perkins and CJ in basketball.  Those were hungry competitors.  I always thought those higher rated recruits like Jeenathan Williams and Segu didn't have the same drive (then again, Battle did).

I hate to think of "what if", but you look at where they were this season, the overall and individual talent and the results.  I couldn't help think of Dave Skogman, who would've been a senior this year, averaging 13.3 points for Davidson; Curtis Jones, averaging 10 points for a top 10 Iowa State team and presumably would've averaged plenty more here; plus Chatman and presumably Isaac Jack. To me that looks like a WAY more competitive team that (a) solves this year's issues with matchups inside, and at point guard and (b) doesn't rely so much on a crew of freshmen.  To me they actually DID bring in the kind of talent to be good at this level, but the new reality of transfers just gutted the plan.  

I don't know how much of that talent was brought in based on stability and continuity from before, but it gives me hope that you absolutely CAN bring in talent. Can Halcovage?  We'll see.  The next question is, can you keep them around long enough to do something.

I think transfers are a short-term fix that results in way too much turnover to build a style and identity.  They can top off a team, but not form the bulk of a team (as we saw last year).  But the reality is you have way more turnover with guys leaving.  

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1 hour ago, enrique14150 said:

"Can they recruit here?" 

I should hope so.  They have in the past.  Though for basketball and football, usually it's been guys who need to prove themselves.  Mack and Oliver at football; think of guys like Perkins and CJ in basketball.  Those were hungry competitors.  I always thought those higher rated recruits like Jeenathan Williams and Segu didn't have the same drive (then again, Battle did).

I hate to think of "what if", but you look at where they were this season, the overall and individual talent and the results.  I couldn't help think of Dave Skogman, who would've been a senior this year, averaging 13.3 points for Davidson; Curtis Jones, averaging 10 points for a top 10 Iowa State team and presumably would've averaged plenty more here; plus Chatman and presumably Isaac Jack. To me that looks like a WAY more competitive team that (a) solves this year's issues with matchups inside, and at point guard and (b) doesn't rely so much on a crew of freshmen.  To me they actually DID bring in the kind of talent to be good at this level, but the new reality of transfers just gutted the plan.  

I don't know how much of that talent was brought in based on stability and continuity from before, but it gives me hope that you absolutely CAN bring in talent. Can Halcovage?  We'll see.  The next question is, can you keep them around long enough to do something.

I think transfers are a short-term fix that results in way too much turnover to build a style and identity.  They can top off a team, but not form the bulk of a team (as we saw last year).  But the reality is you have way more turnover with guys leaving.  

I get where you are coming from with respect to transfers - but I still feel this past year's team had too many FR.  Here is a snapshot of UB vs Ark St rosters

image.png.980d314f7724129722c0b640eab1b685.png

Hodgson added nothing but transfers to two existing key returnees.  GHIII went predominantly with FR.  I don't think it is a stretch to say, if Hodgson had UB's roster, they would not have been beating App St in semi's and and if UB  had Ark St roster, the results would likely have been better than we saw. 

So what about next year - assuming Ark St does not have any transfers - they will be returning a good core, plus they added some FR this year.  If (a big if) GHII keeps the most of the FR for four years - perhaps they could be very good.  Time will tell. 

I feel like you have to blend in transfers - maybe focus mostly on JR / SO transfers.

 

 

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I still don't understand why there's any comparison between what's happening here and what Bryan Hodgson is doing in Arkansas.  Good for him.  I don't see how it has any bearing on our situation.

For me, the transfers who are already juniors and seniors don't get any better.  It seems like a shortcut to competitiveness but it's fleeting, and your turnover goes way up.  Once this was a "lost year" I didn't mind seeing the freshmen get lots of minutes because it may pay off down the line - provided they stay.  I fully recognize that didn't work out for UB with Skogman, Jones, Jack, etc.  But if the team is going to lose, I'd rather they lose with players with the potential for being good in a year or two.  Rather than "it's a bunch of random transfers, they aren't winning now and they're not going to get any better."

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14 minutes ago, enrique14150 said:

For me, the transfers who are already juniors and seniors don't get any better.  It seems like a shortcut to competitiveness but it's fleeting, and your turnover goes way up.  Once this was a "lost year" I didn't mind seeing the freshmen get lots of minutes because it may pay off down the line - provided they stay.  I fully recognize that didn't work out for UB with Skogman, Jones, Jack, etc.  But if the team is going to lose, I'd rather they lose with players with the potential for being good in a year or two.  Rather than "it's a bunch of random transfers, they aren't winning now and they're not going to get any better."

Lowest ranked MAC teams and what their freshmen did in their careers:
2022 - WMU (#329). Josiah Freeman playing D2. Owen Lobsinger junior on the #7 team in the MAC. Gus Etchison playing NAIA.
2021 - NIU (#337) had no freshmen contributors
2020 - WMU (#237). B Artis White, Titus Wright seniors on the #7 team in the MAC. Chase Barrs senior barely playing on a terrible Florida A&M team
2019 - WMU (#255). William Boyer-Richard finished his career at a school in Canada. Patrick Emilien transferred twice.
2018 - Akron (#255). Virshon Cotton transferred 3 times. Eric Parrish transferred twice. Torrey Patton transferred and contributed to some good Cleveland St. teams in the Horizon. Mark Kostelac transferred to a D2 school. Jaden Sayles transferred to Stony Brook.

I won't keep going but this isn't viable, not to mention that this team is starting from a worse place than any that I listed above. I think Sabol/Boldin/Wilson could be contributors on the next good UB team. I do not think they will be stars on the next good UB team. It's not the end of the world if we lose any of them. Building in 4 year cycles is not a viable strategy any more. It's not to say that we will not have 4 year players and we shouldn't aim to recruit and develop HS kids, but you can't build a program on a prayer that everyone stays. You need to replace transfers out with equal or better transfers in. We are also no longer above "shortcuts to competitiveness", we suck. We are two coaches and an AD removed from the good teams. This coach has no track record of leading a successful program in any way. It is going to be hard to recruit/retain players to a program coming off 4 wins. It's on the staff to identify underrecruited talent in any shape or size.

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1 hour ago, trueblue32 said:

Lowest ranked MAC teams and what their freshmen did in their careers:
2022 - WMU (#329). Josiah Freeman playing D2. Owen Lobsinger junior on the #7 team in the MAC. Gus Etchison playing NAIA.
2021 - NIU (#337) had no freshmen contributors
2020 - WMU (#237). B Artis White, Titus Wright seniors on the #7 team in the MAC. Chase Barrs senior barely playing on a terrible Florida A&M team
2019 - WMU (#255). William Boyer-Richard finished his career at a school in Canada. Patrick Emilien transferred twice.
2018 - Akron (#255). Virshon Cotton transferred 3 times. Eric Parrish transferred twice. Torrey Patton transferred and contributed to some good Cleveland St. teams in the Horizon. Mark Kostelac transferred to a D2 school. Jaden Sayles transferred to Stony Brook.

I won't keep going but this isn't viable, not to mention that this team is starting from a worse place than any that I listed above. I think Sabol/Boldin/Wilson could be contributors on the next good UB team. I do not think they will be stars on the next good UB team. It's not the end of the world if we lose any of them. Building in 4 year cycles is not a viable strategy any more. It's not to say that we will not have 4 year players and we shouldn't aim to recruit and develop HS kids, but you can't build a program on a prayer that everyone stays. You need to replace transfers out with equal or better transfers in. We are also no longer above "shortcuts to competitiveness", we suck. We are two coaches and an AD removed from the good teams. This coach has no track record of leading a successful program in any way. It is going to be hard to recruit/retain players to a program coming off 4 wins. It's on the staff to identify underrecruited talent in any shape or size.

Of note, Villanova is a bubble team this season, so is that pool as deep as we thought or was Jay Wright really good and his saplings aren't quite as good?

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39 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Of note, Villanova is a bubble team this season, so is that pool as deep as we thought or was Jay Wright really good and his saplings aren't quite as good?

Jay Wright's had 12 assistants go on to become D1 head coaches. The most successful of the bunch is probably Pat Chambers whose resume is highlighted by 9 years at Penn State before getting fired with 0 tournament appearances. I think being from the Jay Wright coaching tree means very little at this point

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1 hour ago, trueblue32 said:

Jay Wright's had 12 assistants go on to become D1 head coaches. The most successful of the bunch is probably Pat Chambers whose resume is highlighted by 9 years at Penn State before getting fired with 0 tournament appearances. I think being from the Jay Wright coaching tree means very little at this point

So you're telling me statistically Jay wrights assistants are due to win a tournament game

 

Lol 😂😂😂

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14 hours ago, DaBulls99 said:

And yet oddly there’s plenty of teams better than us, including in our own conference, doing it with $0 too. Nobody asking for top 25 ranking. Just competitive again. 

About 100 with 0 collectives. We’re 360, we’re battling to get to 260?

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14 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

I get where you are coming from with respect to transfers - but I still feel this past year's team had too many FR.  Here is a snapshot of UB vs Ark St rosters

image.png.980d314f7724129722c0b640eab1b685.png

Hodgson added nothing but transfers to two existing key returnees.  GHIII went predominantly with FR.  I don't think it is a stretch to say, if Hodgson had UB's roster, they would not have been beating App St in semi's and and if UB  had Ark St roster, the results would likely have been better than we saw. 

So what about next year - assuming Ark St does not have any transfers - they will be returning a good core, plus they added some FR this year.  If (a big if) GHII keeps the most of the FR for four years - perhaps they could be very good.  Time will tell. 

I feel like you have to blend in transfers - maybe focus mostly on JR / SO transfers.

 

 

One "statistic" that has not been mentioned when talking about the players that Hodgson brought into Arkansas State is academic.  Could any of them gotten into UB and if yes, could they have handled the school work at UB to stay at UB?

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49 minutes ago, BrooklynBull said:

One "statistic" that has not been mentioned when talking about the players that Hodgson brought into Arkansas State is academic.  Could any of them gotten into UB and if yes, could they have handled the school work at UB to stay at UB?

Your point is a definite consideration.   My overall point was not to compare and contrast Hodgson to Halcovage or the players they recruited. Rather it was  comparing the approach of going with transfers vs going with freshman to construct the roster.

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4 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

Your point is a definite consideration.   My overall point was not to compare and contrast Hodgson to Halcovage or the players they recruited. Rather it was  comparing the approach of going with transfers vs going with freshman to construct the roster.

Has anyone seen the majors of our basketball team? Seriously 😳 

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So rock bottom is official. Buffalo got no post season accolades, not even MAC Honorable Mention for Sy. Not that I disagree, but there are basically 20 spots( 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Honorable) and we have none of them, truly embarrassing. Certainly All-Defense was out the window. Definitely not 6th man. Hopefully better things to come!

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17 minutes ago, TheCommish said:

Has anyone seen the majors of our basketball team? Seriously 😳 

Lots of Communications and Exploratory. 

Legal Studies in Coaching for Sy? What is that exactly? Is that really a major? Sounds more like something you would create. I know he graduated in December, so maybe this s a grad program?

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1 minute ago, UBinMD said:

So rock bottom is official. Buffalo got no post season accolades, not even MAC Honorable Mention for Sy. Not that I disagree, but there are basically 20 spots( 1st, 2nd, 3rd, Honorable) and we have none of them, truly embarrassing. Certainly All-Defense was out the window. Definitely not 6th man. Hopefully better things to come!

Notably no freshmen on the all freshmen team, which favors bad teams because freshmen get to put up numbers without veteran competition. The rebuild is going strong, look out for us in 3 years if nobody backs up the Brinks truck and steals our freshmen stars

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Just now, trueblue32 said:

Notably no freshmen on the all freshmen team, which favors bad teams because freshmen get to put up numbers without veteran competition. The rebuild is going strong, look out for us in 3 years if nobody backs up the Brinks truck and steals our freshmen stars

AJ might have cracked it if he hadn't gotten hurt, but Sabol would have been the only other option and that would have been a stretch. 

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19 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

AJ might have cracked it if he hadn't gotten hurt, but Sabol would have been the only other option and that would have been a stretch. 

Honestly don't think Boldin deserved it either. Ranks among the top 10 MAC freshmen in mins:

PRPG! (usage adjusted ORtg):
Sabol - 7th
Boldin - 9th

PER:
Boldin - 6th
Sabol - 8th

Box Plus/Minus:
Boldin - 6th
Sabol - 9th

Win Shares:
Boldin - 8th
Sabol - 9th

EvanMiya's BPR:
Sabol - 8th
Boldin - 10th

In a "rebuilding year" in the worst MAC in 20+ years, Halcovage brought in 5 freshmen and went 0 for 5 on all-freshmen players.

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1 minute ago, trueblue32 said:

Honestly don't think Boldin deserved it either. Ranks among the top 10 MAC freshmen in mins:

PRPG! (usage adjusted ORtg):
Sabol - 7th
Boldin - 9th

PER:
Boldin - 6th
Sabol - 8th

Box Plus/Minus:
Boldin - 6th
Sabol - 9th

Win Shares:
Boldin - 8th
Sabol - 9th

EvanMiya's BPR:
Sabol - 8th
Boldin - 10th

In a "rebuilding year" in the worst MAC in 20+ years, Halcovage brought in 5 freshmen and went 0 for 5 on all-freshmen players.

I agree with you, I don't think either were deserving either, but I thought if either Boldin was a tick higher. These numbers are sobering for 2024-25.

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On 3/10/2024 at 7:01 PM, BrooklynBull said:

How about for a great education!

That isn’t unique to just UB. How about he committed because he had a guaranteed offer for a free education and wanted plenty of playing time as a freshman. Before he potentially moves on from Single A UB to potentially Double A St Bonaventure or Triple A Houston or Duke that is the reality today of Division I college basketball. With the goal getting playing time to move up the NIL ladder through the transfer portal with the end goal the Majors the NBA upon graduation. The sad thing is UB use to be Double A level basketball but has since dropped down a level because of there own doing being cheap hiring a head coach George Halcovage is an example you get what you paid for and no NIL because it’s about education at UB. Do I have it all down the UB donors way and belief’s in UB athletics core mission education. The thing is the joke is on UB athletics because UB Bulls men’s basketball have been left behind. UB athletics has joined Canisius and Niagara University as Single A basketball teams today. If you want to go back to Double A basketball status like St Bonaventure Bonnies basketball today the price is $1.3 million dollars a year head coach Mark Schmidt makes almost double what UB football pays Pete Lembo which is a bargain for his coaching experience to get him for $725,000 a season. And the Bonnies NIL is between $1,500 to $2,000 a season for the starting players. That is the bottom minimum level to get to Double A basketball back at UB again.
 

Whatever nonsense UB donors say doesn’t matter we saw how they screwed up the firing and hiring Jim Whitesell new head basketball coach process. It’s a joke George Halcovage still has a job 27 losses what a complete clueless idiot. UB men’s basketball didn’t have one player on the All MAC team’s announced at the MAC tournament in Cleveland how incredibly sad. UB Bulls men didn’t even make it to Cleveland we sucked so bad. Fire George Halcovage I can’t even look at that man on the side lines it’s like pick up street basketball with no head coach at Martin Luther King Park in Buffalo. You would most likely see more basketball talent at Martin Luther King Park than what you see at UB Bulls basketball games it’s a total disgrace. If UB is just about the education why have Division I athletics anymore what is the point. At least in the past you didn’t have the television access you have now in our East Coast Conference days. The whole world is watching potentially on ESPN+ television streaming. UB Bulls basketball is lower than Reggie Witherspoon holy cow there is nothing positive about this UB Bulls men’s basketball season we just flushed the season down the drain and the UB Bulls players didn’t seem to care and it seems neither does the clueless head coach that leads them in my opinion. UB Horns Up! Go Bulls! Let’s Go Buffalo 

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