Bulls Players Madness - Sweet Sixteen

[admin]

Alright.  We're onto the Sweet Sixteen.

I see that we're really heavy on the later generation players.  Understandable.

Some notes:

Sam Pellom - Many consider him the greatest basketball player at UB.
http://www.ubbulls.com/HOF/bios/pellom_samuel?view=bio

Jim Horne - Scored 1857 points, averaged 24.9 points (pre 3 point shot), Harlem Globetrotter.  Doing the math, in 1950s they played a lot less games.  
http://www.ubbulls.com/HOF/bios/horne_james?view=bio

Martinho - 
Martinho was this small skinny white kid who everyone thought was a scrub.  Then out of nowhere, he pulled off these passes and 3s.  Not to be racist, but he was especially loved by all those white frat boys.
http://www.ubbulls.com/HOF/bios/martinho_michael?view=bio

Rasaun Young - 
A brash player.  Not overly athletic and big, but somehow scored.  I still don't know how.  Maybe his best attribute was his strength and footwork (something not seen in SGs)
http://www.ubbulls.com/HOF/bios/young_rasaun?view=bio

Curtis Blackmore - All-time career rebounder (wonder if McCrea broke his record)
http://www.ubbulls.com/HOF/bios/blackmore_curtis?view=bio

 

[121Merrimac]

+1, for the picture 

[skrabukes]

I have no upsets in these match-ups. They all seem relatively one-sided to the favorites in this round, with regard to each player's worth to UB basketball at the time of their careers. Some of my UB all-time favorites hit this board...unfortunately they get bounced in my bracket.

[BrooklynBull]

2 hours ago, admin said:

Sam Pellom - Many consider him the greatest basketball player at UB.
http://www.ubbulls.com/HOF/bios/pellom_samuel?view=bio

Jim Horne - Scored 1857 points, averaged 24.9 points (pre 3 point shot), Harlem Globetrotter.  Doing the math, in 1950s they played a lot less games.  
http://www.ubbulls.com/HOF/bios/horne_james?view=bio

If you are going to mention Horne with the Globetrotters, you should also mention Pellom with the Washington Generals (before the Hawks and Bucks).

[admin]

Tight match between Young/Watt and Martinho/Hamilton.

Right now both number 1 seeds look like they will fall.
Tough to compare eras, but Young and Martinho were a dynamic duo.

Battle crushing his backcourt running mate Cage.

[skrabukes]

33 minutes ago, admin said:

Tight match between Young/Watt and Martinho/Hamilton.

Right now both number 1 seeds look like they will fall.
Tough to compare eras, but Young and Martinho were a dynamic duo.

Battle crushing his backcourt running mate Cage.

Hence the skewing of the voting, with most voters probably only having watched the more recent guys. While I enjoyed Big Shot Blake, he certainly shouldn't be beating Martinho, as he was a scoring machine back in the Mid-Con days, as was Rasaun Young.

[121Merrimac]

As a student, I got to watch Martinho and Young in their underclassmen years. At the time, I didn’t realize how high they would soar. 

It’s odd, I follow college sports more now than I did when I was in college.  

The bias toward recent players in this vote, particularly for these two, feels wrong to me. 

[SGBull]

While looking up some of the players I was voting on, I realized something. We finally are above .500 as a program and don't look like we will be dropping below anytime soon!

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/buffalo/

[UBigbobby]

22 hours ago, 121Merrimac said:

As a student, I got to watch Martinho and Young in their underclassmen years. At the time, I didn’t realize how high they would soar. 

It’s odd, I follow college sports more now than I did when I was in college.  

The bias toward recent players in this vote, particularly for these two, feels wrong to me. 

I would counter that, though, by saying the modern players they're up against are fairly clearly better.  Young and Martinho were the best players on some very bleh-bad Mid-Con teams.  Mitchell Watt was a MAC player of the year and an honorable mention All-American and played in the Reese's College All Star Game.  While I'm sure you have fond memories of guys like Young  but it's tough to argue that he was better than Watt.  

[skrabukes]

Just now, UBigbobby said:

I would counter that, though, by saying the modern players they're up against are fairly clearly better.  Young and Martinho were the best players on some very bleh-bad Mid-Con teams.  Mitchell Watt was a MAC player of the year and an honorable mention All-American and played in the Reese's College All Star Game.  While I'm sure you have fond memories of guys like Young  but it's tough to argue that he was better than Watt.  

Well, in that case, players from the current era are far better than the "bleh-bad" (I don't disagree with your description of them) teams of old. Of course the current players are better. We are in a bigger and better league, which allows UB to recruit better, and have better coaching staffs and much higher budgets. The way I voted was based on how good I felt the player was for their career versus the time from which they played. If we just want the best 5 basketball players, we might have 5 guys from the the Hurley days-present (plus possibly Watt). All players are bigger/faster/stronger now than many years ago. Training has improved, budgets have increased, recruiting has gone global. I mean, the current teams aren't putting Zaid Alkhas and Leonard Tangishaka out there. Those guys wouldn't even sniff this team. Watt was great by the end of his career at UB (and beyond), but Young was a big contributor over his entire career. Is a 6'3 guy who scored many of his points in the paint in the Mid-Con going to truly compare to a 6'10 star in the MAC? It's just nice to consider the "old" guys for their eras with regard to the voting.

[121Merrimac]

33 minutes ago, UBigbobby said:

...  While I'm sure you have fond memories of guys like Young...

Fair point.  I realize I sounded like a hypocrite, replacing a current player bias with a player I watched bias.  In truth however, I was too busy with my own sport to attend more than a few other sporting events.  I’ve seen much more of Watt, than I have of Young.  My vote was mostly based on a comparison of 1900 Mid-Con points vs. 1050 MAC points.  Having seen one of the players live was just a fun footnote. 

[Kevin]

I mean I just vote for the best player. Unfortunately many have come from Hurley on. 

UB had some terrible years and have just gone over .500 as a program. The players who made it to the tournament and/or won games are probably going to be in the elite 8.

I mean if there weren't some matchups that eliminated players like Harris (who is one of the most talented to ever play here),  there would have been more modern guys. Harris vs Battle was a tough seeding. 

I don't think guys like Blackmore or Coleman would play on our current teams. 

Edited January 28, 2019 by Kevin

[BrooklynBull]

On 1/25/2019 at 8:09 AM, SGBull said:

While looking up some of the players I was voting on, I realized something. We finally are above .500 as a program and don't look like we will be dropping below anytime soon!

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/buffalo/

It is only missing from 1932-32 until 1973-74.