UB vs Canisius - 2:30pm

[Bluebird96]

A lot to like about this game. Nice to see an easy win for a change, in a game we were supposed to win. Nice to see the Bulls out-rebound their opponent. Nice to see more assists (19) than turnovers (16, still too many). Nice to see that we don’t have to jack up a ton of 3’s to win, and nice to see UB hitting a more respectable % from 3 (37.5%) and from the floor overall. Also good to see Curtis Jones emerging as the leader of this team and finding his groove from behind the arc at 39% (11 for 28) over the last 3 games.

Edited November 27, 2022 by Bluebird96

[DocCas86]

1 hour ago, Bluebird96 said:

A lot to like about this game. Nice to see an easy win for a change, in a game we were supposed to win. Nice to see the Bulls out-rebound their opponent. Nice to see more assists (19) than turnovers (16, still too many). Nice to see that we don’t have to jack up a ton of 3’s to win, and nice to see UB hitting a more respectable % from 3 (37.5%) and from the floor overall. Also good to see Curtis Jones emerging as the leader of this team and finding his groove from behind the arc at 11/28 over the last 3 games.

Agree nice to get a comfortable win. Hoping the team can continue to develop, a tough one with St. Bonaventure next.

I am happy to see Jones development. Lots of balance after that.  My main concern is the status of three bigs, Chatman, Mading and Jack.  Good time for Smith to have a solid game, but hoping we get some reinforcements soon.

Edited November 27, 2022 by DocCas86

[DocCas86]

8 hours ago, UBinMD said:

I’m starting the thread and wearing my black socks. Let’s go Bulls! Opening as a 6.5 favorite.

The black socks strike again! 😆

[Tee4three]

Good win, they did what they needed to do and then some

Get a another win against the Bonnie's then see where UB stacks up against a solid Tulane team

[UBinMD]

16 minutes ago, DocCas86 said:

The black socks strike again! 😆

Bring on the Bonnies! My socks are ready!

[enrique14150]

Hopefully people saw some good signs of progress today.  A really good all-around win for the Bulls.  Statistically, they were better at a lot of the things they need to do: rebounding was about even; shooting percentage was in the high 40's; hit their foul shots.  As one of our group pointed out, they were intense on defense but were reading things a little better, which meant fewer fouls.  The Bulls went to a zone defense for a lot of the second half, which was interesting and ended up being effective. This was a close game first half until the Bulls opened up a double-digit lead off some defensive stops.  They started finding more passes underneath like they want to in the second half.

Curtis - had some great steals off high pressure and was hitting from three.  Possibly his best all-around game as a Bull.  
Powell - went hard to the net like he tends to. Dunks with authority.
Smith - he's big but he seems to have no strength.  Which means he has to get better at positioning.  Today he played with more forceful confidence, went hard to the net a few times and battled better underneath for rebounds in the second half.
Hardnett - it's taken years but he finally has enough touch and strength to be effective at his position.
Caesar - the sparkplug off the bench.  Had a couple baskets early when they needed them.
Adams - FOUR travels in the first half!  But had a couple nice buckets and rebounds in the second half.  Glad to see him focus and get better.
Blocker - lived up to his name with a HUGE block at the end of the second half.
(I'm guessing that Isaac Jack was hurt?)

Canisius - they made 8 of 36 from three.  I felt like some good old-fashioned Reggie ball (grinding half-court offense, suffocating defense) would've given UB a problem, but they kept jacking up three's.  The turnovers must've been driving Reggie nuts.  Their nearly-deceased fanbase, what's left of it, didn't look happy at halftime.  Lots of crossed arms, wondering "we used to be a big deal 60 years ago, what gives?"

Beating those Little Three teams never gets old.  Bona will be a lot tougher than this.  But UB is starting to look like a team out there.

Crowd - about what you expect during break, on a rainy day, when there's football on TV.  The program really needs to figure out how to engage the significant portion of the student body that commutes from within the area.  It can't just be the people on campus.  I hope more people start to notice that this is an interesting team that, while they're still figuring it out, plays very hard.  Also, please don't schedule an event at the Center for the Arts letting out at the same time as a basketball game - it's a mess getting out of there.

[rma]

45 minutes ago, enrique14150 said:

Their nearly-deceased fanbase, what's left of it, didn't look happy at halftime.  Lots of crossed arms, wondering "we used to be a big deal 60 years ago, what gives?"

Hopefully we can do the same to the other L3 school that has a similar fanbase demographic.

[JFH47]

The fans at halftime didn’t look happy because there is NO INTERNET SERVICE - Tripathi please correct this!!!

Edited November 27, 2022 by JFH47

[clodney]

15 hours ago, enrique14150 said:

The program really needs to figure out how to engage the significant portion of the student body that commutes from within the area.  It can't just be the people on campus.  

THIS! If we could solve this then we wouldn't need the NYBI, however I found that every local kid I knew at UB was so attached to Buffalo Pro Sports that they couldn't care less about following UB. You solve this one and it won't matter if we alienate the rest of the state.

As for the game, I'm glad we took care of business against a pretty bad Canisius squad. They live by the 3 and die by the 3 and our defense held them in check. More importantly, our Assist-to-Turnover ratio on offense was positive. That has only happened 3x this year aligning with our only 3 wins (Colgate, GMU, Canisius). Pass the ball, fellas! It works.  

I'm still worried that our ridiculous non-Conference SOS is going to lead to some downtrodden attitude come MAC play. 9 of our 11 nonconference games (excl. D3) are against teams currently in the top 130 of kenpom and the 2 easy games (Howard, Canisius) are now behind us. Our next 4 D1 games are against St Bona(#112), Tulane (#84), WVU(#29), and Mich St (#30) and they're all on the road except the Bonnies. December will be a defining month. 

[DocCas86]

2 hours ago, clodney said:

THIS! If we could solve this then we wouldn't need the NYBI, however I found that every local kid I knew at UB was so attached to Buffalo Pro Sports that they couldn't care less about following UB. You solve this one and it won't matter if we alienate the rest of the state.

As for the game, I'm glad we took care of business against a pretty bad Canisius squad. They live by the 3 and die by the 3 and our defense held them in check. More importantly, our Assist-to-Turnover ratio on offense was positive. That has only happened 3x this year aligning with our only 3 wins (Colgate, GMU, Canisius). Pass the ball, fellas! It works.  

I'm still worried that our ridiculous non-Conference SOS is going to lead to some downtrodden attitude come MAC play. 9 of our 11 nonconference games (excl. D3) are against teams currently in the top 130 of kenpom and the 2 easy games (Howard, Canisius) are now behind us. Our next 4 D1 games are against St Bona(#112), Tulane (#84), WVU(#29), and Mich St (#30) and they're all on the road except the Bonnies. December will be a defining month. 

Dec will be a tough month, no doubt.  Hopefully the team is able to hold their own and build confidence heading into MAC.  The Bonnies and Tulane are a good yardstick for the best in MAC (Kent, Toledo and Akron) so UB needs to be competitive in those games to feel good heading into MAC. 

Edit to add more context:

Here are games that I am focused on in OOC schedule, as these teams are in the range of the top MAC teams (Kent - 80; Toledo 102; and Akron 117) .

Only six games total - so by no means definitive, but a split of the St. Bonaventure / Tulane games or better has me feeling like the Bulls can compete with the top of the MAC.  

Edited November 28, 2022 by DocCas86

[rma]

2 hours ago, clodney said:

however I found that every local kid I knew at UB was so attached to Buffalo Pro Sports that they couldn't care less about following UB

Yep. I was hoping that the downfall of the Sabres combined with a good UB MBB (and WBB) squad would bring locals in. It might have, but not a ton stuck around. Crowd for WBB yesterday was much better than early FLJ years but MBB was still about average for a late Reggie era. 

[Tee4three]

1 hour ago, rma said:

Yep. I was hoping that the downfall of the Sabres combined with a good UB MBB (and WBB) squad would bring locals in. It might have, but not a ton stuck around. Crowd for WBB yesterday was much better than early FLJ years but MBB was still about average for a late Reggie era. 

COVID killed the fan momentum they were building, but a run into March I think would bring them right back 

They were slowly starting to build a fan base

[clodney]

38 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

COVID killed the fan momentum they were building

That and the University failing to spend any money to keep it going. 

[promotherobot]

2 hours ago, clodney said:

That and the University failing to spend any money to keep it going. 

Let's be real for a moment. UB lacks the wealthy donor base other large schools have. The school simply doesn't produce a lot of wealthy alums and the few there are really don't have much school spirit. When I was there in the late 70's there was ZERO school spirit. In fact the notion of spirit for SUNY was absurd. Even today, the campus has all the charm of a federal prison. There's no student downtown. There's just classrooms, dorms and meal halls. Not much else. There's nothing for a student to take with them emotionally after graduation.

 

[rma]

26 minutes ago, promotherobot said:

Let's be real for a moment. UB lacks the wealthy donor base other large schools have. The school simply doesn't produce a lot of wealthy alums and the few there are really don't have much school spirit. When I was there in the late 70's there was ZERO school spirit. In fact the notion of spirit for SUNY was absurd. Even today, the campus has all the charm of a federal prison. There's no student downtown. There's just classrooms, dorms and meal halls. Not much else. There's nothing for a student to take with them emotionally after graduation.

 

I remember the student tailgate lot after Baylor. I’ve never seen anything close to that since. Administration shooting itself in the foot every chance it can get. 

[Chet]

3 hours ago, clodney said:

That and the University failing to spend any money to keep it going. 

ADMA hasn't been great. The buck stops with him. Every athletic director brings their own interests, background, and skills to the position. To be the best, an AD should strive for continuous improvement. Not sure where the improvements have been made under Mark's leadership. It's true that the field house was completed under his watch, but much of that was done by others.

The department had so much momentum from football along with mens and womens basketball. All of that appears to be gone.

My interactions with Mark have been very limited so my perspective is very limited, but he seems to lack vision and inspiration. There doesn't appear to be much tenacity.

Of course, the bureaucracy of SUNY makes his job more difficult. That alone could be a big reason for the regression or stagnation of the department.

Edited November 28, 2022 by Chet

[Tee4three]

1 hour ago, promotherobot said:

Let's be real for a moment. UB lacks the wealthy donor base other large schools have. The school simply doesn't produce a lot of wealthy alums and the few there are really don't have much school spirit. When I was there in the late 70's there was ZERO school spirit. In fact the notion of spirit for SUNY was absurd. Even today, the campus has all the charm of a federal prison. There's no student downtown. There's just classrooms, dorms and meal halls. Not much else. There's nothing for a student to take with them emotionally after graduation.

 

A wealthy donor base exists, just as you said though no school spirit/don't necessarily care about sports/mid majors programs don't necessarily inspire them

It's one of the reasons Oats was very confident he would be able to build "Gonzaga of the east" 

[enrique14150]

If you're just coming to watch basketball, you can do that at home on TV.  It has to be a FUN time going somewhere to do something.  And I think that comes down to creating that college basketball atmosphere that you see at places on TV and want to be part of.  The DJ's they have aren't helping - they play generic arena or party music.  They have filled the end zone at times this season with students, but most of them don't do anything.  That's where True Blue needs to step up.  Not just get them there, but get people to get active during the game.  Either people don't know what to do, or don't care.  But if they're there, that's half the problem solved.  Once they're there, that's the chance to have people have a great time and want to come back.  If it was lame, they won't.  Don't ever play "Cotton Eye Joe" ever again.  The atmosphere has gotten stale, and it's usually up to the kids to set the tone.

The athletic department needs to figure out how to keep that college basketball atmosphere on life support during the ridiculously long winter break (due to that winter session).  That's going to come down to marketing and outreach.  

Scheduling is crucial too.  When I was in undergrad I didn't get up on a Saturday (it was my one day to sleep in) till noon.  I was the first one up of the four of us.  My roommate (who was probably out till almost dawn) didn't get up till like 4 pm.  So Saturday afternoon games might be a tough sell for a lot of students.  Having it on consistent times helps for everyone (Tuesday evenings, Saturday afternoons).  But whenever they have a Friday night game, man you get into the arena and you can feel the buzz.  It feels like a big game.  The students really show up for the Friday night games.

And yet, I assume almost everyone on here is not a current UB student.  What do we know?  Maybe they need to talk to some of them and see what works.  I do not know what (if any) initiatives the athletic department and True Blue are taking/have taken to do anything about this.

I think the arena is in good shape, the main concourse looks great with the trophy cases, blue accents, hall of fame, and photos.  

[BrooklynBull]

18 hours ago, enrique14150 said:

If you're just coming to watch basketball, you can do that at home on TV. 

When I go to a game I go to see a game.  Being at a game live is different than watching it at home.

I have never once nor will I ever decide to go to a game because of some side show that goes on during the game.  If I want music I would go to a concert, a bar or a club where music is the attraction.

The food offered for sale at a game is irrelevant as well as to whether I go to a game.  If I eat at a game it is some sort of junk food, popcorn or a pretzel. 

As for when the conference games are played, they are Tuesday and Saturdays.  The Friday conference games are for TV.  The two Friday night games are on CBS Sports Network and ESPNU.  Possibly a Saturday could get picked up for a national broadcast, and then TV will dictate game time.

When I was at UB about 15 minutes before a game we would leave the dorms and walk over to Clark Hall and watch the game, regardless of game time.  Did we cheer?  Yes and without a "student section"  The way to get better attendance for the on campus students is to black out the games in the dorms for streaming and on TV channels.  If you want to see the game they would be forced to actually go to the game.

[BullBoy]

On 11/28/2022 at 5:41 PM, Chet said:

ADMA hasn't been great. The buck stops with him. Every athletic director brings their own interests, background, and skills to the position. To be the best, an AD should strive for continuous improvement. Not sure where the improvements have been made under Mark's leadership. It's true that the field house was completed under his watch, but much of that was done by others.

The department had so much momentum from football along with mens and womens basketball. All of that appears to be gone.

My interactions with Mark have been very limited so my perspective is very limited, but he seems to lack vision and inspiration. There doesn't appear to be much tenacity.

Of course, the bureaucracy of SUNY makes his job more difficult. That alone could be a big reason for the regression or stagnation of the department.

Let's also not forget.. He is a football guy... It is why Football got another new toy yesterday with the sports performance center... They can say it is for the full department, but do you really think basketball or volleyball is going to go outside to use the facility when they have stuff in the arena.

In my mind, ADMA doesn't really care about the success or failures of basketball because he is cutting from them to fund a .500 football team.. But hey 6-6 gets you in a bowl game and we can celebrate, while 16-16 in a basketball season gets you fired.

[rma]

On 12/1/2022 at 11:04 AM, enrique14150 said:

That's where True Blue needs to step up.  Not just get them there, but get people to get active during the game.  Either people don't know what to do, or don't care.

I really wish the student section would stand during the games. There was a decent stretch of a few years where the entire student section was on their feet for most/all of the game.

[bullsbball]

2 hours ago, rma said:

I really wish the student section would stand during the games. There was a decent stretch of a few years where the entire student section was on their feet for most/all of the game.

What does standing for a game prove? Students (as well as all the fans) just need to be more vocal and get into the game. 

[DooleyBull06]

6 hours ago, bullsbball said:

What does standing for a game prove? Students (as well as all the fans) just need to be more vocal and get into the game. 

It’s not about proving something. It’s about supporting the team. Providing a home court advantage. Making alumni, which is a smaller venue, a loud place for visitors. To his point, when I attended UB from 02-06 we stood for all 40 minutes. It was just what we did. And anyone can check the records and those who attended in those years can attest, alumni was rocking. I’m not gonna say it hasn’t rocked since, I’m simple agreeing that the atmosphere is different. We don’t need a dj. The play on the court, the band, cheerleaders and dazzlers (if they are still a thing) is more than enough. Instead of providing a college type atmosphere we grasp at straws to get ppl to come. Yes the team needs to be better but there needs to be better giveaways and student engagement. On all ends. Rant over.

[enrique14150]

19 hours ago, BrooklynBull said:

When I go to a game I go to see a game.  Being at a game live is different than watching it at home.

BrooklynBull - heck yeah, dude.

[bullsbball]

11 hours ago, DooleyBull06 said:

To his point, when I attended UB from 02-06 we stood for all 40 minutes. It was just what we did. And anyone can check the records and those who attended in those years can attest, alumni was rocking. I’m not gonna say it hasn’t rocked since, I’m simple agreeing that the atmosphere is different. 

I'm still trying to understand how standing during the game correlates to making the arena "rock".   

I've been to many games. Never stood. But EVERYBODY made to arena "rock" (including having a good team).

This year it will be tough. Seems like season tickets are way down. Hopefully the students can make up for that.

Edited December 3, 2022 by bullsbball