Ohio at UB - 1/3/23

[UBinMD]

3 hours ago, DocCas86 said:

I thought Hardnett was not 100% last year and that contributed to a fall off in his numbers.   You may recall his second year with the team (2020-21), in MAC play he played about 20 minutes a game, averaged 7.2 ppg and 4.5 rpg.    So the current progression is more in-line with that year.  He is often the hardest working on the court - definitely hope that continues.

MAC Conference Stats

Another thing that has improved for him is his fouls. In years past he seemed to get a number of fouls in more limited minutes and often 2 in a row that caused him to head to the bench. More disciplined so far this year. Playing 28 minutes against Ohio was a really solid effort. He was in with Jack and/or Jo Smith many times with 3 guards so that was a nice combo I thought. His 3's are also being taken at more appropriate times and are not forced, they happen during normal game flow, so that is also an improvement.

[John]

7 hours ago, enrique14150 said:

I joked with a couple people around me, "was there a gas leak in the locker room?" Sometimes I shake my head because basketball is a game of runs.  How many times have these games come down to the last 3 minutes/6 possessions?  Last night did.  All game I kept thinking, this won't be easy and it'll be close at the end.  I'm not on the bench so I don't know this - but I wonder if, down the stretch, the coaches wanted them to protect the ball and don't give it back right away off a fast break turnover.  

And to someone else - the only thing that went cold at the end was their foul shooting.  Two big buckets in the last couple minutes gave them a 5-6 point cushion and left Ohio chasing it.  Do better at the free throw line and they win this going away.

But I'm trying to realize that this was a tough game and wasn't always going to look pretty.  There are a lot of guys on this team who are not the finished article yet - or the complete package - but so far they're finding a way to combine those things into something like a team.  Which coming into this season was a serious concern.

A lot of good comments of many fans tonight. Do agree in these MAC games the difference will be who makes free throws when so many of these teams will be evenly matched. I think we all noticed that in the last few seconds of the first half that Jack missed a layup that would of put us up by I think double digits and Ohio threw up a three pointer from just over half court that went in and we were just up be seven?? We came out in the second half like we were sleep walking and were still thinking of what happened at the end of the first half. Ohio went on that run and Whitesell called a timeout and really lit into the players. The team and especially Hardnett came out with great intensity with some rebounds and hustle that permeated to the rest of the team. Also the officiating is what it usually is where the fouls were light in the first half where they let the players play but as in most games the officials call crazy amount of fouls that really bog the game down. UB needs to be able to close games out and get the ball to their best player in Jones. Also Powell was dressed and was in warmups but did not play. What is his status?? On the marketing, UB does not market this team at all and I wonder how many season ticket holders gave up their seats after last year?? The years of Hurley and Oats this team marketed itself with their great play and the marquee players they had. This administration is just sitting on the hands and just collecting a paycheck and Alnutt is just looking for an upgrade in a job. Overall a good team win and looking forward to Saturday. Go Bulls!!!

[skrabukes]

Guys played well. Were there stretches of less than stellar play, but every team does that at times. The game was extremely entertaining and it was awesome to see the effort and great team play overall on both ends of the floor. Always a good thing to open up MAC play with a win, especially against Ohio. Hopefully they can string a few together to start off. Love the positive vibes this group gives off as a team, seems better overall than the past couple of years. Hoping for another, and a bigger crowd, on Saturday!

[bullsbball]

A few weeks ago, it was Fire Whitesell. Good to see that discussion has died down after a few wins/good games.

Also, every year around this time (i.e. when students are on break), everybody always complains about attendance and lack of marketing. The promotional budget has always been "wins". 

I wish I knew why season ticket holders didn't renew. I knew one that didn't renew because it was too hard to find people to go with her. The usual season ticket holders around me have left over the past 2 years. One was the parents of a Dazzler that graduated. Now empty seats.

Edited January 5, 2023 by bullsbball

[UB92]

3 hours ago, bullsbball said:

A few weeks ago, it was Fire Whitesell. Good to see that discussion has died down after a few wins/good games.

We got to the 4th page of the game thread before someone brought this up. 
 

I guess it is progress that you didn’t take a victory lap saying something like “where are all the Whitesell haters now”… which posters did last year after a few wins. 
 

I loved the great write ups and insights from the posters about the players in this thread, their improvements, the optimism, etc.  For me, that’s good to see.    The other part?   Not so much, but congrats to you for bringing it up.  

[DocCas86]

6 hours ago, UB92 said:

We got to the 4th page of the game thread before someone brought this up. 
 

I guess it is progress that you didn’t take a victory lap saying something like “where are all the Whitesell haters now”… which posters did last year after a few wins. 
 

I loved the great write ups and insights from the posters about the players in this thread, their improvements, the optimism, etc.  For me, that’s good to see.    The other part?   Not so much, but congrats to you for bringing it up.  

Focusing on the play and players is my preference as well. The team started MAC play on right foot, despite missing two good players.  They played hard, were going after loose balls, etc. that contributed to the 'w'.  Still a lot of work to do.

As for the comment made about 'fire Whitesell', my take is that both sides are guilty of sliding into that.  Personally it doesn't bother me, it is someone's opinion, they are free to express it.  Last year, you could see if the team lost by number of pages for game thread.  This year, not as much, mostly because we have lost some posters, which is a shame in my opinion.

Let's continue to hope for good things from this team, so we can continue to point out positives.  After all that is more fun anyway.

[enrique14150]

12 hours ago, bullsbball said:

A few weeks ago, it was Fire Whitesell. Good to see that discussion has died down after a few wins/good games.

Also, every year around this time (i.e. when students are on break), everybody always complains about attendance and lack of marketing. The promotional budget has always been "wins". 

I wish I knew why season ticket holders didn't renew. I knew one that didn't renew because it was too hard to find people to go with her. The usual season ticket holders around me have left over the past 2 years. One was the parents of a Dazzler that graduated. Now empty seats.

I've tried to just avoid acknowledging it.  I put some of the usual people on my ignore list.  Though when I look at these without logging in, I see some people post when things aren't going well, and nothing when things are good.  I think there are some that made up their mind already and nothing is going to change that.  Whatever, it's not taking anything away from me having fun this season so far. (I'm trying to put this in a way that's not starting crap, and to be fair to people who have strong opinions BECAUSE they care. I get that, I became a miserable Bills fan years ago before I just let it all go.)

As for season ticket renewals - I think any program that reaches a pinnacle, one that it's been striving towards for a long time, wonders, "okay, what now?"  (The answer is, "do it again, keep pushing to win and go as far as you can.")  I think for a lot of fans, what comes next pales in excitement to that and it's harder to get motivated.  I would imagine that places at our level like Akron, Kent, Ohio have come up against a similar problem. People get bored or complacent, it ebbs and flows.  The wild card game comeback vs Houston in 1993 didn't sell out.  20 years later, fans would've done gross things for a playoff game.  Maybe I'm the wrong person to ask, my dad started taking me to UB games as a kid in the 1980's, UB has been part of our life my whole life.  I'm not going or not going based on whether the team is good, but for a lot of people they are.  But I'll finish with this: this team is a breath of fresh air after the stifling stagnation of the previous group.  They reached their zenith with that MAC run to the final in 2020-2021.  These guys are fun to watch and they play really hard.  They don't have recognizable names (yet) but they're worth checking out.  Whether or not you're bummed that they don't go to the NCAA's every year, whether or not you like the coach, that was a fun game on Tuesday and it's always satisfying to beat Ohio.

Edited January 5, 2023 by enrique14150

[enrique14150]

Can I ask a better question? Are we ever going to see Sy Chatman play?

[clodney]

11 hours ago, bullsbball said:

A few weeks ago, it was Fire Whitesell. Good to see that discussion has died down after a few wins/good games.

I don't understand why you think that. Very few folks have been calling for his head this year (outside of 1 poster who would want him fired if he was 11-0 and ranked!). Many of us, myself included, called for his head last year since it was a perfect opportunity to pivot the program in a new direction, but now that we're stuck with him most of us feel that it wouldn't help the program in any way to change directions in the middle of a rebuild. The people on ubfan keep acting like there are constant posts about firing him and I really haven't seen that as the season has progressed.

As for the "a few wins/good games" remark. I'm not sure what you're talking about there either. We were literally blown out by every good team we faced all season long. It hasn't been the roller coaster ride that many are implying in their remarks. As a matter of fact the consistency of our wins and losses is rather amazing considering how young this team is. Take a look at our games ranked by the Opponent's KenPom.

When you listen to our fanbase we act like this is an unpredictable team with highs and lows but these rankings say otherwise. We are consistently middle-of-the-road, beating decent teams but not even competing against the big dogs. I was really hoping this team would find a way to win at least 1 of those big games since that is likely the only material benefit from playing a nonconference schedule like this. It didn't happen and imo the criticism is fair from fans, however it's all irrelevant now that we're in the MAC portion.

[enrique14150]

Clodney - fair points.  Given the state of the roster going in, I had zero expectations to compete against those top teams.  I liked how they hung within 10 of Michigan St and WVU for a good deal of the game.  UConn was been top 5 in the country.  Even the UB teams that went to the tournament, I would expect they could compete at those places but I wouldn't expect a win.  The team looks a lot better at this point in early January than they did two months ago.  I'd like those Howard and Drake games back; but I feel like those games over Colgate, George Mason, Bona, and Ohio were solid wins.  Glass half full.

Edited January 5, 2023 by enrique14150

[UBinMD]

4 minutes ago, clodney said:

I don't understand why you think that. Very few folks have been calling for his head this year (outside of 1 poster who would want him fired if he was 11-0 and ranked!). Many of us, myself included, called for his head last year since it was a perfect opportunity to pivot the program in a new direction, but now that we're stuck with him most of us feel that it wouldn't help the program in any way to change directions in the middle of a rebuild. The people on ubfan keep acting like there are constant posts about firing him and I really haven't seen that as the season has progressed.

As for the "a few wins/good games" remark. I'm not sure what you're talking about there either. We were literally blown out by every good team we faced all season long. It hasn't been the roller coaster ride that many are implying in their remarks. As a matter of fact the consistency of our wins and losses is rather amazing considering how young this team is. Take a look at our games ranked by the Opponent's KenPom.

When you listen to our fanbase we act like this is an unpredictable team with highs and lows but these rankings say otherwise. We are consistently middle-of-the-road, beating decent teams but not even competing against the big dogs. I was really hoping this team would find a way to win at least 1 of those big games since that is likely the only material benefit from playing a nonconference schedule like this. It didn't happen and imo the criticism is fair from fans, however it's all irrelevant now that we're in the MAC portion.

Howard was a bad loss, no doubt. Drake should have been a win, but we were still gelling at that point. I would not call the WVU game a blowout in any sense, we were in the game for most of it and the final score was a large result of the foul barrage that occurred to close that one out. JMU was just a dog game, they happen sometimes. I thought our performance against UConn was good, considering the level they are playing and how they have dominated several opponents. Tulane also was not a great game. I liked the OOC schedule and I do think it prepares us better for MAC games that a cupcake schedule of low ranked teams that you play and develop bad habits because your athleticism allows you to overcome it. I'm now focused on the MAC and think we will be competitive in every game Go Bulls!

[DocCas86]

1 hour ago, enrique14150 said:

Can I ask a better question? Are we ever going to see Sy Chatman play?

That is a good question.  It has been frustrating to me as a fan not having clarity. 

Only info that I have heard at the time of the Tulane game was that he was getting healthy and they seemed to imply that he would join the team in MAC conference play. One other post on here supported that.  I had heard potential that he redshirts even if now healthy to maintain his eligibility for next year.

If he does join this season, it likely makes us a deeper team, but need to be careful how he would be integrated.  Looking at our schedule the next few weeks; seems like a good opportunity to ease both Chatman and Powell into the rotation.  

 

[UB92]

9 hours ago, DocCas86 said:This year, not as much, mostly because we have lost some posters, which is a shame in my opinion.

That’s the thing.  Our game threads are shorter because we lost some posters.  Some were loyal people who have been here a long time, but got heat most times they were negative AND had to read those “where are the Whitesell haters now” posts after a few wins.  

This is why it was so disappointing to read that post yesterday. 

After all, if UB loses a game or is non-competitive in a game and there is criticism of coaching decisions, people get lumped into the “Fire Whitesell” crowd. 

i love the fact UB won at home as underdog in their first conference game.  Regardless of whether they almost gave it back, they didn’t.  
 

Go Bulls!

[enrique14150]

That goes both ways - I dropped off this forum for chunks of time because of the negativity.

[DocCas86]

6 hours ago, enrique14150 said:

That goes both ways - I dropped off this forum for chunks of time because of the negativity.

I was going to point this out too, but I was trying to do so without leading to a debate.  If I don't like a comment, I can counter it or ignore and move on.