Game Day 7pm vs Bowling Green

[MuchMany]

25 minutes ago, Chet said:

The 30 assists was tremendous. 

I thought you had the half court shot contest. That second one was down! 

[enrique14150]

What an outstanding performance tonight by the Bulls, start to finish, front to back.  Every phase.  Usually basketball games ebb and flow, each team takes turns going on a run...except tonight UB went on a run mid first half and never looked back.  Defense, offense, they were focused on the task and sharp in execution.  30 assists!  Thirty!  56% shooting, held BG to 35%.  BG had twice as many foul shots, rebounds were the same...UB made their shots.  Credit to everyone for a great response tonight after the last two on the road.

Curtis - he can shoot from anywhere.  He's getting deadly from three; he can drive to the net; he's working on those CJ or Lamonte-like floaters. 
Zid - his best game so far? Plays with so much purpose and confidence - sometimes too much, but just right today.  Looks to be healthy and rolling.
Foster - as time goes on we're seeing him try more and more ambitious passes.  When they work they're really nice.
Jonnivius - his best game so far?  He has REALLY picked up his intensity and workrate, he fights a lot harder for the ball now.  You could tell how pumped he was too by his reactions during the game and after.  Great to see him taking positive steps.
Jack - compare to where he was 2 months ago.  His defense is a lot better, and his movement inside to the basket for passes is getting really good.  Teams are going to start watching that on film, I'm curious to see if they back off to guard that, what other things that opens up for the Bulls offense.
Kanye and Kidtrell - it's great to see guys coming off the bench and playing meaningful minutes like this, they have good depth at guard
Adams - got in some early foul trouble, which limited his minutes.
Caesar - I don't know what's up but I'm not going to speculate, nor am I interested in speculation.

BG - it was just not their day.  We expected a close game since they had the same record.  They matched the Bulls on rebounds but that wasn't enough.  I thought early that with Hardnett out, BG would try to get inside and get the big guys into foul trouble, which would limit UB's options.  UB is getting better at boxing out and battling under there, tipping the ball, keeping it alive.  Agee looked like he was so mad he was going to do something worthy of a technical at some point.  For a guy averaging 11 points a game, they gave him a hard time.  The game was topped off by a sour old BG fan behind us whining about his own team, UB, everything afterwards.

The next steps for this team are to play better on the road, but first, how they match up against Toledo, one of the best in the conference.  Tonight the three's were dropping and they were moving it around at will.  We saw on the road that they have to figure out what to do when the outside shots aren't dropping, or the big guys get in foul trouble, or they have to play a different way because the opponent is shutting something down.  All part of the progress process.  Great job tonight Bulls, keep it up.  I'm trying my best to just ignore the people who get down after the first ten minutes or have already made their mind up about everything.  This team keeps being fun to watch and I really want to see what they can do with a fired up crowd backing them up.

Edited January 18, 2023 by enrique14150

[enrique14150]

Also - this whole thing about how they're doing on the road compared to at home - I thought about the strength of schedule.  Look at who they've played at home versus who they've played on the road/neutral sites.  It's not a perfect comparison, but they had Canisius, Daemen, Fisher, and Canton at home. WVU, UConn, Michigan State on the road.  Those wins over Colgate, Bona, Mason, and Ohio were solid.  I keep being mindful of the big picture: the team looks much better now than in early November, and the point of this is to see progress leading up to the MAC tournament.

I don't care about KenPom or RPI ratings.  UB is in a one-bid conference, all that matters in the end is league play and what you do in March (and put the Little Three teams to the sword).  Get better and play your best then.

Edited January 18, 2023 by enrique14150

[John]

13 hours ago, enrique14150 said:

What an outstanding performance tonight by the Bulls, start to finish, front to back.  Every phase.  Usually basketball games ebb and flow, each team takes turns going on a run...except tonight UB went on a run mid first half and never looked back.  Defense, offense, they were focused on the task and sharp in execution.  30 assists!  Thirty!  56% shooting, held BG to 35%.  BG had twice as many foul shots, rebounds were the same...UB made their shots.  Credit to everyone for a great response tonight after the last two on the road.

Curtis - he can shoot from anywhere.  He's getting deadly from three; he can drive to the net; he's working on those CJ or Lamonte-like floaters. 
Zid - his best game so far? Plays with so much purpose and confidence - sometimes too much, but just right today.  Looks to be healthy and rolling.
Foster - as time goes on we're seeing him try more and more ambitious passes.  When they work they're really nice.
Jonnivius - his best game so far?  He has REALLY picked up his intensity and workrate, he fights a lot harder for the ball now.  You could tell how pumped he was too by his reactions during the game and after.  Great to see him taking positive steps.
Jack - compare to where he was 2 months ago.  His defense is a lot better, and his movement inside to the basket for passes is getting really good.  Teams are going to start watching that on film, I'm curious to see if they back off to guard that, what other things that opens up for the Bulls offense.
Kanye and Kidtrell - it's great to see guys coming off the bench and playing meaningful minutes like this, they have good depth at guard
Adams - got in some early foul trouble, which limited his minutes.
Caesar - I don't know what's up but I'm not going to speculate, nor am I interested in speculation.

BG - it was just not their day.  We expected a close game since they had the same record.  They matched the Bulls on rebounds but that wasn't enough.  I thought early that with Hardnett out, BG would try to get inside and get the big guys into foul trouble, which would limit UB's options.  UB is getting better at boxing out and battling under there, tipping the ball, keeping it alive.  Agee looked like he was so mad he was going to do something worthy of a technical at some point.  For a guy averaging 11 points a game, they gave him a hard time.  The game was topped off by a sour old BG fan behind us whining about his own team, UB, everything afterwards.

The next steps for this team are to play better on the road, but first, how they match up against Toledo, one of the best in the conference.  Tonight the three's were dropping and they were moving it around at will.  We saw on the road that they have to figure out what to do when the outside shots aren't dropping, or the big guys get in foul trouble, or they have to play a different way because the opponent is shutting something down.  All part of the progress process.  Great job tonight Bulls, keep it up.  I'm trying my best to just ignore the people who get down after the first ten minutes or have already made their mind up about everything.  This team keeps being fun to watch and I really want to see what they can do with a fired up crowd backing them up.

Do agree. A. Great game and just a complete reversal in all of their stat lines from previous games. With a limited bench because of injuries maybe a blessing in disguise when Adams played limited minutes and other players like Blocker and Kanye Jones got more playing time. What a difference it makes when Jack and Smith have productive games both offensively and defensively. The big question is can UB be close to having that same kind of consistency?? Toledo will definitely present a totally different challenge on Friday. Are we going to get some larger crowds today and Friday? We will be there as we always are. Go Bullls!!

[squire17]

According to the BN, Ceasar was held out due to an ankle injury.

Edited January 18, 2023 by squire17

[ChubbyHubby]

It was good meeting you the other night, MuchMany.  Good to put a face to a screen name.   Loved pretty much everything about this game.  Zid was unstoppable.  The best part...?  They shot 75% on free throws.  If they had done that in every game, we'd have at least 2 more W's, and maybe more.  That should be the minimum for a D-1 team.  Hoping for a good crowd tomorrow night.  Also hoping the the in house announcer stops calling K. Jones, Curtiss.  🙂  Just busting chops there.  He does a really good job.

[John]

6 hours ago, ChubbyHubby said:

It was good meeting you the other night, MuchMany.  Good to put a face to a screen name.   Loved pretty much everything about this game.  Zid was unstoppable.  The best part...?  They shot 75% on free throws.  If they had done that in every game, we'd have at least 2 more W's, and maybe more.  That should be the minimum for a D-1 team.  Hoping for a good crowd tomorrow night.  Also hoping the the in house announcer stops calling K. Jones, Curtiss.  🙂  Just busting chops there.  He does a really good job.

Agree he does a nice job but we can’t fault him as K.Jones has barely got off the bench the entire year. If Hardnett, Caesar and Mading not available Friday maybe we will see more of K. Jones.