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UB @ Akron - 2/18/23 7:00 pm - ESPN3


Bluebird96

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Akron currently favored by 10.0. While I’m not expecting a UB win, I am expecting the Zips to shoot closer to their average from 3 and not 67% like the last time we met, and that the Bulls will manage to shoot better than 12% from 3 like they did Tuesday vs the mighty Bobcats of Ohio.  Go Bulls! 🤘

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Bulls need a big game from CuJo, Adams to re-find his stroke, some tenacity from the 3 bigs, Powell to have 2 or fewer turnovers, and Foster to get back to distributing the ball to all of the above. I realize that’s a big wishlist….I’ll settle for 2 or 3 of those things to happen and a more entertaining game than last time vs the Zips.

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2 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

Some of that is that is Xavier Castaneda playing lights out but UB really needs to improve defensively.

 

6 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

You figure at some point the law of averages would kick in. Wouldn’t hurt for UB to play some D too

Defense would definitely help

Akron also runs a good offense 

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3 minutes ago, Bluebird96 said:

Was just thinking the same thing. For some reason we play Kent tight but Akron just seems to thrive against us

It's kinda sad but I could see UB making a run in Cleveland

Yeah not entirely sure why Akron does but they do. Some teams just have each other's numbers in the Mac I guess

 

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3 minutes ago, Tee4three said:

Might be the first last minute of play in a half in a long time I've been impressed with how UB handled it

Gotta take small wins sometimes haha

Yeah, a nice little 5-0 run to end the half. Bulls are actually taking pretty care of the ball with just 5 turnovers but they’ve seemed to have forgotten how to rebound the last few games with only 13 so far tonight. Will there be any sign of defense in the 2nd half??

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I appreciate the optimism of some of the posters above but I just don't see it. UB is likely to be a 6-8 seed which means they'll battle either Kent/Akron/Toledo in the first round. As Erie County stated, Buffalo is 0-5 against those teams. If they want any chance, they'll likely need to finish as the 5 seed and tip-off with Ball State in the first round.

The metrics are pretty revealing. UB is squarely in the middle of the pack in the MAC. There's five competitive teams at the top. There's five awful schools at the bottom. And then there's UB & NIU battling in the middle to likely see who will have the edge for the 6 seed.

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Edited by Big 4 Hoops Blogger
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1 minute ago, DooleyBull06 said:

Can I have what you’re smoking?

If they avoid Akron, none of the other teams have run the bulls out of the gym. All other teams have flaws that can be exploited

Kent will play a slow defensive pace kind of game - if the offense is on they are beatable. It's the issue in March for all defensive teams

Toledo - big time offense but no defense, plus they play a very regular season friendly kind of game vs post season style

Ball st - I think the game we have played shows what I'm talking about

I've said Akron I don't see happening and need to avoid 

Do I think logically will happen no, could I see it and not be shocked yes very easily 

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@Tee4threegenerally I’d agree with you. Anything can happen in March. And yes path is more important. However our best path involves Ball St…facing everyone else in the first round would be deadly. Furthermore, all of this aside…has this team. Has this coach, shown any of us that they can beat the top 3 teams in the conference? I’m sorry for being a downer but I have no confidence in this years team. They just haven’t shown it. At a certain point, we are who we are. 

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3 minutes ago, DooleyBull06 said:

@Tee4threegenerally I’d agree with you. Anything can happen in March. And yes path is more important. However our best path involves Ball St…facing everyone else in the first round would be deadly. Furthermore, all of this aside…has this team. Has this coach, shown any of us that they can beat the top 3 teams in the conference? I’m sorry for being a downer but I have no confidence in this years team. They just haven’t shown it. At a certain point, we are who we are. 

Nothing to disagree with here.

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59 minutes ago, Big 4 Hoops Blogger said:

If they want any chance, they'll likely need to finish as the 5 seed and tip-off with Ball State in the first round.

At 2 games behind Ohio for the 5 seed and the Bobcats surging, I agree that our best hope is to beat out NIU for the 6. And then hope that Ball State claws their way back into the 3 seed. They showed they’re very beatable by losing to WMU today. 

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Watching Freeman tonight, he seemed to have 3x the energy of any Bull. He reminds me a little of Mballa with his height and long reach allowing him to seem bigger than he actually is on the boards.  Freeman is a little lighter in the upper body, but has a much more versatile offensive repertoire around the rim than Mballa.  The only knock  against him is his FT% in the low 60’s, but at least he doesn’t mistake himself for a 3-pt shooter (1-3 on the season).  That may hurt his future NBA stock since he’s not the biggest guy around, but I would think he’ll get some looks.

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I have no confidence in UB Bulls basketball coach Jim Whitesell ever being great since he has been UB’s head coach he has been mediocre at best. For the UB alums blaming Buffalo Western New York market the Buffalo Bandits lead the entire NLL in attendance with over 13,000 a game with tickets costing more for one ticket than it cost you for a UB basketball and Canisius basketball ticket combined.
 

That says the Buffalo market doesn’t approve of the way both schools run there college basketball program of small time nonsense selling someday that never happens. UB needs to hire a Jay Wright and make a major commitment to UB basketball for Buffalo to take it seriously after the Nate Oats debacle of leaving for Alabama in my opinion. UB Horns Up! Go Bulls! Let’s Go Buffalo 

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6 hours ago, Bluebird96 said:

Bulls need a big game from CuJo, Adams to re-find his stroke, some tenacity from the 3 bigs, Powell to have 2 or fewer turnovers, and Foster to get back to distributing the ball to all of the above. I realize that’s a big wishlist….I’ll settle for 2 or 3 of those things to happen and a more entertaining game than last time vs the Zips.

To recap:

CuJo didn’t get out of the doghouse, shooting 3-13 (1-8 inside the arc) for just 10 pts. He did have 3 assists, 1 behind Blocker (!) for the team lead.

Adams couldn’t find his stroke, shooting just 1-5 from 3 and 2-4 FT’s. He did have 6 boards though. 

The 3 bigs played pretty well at least on the offensive end, combining to shoot 11-19 for 26 pts. Didn’t do great on the boards with just 12 reb’s between them.

Powell played a grand total of 1 minute (what’s up with that?) but at least he didn’t have any turnovers. 

Annnnnnd…..Foster had a grand total of 1 assist. Oops

So, 1 out of 5 on my wishlist came half-true, and not surprisingly it all resulted in a predictable and not-so-entertaining loss to the Zips, with Castaneda branding the Bulls for 30+ again and Freeman almost matching our 3 bigs on the glass with 10 boards to go with 21 pts. I won’t be surprised if they end Kent’s season in Cleveland and make some noise in the Big Dance. 

Edited by Bluebird96
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