Jump to content
Buffalo Bulls - UB Fan Forum

Jim Whitesell and UB Part Ways


Kevin

Recommended Posts

Side note:  I'd like to thank Tee4Three for bringing up the UB ESPN forum.  Like him, I feel like I was here since the beginning and before UB Fan Forums were a thing.  I don't think we get any points for being around way before UB was on the national stage, but hey it's cool to feel old along with someone.

Go UB!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...
4 minutes ago, Jeseph said:

Back again to be talked off the ledge. Right now it feels like we may see wasted senior campaigns of Jordan, Graves, Segu, Williams and Mballa.

Let's defend the hire with logical reasoning in this thread.

Last nights loss was tough, but let’s not act like it’s a wasted season because of one non conference loss. If people thought we’d be getting an at large they were kidding themselves. At the end of the season if they underperform and don’t make the tournament I’ll understand the pessimism completely. But for now I’m going to enjoy the games and not obsess over every speed bump. Even Oats 30 win team had their stinkers, I seem to remember losing to the worst team in the conference northern Illinois 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, UB05 said:

Even Oats 30 win team had their stinkers, I seem to remember losing to the worst team in the conference northern Illinois 

That team started hot, plowed through almost everyone they fasted, faltered, fixed it and looked great in March.

This team looks the same as they have looked the past 2 years.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, Jeseph said:

That team started hot, plowed through almost everyone they fasted, faltered, fixed it and looked great in March.

This team looks the same as they have looked the past 2 years.

In a couple months we’ll have a lot more clarity regarding that. This is the year they need to make the tournament, I think everyone agrees on that. Just seems weird that people are throwing in the towel after one loss. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good teams lose games they should win, we’ve seen upsets all over the country this season. I’m critical of Whitesell but I don’t believe he’s all that terrible. A loss like this is upsetting but I’m going to wait until the end of the season to see how we end up 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

57 minutes ago, UB05 said:

Last nights loss was tough, but let’s not act like it’s a wasted season because of one non conference loss. If people thought we’d be getting an at large they were kidding themselves. At the end of the season if they underperform and don’t make the tournament I’ll understand the pessimism completely. But for now I’m going to enjoy the games and not obsess over every speed bump. Even Oats 30 win team had their stinkers, I seem to remember losing to the worst team in the conference northern Illinois 

It's not just yesterday's loss IMO. Whitesell's teams have consistently played below expectations. I suppose it's possible that expectations have been too high. It's a tough act to follow for Whitesell. He will always be compared to Oats and will always fall well short in any measurement.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Chet said:

It's not just yesterday's loss IMO. Whitesell's teams have consistently played below expectations. I suppose it's possible that expectations have been too high. It's a tough act to follow for Whitesell. He will always be compared to Oats and will always fall well short in any measurement.

 

I don’t really disagree with this. I think I’m just more empathetic towards Whitesell and the job he’s done. No matter who it was that followed Oats, they were going to have an uphill climb. The difference for me is that Whitesell was able to keep the entire team together. I really doubt a different candidate would’ve been able to bring in better than Williams/Segu/Graves/Mballa, though obviously we’ll never know for sure. Year 1 saw growing pains, year 2 was an improvement getting to the MAC championship and then the NIT, now we’re in year 3. If we make the tournament we’ll have improved every year under his coaching. If that trajectory is a disappointment then I’m of the opinion that expectations were too high from the start. We’ve been spoiled with high major coaches in Hurley and Oats, and I think people underestimate the risk of trying to hire that again from outside the program. Look at football, Linguist was the best get possible when Leipold left and were still seeing major growing pains and have taken a step back in the short term. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Chet said:

It's not just yesterday's loss IMO. Whitesell's teams have consistently played below expectations. I suppose it's possible that expectations have been too high. It's a tough act to follow for Whitesell. He will always be compared to Oats and will always fall well short in any measurement.

 

As would many coaches.

The question is not is he as good as Oats.  Clearly he is not.  If the team improves in problem areas (primarily turnovers, and rebounding) I can see this team still meeting my expectations of rank in 60s with 20-21 wins (ex non-D1 opponents).

Now many are saying that winning the MACC is a must.  As a fan it is a must for me, but if we lose a 50/50 contest to a very good Ohio team  I would.be disappointed but hard for me to say fire a guy who has say 60th (subjective of course) ranked team in country.   I have asked before, are you able to hire an Oats caliber coach every 3 to 4 years? 

However one big caveat, his recruits need to start showing something.  If Skogman continues at this pace it does not bode well for next year.  Would also like to see more minutes for Jones too.  Perhaps some  minutes for Mading/Blocker would be nice.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I’d just like to add a few thoughts. This isn’t about comparing Whitesell to Oats. No comparison. End of story. This isn’t about expectations being too high. Our expectations are where they should be based on the progression of this team. To me this is about striking while the window of opportunity is still open. Once Whitesell took over and returned all the players Oats left, the ship was stabilized and still on a championship course. A championship within the tenure of Mballa/Williams/Segu was not an unreal expectation. Many of us here feel if we don’t win this year, a return to dormant days are ahead.

 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, DooleyBull06 said:

I’d just like to add a few thoughts. This isn’t about comparing Whitesell to Oats. No comparison. End of story. This isn’t about expectations being too high. Our expectations are where they should be based on the progression of this team. To me this is about striking while the window of opportunity is still open. Once Whitesell took over and returned all the players Oats left, the ship was stabilized and still on a championship course. A championship within the tenure of Mballa/Williams/Segu was not an unreal expectation. Many of us here feel if we don’t win this year, a return to dormant days are ahead.

 

This.

If we don’t win this year I feel like there’s a good chance we don’t win again in the next 5+ years (without significant change).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One area Whitesell can work on is his use of timeouts. When he, or the opposing coach, call a timeout, Whitesell uses a good 30 seconds in consultation with his assistants while his players stand around. By the time he figures out what he wants to say, the timeout is over and the team has hardly had a chance to understand the tactics. Meanwhile the other team has used the full time out for the coach to speak to the players.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, yussi1870 said:

One area Whitesell can work on is his use of timeouts. When he, or the opposing coach, call a timeout, Whitesell uses a good 30 seconds in consultation with his assistants while his players stand around. By the time he figures out what he wants to say, the timeout is over and the team has hardly had a chance to understand the tactics. Meanwhile the other team has used the full time out for the coach to speak to the players.

This is a very common practice.  Coach Jack does it with the women.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...