MBB vs Toledo | 3/2/2024 2pm | ESPN+

[eyjee]

Feel like we may see a big game out of Chatman today just via regression to the mean after a 2-10 performance on Tuesday.

Let's see what these guys can do when they have nothing to play for but pride.

Go Bulls 🤘

Edited March 2 by eyjee

[Chet]

Public address announcer: Let’s hear it for our…..UB student section!

Its 5 students!!!

Edited March 3 by Chet

[MuchMany]

Bryson Wilson is a reason to be excited for next season. His skill is catching up with his athleticism.

[trueblue32]

5 minutes ago, MuchMany said:

Bryson Wilson is a reason to be excited for next season. His skill is catching up with his athleticism.

Hes already maybe the best defender on the team too. Never understood why he was chained to the bench in blowouts. Lets get him some experience

[Big 4 Hoops Blogger]

Solid start to this one. Bulls giving Toledo a game but will they be able to keep it going into the second half?

[MuchMany]

1 minute ago, trueblue32 said:

Hes already maybe the best defender on the team too. Never understood why he was chained to the bench in blowouts. Lets get him some experience

Yeah I like his defense too. High-major athlete/size with a quiet intensity to his game. In the staff's defense a bit, he did look completely lost in early action. Tricky balance to get him game experience while also trying to field a somewhat competitive team. His maturation has been notable though.

[eyjee]

Agree on the Wilson discussion.

A bit late in the season now but I'd have liked to see some schemes having Jo and Zaakir on the court at the same time. Jo has shown range this year that could've spread the defenses a bit more. A five man unit of Fulcher, Adams, Chatman, Williamson, Smith could be a problem for a lot of teams to properly defend, not to mention the extra size on defense.

[eyjee]

Insane to not call a timeout after Maddox hits that three to make it 56-48

[DooleyBull06]

6 minutes ago, eyjee said:

Insane to not call a timeout after Maddox hits that three to make it 56-48

Ehh. Not calling a timeout wasn’t a mistake. The following possession they ran a slip screen and Williamson turned the ball over on the catch/dribble. The bigger issue was all the empty possession down 1 before that 10-0 Toledo run. Possessions included turnovers 

Edited March 2 by DooleyBull06

[eyjee]

Whelp.. they didn't quit 🤷‍♂️

2 more...

[DooleyBull06]

6 minutes ago, eyjee said:

Whelp.. they didn't quit 🤷‍♂️

2 more...

Covered lol

[Chet]

Toledo stacks conference wins years after year under Coach TK and they are always frauds. Never win anything. Gonna be the same story this year. Woof.

[DaBulls99]

47 minutes ago, Chet said:

Toledo stacks conference wins years after year under Coach TK and they are always frauds. Never win anything. Gonna be the same story this year. Woof.

Agreed. I wasn’t impressed. Free throws 27-30 for Toledo vs 11-11 for UB. Difference in the game right there. Despite us playing just ok. 

[eyjee]

Certainly one way to think about the game. We committed 17 turnovers and Toledo went to the charity stripe 19 more times than us and we still only lost by 6. I mean... that's not nothing.

Ohio's resurgence and today's game certainly has me questioning my Akron/Toledo finals game prediction. Tournament is gonna be electric this year with how bunched together the teams are, and Akron/Kent on a collision course for a 1/8 matchup.

[Bluebird96]

11 minutes ago, eyjee said:

Certainly one way to think about the game. We committed 17 turnovers and Toledo went to the charity stripe 19 more times than us and we still only lost by 6. I mean... that's not nothing.

Say what we will, but this team played Toledo close both times this season.  Turnovers like you said were the difference today.  25-9 disadvantage for UB on pts off plus that 16 pt discrepancy at the FT line.

As bad as we’ve looked at times, maybe there’s a little bit of hope for improvement next year as this young coaching staff figures things out.  Or I could be dead wrong 😆

[enrique14150]

There are plenty of games I was angry about this season, or disheartened, or flat out embarrassed.  This isn't one of them.  The Bulls competed today against a good team, it was an even game till they got sloppy on a series of possessions and Toledo went on a run.  The team kept fighting the whole time.  I saw a more intense Coach Halcovage and some continued improvement from a lot of players, which I want to believe is from coaching.  Nothing for me to be really mad about today.  When you look at the stats - they shot 49%, 30% from three, 11-11 at the line, almost even on rebounds, 11 blocks, beat them on points in the paint, the only thing I would point to is 17 turnovers. But the rest of those look good to me, and a LOT better than earlier in the year.  Bottom line, Toledo got to the line way too many times and hit almost all their free throws.

Chatman - does what he does, be the go-to guy.
Adams - my brother said, you kinda didn't realize he had that many points.  
Zakir -uses his body well and positions himself well, and finally has a nice touch inside. Major improvement from this guy.
Wilson - I love what he's bringing off the bench.  Plays aggressively at both ends.  

Man the refs were bad today.  Probably both ways.  I feel like a lot of basketball refs anticipate plays and fouls and call things they think are about to happen, and when you look at the replay, they didn't.  My brother said at some point, it was devolving into a death spiral of makeup calls.

I can't say enough about how much some of these guys have improved lately.  It gives me hope for next year - if they can keep this core of Sabol, Fulcher, Wilson, Boldin, and Zakir, add a big guy and a three-point shooter, they're looking a lot more competitive. Also, please bring in Dontay Carruthers for one practice to teach guys how to earn some charges.  Wilson tried, got decked.  But they don't even attempt them much.

Toledo - every year I say, Kowalczyk's pink slip is already filled out, they just have to sign and date it.  All these good teams and he has zero MAC titles, zero NCAA trips.  Cochran is a handful. Maddox has taken the 'short shorts' thing too far.

Crowd - this is the base UB crowd.  This is who you'll get however bad the season is.  I wish we'd see more students there, but that's been slipping for a long time, even when the teams were good.  The liveliness, and the fun, withered away.  So props to the band for picking up the slack as best they can.

[Bluebird96]

5 hours ago, eyjee said:

Akron/Kent on a collision course for a 1/8 matchup.

I think WMU is more likely to get the 8, and Kent could wind up as high as 5 the way they’re playing.  They’re certainly a team nobody looks forward to facing in Cleveland, including Akron. 

[skrabukes]

The guy that took the half court shot was oh so close yesterday.  Just like the result of the game. In year's past, people would slam the staff when they lost, and they were winning half or more of their games. Now it's "oh great improvement" and "we played them close". 2 wins in league, 3 overall. It's rough to see, and shouldn't be this way.

[John]

16 hours ago, enrique14150 said:

There are plenty of games I was angry about this season, or disheartened, or flat out embarrassed.  This isn't one of them.  The Bulls competed today against a good team, it was an even game till they got sloppy on a series of possessions and Toledo went on a run.  The team kept fighting the whole time.  I saw a more intense Coach Halcovage and some continued improvement from a lot of players, which I want to believe is from coaching.  Nothing for me to be really mad about today.  When you look at the stats - they shot 49%, 30% from three, 11-11 at the line, almost even on rebounds, 11 blocks, beat them on points in the paint, the only thing I would point to is 17 turnovers. But the rest of those look good to me, and a LOT better than earlier in the year.  Bottom line, Toledo got to the line way too many times and hit almost all their free throws.

Chatman - does what he does, be the go-to guy.
Adams - my brother said, you kinda didn't realize he had that many points.  
Zakir -uses his body well and positions himself well, and finally has a nice touch inside. Major improvement from this guy.
Wilson - I love what he's bringing off the bench.  Plays aggressively at both ends.  

Man the refs were bad today.  Probably both ways.  I feel like a lot of basketball refs anticipate plays and fouls and call things they think are about to happen, and when you look at the replay, they didn't.  My brother said at some point, it was devolving into a death spiral of makeup calls.

I can't say enough about how much some of these guys have improved lately.  It gives me hope for next year - if they can keep this core of Sabol, Fulcher, Wilson, Boldin, and Zakir, add a big guy and a three-point shooter, they're looking a lot more competitive. Also, please bring in Dontay Carruthers for one practice to teach guys how to earn some charges.  Wilson tried, got decked.  But they don't even attempt them much.

Toledo - every year I say, Kowalczyk's pink slip is already filled out, they just have to sign and date it.  All these good teams and he has zero MAC titles, zero NCAA trips.  Cochran is a handful. Maddox has taken the 'short shorts' thing too far.

Crowd - this is the base UB crowd.  This is who you'll get however bad the season is.  I wish we'd see more students there, but that's been slipping for a long time, even when the teams were good.  The liveliness, and the fun, withered away.  So props to the band for picking up the slack as best they can.

Do agree with some improvement in the overall play of team especially on the offensive end with some better ball and players movement without the ball. Would love to see Bolton Jr. in this type offense instead of him sitting on the wing with no ball movement. Jury still out on Sabol who has not improved at all. Unfortunately in college we have seen many players with good high school numbers never develop at the college level. The game came down to turnovers and Toledo free throw shooting. Turnovers are something that these players should be able to improve on but sadly it has gone the other way. The comment that it is all on the coaching staff I do not agree with. These kids have been playing the game the whole lives and they are the ones on the floor not the coaches. There should be as much accountability on the players. It will be interesting to see who stays and who goes as we could have a totally different team next year.

[UBinMD]

20 minutes ago, John said:

Do agree with some improvement in the overall play of team especially on the offensive end with some better ball and players movement without the ball. Would love to see Bolton Jr. in this type offense instead of him sitting on the wing with no ball movement. Jury still out on Sabol who has not improved at all. Unfortunately in college we have seen many players with good high school numbers never develop at the college level. The game came down to turnovers and Toledo free throw shooting. Turnovers are something that these players should be able to improve on but sadly it has gone the other way. The comment that it is all on the coaching staff I do not agree with. These kids have been playing the game the whole lives and they are the ones on the floor not the coaches. There should be as much accountability on the players. It will be interesting to see who stays and who goes as we could have a totally different team next year.

Better be careful blaming anything on players. Players are only responsible when they win. When you lose, the coaches need to be accountable. They are just kids after all.

[John]

23 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Better be careful blaming anything on players. Players are only responsible when they win. When you lose, the coaches need to be accountable. They are just kids after all.

So in sports let’s not make players accountable and responsible for their actions. Have not we heard that sports are like life with the many ups and downs. It is how you learn from them and never give up and learn from mistakes. As in life hopefully kids learn the right lessons from adults. Do agree that we can take sports too seriously and as this year has shown us that we have to just enjoy basketball for what it is like enjoying the play from kids on teams in our conference and other teams around the landscape.

[trueblue32]

38 minutes ago, UBinMD said:

Better be careful blaming anything on players. Players are only responsible when they win. When you lose, the coaches need to be accountable. They are just kids after all.

This seems to be directed at me for my comment yesterday that Adams/Chatman/Smith are not to blame for the lack of organization anywhere on the offensive end, which is still true. I do think there are plenty of bad players on this team. I just don't think they're the ones that have proven D1 track records prior to Halcovage showing up, they're the ones that Halcovage brought in. Which again, is Halcovage's fault. If you care to break down the film and show me where those 3 are killing the boy genius' masterful offensive scheme I would love to watch it

Edited March 3 by trueblue32

[enrique14150]

I can't compare results at this point to more talented teams in previous years because the talent level is so different.  At this point, realistically where they are, it finally looks like progress is being made.  There was a time earlier this season that it didn't look that way.

Sabol - he's a freshman.  Progress won't be linear.  I coach kids, some of them don't show progress for months then it seems to kick in during the season.  What I like about all these freshmen right now (plus Zakir) is they've grown beyond being hesitant to take a shot or make a play.  So often you see freshmen that defer taking a shot when they really should - these guys have already gotten past that.

I agree with those who say the overall talent level of the team isn't good enough.  But it looks better than it did a couple months ago.  How this goes from here, it depends on who they can keep and how well they recruit again.  

Maybe I just can't be pessimistic/miserable all the time.  Or I just seem to see a more competitive team out there lately.  I'm not at practice, but the team looks more organized and better prepared lately, and to me that shows the coaching staff is learning too.  How many people wanted an up-and-coming coach with potential rather than a re-tread? Okay, then that means putting up with the growing process for them as much as with the players.  

One thing I love seeing right now is the team hasn't bagged it.  They're still playing hard even though they have no chance at the postseason.  It tells me that maybe they have faith in the staff, and they staff hasn't lost them, and that maybe they're actually building something.  Because that's a heck of a lot better than starting from scratch this offseason.  I've seen enough improvement lately to think, "okay let's see how this plays out."  Glass half full.

[MuchMany]

2 hours ago, John said:

Jury still out on Sabol who has not improved at all.

Gotta disagree with this point. His shooting is streaky sure, but it's still solid. But he looks entirely more comfortable on the court now compared to November. Ball handling, staying in front of guys on D, he looks like a young college player now whereas he looked like a HS player in the fall.

[skrabukes]

45 minutes ago, enrique14150 said:

I can't compare results at this point to more talented teams in previous years because the talent level is so different.  At this point, realistically where they are, it finally looks like progress is being made.  There was a time earlier this season that it didn't look that way.

 

Who's fault is it that there is no talent here? The main talent (and scoring 52% of the points on the season) that is on this current team was left from the previous regime. Why does this staff get a complete pass about not bringing in any players if this team is so "talent-less"? Last year's team lost pretty much all of their scoring coming into the season, yet somehow brought in enough "talent" to be a .500 team and make it to the MAC tournament (including leaving behind their most talented piece that didn't even get to play last year). The "the coach got started late" doesn't work, sorry. This isn't 2000 where you only can bring in freshmen and then have to develop them over the course of years. They didn't bring in a guy like Armoni - veteran PG to help the new guys, or a guy like Zid, who at least made games enjoyable to watch, as frustrating as he was a times to watch, or Adams, or Jo, or a major talent like Sy who had to sit out. There's no reason for UB to ever have 2 MAC wins and 3 wins overall at this point in the season, NIL, no NIL, whatever. Again, this roster is far more "talented" than those 2/3 wins anyhow, but this whole talk is ridiculous at this point. The MAC is far leaner than year's past, only 4 teams in the top 200 in the NCAA and 3 teams 300+! The pre-season schedule didn't have a ton of the "big name" opponents as they have in year's past. Yet somehow we're relegated to "this team has improved", versus having wins. There's many more multiples of double digit losses than wins, including the time of the somehow recently "improved" team.

While I still go to the games and always support the teams and programs, I just can't understand how anyone can possibly see silver linings based upon what they've seen over the last several months of this team, and then possibly think that it's going to get drastically better once their (by far) best player is gone next year. At least when the Sabres suck, they at least pour on wins once their out of it (like they have been recently), and give people something to cheer over. We're still sitting on 3 wins (sorry, a 28 turnover "win" versus Roberts Wesleyan is not counted in my eyes) with only 2 games left to play. Maybe we can pull off a win on senior night and at least have something to smile about on Friday (versus the crowd leaving the games with their collective heads hanging like they have had to do most night's this year).