State of the program
Re: State of the program
^ The last thing I needed was an article that made me even sadder about the state of the program.
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Re: State of the program
Not very sobering honestly. The last decade has been plenty sobering. I disagree with the experts though. I think a great and consistent winning program can be built to last at UMass. We have a beautiful campus, great facilities, top-notch education. We just need to find the right coach (if we haven't already) that will become the Mark Few of UMass. It can happen, screw the ESPN crew that thinks our ceiling is that low.
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Re: State of the program
^
God bless ya!
God bless ya!
Stop waiting for UMass to do something big and help UMass do something big. - Shades
Re: State of the program
I don't know if any Atlantic 10 team outside of VCU -- and perhaps Bob McKillop's Davidson -- is going to be an every-year NCAA tournament contender, but UMass shouldn't be this far behind the next tier.
"All credit to my teammates, all glory to God."-- Chaz Williams
Re: State of the program
The most significant factor, and this wasn't mentioned in the article because it was written by folks that don't know anything about UMass other than what they read in the box scores, was having administrations to whom athletics was an afterthought. They were too busy modeling UMass after UVM. Before Calipari got it rolling, if anyone asked me about UMass athletics, i'd say, "we are really good at sports no one cares about". If we got a Chancellor that was big on sports, it seems they moved on quickly. Lack of consistency led to student and community apathy. If the school doesn't care about sports why should I.
Hopefully this is fixed now. Amherst is a great college town despite itself sometimes and UMass has good facilities. There is no reason they can't be a very solid program.
Hopefully this is fixed now. Amherst is a great college town despite itself sometimes and UMass has good facilities. There is no reason they can't be a very solid program.
Raise the bar, do the minimum.
Re: State of the program
Maybe I don't read enough articles on college hoops written by national correspondents, but I can't say that I'm familiar with either Myron Medcalf or John Gasaway.
Gasaway's references to the Erving era are completely out of context. UMass was in the Yankee Conference then and the tournament had what, 25 teams in it? TV and press coverage was nothing like it is today, so Julius was unknown nationally until he appeared in the NIT which was still relatively prestigious then; so much so that Al McGuire, peeved that his top ranked (at least I think they were before the NCAAs started) Marquette team was sent to the mid-west instead of the mid-east, declined to participate and went to the NIT instead...and won it beating UMass with Julius and LSU with Pistol Pete in the process.
Also miffed that Bruiser was placed behind DK on their Calipari chaser list.
UMass...the east coast Gonzaga?
Gasaway's references to the Erving era are completely out of context. UMass was in the Yankee Conference then and the tournament had what, 25 teams in it? TV and press coverage was nothing like it is today, so Julius was unknown nationally until he appeared in the NIT which was still relatively prestigious then; so much so that Al McGuire, peeved that his top ranked (at least I think they were before the NCAAs started) Marquette team was sent to the mid-west instead of the mid-east, declined to participate and went to the NIT instead...and won it beating UMass with Julius and LSU with Pistol Pete in the process.
Also miffed that Bruiser was placed behind DK on their Calipari chaser list.
UMass...the east coast Gonzaga?
Last edited by LS71 on Tue May 07, 2019 9:51 pm, edited 5 times in total.
"Win without boasting, lose without crying." -- Julius Erving
Re: State of the program
LS - You got BINGO!
"Jack didn’t have any envy in him," Calipari said. "He was the greatest coach to ever coach here."
Re: State of the program
The Boston Globe wrote a column once a month about the outrage that was paying $1M to Derek Kellogg to coach the men's basketball team - could you imagine if any coach came in here and made the almost $2M that Few (allegedly) makes?! Atheltics???? At the State-U???? WHAT A WASTE OF TAXPAYER DOLLARS!!!!
Re: State of the program
To back up LS71, Jack Leaman's eight first-place finishes would have been automatic qualifiers for the NCAAs in today's world. We were rather competitive against solid programs in the NIT.
Re: State of the program
Borzello wasn't totally down. He thinks (to paraphrase) that we will be in better shape at last in the conference by the end of this coming season.
I happen to agree. The purge was absolutely needed and they have an infusion of solid talent coming in. But for inexperience/youth they would be sniffing 20 winds this year. I would not be at all surprised if they end up around .500 and finish with a surprising win or two near the end of the year. Then push near the 20 win plateau the following year.
I happen to agree. The purge was absolutely needed and they have an infusion of solid talent coming in. But for inexperience/youth they would be sniffing 20 winds this year. I would not be at all surprised if they end up around .500 and finish with a surprising win or two near the end of the year. Then push near the 20 win plateau the following year.
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Re: State of the program
The state of the program is better than it was two months ago. For me to feel much better about the state of the program, we'll need to sign a point guard who can immediately step into the starting lineup. We're a very solid PG away from being a legitimately exciting basketball team. Without that, next year could be another difficult one, though I fully expect the morale around the team to be a whole lot better.
Re: State of the program
Will his/her services be available to board members when we go off the rails?EDGE10
@EDGE10Sports
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@UMass @UMassAthletics is hiring a Director of Sports Psychology! Apply by June 21 to ensure priority consideration
Re: State of the program
Screw that 69, thats why we have OC here, to keep us all grounded with reason and sensible facts.
Time to Win
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Re: State of the program
Director of Sports Psychology... I think that's an excellent idea. It's very important that our student-athletes have the right state of mind to continue performing at the highest level that they can. If your head is not in it, you consistency will decrease and you won't perform at a top level.
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Re: State of the program
Didn't DK bring in someone like that on a one-off basis a few times? A guest speaker, if you will, but focused on the same area...? Did other previous coaches do anything similar?
Stop waiting for UMass to do something big and help UMass do something big. - Shades