2021-2022 Season

Anything and everything that is UMass Minutemen Basketball.
rayers
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by rayers » Fri Aug 27, 2021 6:18 am

Good to hear Coach M emphasize the need to play better D this year. Once again hoping he can make it happen but I don’t know if he will really turn it around. He has always been an offensive first kinda young coach and zebras don’t change their stripes. I wish he had felt this way from the beginning. We’ll see.

Juice Stand
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by Juice Stand » Fri Aug 27, 2021 2:03 pm

I'm not sure that this team has the defensive players on the roster aside from a few. Dibaji can obviously do it with his length and quickness, Garcia and Fernandes showed an ability to create turnovers, and Cairo has the bulldog mentality to get after it. But I think the majority of the roster is built with an offensive mindset. Playing better D will be about instilling a mentality, strong communication, and consistent philosophy; a few guys gambling for steals won't do it. Maybe they can improve the defense, but I think the makeup of this team is shoot shoot shoot.

UMassfan_19
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by UMassfan_19 » Sun Aug 29, 2021 1:35 pm

^
I think Santos is a good defender think TJ is solid enough. Also think guys like Jones buttrick steadman will be upgrades in the front court

Floyd
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by Floyd » Sun Aug 29, 2021 3:16 pm

One thing I think (or hope) may make this group better as a team, is that without Tre, the need to play together and share the ball is huge to develop confidence in each other. Not saying they're better without a talent like Tre, but without that one guy who needs to get touches everytime down the floor, the rest of the team can feel more engaged and not like an option B or C. I think theres a lot of guys on this team who could average 12-16 pts/game, and I think that balance is a great thing.

Don't know a lot about the new guys, but sounds like Kellys can both score, and I think Noah, JG, TJ most nights will have double figures. I can see Dibaji, Cairo, and Preston being 8 & 7 guys on a regular basis, and of course some games someone will have that big scoring game.

The rebounding and interior D is the only question in my mind, but honestly is because I know nothing about Steadman or Buttrick, and DD had a small sample size last year. It'll be interesting, but I think the team will be more well rounded. Just gotta play to their strengths, and as a team

Looking forward to it
Time to Win

capezona
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by capezona » Sun Aug 29, 2021 3:38 pm

^ Agree with this. Also, Tre tended to be a bit slow on D. Don't think it was quickness as much as motivation. He did block some shots and altered shots which doesn't show up on stats sheets. Hopefully the interior D will improve somewhat.

69MG
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by 69MG » Sun Aug 29, 2021 6:11 pm

Floyd wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 3:16 pm One thing I think (or hope) may make this group better as a team, is that without Tre, the need to play together and share the ball is huge to develop confidence in each other. Not saying they're better without a talent like Tre, but without that one guy who needs to get touches everytime down the floor, the rest of the team can feel more engaged and not like an option B or C. I think theres a lot of guys on this team who could average 12-16 pts/game, and I think that balance is a great thing.

Don't know a lot about the new guys, but sounds like Kellys can both score, and I think Noah, JG, TJ most nights will have double figures. I can see Dibaji, Cairo, and Preston being 8 & 7 guys on a regular basis, and of course some games someone will have that big scoring game.

The rebounding and interior D is the only question in my mind, but honestly is because I know nothing about Steadman or Buttrick, and DD had a small sample size last year. It'll be interesting, but I think the team will be more well rounded. Just gotta play to their strengths, and as a team

Looking forward to it
I think we have good ball handlers and shooters. Rebounding and interior D are also my biggest concerns. Can DD or Dibaji help on the interior? They have been perimeter players in the past but they are two of our tallest players so we may need them inside for stretches. I'm also hoping that Jones surprises us with some tenacity. He seems to have that mentality.

69MG
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by 69MG » Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:14 pm

I've never seen this type of shot chart before and found it pretty interesting. Maybe some of you have seen these. Jones isn't listed because he wasn't D1 and Santos is also missing for obvious reasons. If you were counting on Buttrick for help inside, start looking elsewhere. His % is really good but he spends too much time on the perimeter.

https://twitter.com/A10Stats/status/143 ... 84/photo/1

Edit: SCSU didn't play last year so Jones had no stats.

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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by NilesGold » Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:01 pm

69MG wrote: Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:14 pm If you were counting on Buttrick for help inside, start looking elsewhere. His % is really good but he spends too much time on the perimeter.
What qualifies as too much time on the perimeter for a stretch 4?

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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by 69MG » Thu Sep 02, 2021 12:24 pm

^
1. He's one of the biggest guys on the team and we need him inside. Who else do we have as a backup center?
2. We have DD and Dibaji for that role (stretch 4), and perhaps Jones. Granted they didn't do a whole lot last year but I have hope for this year.
3. He averaged 3 points a game so what was he really accomplishing on the perimeter?
4. He shot OK from 3 last year in a limited sample size, but for his career he was around 30%.

NilesGold
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by NilesGold » Thu Sep 02, 2021 6:25 pm

^
We don't need him inside (on offense) if he plays a stretch 4 role. We can even play 5 out. We also have Steadman and Greg Jones. Buttrick shot 34.8% from 3 last year, the only year he played 10+ minutes a game.

I'm not saying Buttrick is going to be an all-A10 guy, but it seems likely that he's a stretch-4 who can hold his own on the defensive glass and maybe play D against opposing big men.

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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by bobolink » Thu Sep 02, 2021 6:50 pm

Floyd wrote: Sun Aug 29, 2021 3:16 pm One thing I think (or hope) may make this group better as a team, is that without Tre, the need to play together and share the ball is huge to develop confidence in each other. Not saying they're better without a talent like Tre, but without that one guy who needs to get touches everytime down the floor, the rest of the team can feel more engaged and not like an option B or C. I think theres a lot of guys on this team who could average 12-16 pts/game, and I think that balance is a great thing.

Don't know a lot about the new guys, but sounds like Kellys can both score, and I think Noah, JG, TJ most nights will have double figures. I can see Dibaji, Cairo, and Preston being 8 & 7 guys on a regular basis, and of course some games someone will have that big scoring game.

The rebounding and interior D is the only question in my mind, but honestly is because I know nothing about Steadman or Buttrick, and DD had a small sample size last year. It'll be interesting, but I think the team will be more well rounded. Just gotta play to their strengths, and as a team

Looking forward to it
Totally agree. And when you write that a lot of guys could average 12-16, well, that can't happen for all but it brings to mind a stat that gets me. As a question: how many guys on the roster have led their college team in scoring for at least 1 game? Almost certainly more than have ever been on a single year's UMass roster. Granted some were vs. competition below A-10 level, but still..

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uz2b-len
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by uz2b-len » Thu Sep 02, 2021 8:49 pm

Buttrick said really clearly when he got here that he left Penn State because he didn't like having to play the 5 on offense. I assume the coaches told him he wouldn't have to. That doesn't preclude him playing big on defense. Dibaji can do stuff around the basket on offense.
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DanaDingle3
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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by DanaDingle3 » Fri Sep 03, 2021 8:39 am

I'm not concerned about interior offense, or our offense in general, really. As others have said, interior D and rebounding are the big question marks. It's gotta be a team effort, and ultimately, if it's emphasized by the coaches, I think we'll be ok. If it's not being emphasized, we'll be in trouble. We'll be able to tell. One other thing, and this might/probably have just been a COVID thing, the team couldn't put 40 minutes of intense basketball together -- there would be a half, or three quarters of a game. We have the talent; it's a matter of playing full games and seeing an emphasis on D and rebounding.

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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Post by 69MG » Wed Sep 15, 2021 9:59 pm

Jon Rothstein
@JonRothstein
Sources: The NCAA has approved that starting on 9/20, two non-coaching staff members in men's and women's basketball can engage in on-court practice activity during the 21-22 season.

No more than four coaches and non-coaching staff members combined, may give instruction.
Probably means that Ricky can be more involved. Just have to figure out how to use him since only 4 can give instruction.

Floyd
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Preseason Look

Post by Floyd » Tue Oct 05, 2021 7:07 am

Anybody on campus have a chance to see the team practice or scrimmage? How are they looking? Haven't heard much about hoops at all
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