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Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2021 12:39 am
by UMassfan_19
Jackson96 wrote: Thu Oct 07, 2021 4:15 pm My hope is that Steadman will be serviceable at both ends and that Buttrick will be able to give some decent minutes off the bench. Don’t think we will miss Tre and DeGray defensively — they are both decent rebounders but not a great defensively — especially together.

If we can replace some of their offense by spreading it around and if we can roll out more shooters, I think we will be pretty good on that end. My concern offensively remains who gets you a good shot in the halfcourt when you really need it. That’s where we will miss Tre I think. He could get his own good shot or draw enough attention to get a good shot for others.

Defensively it’s been a long time since we’ve been consistently good at that end so I don’t know what the hell that even looks like. I think Preston, Cairo, JG, Dibaji, and Noah have all shown signs of various degrees of being good defensively.

Not sure how it’s all gonna shake out.
From Steadman I’m hoping for similar to what we got from Malik Hines.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:29 am
by Juice Stand
Does anyone know if this is Steadman's final year of eligibility, or is there the potential for him to play again next year with the free pass the NCAA gave everyone for the Covid year?

I don't know what to expect from him, but he's the new player I'm most interested to watch. He's not Tre (obviously), but he's an older player that's been around. How well will he anchor the defense, will he provide some reliable offense? The Kelly brothers both look good, but I was never worried about our guard play. Steadman fills a need and I'm very interested in seeing him play.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2021 10:17 am
by 69MG
^ He's only got 1 year according to the UMass press release.
AMHERST, Mass. – Massachusetts men's basketball head coach Matt McCall announced on Friday that Michael Steadman will join the program as a graduate transfer for the 2021-22 season. Steadman comes to Amherst for his final year of eligibility after spending the previous two years at Montana.
In other roster news, we added a walk-on, 6'7 John Kelly. Now we have 3 Kellys. He was pretty good in prep school, but didn't see much action with Fairfield so I'm not sure how much we'll see him. Don't know if you were kidding with your "Kelly brothers" comment, but now we really do have brothers.
Before UMass: Attended Fairfield University ... Career high eight minutes, two points, and one rebound in a win against Manhattan ... Two time Class AA All-Nepsac while attending Willison Northampton and Cheshire Academy ... New Haven Register All-Area team while attending Fairfield Prep.

Personal: Brother of current UMass guard Rich Kelly

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2021 10:53 am
by 69MG
^ Senior year highlight film while at Williston-Hamp. A couple of highlights of him playing at the cage. I guess it was meant to be. :lol:

https://www.hudl.com/video/3/4883046/5c ... 0a60097805

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2021 6:27 pm
by wmmmfan
I recall seeing John play at Fairfield Prep, he’ll be a solid practice player and possibly an option if additional 3 point shooter is needed late in the game.
A nice player to have on your roster.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2021 5:57 am
by Juice Stand
Thanks for the update on Steadman's eligibility, and yes, I was kidding about the Kelly brothers. I was referring to CJ and Rich, but that's cool that Rich's brother is on the roster.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 11:42 am
by 69MG
The pre-season predictions are starting to come in. Here's one from Matt Norlander of CBS Sports. There are 358 teams in his preview.
121. UMass: The Minutemen won't have a player on this year's roster who's as talented as Tre Mitchell (off to Texas), but I have little doubt this team will be improved. Matt McCall has needed five seasons to truly arrange a roster he feels is the one that is his, how he wants it, through and through. This is that group.
Will Weaver Camera with flash
@WillWeaverRVA
#A10MBB teams on Norlander's list so far:

Dayton #71
VCU #75
Rhode Island #93
Davidson #100
UMass #121
Duquesne #161
George Mason #166
St. Joe's #200
La Salle #229
GW #245
Fordham #290

St. Bona, SLU, and Richmond are in his top 68.
That puts us 8th.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 12:35 pm
by rayers
Pretty interesting that McCall says he finally has his team after five years of roster remakes, re-remakes, and re-re-remakes. It really sounds like five years of coaching excuses to me. Really wish I could feel the optimism some have expressed and I hope I'm wrong but I see more frustrations coming this year with the current head coach.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 3:11 pm
by MikeUMA
Matt McCall has needed five seasons to truly arrange a roster he feels is the one that is his, how he wants it, through and through. This is that group.
The 2019-20 roster was his, in that there was no one left from the Kellogg era. But that was also the year he brought in Tony and his players. Sometimes you see the Associate Head Coach label, and that's kind of what Tony worked himself into, taking too much control of what was supposed to be Matt's job as lead dog.

2021-22 is put up or shut up time. No more excuses. Agree with you there, rayers.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 4:53 pm
by MikeUMA
This prediction has us going 8-10
https://www.a10talk.com/i-picked-the-ou ... t-have-to/

I'll take a win at Davidson, but no bueno on the predicted sweeps by Rhody and La Salle.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 5:11 pm
by bobolink
pre-season "analysis" from Chris Pyle at A10talk has UMass tenth:

https://www.a10talk.com/i-picked-the-ou ... t-have-to/

"I know the UMass fans won’t like seeing their team in 10th, but that’s with a decent 8-10 record, which you can say is probably the floor for this team. I just don’t buy into Matt McCall as a coach at all. Also, I’m not a big fan of the transfers that he brought in. They have some pieces, but nothing flashy. Its a good enough team to win 8-9 games and keep them out of the pillow fight, but that’s it."

He has GMU and La Salle above UMass, with 5 teams ending 10-8, 9-9 or 8-10 (UMass being the 8-10 team). He also has St. Joe's winning just 1 game all season, which seems off, although they have a tough schedule so maybe. IF (big IF) his predictions are at right, they show how 1-2 off nights can matter a lot. He has 6th place with a 10-8 record and 10th place with an 8-10 record.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 6:20 pm
by capezona
Counting down the days. Less than a month! Go UMass!

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:40 pm
by econalum
I think that the xfer portal has been highly problematic for UMASS athletic team stability.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:42 pm
by DoctorJ
econalum wrote: Wed Oct 13, 2021 7:40 pm I think that the xfer portal has been highly problematic for UMASS athletic team stability.
Usually, yes. I agree.

Re: 2021-2022 Season

Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2021 8:21 pm
by DanaDingle3
rayers wrote: Wed Oct 13, 2021 12:35 pm Pretty interesting that McCall says he finally has his team after five years of roster remakes, re-remakes, and re-re-remakes. It really sounds like five years of coaching excuses to me. Really wish I could feel the optimism some have expressed and I hope I'm wrong but I see more frustrations coming this year with the current head coach.
...not to mention five years to attain a pre-season ranking of 121... sad.

I'm optimistic because what else can you be really? miserable, I guess, ya, but let's see if this team can surprise in a big way.