3 Things Happened

[JoleonLescottsHair]

…that I think could have changed the results we saw under McCall.

(1) the shitty foul called on Tre against urine. A young team is a game away from .500 and playing pretty good ball. The rebuild seemed to be on the right trajectory. Bitter loss to rival. Then A10 gets canceled.
(2) Covid season and the failure to find games. UMass played 15 games. 15. Team looked pretty decent and it seemed like it would have been an overall winning season and improvement in A10. Program was slowly improving its place from year 1 to 4 (13, 12, 8, 5th) and roster was stabilizing and gaining experience. I don’t know if it was Bamford, McCall or both, but the program was not served well by failing to reschedule a bunch of those lost games. A, say, 17-11 finish - even against a thrown together schedule- would have left a much better taste in fan and players minds than a 8-7 lost season.
(3) Not replacing NJIT this season. That was dumb. While other teams were picking up games wherever they could, we sat for 2.5 weeks and then proceeded to lose the first 4 games on return.

I’m not arguing for keeping McCall or making excuses, but in addition to poor roster management (on the coach), there was also some wildly shitty developments and bad luck thrown into the mix along the way.

[Plano Minuteman]

Okay, I'll play.

1) He hired Bergeron and McCall pretty much invested his roster in Woodstock talent.
2) Some falling out happened and Tre left (DeGray and Pierre too).
3) Reloaded with transfers with only 1 year of eligibility left.

[Juice Stand]

McCall addressed some of this recently. Not sure exactly when it was, otherwise I would post the link for reference. He cited consistency as a major reason for the failures during his tenure. This included consistency in his staff, in the roster, as well as the product on the court. I don't remember if he included Covid and the start/stop nature of the last two years, but it certainly has been a factor.

I agree that last year was a setback for the program. If we got more games in with Tre in his second year, get some momentum and a run in the conference tourney, maybe an NIT, maybe he sticks around for one more year and we're off and running this season. Every program in the country obviously dealt with cancellations, but I felt like we were hit harder than most.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Okay, I'll play.

1) He hired Bergeron and McCall pretty much invested his roster in Woodstock talent.
2) Some falling out happened and Tre left (DeGray and Pierre too).
3) Reloaded with transfers with only 1 year of eligibility left.

Was trying for something a little different, but OK.

[UMass'96]

You offered 3 observations that you believe were turning points, Plano offered his thoughts on the same. If this isn;t the direction that you were looking to take the conversation in, where were you trying to go?

[e_parade]

I know what you were trying to do here, but the thread title leads people to believe you're sticking to things that actually happened.

Should have been "3 Things that could have Happened" to let people know you were playing the hypothetical game here.


Granted, you literally spelled that out in the first line of the first post there so I guess that's on everyone else and reading comprehension.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Should have been "3 Things that could have Happened" to let people know you were playing the hypothetical game here.

Granted, you literally spelled that out in the first line of the first post there so I guess that's on everyone else and reading comprehension.

Yes, good point. That would have been better.

You offered 3 observations that you believe were turning points..

No, not really.

[bobolink]

Perhaps not a turning point, but the roster consistency this year sticks with me. Only 2 players available in all 30 games (Rich Kelly and Trent). If I try finding a turning point in there, Dibaji really start strong, hitting 3s at a high rate and defending very well. Needed his length. Team was 6-3 after beating Harvard, but he was injured, and the team went 1-6 with the covid pause and other players missing games after that. I feel for MM having to cope with that, among other things, although there was absolutely no way to keep him after 5 unsuccessful seasons.

[Floyd]

Thats why I'm not a big fan of the transfer portal. Its ok to fill in a spot here and there, or if you can get a real stud, which is very tough. But the 1 year rental and subsequent turnover does nothing to develop consistency, which good teams have. Rare for smooth cohesion right out of the gate

[69MG]

Thats why I'm not a big fan of the transfer portal. Its ok to fill in a spot here and there, or if you can get a real stud, which is very tough. But the 1 year rental and subsequent turnover does nothing to develop consistency, which good teams have. Rare for smooth cohesion right out of the gate

You are correct regarding long term success. Unfortunately, this year and maybe next year we are going to have to use the portal to rebuild. We know about the 4 seniors and there will probably be more gone. Impossible to guess how many until we see who the next coach is.

If we're lucky he'll be able to get a few guys with 2 or more years left. If he does, the following year shouldn't be as chaotic. A valid question is whether or not the new coach can bring in any high school recruits this year (maybe kids who committed to him at his previous school and would follow him)?

Anyhow, we have far more questions than answers at this point. Let's get the new guy on board in by the end of the month.

[UMass'96]

Should have been "3 Things that could have Happened" to let people know you were playing the hypothetical game here.

Granted, you literally spelled that out in the first line of the first post there so I guess that's on everyone else and reading comprehension.

Yes, good point. That would have been better.

You offered 3 observations that you believe were turning points..

No, not really.

Apologies, I don't mean to belabor the topic but, if they are not observations and they are not points that a different outcome might have changed the season, then what are they? What is the point of your post?

I mean, reading comprehension be damned. If, "3 things happened that I think could have changed the results we saw under McCall" followed by a list of 3 things that actually happened, isn't your observations then what is it? It's implied here that if those three things turned out differently then we would have seen potentially different results.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Apologies, I don't mean to belabor the topic but…

..you will.

[UMass'96]

Well, if you just answer the question regarding the point of your post then it will all be clear.

[e_parade]

Should have been "3 Things that could have Happened" to let people know you were playing the hypothetical game here.

Granted, you literally spelled that out in the first line of the first post there so I guess that's on everyone else and reading comprehension.

Yes, good point. That would have been better.

You offered 3 observations that you believe were turning points..

No, not really.

Apologies, I don't mean to belabor the topic but, if they are not observations and they are not points that a different outcome might have changed the season, then what are they? What is the point of your post?

I mean, reading comprehension be damned. If, "3 things happened that I think could have changed the results we saw under McCall" followed by a list of 3 things that actually happened, isn't your observations then what is it? It's implied here that if those three things turned out differently then we would have seen potentially different results.

Take the thing that happened and make the opposite happen. That's really the point here.

[eldonabe]

Actually 1 thing happened……

They suck at defense.