Expectations for 2022-23 Season

[Worcester_To_Amherst]

4 games in we’re firmly in the pillow fight section of the A10 standings, after losing back to back against 2 of the worst teams in the league. The schedule gets harder after URI.

At this point, salvaging a winning record in conference would be an accomplishment. I’ve been impartial to the lineups when the team was winning but I really hope Frank makes some changes ASAP. I’d like to see RJ Luis and DD or Gapare into the starting lineup instead of Weeks/Martin. Allow the best players to start gelling together, because that’s who you’ll need playing good to make noise in the A10 tourney.

Start working Diggins back in too. I think he’s the type of guy that could have slowed down Brickus last night. He was impactful on the defensive end early in the season. Keon is not ready for meaningful A10 minutes.

[stevemaz]

4 games in we’re firmly in the pillow fight section of the A10 standings, after losing back to back against 2 of the worst teams in the league. The schedule gets harder after URI.

At this point, salvaging a winning record in conference would be an accomplishment. I’ve been impartial to the lineups when the team was winning but I really hope Frank makes some changes ASAP. I’d like to see RJ Luis and DD or Gapare into the starting lineup instead of Weeks/Martin. Allow the best players to start gelling together, because that’s who you’ll need playing good to make noise in the A10 tourney.

Start working Diggins back in too. I think he’s the type of guy that could have slowed down Brickus last night. He was impactful on the defensive end early in the season. Keon is not ready for meaningful A10 minutes.

This is exactly what we should do..

[Juice Stand]

Agreed, excellent post. Well said.

[Floyd]

Here's a thought. Maybe Frank understands that freshman/young players hit a wall late season due to the adjustment to college ball, and is slowly working them in so they still have their legs come tourney time. We've all heard of the freshman wall

That said, I'd still like to see more RJ, DD, and Tafara worked in

[UMass'96]

More cowbell please

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

4 games in we’re firmly in the pillow fight section of the A10 standings, after losing back to back against 2 of the worst teams in the league. The schedule gets harder after URI.

At this point, salvaging a winning record in conference would be an accomplishment. I’ve been impartial to the lineups when the team was winning but I really hope Frank makes some changes ASAP. I’d like to see RJ Luis and DD or Gapare into the starting lineup instead of Weeks/Martin. Allow the best players to start gelling together, because that’s who you’ll need playing good to make noise in the A10 tourney.

Start working Diggins back in too. I think he’s the type of guy that could have slowed down Brickus last night. He was impactful on the defensive end early in the season. Keon is not ready for meaningful A10 minutes.

I would also like to see Diggins get more PT. From what I have seen so far, he's better than Keon. He plays good D, better shooter, faster and drives to the hoop better. Something is not right though with him and Frank. As I mentioned earlier - I sit very close behind the bench and I believe it might have been the game vs Dartmouth - late in the game and Diggins was about to shoot free throws and I heard, and I'm sure Diggins heard too, Frank yell right before he was about to shoot - "it's deflating watching you play" How much confidence can you have when your coach yells that for all to hear?

If we lose Noah next year we're in big trouble. Keon has proven he's not ready and based on what I've seen so far, not sure he's A-10 starting PG material. Diggins, while not great, has shown flashes that he can be a serviceable PG.

[DoctorJ]

Warren Nolan's site now has us projected to win 17 games this year, down from over 20. Probably not enough for NIT.

I'm hoping we get things straightened out.

We are still projected to beat URI at home but they have us losing three of the last four games.

It's time, in my opinion, to shorten the rotation a bit and give DD more minutes. Really could use some improvement in the underclassmen. RJ is showing signs of blossoming but the others, including Gapare, still seem to be liabilities on the floor.

[minutefanjsf]

Warren Nolan's site now has us projected to win 17 games this year, down from over 20. Probably not enough for NIT.

I'm hoping we get things straightened out.

We are still projected to beat URI at home but they have us losing three of the last four games.

It's time, in my opinion, to shorten the rotation a bit and give DD more minutes. Really could use some improvement in the underclassmen. RJ is showing signs of blossoming but the others, including Gapare, still seem to be liabilities on the floor.

Gapare is a huge liability on defense. It’s not his skill or athleticism. He is just inconsistent. His fundamentals are not sound and he relies on his athleticism it seems. He gets beat too often when trying to make the highlight reel play. He is young.

[Worcester_To_Amherst]

Gapare’s got a long way to go with consistency, he got beat by his man a few times yesterday off the dribble, but he is creating blocks/steals at a higher efficiency rate than anyone in the league (or something like that I saw on a graphic like a week ago). I think those impact plays can make up for mistakes. The LaSalle game- he was on the court in the end when they stopped scoring.

[Juice Stand]

^ Agreed. He'll get beat off the dribble, but he takes up so much space with his length and leaping ability that he affects the game defensively in ways that don't necessarily show up on the box score. Minutemanjsf is right about those highlight plays though. He just about flies out of the gym trying to block every 3-pt attempt. He's going to get beat on a lot of fakes if he keeps doing that.

[TheInsider]

Gapare will really benefit from an offseason of strength and conditioning and fundamentals.. He has all the potential in the world but it seems like he has never been taught how to really play the game.

[Juice Stand]

Here's a fun read on attendance from the Collegian: https://dailycollegian.com/2023/01/umas ... -the-rise/

[minutefanjsf]

^ Agreed. He'll get beat off the dribble, but he takes up so much space with his length and leaping ability that he affects the game defensively in ways that don't necessarily show up on the box score. Minutemanjsf is right about those highlight plays though. He just about flies out of the gym trying to block every 3-pt attempt. He's going to get beat on a lot of fakes if he keeps doing that.

On the offensive end, Frank lost it when Gapare got fouled going to rim. It looked like Gapare was setting up to make an acrobatic highlight reel type of layup or maybe even dunk. He could have made a fundamentally sound move and likely got the and one. There were a few other players who did the same. I heard Frank say use the glass, go up strong, etc. multiple times. He pulled his son after he made a great offensive play because the play before he hadn’t secured the defensive rebound. URI got like three offensive rebounds on that trip, all around the basket. Fundamentals matter to Frank, the most seems.

[stevemaz]

Gapare will really benefit from an offseason of strength and conditioning and fundamentals.. He has all the potential in the world but it seems like he has never been taught how to really play the game.

I think the young man is still growing into his body and i expect him to be much better next season and i think he needs to be playing power forward. It seems to me in the A10 where we see a lot of 3 guard lineups he will have issues matched up vs smaller guys.

If both he and Dominiquez are here in 2024-2025, they will be a formidable duo on the front court

[stevemaz]

I think a good goal for the rest of the regular season is to win 8 more games. 3 road games where i think we will be favored are St Joe, Las, and RI. The game at Fordham is probably a pickem. I would like to see wins in all 4 as the the home schedule is much tougher.

The A 10 tourney is wide open where as many as 10 teams could cut down the nets, UMass included (I have ruled out RI, St Joe, GW, Las, and Loyola). The key will be to finish in worst case 9th place to avoid a play in game (4th would be better, but that will be tough i think).