Game 1, 2022-23: Central CT (11/7)

[kdogg8173]

Good to see that Frank Martin teams still play their asses off. There's some big dudes on this team and one thing they don't lack in is strength, even the guards.

[Floyd]

Very happy with the play of Keon & RJ last night. Very tough and poised for 1st college game

Noah just steady as hell, such a great leader. Consistent, plays smart, and rebounds at 5-11.

Hope Gapare is ok. Need to get him into the flow as he's had a late jump.

[Old Cage]

Did they give an update on Cross?? Only thing I heard Frank say on the way home was he mentioned an injury.. Hopefully they just kept him out of this game as a precaution.

TV guys said toe injury. Should be OK for Towson.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Game went how I expected it... sluggish to start. New roster, new coach, new scheme.... it was going to take time before they pulled away from CCSU. The biggest takeaway for me was just how physical/aggressive they were. We haven't seen that in a very long time.

Did anyone see/hear the fan yell at Frank to shut up and sit down? Apparently he had UMASS gear on

This comes as absolutely no surprise... there's unfortunately going to be more than a few of those Amherst-area folks that won't take kindly to Frank's style. That berating and look he gave Kante at the end of the first half was something to behold.

[Floyd]

Maybe the fan was yelling at DK

[InnervisionsUMASS]

[eldonabe]

My initial observations in no particular order:

- No way the number of people in the seats equaled the announced attendance
- Luis was their the best player on the floor & Thompson was second
- Nice to see them rebound with some authority
- Frank is still the psychopath he was at K-State and SC, the guy goes from Zero to 100 in a nano-second
- DK seemed to be doing A LOT of directing he was on his feet much more than Frank was
- Frank's kid played A LOT of minutes (including starting) and he ain't that good. This will be a problem in the locker room IMO if this is going to be the norm. He is not even the 9th best player on the roster let alone a starter.
- The bigs did not play big in the sense that they played above the rim, but as noted already, the rebounding was definitely better than anything we have see in Amherst in many many years (I know it is a very low bar, but that was clearly a priority last night). CTSU was small so we will see how that carries to the next game (or not).
- Six players in Double Digits (with arguably their best scorer - Cross - not playing)

This game did not change my opinion of my outlook for the season, especially without seeing Gapare or Cross

[Old Cage]

- Frank's kid played A LOT of minutes (including starting)

I assumed that was because Cross was out.

[natwam2547]

What about Brandon Martin tells you he "aint that good"? Sure he's not a superstar, but he fits a role and 2/7/5 is something this team will need. He won't play 25 minutes if Cross is playing. But he's good enough to warrant 15. And I think it becoming an issue in the locker room is overblown. Winning cures all.

Luis/Thompson/DD/Kante were all very impressive. Never in a million years did I think DD would score 15 in 14 minutes in any game. He looked amazing in that 2nd half and if he brings that kind of energy every game, he's going to be a difference maker. DK getting Kante to come over, especially now that Woodley is out, might be the best move of the offseason.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Talk about losing the locker room after 1 game? Yikes.

[TheInsider]

Same here.. plus he knows how Frank wants to play and he's physical. He is very limited offensively and I would guess as the season goes along he would be more of 8 or 9 guy off the bench or when we need some D and rebounding. Kante is a huge addition. We have 2 good starting 5's.

[stevemaz]

the only question i have is whether it will be 26-4 or 27-3..

[69MG]

Here are my thoughts, and surprisingly a bit different from Eldon's.
My guess was around 4,000. 4,900 seems high.
My players of the game were DD and Kante, but I was very impressed with the 2 freshmen guards in their first game.
You can tell Brandon is the son of a coach. Almost always in the right place, makes smart plays. Limited offense is what holds him back.
I was told that Cross might be out from a few days to 2 weeks. Didn't need him last night. He'll replace Brandon once he's healthy.
I wish Leveque had Kante's intensity. Hopefully, Kante will push him for minutes and light a spark. The talent is there.
TJ looked really good on both ends. He is almost the forgotten man with all of the new guys but he's an important piece.
Frank is intense, but when he yells he also teaches. The guy who yelled at Frank is in for a long season. Frank might yell back at some point.
Don't want to leave Noah out of the discussion. He's the glue and I think he'll enjoy having this much talent to work with.

All in all a good game once they woke up. I hope Gapare is OK. He needs to get a lot of practice time and playing time to catch up with the rest of the team. My understanding is that he was only able to practice for 2 days so he was bound to look a little lost out there.

[stevemaz]

The A10 teams are going to have a hard time dealing with this wagon...

[LS71]

Fun night at the Bill. Great to see people I haven't seen since the pandemic.

NFW there were close to 5K people there....even counting those who may have left after the women's game. definitely more than Mullens Madness but not half full. We thought more like 3-4K.

We saw the guy screaming in section U, but we weren't sure who the he was yelling at or why he was doing so. Somebody needs to be the boss...and Frank's the perfect one be intense. Him being that way will ultimately lead to an intense UMass team! A good thing, IMO!

CCSU is a pesky team, but opening day butterflies is what kept the game close, early. IMO if they wanted to, UMass could have scored a100+ last night.

I love the depth and the size of this team. We haven't seen this much talent on a UMass team in a very long time!

I loved what I saw from TJ/Kante/Luis/DD/Keon, as well as the other that played.

It's gonna be a fun season!