Game 9, 2022-23: UMass Lowell (12/8)

[m626t]

^
listened to the post game in the car. Frank would not name the player but said one of our guys failed repeatedly to cover the open guy in the corner and the 3s were a direct result.

[TruBluMaroon]

^
listened to the post game in the car. Frank would not name the player but said one of our guys failed repeatedly to cover the open guy in the corner and the 3s were a direct result.

Then why did he leave them in the game?

[thecaptain]

^
listened to the post game in the car. Frank would not name the player but said one of our guys failed repeatedly to cover the open guy in the corner and the 3s were a direct result.

Can’t speak for all instances but DD def missed it one time. TV announcers called him out on it

[m626t]

^

guessing reason may have been Noah and Diggins not available...

walking past the practice rink a tall older guy in front of me in UMass cap says to his friend, "I hate it when a coach screams at a player"
Me right behind him: "you're really gonna hate this guy then"

[RagingCager]

Frank pointed out that they were beat at the point guard position….their point guard dominated the game and was able to create on the offensive end; he also disrupted our offense on the defensive end. Of course, having Noah would’ve made a difference, but knowing in advance that he was out begs the question…why not try a zone defense if you’re getting beat off the dribble? Why not try something different on offense to take some of the pressure off of the point?

It should also be noted, there were no students in the student section behind the hoop… zero! Very disappointing! I do give credit to some of the guys who battled back to try to steal a game they didn’t deserve to win. Final thought…. disappointing to see Gapare’s minutes limited as much as they were

[wmmmfan]

Frank pointed out that they were beat at the point guard position….their point guard dominated the game and was able to create on the offensive end; he also disrupted our offense on the defensive end. Of course, having Noah would’ve made a difference, but knowing in advance that he was out begs the question…why not try a zone defense if you’re getting beat off the dribble? Why not try something different on offense to take some of the pressure off of the point?

It should also be noted, there were no students in the student section behind the hoop… zero! Very disappointing! I do give credit to some of the guys who battled back to try to steal a game they didn’t deserve to win. Final thought…. disappointing to see Gapare’s minutes limited as much as they were

They did play zone and Lowell beat them there as well. The defense was horrible tonight just like it was in the last 10 minutes of the Albany game. Frank said it Monday night, the energy level and the execution has been getting worse since Myrtle Beach. Leaders need to step up, especially with Noah out. This team has talent but it has to learn to play with passion for 40 minutes like the women’s team.

[Floyd]

Lowell played very well, we didn't. With Noah out, I'd play Keon the bulk of PG minutes. Diggins looked lost at the point. Keon much more aggressive and stronger in the lane.
I didn't love the rotations tonight at all. Almost seemed like Frank wanted to dampen the Gapare hype as he got little time. Thought he and DD , being more athletic and long, might have been more effective tonight, as ULowell bigs were active. I would have liked to even see Tafara guard the pg, he's got good hands, good quickness, and good reach.

Thought the lineup at the end was a little late coming, and I agree with the other post about lineups when down 15 not changing. I love Frank and his style but didn't love the lineups tonight. This game could have been had even with Lowell shooting out of their minds. Can blame the players but I think some of this was on Frank as well

[thecaptain]

tell you one thing, if we dont get our shit together, we're catching another L vs. Hofstra and getting absolutely blown out by North Texas.

[69MG]

We have played 3 consecutive halves of bad defense. When we score 80 we should win every game if the team plays D the way Frank preaches it. There were so many missed assignments tonight I lost count. When we guarded the 3 point line in the corner, they made an entry pass to a practically wide open guy under the basket. I'm not going to call out any players. Everyone needed to play better.

What I will say is with Noah out we need a point guard who can set up plays and make the right pass. I think Keon can get there, but that's asking a lot from a true freshman. How could we let Hikim, who transferred in last year from LaSalle, absolutely dominate the game. He had 23 points without taking a 3, 7 assists, 6 rebounds and 4 steals. We did turn him over 8 times so there's a bright spot.

We have 2 tough ones coming up and it will be interesting to see how the guys respond.

[thecaptain]

i noticed we had 17 (!) offensive rebounds. any know how many points we got off those?

[69MG]

We had 15 "second chance" points, which I think is basically from offensive rebounds. We had 1 sequence late in the second half where we had 3 or 4 offensive rebounds and got 0 points. I will admit that I thought we got fouled on at least 2 of the putbacks but none were called.

[Juice Stand]

Frank pointed out that they were beat at the point guard position….their point guard dominated the game and was able to create on the offensive end; he also disrupted our offense on the defensive end. Of course, having Noah would’ve made a difference, but knowing in advance that he was out begs the question…why not try a zone defense if you’re getting beat off the dribble? Why not try something different on offense to take some of the pressure off of the point?

It should also be noted, there were no students in the student section behind the hoop… zero! Very disappointing! I do give credit to some of the guys who battled back to try to steal a game they didn’t deserve to win. Final thought…. disappointing to see Gapare’s minutes limited as much as they were

We played zone on more than one occasion. It disrupted them for a little but was ultimately ineffective.

You're right that there weren't many students behind the hoop, but there were a ton of students at the game. They were everywhere.

I've been on the Gapare train like everyone else, but he didn't look comfortable out there last night. Guys were trying to force feed him the ball, and he didn't really do much other than that highlight dunk. in a game where you needed to claw back, and he wasn't particularly good, you roll with the guys that were: Cross, TJ, Keon, etc.

[Zeke]

Yes. Our defense vs the 3 was poor but Lowell also wasn't missing - especially at critical points to stop our comeback runs. Our defensive rotations work poorly in general. I think alot of that is coaching and practice.

More importantly, I'm seeing little from FM and staff that indicates they know how to run a smart offense. Lowell's defense was ferocious but we didn't challenge them with well designed offensive sets: give and goes, slash and kick out to perimeter, double picks, slash and dish to a big cutting underneath. The offense lacked imagination and intelligence rather than it being simply failure of players to execute.

[eldonabe]

^

guessing reason may have been Noah and Diggins not available...

walking past the practice rink a tall older guy in front of me in UMass cap says to his friend, "I hate it when a coach screams at a player"
Me right behind him: "you're really gonna hate this guy then"

Like I said previously - watch how long it takes for this to get old with the Am-Herst fan base if they do not keep winning at a reasonable rate

Putting on hard hats, play harder and awe shucks suit these fans much better.


I hope Frank keeps winning and screams his ass off every single night for the next 10 years so these smug uppity Am-Herstians have to STFU and accept it.

[Acer71]

Shows what Fernandes means to the team. He's the glue that keeps all the new parts together. Steep learning curve for the new guards, but expect big improvement by conference play.
Oh, an opponent shooting volumes of 3's north of 50% is a recipe for a L. Tough night all around.