Game 12, 2022-23: Dartmouth (12/20)

[Old Cage]

The game turned when Frank benched both of our point guards and put TJ and Luis together outside. Diggins and Keon are not (yet) prime time players. Tonight was as simple as that. Others here saw the same.

[LS71]

Took the guys a while to realize the team in green wasn’t UNT.

Once they did it was ovah.

[vanmeter]

I have to say that Cross in one tough nosed player. Leaves everything on the court. Maybe the most hard nosed player I have seen at UMass.
Good move putting Luis at the point and benching Diggjns and Thompson. When Noah gets back he should get a minimum of 30 minutes a game and Luis should get the balance along with minutes he gets at the off guard.
Dominguez should be also be getting more minutes.
We basically beat a jayvee team tonight. Their 4 leading scorers didn’t play - it should have been much easier.

[minutefanjsf]

Twitter post indicates many players were dealing with the flu this week especially Cross and Leveque (who was not cleared to play until the shoot around).

[RagingCager]

Honestly, a pretty poor showing tonight against a 4-10 team with several top players out due to illness…. If this continues, they will struggle in A10 play; we’ll see what happens when Noah gets back and in the meantime, at least they started looking at other options at the point…. and it was nice to see Gapare get a few more minutes tonight; even when his shot isn’t falling, he makes things happen because he’s a multitalented threat from anywhere on the floor and isn’t afraid to shoot or take it to the hole. He also had 7 boards and an impressive block in 15 mins playing time.

With this team struggling offensively as much as it is, one would think adjustments can be made in the starting lineup as well as with playing time to best utilize the better, more productive offensive players on the team…. It’s not like we have 10 equal, interchangeable options to put on the floor, especially offensively… maybe it’s time to adjust the rotation accordingly! On to the A10!

[Floyd]

Team looked a little worn out tonight, and for the first time, I noticed guys were hanging their heads a bit. They looked tired, and I wonder if Frank is grinding them a bit too hard. He really ripped into Wildens at one point and I think everyone heard it. They looked a little beaten down

DD deserves more minutes. His energy and skillset really was a key tonight, and TJ was clutch. Need to find ways to get TJ more open looks, he's by far our best shooter.

I liked the lineup with TJ, RJ, Cross, DD, and Tafara. All can score and played good D. Would love to see a few baseline lobs to Tafara on drives, he's so long and jumps out of the building, and it was there tonight a few times

Wasn't pretty, but we'll take the W

[Jackson96]

The flu thing would explain a bit.

[MikeUMA]

Post-game report:

@MLBergman_
The Flu has hit UMass bad recently, explains Frank Martin. Wildens Leveque started feeling bad pregame vs North Texas. Had 102° fever when he returned home.

Leveque did not practice last 2 days, and was only cleared during shoot around today, fever broke last night.

Legit curious if anyone in the program got flu shots. I know they don't always work though.

[MikeUMA]

Post-game presser. Just Frank.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oX54yyQJ9Ak

[69MG]

Maybe the worst 1st half I've seen in a while. My take is that the guys thought they could just show up against a team missing it's 4 top scorers. They might have thought they were playing with effort but they were just going thru the motions. If we were playing almost anyone else we do not win this game.

We were down 42-32 with about 15 minutes left and somehow the defensive intensity and energy level went way up. We outscored them 36-15 the rest of the way. Thank you, TJ for running the team so well and making clutch 3s. There's a lot to say but I'll let it pass. Hope Noah is 100% for SBU.

[Juice Stand]

I, like others, was massively disappointed in their performance, but after hearing about the flu knocking out a bunch of guys, I'm going to give them a pass. Although, Matt Cross was apparently under the weather and still left it all out there. That dude is relentless.

Others have noted that this team looks lost without Noah, and I agree. My only other comment is that Tafara and Dyondre need to play more minutes. It's getting absurd that they play essentially the same amount of minutes as someone else who continues to start. We get off to these slow offensive starts, it is definitely time to mix up the starting rotation and play your best players. You can't put yourself in a 10-point hole night in and night out against A10 competition. Those guys deserve 20+ per night.

[Acer71]

If only our bigs could have Cross's motor! 100% effort on both ends. Must have an ice bath reserved for post game with the pounding he gives and takes!

[Floyd]

The flu thing would explain a bit.

That would explain a lot. At first I thought Wildens may have been injured since he didn't start. Let's hope they can all rest up a bit over Christmas and recharge for conference play. 9-3 is a nice start to the season

[Worcester_To_Amherst]

Hopefully they got the 2 worst halves out of the way for the rest of the year with UNT 2nd half and Dartmouth 1st half. Lots of time to regroup for conference play.

[stevemaz]

We got the W so that is good. I will never understand being on a team and not giving maximum effort. The guys on the team owe it to their teammates, to their coaches, to their school, to their fans, and most importantly to themselves.

I will also never understand handing out scholarships to guards who cant shoot or even shoot with proper mechanics...ugh!