Game 15, 2022-23: at GW (1/7)

[Worcester_To_Amherst]

I wish it wasn’t happening but this is “part of the deal” with bringing Frank in to coach here. The guy does things his way and doesn’t seem to care about what other people think.

I guess this is my one issue. If in fact he's sacrificing wins to play his kid (and, to be clear, I'm accusing him of intentionally doing that), I'm not sure it's fair for us fans to just be OK with that being "part of the deal." The idea that you can make 1.7 million a year and somehow be beyond reproach is preposterous. I think Frank has dramatically retooled this roster for the better, but that doesn't mean we can't take issue with his lineups on account of him doing things his way. Part of doing things your "own (at times counterintuitive) way" is recognizing that it will come with criticism.

Completely agree, I’m just trying to describe the reality of the situation as I see it. I don’t think it’s good coaching or something fans should accept. It is an issue. But his boss isn’t going to upset the apple cart with his new big hire over this in year 1. Fans can continue to call him out but apparently he’s taking that as a personal shot against him. In reality he made it personal by creating this situation.

I guess my big takeaway is this: is it worth it for the fans to go scorched earth about this and poison the situation in year 1, when for the most part we like what’s going on? I have a lot more thoughts on the whole situation but they’re all pretty negative so I’ll just put it aside and keep watching. Hopefully it pays off in some tourney appearances.

[palm14]

I do not disagree with many sentiments expressed in this thread, but I think it's stupid and dangerous to wander into the "maybe Frank shouldn't be here" territory already. On paper, back in March, could we have made a better hire than Frank? Can we make a better hire if Frank left today? I highly doubt it. And I know there's going to be someone who says "Well actually there's this young coach at Tennessee Tech State A&M who would've been perfect..." Save it.

What does "building a program" even mean anymore? Gapare could get 25 minutes a night and still decide to transfer to a P5 school. We no longer live in a world where a freshmen class comes in and we watch them grow together for four years. But if we want to hit on the slight chance that a group does stay together for four years, we need a guy like Frank in charge. Even if guys leave, we need someone like Frank here to bring in adequate replacements.

Plus I think Frank is still a good coach even if you want to put everything else aside.

Our programs need to win NOW so we can land in a conference and/or be relevant when the P5 breaks off and everybody is scrambling for a life boat. That's why I say the same thing about Don Brown. Could we do better given the state of football? (We could as far as Casula goes. He's a fucking moron who I can't believe is returning.)

Again there's a lot of things here I agree with. But let's see how things go. People are turning on Frank Martin much, much faster than they did Matt McCall. I think that speaks to a problem within our (ever-shrinking) fanbase. We need to start doing our part by making Mullins a home game for our guys. That includes everyone from the old diehards to the students. Yeah we need to win so the people show up. But until then we can't sit on our asses and let teams waltz into Mullins and take over. If we do that we'll never get to the point where we win.

Let's get a good, energetic crowd tomorrow night and get back in the win column.

[Floyd]

My 2 cents which doesn't mean shit and I'm sure I'll get fucking roasted, but here it is anyway.

Currently sit at 10-5, won our first tournament in years, year 1 with a new staff and team. Some good young talent, a couple holdovers, and a few transfers that came along with Frank. My impression is that Frank trusts his SC guys, son included, to help him set the tone and work ethic he wants, here at UMass. If MM was still here, everyone would have a chubby over a 10-5 record, etc, but we'll shred Frank and his son with nepotism bullshit and BM's stats.

With Frank's style of play, defensive intensity is a core. To play with that intensity you need your bench, very hard to play prolonged minutes at a super high intensity level, offensively and defensively. So do you play your "5 best players" big minutes before they know the offense, and wear them out, or try to balance it out so that you don't have a team 1 and a team 2 with a noticeable drop-off? I'm talking at this point of the season now. What matters is getting the best combinations and talent together to peak for the tourney

Maybe working the rotations differently and gradually increasing minutes for some and decreasing for others as games go on and guys get a better grasp on things, gets us peaking later in the season when we need to be.
The staff may be tweaking things to see what's gonna work and who plays better with who. Or maybe something behind the scenes to get guys going. Noah was out, WL has been out, so we haven't had everyone available for many games

The end goal is peak late season. Let's let the guy run his program. Not saying everyone has to agree with every move Frank makes, and it's cool to discuss it, but this nepotism crap and shitting on BM only brings negativity that brings the team and program down.

The program has been mediocre for a while, we now have an experienced higher profile coach. Let's not run him off already

Flame away

[Acer71]

^^^^Right on!

[Juice Stand]

I've been pretty vocal on this topic, but I don't think I've ever called it nepotism. In my opinion, Frank isn't playing Brandon because he's his son, he's playing him because he's experienced, can set an example for the younger guys, and does the things that Frank likes: defense and rebounding.

I was fine with it in November, less fine in December, and now am ready for him to take a seat and let the other guys cook. It's early January so I haven't blown a gasket yet, and I remain optimistic that the better players will earn more playing time in February and March.

[Camby4Life]

Frank had a huge freshmen class his first year at KSU and he still played 11 guys 9+ minutes a game. Look at their top 3 freshmen’s minutes and points, some familiar names.

Michael Beasley 31.5 26.2
Billy Walker 27.3 16.1
Jacob Pullen 23.4 9.7

Either way, Brandon would be playing at least 10 minutes, sure maybe he doesn’t have to start but he hasn’t been in many close games at the end. It’s not an ideal situation and I’d say none of us on here would start him if we were the coach.

We need to get WL back in the lineup to get our full rotation back. We still only have 1 loss with our starters.

[eldonabe]

I was not (am not) suggesting Frank should go..... As far as I am concerned he is a breath of fresh air.

I just want BM to play less minutes for the good of the freshmen he is taking minutes away from.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Anyone suggesting Frank should go is Certifiable.

[Floyd]

I was not (am not) suggesting Frank should go..... As far as I am concerned he is a breath of fresh air.

I just want BM to play less minutes for the good of the freshmen he is taking minutes away from.

My guess is as the season goes on and the freshman start developing more, Frank will go with his best lineups heading into late season. I'm sure there's a rhyme to his reason

[UMass'96]

Next month will be the true litmus test of his rotational pattern up to this point. If we really start showing signs of peaking next month, Coach will be lauded as a genius. If not, well you know how this board goes...

[Camby4Life]

Anyone suggesting Frank should go is Certifiable.

imagine if we were 5-10 instead of 10-5.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

^

I don't even want to think about that.

[UMass'96]

We have a better record than Kentucky right now, both non-con and conference. Just sayin'... Ironically, UK lost to SC last night.

[stevemaz]

I think Kentucky has top recruiting class for next season so i expect one more run for Cal before he exits for TV and then returns to UMass in 2030..

[inthescoop]

We have a better record than Kentucky right now, both non-con and conference. Just sayin'... Ironically, UK lost to SC last night.

South Carolina were also 20 point underdogs - talk about an upset!