Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

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stevemaz
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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by stevemaz » Sat Jan 21, 2023 2:58 pm

that should have been a win. BM and Keon totally sucked today and I would say that was primary reason they lost. And yes, when you are struggling win man to man defense you should play more zone

just go with your best players 30+ mins Frank

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Jackson96
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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by Jackson96 » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:01 pm

Welp it’s getting worse. Awful stopping penetration, turning the ball over, run out some interesting lineups after they had their second half run to take the lead, just doesn’t look like a team out there. These are the kind of games where McCall would say the word connected maybe 67 times in the post game presser.

I know I’ve been preaching patience and I still am, but goddamn there is no progress being shown out there. Or if there is (like Diggins seeing some shots go in) it pales in comparison to the regression we are seeing — especially on the defensive end.

So I’m still being patient, but fuck it is hard, man. Not feeling too connected at the moment.
"I wrote a column and it went national"

wmmmfan
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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by wmmmfan » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:03 pm

Frank just needs to reward the guys playing with passion (Cross, Dominguez, Luis and Diggins) and sit the guys phoning it in. Time to reward effort and energy.
Tough to watch losses when only some players are showing effort.

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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by Worcester_To_Amherst » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:04 pm

Welp I’m officially checked out on this season. I’ll check out some games if time allows and tune into the A10 tourney.

Frank Martin is making top dollar and the team seems to get worse on a weekly basis. He’s 100% giving minutes his kid doesn’t deserve and acts like he’s being personally attacked when it’s mentioned.

Did I expect the team to make the tourney this year? No. But I expected a good defensive team and top half of the A10 squad when there’s more talent on this roster than UMass has had in nearly 10 years. Not getting embarrassed on the road to middling A10 teams and UMass Lowell/LaSalle at home.

Sloppy, uninspired, out-hustled, bone headed plays, handing the ball to the other team, beat off the dribble over and over. Is that a Frank Martin team?

Cue the “did people expect him to turn it around in a single season?”. Considering where they were under McCall, the completely revamped roster with multiple top 100 guys, and a final four coach- yes I expected some kind of turnaround. I’m positive and patient by nature but I’ve had enough.

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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by NilesGold » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:04 pm

It could not be any more obvious that Frank Martin has no fucking clue how to put in a lineup that works, because when he does put in a lineup that works, it does well, then he abandons it and everything goes to shit.

stevemaz
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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by stevemaz » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:12 pm

Even though I hate the philosophy of playing 10 guys I understand that is what many coaches do in today's game. But, in our case, where we do not have 10 A-10 level players the bench needs to be shortened. We looked good with Diggins, Weeks, Cross, Luis to start 2nd half.. hmmm I wonder why? When Fernandes returns go with this:

Fernades
Weeks or Diggins
Luis
Cross
Leveque/Kante (both are shaky though).. I would consider Dominquez at the 5 if the opponent has no true bigs

Dominquez
Diggins/Weeks
Gapare

thats it.. If Fernandes cant go than Diggins and Weeks both start and Thompson gets a few mins each half.. PLAY MORE ZONE..
Last edited by stevemaz on Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

69MG
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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by 69MG » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:14 pm

You know what, these guys aren't as good as we thought they were. Not sure what to make of the defense. Defense is energy, effort and being in position. We don't have a lot of offensive weapons so we have to keep teams under 70 to win. The URI game is the only A10 game where we've done that.

Sad to say but I think this season has slipped away.

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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by wmmmfan » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:23 pm

stevemaz wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:12 pm Even though I hate the philosophy of playing 10 guys I understand that is what many coaches do in today's game. But, in our case, where we do not have 10 A-10 level players the bench needs to be shortened. We looked good with Diggins, Weeks, Cross, Luis to start 2nd half.. hmmm I wonder why? When Fernandes returns go with this:

Fernades
Weeks or Diggins
Luis
Cross
Leveque/Kante (both are shaky though).. I would consider Dominquez at the 5 if the opponent has no true bigs

Dominquez
Diggins/Weeks
Gapare

thats it.. If Fernandes cant go than Diggins and Weeks both start and Thompson gets a few mins each half.. PLAY MORE ZONE..
Time to steal from Tory and shorten the bench:

Dominguez
Cross
Weeks
Diggins
Noah - when healthy
Luis
Gapare
K. Thompson

If they earn time in practice then he can play Leveque, Kante, Martin and G. Thompson some minutes.

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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by Worcester_To_Amherst » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:23 pm

69MG wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:14 pm You know what, these guys aren't as good as we thought they were. Not sure what to make of the defense. Defense is energy, effort and being in position. We don't have a lot of offensive weapons so we have to keep teams under 70 to win. The URI game is the only A10 game where we've done that.

Sad to say but I think this season has slipped away.
As a unit? Yes nowhere near what we thought. But let’s not act like there isn’t a lot of talent on this roster. Noah, Cross, Dominguez, Luis, and Weeks are capable of going for 20+ on a good night. Kante is a proven offensive big man. Levesque is a proven defensive big man. Diggins hasn’t gotten much playing time in his college career but he showed today that he can be a positive force. Sure there’s some extenuating circumstances that are hurting us, but every team faces adversity. Teams with good leaders overcome that.

For some reason, the sum of the parts has been less than the whole. Usually that’s on the coach. I don’t think it’s right to wave our hands and say they aren’t that good to excuse the season going to shit.

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Quann
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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by Quann » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:24 pm

Team is not the same without a healthy Fernandes on the floor. Seems like his injury is one of those ones that will be nagging him all season.

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R&G
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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by R&G » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:30 pm

There is only one team below UMass in the A10 standings.

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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by MakeMullinsGreatAgain » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:33 pm

hopefully Frank going with Luis to start the 2nd half is a sign of things to come going forward. Luis might be the best player on the team - and I include Noah when I say this. I think Diggins is a much better option right now than TJ - I go with Noah, Luis, DD, Cross and Levesuqe to start. Diggins, Weeks, Kante first 3 off bench with Gapare and Brandon getting 8-10 minutes max. Gapare is awful - I don't care if you play him 25 minutes - right now he is lost - hurt - and just not strong enough to play in the A-10.

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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by kd68 » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:34 pm

It seems we get worse as the season moves on. (We seem to due that every year) I was hoping Martin would cure this problem. Hopefully Fernandez can come back.

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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by RagingCager » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:38 pm

ClubMan said it best…, time for Frank to start taking responsibility for this mess. He bitches about the inability to guard man to man… switch to a zone, and keep mixing it up! He sits one of his best players (RJ) during a critical stretch in the 2nd half after they fought to get back in the game, and of course, they end up with a big deficit. Many of the lineup choices during the course of the game are simply mind boggling!

And, for F*** sake, isn’t it time to start your 5 best players, and reduce the playing rotation to your top 6 or 7 guys ( maybe 8 when Noah gets back) ? This team should be much better than it is at this point, and I attribute much of it to mismanagement at the top…. there is a core group of guys here, that when used properly, can compete at the A10 level…. especially if they play more zone defense ( effective, well prepared and practiced zone defense). Yes, many of us are pretty upset and expect more from this team….. instead of continuing to blame the players for not fully adjusting to a certain style or philosophy, perhaps Coach Martin may be better suited to adapt to the players strengths and weaknesses and focus on keeping the best lineups out on the floor to give them a chance to compete and win. The college game is drastically changing with respect to the transfer portal and NIL money….. it’s time to make the most out of what you have now, without focusing on what may or may not happen somewhere down the line.
Last edited by RagingCager on Sat Jan 21, 2023 10:02 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Game 19, 2022-23: at Saint Joe's (1/21)

Post by NilesGold » Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:40 pm

69MG wrote: Sat Jan 21, 2023 3:14 pm You know what, these guys aren't as good as we thought they were. Not sure what to make of the defense. Defense is energy, effort and being in position. We don't have a lot of offensive weapons so we have to keep teams under 70 to win.
I disagree. The players are good... flawed in some ways, but real the problem is that Frank has no clue how to play to their strengths and shield from their weaknesses.

For example, Kante is a good offensive player, but a bad defender... UMass almost never got him the ball on offense, so his strength was wasted, and SJU exploited it even more at times when they didn't even have a center out there and Kante was trying to defend guys on the perimeter.

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