2023-24 Season

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Expectations? 14-16, 3 or 4 portal outs, a transfer or two in, and lots of reflection on a talk about the right Frank players, a renewed commitment in 2024-2025 etc. It’s just become dumb. Then, Bamford will cave and we’ll join a bad all sports conference, because “we have no choice with FBS” and we can all start getting excited about the traditional Sam Houston-UMass rivalry. We’re fucked. Tonight was sad and ultimately revealing.

[Floyd]

This team needs an athletic big guy who can really hammer the glass and bang inside. Someone really quick, like a Kit Rhymer. Their big guy was very active on the offensive glass and was a tough match up for Cohen

[NilesGold]

Jaylen Curry is starting to remind me too much of Tafara Gapare. Highly rated recruit, big expectations, really poor results. He seems to make terrible decisions, he often looks out of control, and his shooting %'s are terrible.

[Upstate10]

This team needs an athletic big guy who can really hammer the glass and bang inside. Someone really quick, like a Kit Rhymer. Their big guy was very active on the offensive glass and was a tough match up for Cohen

Charles Thompson is what this roster needs

[Plano Minuteman]

I look at a team like Colorado State who stunk last year, has about the same sized and similar interest level in fan bases, an antiquated arena, and they generally recruit at the same level as UMass ratings wise, yet, they've pieced together a team with an NCAA resume and we flail year after year. So frustrating.

[DanaDingle3]

^ This is Niko Medved's 6th year at Co. St. He's done a pretty good job.

I don't think this team has a high ceiling, but I do think they have the guys to lay the foundation and develop an identity for success moving forward. We need more size and athleticism all around. Our guards are small and our big guys lack athleticism. This team definitely has limitations, but I think ultimately, they'll play the way Frank wants to play -- they'll hang around most games and might steal some if some things go right. Middle of the pack in the A10 this year is an improvement, and it'll go up from there.

Keon has asserted himself at times this season, with good results. I know Frank likes to play inside out, but teams are pinching in. I'd like to see Keon take a more assertive role from the jump.

[UMassFan99]

I’m trying not to go too wild here. I think Cross and Cohen can still take this team far particularly if Keon plays like he did last night (and extremely far next season). Was hopeful on Diggins this season but he didn’t look good last night. Aside from that, we’re young so have to give these guys time. Davis has a sweet shot. Worthy seems solid (although one of his passes yesterday was very freshman like), Jayden seems excellent generally, Curry clearly has a lot of potential - just needs to learn the game and speed here. Not sure on Tarique or Majok. But that’s a real young roster overall and agreed that we need one more dog - like a big man who plays like Keon.

[Juice Stand]

Jaylen Curry is starting to remind me too much of Tafara Gapare. Highly rated recruit, big expectations, really poor results. He seems to make terrible decisions, he often looks out of control, and his shooting %'s are terrible.

I can't argue about the shooting numbers, they are what they are and to my eyes I don't think he has a very good stroke. But I'm willing to give him some time to develop since he's only 6 games into his collegiate career. Just look at Sean East, he's turned into one hell of a player. He clearly has skill, and I think it takes time for these guys to go from being the man in high school or prep to facing college players that are sometimes 23 or 24 years old. He's learning what he can and can't do against bigger/faster players, but I'm willing to be very patient with him.

The big difference between him and Gapare (aside from their height) is that Frank seems to like him and is willing to throw him out there and give him big minutes, whereas he nailed Gapare's ass to the bench for a while and admonished the fans and media any time they questioned why he wasn't getting more playing time.

[eldonabe]

Last night was not good and I am going to be honest I am having a little PTSD from last season now. There is nothing specific, it is more of that general feeling this team will be out-gunned a lot more often than not.

I do think there is a top to bottom improvement of talent over last year, but I am not feeling a different W/L total this season unless they figure out how to play some defense.

15-16 here we come (again).

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

Last night was not good and I am going to be honest I am having a little PTSD from last season now. There is nothing specific, it is more of that general feeling this team will be out-gunned a lot more often than not.

I do think there is a top to bottom improvement of talent over last year, but I am not feeling a different W/L total this season unless they figure out how to play some defense.

15-16 here we come (again).

had the same exact feeling - was thinking Towson would be bottom of A-10 if they were in the league and if we're going to lose by double figures to them then we'll get blown out by the top tier A-10 teams - flipping over to the VCU/Memphis game only solidified my thinking. I love the kids Frank has brought in but unless they stay for 2-3 years they won't compete anytime soon. We can't hit the reset button every year - need to find a way to keep these kids for more than a year - Keon and Diggins are proof that Frank will make you better if you just stay with it - I don't include Cross in that statement cause he was a stud already.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

I'd love for us to not have to keep hitting the reset button every year. It's been a brutal trend since essentially DK's last 2 years. Hell, I'd take a bad roster from one year to a second year at this point just so I can see some continuity from one season to the next.

[NilesGold]

He clearly has skill, and I think it takes time for these guys to go from being the man in high school or prep to facing college players that are sometimes 23 or 24 years old. He's learning what he can and can't do against bigger/faster players, but I'm willing to be very patient with him.

The big difference between him and Gapare (aside from their height) is that Frank seems to like him and is willing to throw him out there and give him big minutes, whereas he nailed Gapare's ass to the bench for a while and admonished the fans and media any time they questioned why he wasn't getting more playing time.

Does he clearly have skill though? Maybe he does, and maybe he gets a lot better, but I'm not so sure. I'm also willing to be patient, but I wish he wasn't playing so much when we have Keon & Diggins.

You're definitely right that Curry gets a lot more minutes than Gapare did... it's actually some weird combo of Gapare + Brandon Martin, which might actually be worse than if he was just riding the bench like Gapare did.

In hindsight, Frank was absolutely right to have Gapare on the bench.

[TheOFFSeason]

Jaylen Curry is starting to remind me too much of Tafara Gapare. Highly rated recruit, big expectations, really poor results. He seems to make terrible decisions, he often looks out of control, and his shooting %'s are terrible.

I can't argue about the shooting numbers, they are what they are and to my eyes I don't think he has a very good stroke. But I'm willing to give him some time to develop since he's only 6 games into his collegiate career. Just look at Sean East, he's turned into one hell of a player. He clearly has skill, and I think it takes time for these guys to go from being the man in high school or prep to facing college players that are sometimes 23 or 24 years old. He's learning what he can and can't do against bigger/faster players, but I'm willing to be very patient with him.

The big difference between him and Gapare (aside from their height) is that Frank seems to like him and is willing to throw him out there and give him big minutes, whereas he nailed Gapare's ass to the bench for a while and admonished the fans and media any time they questioned why he wasn't getting more playing time.

The biggest difference between Curry and Gapare from the coaching staffs point of view is that Gapare had no idea how to play the game of basketball…how to do what the team needs to win games and wasn’t able to understand what they were teaching/coaching him to do. Curry understands the game much better and is coachable to do what the team needs, but still has a way to go. He is 6 games into his freshman year and has done some good things and has struggled which is very understandable.
The Twitter folk went wild for Gapare after he had 19 pts against Albany, who were very poor defensively, not understanding enough that Gapare needed a lot of time(years) to be in a position where he could help win games on a consistent basis…Stoudemire is finding that out now.

[umiejoe]

s.o.s.

[Worcester_To_Amherst]

Wednesday's loss was bad, but this is not a top half A-10 roster. Hard to win at a time when there's lots of 22+ year old guys in the NCAA and you've got freshmen taking up half your rotation. This team will lose more games we think they should win.

If Cross and Cohen struggle on the boards like at Towson, it's going to be really hard to beat anyone.

Hopefully they bounce back tomorrow and keep getting better. Can't expect a guy like Curry to be good right away. Guys used to have 1-2 years to develop before they were expected to contribute to a winning team. We unfortunately need freshmen to be good to win, which is a tough thing to rely on.