2025-26 Season

[kd68]

Just curious. Why do some people believe we can win the MAC when we lost To Umass Lowell and Central Conn State. Is the MAC that bad?

[Juice Stand]

KD, I believe that UMass can win the MAC because our available resources should put us in the top tier, however, as we saw this year, resources don't mean diddly-poo if you don't assemble a complete roster. This team would have probably finished 4th or 5th in the MAC.

Having the resources to win and actually doing it are not exactly the same. Hopefully this season was a wake up call for Frank and his staff.

[kd68]

One thing for sure. We need some guys that can shoot from 3 point land.

[eldonabe]

Having the resources to win and actually doing it are not exactly the same. Hopefully this season was a wake up call for Frank and his staff.

Given the dysfunction that we all can see on that bench I am not optimistic.

[bobolink]

Just curious. Why do some people believe we can win the MAC when we lost To Umass Lowell and Central Conn State. Is the MAC that bad?

Can win the MAC, but it seems far from certain.

CCSU is no powerhouse, but they're currently on a 14 game winning streak, so not a total pushover. But those were 2 bad losses.

I think we've heard our guys may have more $ than other MAC bball programs, although I don't get why that would be given hockey and other sports competing for the $. Recruiting levels for UM recently are above those of MAC teams, although that is far from that to ensuring success.

[eldonabe]

Just curious. Why do some people believe we can win the MAC when we lost To Umass Lowell and Central Conn State. Is the MAC that bad?

Can win the MAC, but it seems far from certain.

CCSU is no powerhouse, but they're currently on a 14 game winning streak, so not a total pushover. But those were 2 bad losses.

I think we've heard our guys may have more $ than other MAC bball programs, although I don't get why that would be given hockey and other sports competing for the $. Recruiting levels for UM recently are above those of MAC teams, although that is far from that to ensuring success.

Wea re not MAC yet - unless they are laying - they are not going to be "above MAC level recruiting" for long.

[Juice Stand]

I am of the mind that Frank Martin isn't going anywhere because of the years and dollars left on his contract. I also don't believe Rahsool will be back. Here's my roster wishlist:

Gotta have 'em:
Daniel Hankins-Sanford
Jayden Ndjigue
Jaylen Curry

Nice to have 'em:
Nate Guerengomba
Marqui Worthy
Shahid Muhammed
Akil Watson
Tarique Foster

Stay, Go, whatever:
Daniel Rivera (sorry, I just can't watch the boneheaded plays and poor FT shooting but I do appreciate the hustle)
Luka Damjanac
Amadou Doumbia

Nice knowing you:
Malek Abdelgowad (what an epic misfire he was. My goodness. And Frank wanted him LAST year too.

What I think will happen:
No f'ing clue. Does it matter with how bad this team was all year? Blow it up, start over.

[DoctorJ]

I have no idea who, if anyone, stays. If I had to guess, I'd say Jaden, Nate, Damjan, Dumbia... Yeah, I have no clue.

Next year is unlikely to be as disappointing as this year... I hope.

[fenway617]

Just curious. Why do some people believe we can win the MAC when we lost To Umass Lowell and Central Conn State. Is the MAC that bad?

And in the MAC only the top 8 teams make it to the MAC postseason. With UM next season there will be 13 teams in the MAC. NIU is leaving the MAC after next season.

[inthescoop]

Juice.. Not sure why you’re not a fan of Luka and Doumbia but fans of Nate G, Watson, and Foster. I stand the opposite there.. I saw progress from Luka and Doumbia, don’t know if I saw progress from the other 3 throughout the year. Although, Tarique did have that 1 game he lead the team in scoring (what a weird season it has been indeed).

[Juice Stand]

Yeah, I don't know honestly. I just kind of threw that together. I do like Luka and Amadou, but they don't move the needle for me.

I think Nate G has potential, he just really struggled adjusting to the college game in year 1. I also see that potential in Watson, and Foster has been good when Frank has played him, he just couldn't ever get off the bench for some reason. The reality is we're probably headed for complete roster turnover. It is what it is.

[NilesGold]

One thing for sure. We need some guys that can shoot from 3 point land.

Yes, I'd say you want at least 3 guys on the floor who can shoot 3s at a high level (35%+).

The difficulty with retaining any more than a small number of players from the current team is that most of them can't shoot well, they don't mesh well together (I'll get into this later), and one of my biggest disappointments is that they're mostly mediocre at best on defense. One of the biggest questions for me is what kind of an identity is Frank trying to establish with this team? The 23-24 season had a little bit of an identity (tough, offense ran through post-ups and lots of offensive rebounds) even if not everyone on the team exuded that.. this year's team had absolutely no identity and that seemed apparent even during the pre-season.

Diggins could be a solid microwave scorer, but he's not cutout to carry a team's scoring over a whole season (too inconsistent), he doesn't really provide much beyond the scoring, and he's mediocre defensively. Honestly, he's best as a 6th man who can come off the bench and if he doesn't have the juice that night he doesn't play much.

Curry is at times an electric scorer that has the speed to create his own shot and rarely turns the ball over, but his shooting is very erratic, he's an inefficient scorer, he primarily looks to score rather than set up his teammates (not a real PG in my book), and he's a very poor defender. I'm just not sure how you use him on a good team, maybe like Diggins as a 6th man if you're struggling to create offense in a game?

Jayden is a great glue guy, he gives you good rebounding and respectable defense at the 3 position, but his 3pt shot stinks and his offensive game is very limited. Having him on the floor puts some pressure on the other 4 guys to score most of your points. Him being at the 3 position kind of necessitates that your 4 or 5 man can make 3s (in addition to your guards), which is hard to come by.

DHS could be a star at the 4 spot, great offensive rebounder and improving as a scorer, but he can't play the 5 or the 3 very effectively and his 3pt shot is way too inconsistent. Paired with a true 5 man he kind of kills your spacing unless you can find the rare center who can make 3s.

Rivera is a bit like DHS, but not at the same level. He's also a bit of a ball movement killer and a terrible decision maker.

I don't think anyone else on the team is really worth analyzing, you can keep a few of them for your bench rotation but they're not ready to play meaningful minutes on a good team.

In summation, Jayden and DHS can in theory be starters on a good team, but I don't think they could be on the court together often. I don't think anyone else on the team works particularly well as a starter if you want to have a good team... so I'm hoping for a massive exodus of players.

[Juice Stand]

Niles, I mostly agree with your analysis. My top 2 players to keep are DHS, who I think is far and away our best player, and Jayden, who proves time and time again that he does things that impact winning and may not show up in a box score. I only hope his shot gets a little better and/or he gets more confidence in it. But even if it doesn't, he's still a valuable piece. I don't think we have a shot in hell at keeping DHS. Any high major program that watches his tape will throw a bag of money at him.

Curry is a nice piece, although we agree that he has some developing and improving to do, and I'm not ready to abandon some of the new guys. For the sake of continuity in Frank's "system", player development, and familiarity with each other, those are the ones I have in my "nice to have 'em" category. We had some decent continuity this offseason with Diggins, DHS, Curry, Ndjigue, Worthy, and Foster all returning, but it didn't pay off because the new additions didn't pan out.

[WillHerndonFan]

Umass should hire a General Manager for both football and basketball in 2025-2026 who is solely responsible for acquiring talent and coordinating the financials arrangements for the players. Watching the Celtics doc on Max/HBO, you realize that pro basketball evolved when the combined coach//gm role separated in the late 60s (ie Red Auerbach) as most coaches are not equipped to do both as this ain’t amateur hour anymore!

[LS71]

^ Not trying derail this thread, but that Celtics doc has been awfully good.