Game 8, 2025-26: Harvard (12/3)

[minutefanjsf]

The fan turnout, especially students, is horrific. The marketing and outreach to build support for this team and any other team has been so bad. This in state rivalry game should have had a full compliment of students. The attempt to get them there with free pizza is laughable. Under Bamford attendance has dwindled. I am thankful Pat and the collective bought up and are distributing tickets to the UMass BC game next week. If they hadn’t, that game likely would be less attended than tonight. Nothing Bamford has done has attracted fans. Quite the opposite. Yes, winning would cure a lot. There are 23,000 undergrads at UMass. They had about 200 in attendance tonight. Bamford needs to go away.

[tdmass]

This team will go as far as DHS takes them. He's having a Rasool Diggins beginning of his senior year and that's preventing this team from turning the corner.

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

There are times when we really have to make foul shots or we are not going to win close games.

We shot 14-21 and missed 7 straight in the 2nd half - just a weird stat if you think of it. outside of those 7 misses (in a row in crucial times) they were perfect 14-14 - how is that possible??? We have guys that can shoot FT's and I'm glad Frank finally did the right thing and had Parker, Danny and Banks in down the stretch to make those FT's - but DHS is a grad transfer and if you believe what some have said on there, getting 500K and a car to stay - he's gotta be better than missing 5 straight late in game.

[wmmmfan]

This team will go as far as DHS takes them. He's having a Rasool Diggins beginning of his senior year and that's preventing this team from turning the corner.

Agree 100%. DHS needs to watch tape of the Oregon State game, that’s who he is and that’s how the team needs him to play to reach their full potential.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Wimbley is terrible, not sure what Frank sees in him at this stage.

I'll give Frank credit, he's got the team playing pretty well overall tonight.

I think Niles is trying to suggest something about the duality of man.

[BR72]

Wimbley is terrible, not sure what Frank sees in him at this stage.

Agree that this was a bad game for him. Hinton didn't score against anyone but Wimbley until there were 15 minutes left in the game. At that stage he had 10 points, all with Wimbley defending him. Add in a couple of ugly turnovers. They need him to be better or it looks like they're going to have to rely on 7 players, unless someone else steps up.

[inthescoop]

Game rant: Carbuccia is the floor general of the future, no doubt. Glad that Parker still came off the bench and made a significant impact. Clerc makes a nice impact off the bench but he's raw and plays like a freshman, it's a shame that he's a Jr. and only has 2 seasons left to progress. Other than that, our bench does not do much. Wimbley is off, his confidence isn't there and he needs to keep practicing and get that repetition in.. doesn't seem like he's putting the extra work in to get better. He is the same player now as he was in game 1. DHS tends to lollygag out on the court and seems to not take the game serious - sure he's having fun, but we need him to be serious as well and be a leader and start playing to his potential. Shame we couldn't offer Cross the same amount of money we offered DHS. Great game for Banks. Bettiol and Ndjigue are doing what they need to do.

[69MG]

We shot 14-21 and missed 7 straight in the 2nd half - just a weird stat if you think of it. outside of those 7 misses (in a row in crucial times) they were perfect 14-14 - how is that possible??? We have guys that can shoot FT's and I'm glad Frank finally did the right thing and had Parker, Danny and Banks in down the stretch to make those FT's -

Danny is one of the worst free throw shooters on the team. In high school he shot free throws at 53%. It was indeed good to have Banks and Parker in at the end and to find a way to get the ball in their hands.

A lot of guys had weird games. Bettiol bailed us out toward the end with some clutch baskets, but he had 5 turnovers and was missing in action on D. Jayden had a good offensive game, but wasn't his usual self in the areas we love him for. Although Danny had 13 assists, several were just passing the ball to Banks or Parker for an open 3. Give him credit for seeing them, but they were easy assists. He also got burned on D several times.

I'll stop picking on individual players at this point. As a general observation, if you throw away all the other stats, this game was decided at the 3 point line. We were 8/16 and they were 3/19. Harvard was at 37% going into this game. If they hit 37% tonight they are 7/19 and have 12 more points. If we hit 3's at 37% we are 6/16 and have 6 fewer points. Harvard wins going away. My point is that we didn't play well and the combination of us having a good night and Harvard having a bad night was what won the game.

[69MG]

Clerc's been serviceable, and Parker's hit some shots. Otherwise, our bench has been pretty unreliable. Not sure why the other guards haven't played.

Despite that, we've played well, but Harvard's starting to hit their threes. Gotta buckle down.

Placide was out with an injury. I wish I knew what is up with Brown. I think he's a good player but it seems like he is in Frank's doghouse. Anyone know what's going on with him?

[Juice Stand]

We didn't match Harvard's energy once we built that big lead and were constantly getting beat in one-on-one drive by situations. It weas the old Olé defense for a while there. I'll say it again, this team does not know how to finish because they tighten up, and that is a reflection of their coach's scowl, pouting, and lack of coaching down the stretch.

BUT, a win is a win, and they got it done. I'm not going to say that their 3pt shooting bailed them out. Their 3pt shooing is their identity. They won because of good shooting because they brought in good shooters. It's not a cop out, it's who they are.

Rant: I don't know why, but Frank has a bug up his ass for Bettiol. Yes, he has a turnover problem and he's not perfect defensively, but no one on this team is. We don't have any perfect players. In the postgame show, Frank said Leo had a terrible game. Ok bud, he had 18 points on 7-10 shooting and a perfect 4-4 at the line. Without that, your team would have been blown out by a bunch of bookworms. Criticize him/them in private in the locker room, but it's like Frank has no clue how hard it is to play and win. It's easy to sit on the bench and scream obscenities. Leo's woring his ass off. They won the game, and he was a big reason why.

[Juice Stand]

Look out for Robert Hinton. He takes a ton of shots and is very athletic. Doesn't shoot the 3 at a high percentage, so don't bite on the fake! He wants to pump fake and blow by his man to the hoop where he can convert and shoots 88% at the line. Last year he put up 9 points on 4-9 shooting against us as a freshman.

3 games ago, in a close loss to BU, he put up 34 points, including 4/5 from three. For the year he is 7/27 so if you take that 1 game out, he is 3/22 for the rest of the season. Let's hope he doesn't find that stroke again tonight.

Hinton is ridiculous. Not a great 3pt shooter, but he can get to any spot and hits these beautiful little fades and knows how to draw contact.

[bunkerhill87]

this team is like dating red heads , strippers or girls named tiffany. they were great for a while........ we just could not get a stop at all. Credit Hinton who was incredible I still love Jaydens energy on the court. I hope he can lead others to have that tenacity. he had a tough match up but he was a monster grabbing rebounds. Lil disappointed in the DHS free throws. Have to get at least 1 of 2 at the bare minimum. hey a win against Harvard is a great result. They are always dangerous. Cant look past the River Hawk either!! Banks is well Banks love having a guy that can drain them. is he like mike williams a little? Anyway go Umass!!!!

[eldonabe]

It's a win and I will take it - but Meh......


I had not noticed until last night but Carabucci carries the ball A LOT especially when he is in half court set when he is standing still waiting for things to start moving....

[Floyd]

this team is like dating red heads , strippers or girls named tiffany

What about a red headed stripper NAMED Tiffany?

[Floyd]

Rant: I don't know why, but Frank has a bug up his ass for Bettiol. Yes, he has a turnover problem and he's not perfect defensively, but no one on this team is. We don't have any perfect players. In the postgame show, Frank said Leo had a terrible game. Ok bud, he had 18 points on 7-10 shooting and a perfect 4-4 at the line. Without that, your team would have been blown out by a bunch of bookworms. Criticize him/them in private in the locker room, but it's like Frank has no clue how hard it is to play and win. It's easy to sit on the bench and scream obscenities. Leo's woring his ass off. They won the game, and he was a big reason why.

Did you notice the play in the 2nd half where Leo was diving after a loose ball near the UMass bench before a timeout and Frank ran over and was screaming in his face as he was on the floor?

Team wins and if you look at them you'd think they lost by 50. There's no joy in playing the game. Could be a reason no one goes to games