Game 14, 2025-26: at Eastern Michigan (12/30)

[bunkerhill87]

ya im disappointed. never like DHS shooting 3s. not his role!! There was a lot of poor shot selection from the bench. need to define roles!!
Clerc was absolutely amazing. Really helped keep us in the game. Not a great night shooting and our free throw effort is killing us at important moments. i dare say they got 39 attempts to our 18 at the line. Didnt like 3 of the fouls on Bettiol . Totally changed the dynamic of the game
gonna see a lot of that. in the end they need to play better. Very competitive and no one gonna lay down. Go Umass!!!!

[Juice Stand]

I wasn't that upset after the Kent St loss. That was a quality team that could compete in the A10 with a couple of star players. This loss, however, putrid.

I know that Bettiol and Clerc were in foul trouble, but how in the world do you let Damjanac stay out there for so long? He didn't do anything on offense, and all he did on defense was foul. Did Clerc foul out? No. He was dominating their bigs and should have played more in the 2nd half. And don't get me started on Wimbley. He's a freshman so I don't want to be hard on him, but my goodness, put Placide in their over him. Another game where he goes 12 minutes, 0-2, 0-1 FT, and a turnover. At this point in his college career, and I hate to say it, he provides no value. Placide should fill that role.

I hang this loss squarely on Frank. His substitutions are horrendous, which has been a pattern since his first year here. When he got in that shouting match, I was praying he'd get tossed so we could see one of the assistants run the team.

[kd68]

Why do we always stink at foul shooting and taking 3’s? Is it because of Wrights player selections?

[eldonabe]

That was a brick layer convention.... Stop shooting 3's.



The starters were 2-16 from 3..... Just stop shooting them and drive the basket so you can take foul shots... Oh wait.. They mostly suck at those too...

[kd68]

With the press Clerc is getting I imagine he will transfer to a school in a higher league next year. NIL has definitely killed college sports.

[BillGASox1]

Amen to Juice Stand. This team has talent, and growth potential with its younger players, HOWEVER, Martin’s coaching ability, in game substitutions, and temperament are huge negatives! His court side BS and demeanor towards players does not benefit UMASS. Please send him packing!

[stevemaz]

why on earth recruit a guard who cant shoot...dumb dumb dumb...

Who are you referring to?

Carabuccia.. they dont even guard him on the perimeter. get 5 good 3 pt shooters.. I would go after pro's in Europe..

[Floyd]

What was the incident at the end with Banks? He was really heated. Someone on their team say something to him?

Dont want to see this group get rattled and start to fragment. We've got some nice players who play hard and seem to care. I agree with Roadtrip's previous comment about Frank's approach. Are we playing to our players strengths or pounding them to play a certain way? I love DHS, but he should be playing 15' and in. Not sitting at the 3 pt line for a 3, not his game. Low % shot for him & it pulls him away from where he's most effective, on the offensive glass.
Danny is great at the drive & dish and finding open guys and even getting by his man for layups, but often gets bottled up when we screen out at the 3 point line and there's 2 or 3 defenders near. Last night the team looked frustrated and got a little rattled. We're better than that and hope they get their mojo back

[UMassFan99]

Just drop down to FCS. The experiment has failed.

Whoops wrong sport.

Slightly off-topic but perhaps DK should get a little damn respect for getting us to an NIT Final Four, NCAA Tournament, ranked as high as #12, good crowds at Mullins, helping create an organized, passionate student section (Mullins Militia), and having an all-time player who, IMO, should have his #3 retired.

People on this board still ignore the DK Era or trash it. How have we been since?????

FIRE BAMFORD

Love Dk but unfortunately I think there were some shady things happening behind the scenes and they had no choice but to get rid of him. I don't personally care how he got guys, especially with NIL now, but he had one of the best recruiting classes ever and got fired the next year and two of them went on to be huge contributors to Houstons Final Four team in 2021.

and at the end of the day whatever DK did couldn't have been that bad if they let him come back to be an assistant for Frank. Heck - I wouldn't be pissed if he took over for Frank. I think Derek is arguably just as good a recruiter and the kids would actually enjoy playing for him.

Wonder if DK would ever come back if we got rid of Bamfuck.

[Juice Stand]

What was the incident at the end with Banks? He was really heated. Someone on their team say something to him?

Dont want to see this group get rattled and start to fragment. We've got some nice players who play hard and seem to care. I agree with Roadtrip's previous comment about Frank's approach. Are we playing to our players strengths or pounding them to play a certain way? I love DHS, but he should be playing 15' and in. Not sitting at the 3 pt line for a 3, not his game. Low % shot for him & it pulls him away from where he's most effective, on the offensive glass.
Danny is great at the drive & dish and finding open guys and even getting by his man for layups, but often gets bottled up when we screen out at the 3 point line and there's 2 or 3 defenders near. Last night the team looked frustrated and got a little rattled. We're better than that and hope they get their mojo back

Right on. That sort of thing points to poor coaching. I still believe in these players (not the coach so much, but the players) and think they can win. Last night sucked but they have quality pieces, and if what Frank says is true, they work their tails off in practice and play for each other. That's good, but if the losing continues, they could start to fragment.

[Juice Stand]

“We commit the worst fouls in the history of mankind,” Martin said. “They’re not physical fouls, they’re all bad"

https://dailycollegian.com/2025/12/umas ... -mac-loss/

Yeah ok, that might be true, but the messaging from this guy is so ineffective. Coach it, teach it, do something. "The worst in the history of mankind" is not going to motivate your guys to be better. It just isn't. I don't know if guys are rattled by Frank's personality, or if they just shrug off the nonsense he spouts because he sounds like a fool, but the message is not getting through.

[Juice Stand]

and at the end of the day whatever DK did couldn't have been that bad if they let him come back to be an assistant for Frank. Heck - I wouldn't be pissed if he took over for Frank. I think Derek is arguably just as good a recruiter and the kids would actually enjoy playing for him.

Wonder if DK would ever come back if we got rid of Bamfuck.

Frank's contract runs through the 2028-29 season. I imagine the buyout is pretty large. I think we're stuck with him for at least 1-2 more years unless he gets tired of the current NCAA landscape and decides to walk away on his own like some of the other coaches have done (Bennett, Wright, etc.).

*Sorry for the consecutive posts. The game ended late and I couldn't get my frustration out. Welcome to my morning therapy session.

[MakeMullinsGreatAgain]

regarding the little dust up after the game - did anyone else notice Frank was nowhere to be seen until the scrum had ended, and even then he was just casually walking towards it? Most coaches would have been right in the middle of it, grabbing their players and getting them off the court. I'm not saying that means anything, like he's checked out, just seemed odd.

[bunkerhill87]

What was the incident at the end with Banks? He was really heated. Someone on their team say something to him?

Dont want to see this group get rattled and start to fragment. We've got some nice players who play hard and seem to care. I agree with Roadtrip's previous comment about Frank's approach. Are we playing to our players strengths or pounding them to play a certain way? I love DHS, but he should be playing 15' and in. Not sitting at the 3 pt line for a 3, not his game. Low % shot for him & it pulls him away from where he's most effective, on the offensive glass.
Danny is great at the drive & dish and finding open guys and even getting by his man for layups, but often gets bottled up when we screen out at the 3 point line and there's 2 or 3 defenders near. Last night the team looked frustrated and got a little rattled. We're better than that and hope they get their mojo back

Right on. That sort of thing points to poor coaching. I still believe in these players (not the coach so much, but the players) and think they can win. Last night sucked but they have quality pieces, and if what Frank says is true, they work their tails off in practice and play for each other. That's good, but if the losing continues, they could start to fragment.

i was fortunate to attend a practice back in October. 100% these guys are all in for each other. they worked incredibly hard in practice, Coach Martin was fully engaged and teaching during that practice i attended. He is aggressive w/ his approach. Hard to say if that works motivating the guys. The rotations can be mystifying and i wish we could go w/ the core guys but you do need a solid bench. I would hope guys coming in know their roles. rebound defense limit turnovers and take better shots. Could be the scheme but we were chucking some awful shots last night. seemed forced. Banks can shoot any time in my opinion. He is one guy that should have the green light once over half court. Our success lies inside to open better looks from outside. Clerc was a bright spot last night. he should get more time. even have him out there w/ Bettiol .

[Floyd]

I agree about Banks, let him shoot whenever open, and I'm cool with Parker when he's open too, unless its a situation where we need to run clock. Those two can shoot it with consistency.