Game 4: TCU (in Springfield)

LS71 · Post by **LS71** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:16 pm

Harper Williams and his family were in the house.

The bandwagon is leaving the station...time to get on board.

Freddie's dunk came at the end of one of the prettiest fast breaks I've seen in years....a defensive rebound and a quick outlet pass from Slim City to Putney to Riley cutting to the hoop from the right baseline and BOOM goes the dynamite!

I don't want hear another negative word about GC. The kid got hurt and was back in the game before you knew it. He made two three in the 2nd hald....one as the shot clock was about to expire.

This is a deep, balanced team that plays defense...in short...UMASS Baskteball.

What we are witnessing is the rebirth of UMass basketball.

Those of you who can....NEED to make the effort to get to the Bill and quit analyzing the team from behind a damn keyboard.

xlgman · Post by **xlgman** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:21 pm

This is very encouraging. I know we haven't played any great teams but I think none of us expected to be 4-0 on the back of our defense. Holding anyone to less than 30% from the floor is impressive. Rebounding, defending well, spreading the offense around, using depth and athleticism, taking it to the rack, not shooting too many threes, players stepping up, taking care of the ball....

We're far from a finished product but I can't ask for much better at this point.

LS71 · Post by **LS71** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:29 pm

^ Only 6 turnovers. Edit: Only 13 turnovers. The box I saw last nght only posted 1st half numbers.

UMass got out to a 10-4 lead. TCU started to play physical basketball and came back and went on a 10-2 run to take their only lead at 14-12.

They played very physical basketball and went on a 10-2 run to take a 14-12 lead.

UMass responded to the challenge and blew them out 55-34 the rest of the way.

Calmass9 · Post by **Calmass9** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:35 pm

Havent posted on here in awhile but I was at the game tonight and have to give the boys a ton of credit.

Farrell - Game changer. deservedly won the MVP of the game. Suffocating D picked the point guard on the other teams pocket 2 different times with 1 going for a jam. Cant gush enough about this kid. Has a rough shot and he knows it. Takes it to the rack with authority and finishes!

Gurley - Consistent. Rarely made a mistake with the ball. I remember one lapse on D when he didnt jump out and contest a 3 and the guy drilled it but other than that was real solid on that end as well. Best thing he ever did was declare for the NBA. Really matured him and showed him where he stood.

Sampson - Most improved player in my opinion. Finishes with consistency around the bucket and rebounds the ball really well. This game was great to be at because you could really hear the guys digging down on D. Communication is so key on defense and hes always barking on screens, switches etc. Really like his game.

DT - Digs down and plays great D. Made a couple avoidable drives where he got caught in the air and didnt know where to go with the ball but that will change with experience. Made good decisions with the ball in his hand other than that.

City - TCU couldnt handle his size. One thing that impressed me was that he made a couple real nice passes out of the post. Not selfish at all. Talks on D and will be a great role player for us.

Riley - Scores in bunches. As soon as he hits a shot hes looking for the rock the next time down. Same mold as JR Smith with the nuggets. Can shoot you in a game and can shoot you out of one. Defense was suspect. Had 2 or 3 great dunks as well.

Gary - Showed a lot of toughness coming back in a game when Id say 100% of the people thought hed be done for a couple weeks after a gruesome ankle injury. Hes a leader that doesnt do anything flashy but is a solid compliment to DT. Hit a couple big 3s with the shot clock winding down as well. Im enjoying his maturation process as well.

Putney - Will be a player this year. Not really confident when hes out there but shows flashes here and there. So skilled and athletic. Hes going to be big for us come A10 time.

DK - Loved every second of him tonight. Wasnt the biggest fan coming into this year but hes proving me and a lot of other people wrong with this start. Really gets after his guys on D and its paying off. Defense was suffocating at times and TCU looked so out of rhythm in the first half. With about 3 minutes left he turned to the crowd and pumped his fist and yelled GET UP!! If we ever get a homecourt advantage he's going to have a heart attack. His intensity was fantastic though. Really wants this team to succeed and it looks like the guys are buying in.

Overall, I really like this team. Defense is the backbone for every great college basketball team and it looks like UMass gets it. Worried about our guys down low. TV played solid but rebounding will be tough against bigger teams. Such a fun team to watch though. They play so hard with little fan support. As a senior at umass im praying students show up and push this team to a great a10 year. LETS GET A CROWD TO THE MULLINS!! Jump on board because this team is going to make some noise this year if they keep this defense up. UMASS!

Post by **MikeUMA** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:36 pm

LS71 wrote:Those of you who can....NEED to make the effort to get to the Bill and quit analyzing the team from behind a damn keyboard.

Like

shovelhd · Post by **shovelhd** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:37 pm

I vote we play tired teams for the rest of the season.

We played better on Saturday but this was a well played game from start to finish. Some lapses when TCU broke out the oxygen tank but overall well played and well coached. DK is starting to get a bit of TF in him on the sidelines. He needs to dump the polos and start wearing a suit so he has a jacket to throw down.

Four and oh. I like it.

Robertorell · Post by **Robertorell** » Mon Nov 22, 2010 11:43 pm

It's a new era. Defense(!) has returned. We're a team of believers for the first time in almost fifteen years. It's going to be fun ride, friends. It's been far too long since there was legitimate excitement surrounding this program.

Floyd · Post by **Floyd** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:05 am

shovel, where were you sitting tonight?

OutlawPete · Post by **OutlawPete** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:06 am

Great game obviously. Time is running out to jump on the bandwagon. The only challenge I see for awhile is BC and right now I'd say we beat them. Could be looking at a great start to the season. I think we should start calling Freddie "Showtime."

Here's my pics from the game http://picasaweb.google.com/OutlawPete6 ... pringfield#

Marty Peretz · Post by **Marty Peretz** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:14 am

Outlaw, was that you behind the hoop pretty high up? Wasn't sure. Good meeting BullMoose. Sat next to Harper but didn't realize it was him until I was leaving. Great guy. Great, great win. I actuallyw as more impressed with this win than the NMSU game because TCU had some quick guards who gave us a little trouble early. But we were so resilient and so balanced and so damn tough defensively that we totally took them out of their game. It truly was awesome to watch. The crowd was small but much more passionate than the game on Saturday. Seemed like all of the real die hards were there.

Outlaw, don't underestimate Quinnipiac. That's going to be a tough, tough game. They are supposed to be legit this year. Obviously not a name opponent, but a team that is supposed to win its league and apparently has some real talent.

Still trying to contain my enthusiasm a little bit because I've been let down so many times. That said, this team truly has a lot of talent. My favorite line-up, a dream line-up if you will, was the one we saw for a few moments late in the first half. Ferrell, Gurley, Sampson, Sean, and TV. Riley could replace any of those and it'd be equally exciting to watch. I will take any combination of those 5 against any team in the A-10 and be confident that that crew could hang with most any team in the country (excluding maybe top 15-20) when they're clicking.

Refuse2Lose83 · Post by **Refuse2Lose83** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:15 am

Great job tonight guys. Finally defense is being played the way it should be. My only concern would be that our halfcourt offense I think can still be shut down by good defensive teams who have their legs. But if our guys keep playing they way they are they should have to face those situations too often. Great great job this weekend. Honestly, the we are just as good if not better than every team on the OOC schedule now that Seton Hall is without their top player. That being said I still expect us to lose 2-3 games just for the fact that it's a lot to expect this young team who is just starting to learn how to really win to go undefeated and bring their "NMSU/TCU" games every night out. 10-3 is expectable, 11-2 would be great anything better would be out of this world. On the other hand 4 L's would be disappointing, more than 4 would be cause for great concern.

Have agreat game of game prep tomorrow and go take care of business against AIC! Treat it like a business trip and the rest will take care of itself...start thinking turkey and it'll be too close for comfort.

OutlawPete · Post by **OutlawPete** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:21 am

Yeah that was me behind the hoop. I know Quinnipiac is decent I'm just a little biased right now after a big win. Just saying with the way we're playing our upcoming schedule looks good for us. IF we keep it up.

Refuse2Lose83 · Post by **Refuse2Lose83** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 12:22 am

Great job tonight guys. Finally defense is being played the way it should be. My only concern would be that our halfcourt offense I think can still be shut down by good defensive teams who have their legs. But if our guys keep playing they way they are they should have to face those situations too often. Great great job this weekend. Honestly, the we are just as good if not better than every team on the OOC schedule now that Seton Hall is without their top player. That being said I still expect us to lose 2-3 games just for the fact that it's a lot to expect this young team who is just starting to learn how to really win to go undefeated and bring their "NMSU/TCU" games every night out. 10-3 is expectable, 11-2 would be great anything better would be out of this world. On the other hand 4 L's would be disappointing, more than 4 would be cause for great concern.

Have agreat game of game prep tomorrow and go take care of business against AIC! Treat it like a business trip and the rest will take care of itself...start thinking turkey and it'll be too close for comfort.

JAR · Post by **JAR** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 6:58 am

http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/11/22 ... ffort.html

Refuse2Lose83 · Post by **Refuse2Lose83** » Tue Nov 23, 2010 7:16 am

Love this quote from Christian, TCU's coach:
"We weren't tired," Christian said. "We didn't play right. We played selfishly. We just weren't running anything; we lost our minds."

That is what our defense can do to team if we continue to pklay that way for 40 minutes and continue to get better. That is the scary part, I'd say this defense is only 75-80% of where it could/will be by the end of the season. Scary good...but as we've seen also this year scary bad too. But damn was it fun to watch for 2 games this weekend.