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vanmeter wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:16 am I'm somewhat confused in reading these posts why DD was out for most of the time.

In any event DD should be starting and getting 25-30 minutes a game. His line for the year - ave minutes played 16, points per game 9, rebounds 3.7, field goal % 60%, 3 point % 38.7, free throw % 81.8.

He is an energetic, tall/lanky, good shooting, explosive wing. If he played 28 minutes a game, he would be a consistent 18/8 player. In every game I've been to he has played well. Why he is languishing on the bench, I cannot figure out.

Agreed, time to start the kid. I'm not sure he'd translate to 18/8, but he's a much better option playing more minutes than some others...

I'm trying to turn the page on this one and look at some positives. How about Wildens last night? It was great to see him back, and it looked like he had some bounce in his step. 20 minutes, 10 pts, 5 boards, and 1 really great block.

Gapare is still really raw and that limits him a lot on the offense side, but defensively he's really effective.

The bigger issue for me is the minutes and usage of Luis and Dominguez. Dominguez has been hit or miss on defense, but more than makes up for it by being an absolute star on offense. Luis has been hit or miss on offense, but has been really good lately, and all of a sudden I've noticed that his defense is spectacular.

Martin didn’t make a substitution for the final 6:46 of the game, keeping Fernandes, Luis and Leveque on the floor alongside Matt Cross and Tafara Gapare. That lineup outscored the Explorers 12-6 in that time. They also held La Salle to zero points in the final two minutes, with their last made field goal of the game coming with 5:22 left.

“I just thought [those five guys] were giving us the best energy defensively,” Martin said. “I’m not very good with casual basketball. I don’t live my life in a casual way. I don’t enjoy being around casual people … I like coaching guys that play with energy and relentless mindsets.”

https://dailycollegian.com/2023/01/noah ... -la-salle/

Battle Ax wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 8:33 am
I believe it was an injury. During a timeout he was talking to his father pointing to his chest and grimacing. He even left with the trainer for a while

After the team came out after half-time, DD and the trainer went to the medical area in the north alcove. I don't think he was benched.

Juice Stand wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:56 am

Martin didn’t make a substitution for the final 6:46 of the game, keeping Fernandes, Luis and Leveque on the floor alongside Matt Cross and Tafara Gapare. That lineup outscored the Explorers 12-6 in that time. They also held La Salle to zero points in the final two minutes, with their last made field goal of the game coming with 5:22 left.

“I just thought [those five guys] were giving us the best energy defensively,” Martin said. “I’m not very good with casual basketball. I don’t live my life in a casual way. I don’t enjoy being around casual people … I like coaching guys that play with energy and relentless mindsets.”

https://dailycollegian.com/2023/01/noah ... -la-salle/

Perhaps that group should play a whole lot more. One would think. But alas, here we are. 10-6 with the talent to be 13-3 fairly easily. Noah, Luis, Cross, Dominguez, Gapare, Wildens, Kante, and Weeks should be the core rotation at this point. That much is eternally clear. I don't love that Diggins appears to be in Frank's dog house because despite his offensive woes I think he can be a serviceable backup to Noah but Frank appears to have already made the decision there. TJ and RJ are serviceable for short stretches as backup point guards when Noah needs a breather.

Marty Peretz wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 11:07 am Noah, Luis, Cross, Dominguez, Gapare, Wildens, Kante, and Weeks should be the core rotation at this point.

I'd call you a genius, but I think we can all (minus the coach/coaches) see it.

I certainly have my concerns and am a bit depressed from the recent stretch but it is halfway through season 1 of a rebuild. I’m going to try and take a longview and hope things get better.

And while I agree that the talent level has gotten better compared to previous years, and haven’t loved a lot of the substitution patterns, it seems like all of the issues this team currently has are being planted solely with the coach.

Yes the coach is responsible for his team. And yes he should shoulder much of the blame for the poor performances, but the players themselves deserve a little of the blame no? He can’t make layups for them. And they were pretty good defensively to start the year for a decent stretch - why are they now struggling? Same players. Level of competition hasn’t really jumped.

Everybody is bemoaning Martin’s lineups (and I don’t love some of his decisions) and his lack of flexibility, well he’s doing the same stuff that had some folks thinking A10 championship just six weeks ago. The truth is it probably was never as good as it was then (and a lot of the wins were close) and it’s not as bad as it is now.

Don’t get me wrong, I haven’t been happy with how we’ve been playing for awhile now, but goddamn there’s a few of us fans who are so DRAMATIC. I know that’s kind of what being a fan is all about, so it’s all good, but I hope y’all aren’t like this when you go to the grocery store and they are all out of your favorite cereal, Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I can’t imagine living on the ledge like a few of us appear to be doing.

I do think we should have a couple of more wins. And I do think RJ and Gapare should play more, not just for immediate results but also for the future as I think it would expedite their development. We all love TJ because of his background and he seems like a good kid. And when he’s on, he’s on. But very rarely has been on this year. I think RJ should get some of his minutes. And I think Gapare should get some of Martin’s minutes (yes this is obvious).

As for the backup point guard, maybe Diggins should get some run there. He hasn’t shown a ton — some good ball pressure at times, a couple of nice passes also but his scoring has been anything but as advertised — but Keon hasn’t shown a ton either.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m the weird one for trying to think more big picture than little picture and preach patience (hard to do when you are trending the wrong way I know.)

And maybe I’m the weird one for thinking the players need to shoulder some of this responsibility as well (and again I know most of it falls on the coach.)

I mean I know I’m weird for other things, but maybe these should get added to the list.

Edited for punctuation which also makes me weird.

InnervisionsUMASS wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:28 am

vanmeter wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:16 am I'm somewhat confused in reading these posts why DD was out for most of the time.

In any event DD should be starting and getting 25-30 minutes a game. His line for the year - ave minutes played 16, points per game 9, rebounds 3.7, field goal % 60%, 3 point % 38.7, free throw % 81.8.

He is an energetic, tall/lanky, good shooting, explosive wing. If he played 28 minutes a game, he would be a consistent 18/8 player. In every game I've been to he has played well. Why he is languishing on the bench, I cannot figure out.

Agreed, time to start the kid. I'm not sure he'd translate to 18/8, but he's a much better option playing more minutes than some others...

If I’m a sarcastic asshole when I talk to you, it’s either because I really like you and feel comfortable teasing you, or I really hate you and don’t care if you know it. Good luck figuring out which one

Jackson96 wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 11:37 am I don’t know. Maybe I’m the weird one for trying to think more big picture than little picture and preach patience (hard to do when you are trending the wrong way I know.)

I have been in this camp, and reiterated it many times, but the tough thing right now is that some of the fixes seem so obvious and so simple and just aren't happening. I'm still trying to stay positive and hang out in big picture mode, but it's been tough since conference play started. Moving on to URI.

69MG wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 10:59 am

Battle Ax wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 8:33 am
I believe it was an injury. During a timeout he was talking to his father pointing to his chest and grimacing. He even left with the trainer for a while

After the team came out after half-time, DD and the trainer went to the medical area in the north alcove. I don't think he was benched.

this seems to be beaten to death already by a few but I was also there...we sit directly across from the bench. I saw DD run up the tunnel after halftime but he was back on the bench before the game resumed. He also checked in the game within a few minutes and when he thought he got fouled he said something to the ref...Frank immediately jumped up and asked the ref what he said...when he was told, he ran down to Cross and was motioning for him to get DD out of the game....he never went back in. The trainer never approached him once he was taken out and DD never went over to him, so if he was hurt it would be odd that he was not treated by the trainer. Like MMGA said...have the kid do suicides in practice or write on the blackboard I will not yell at the refs again 1000 times, but don't punish the team and fans by benching your best player...he did not get a technical so whatever was said couldn't have been that bad...we all know these refs think its about them so if he did say something bad the ref would have taken great joy in T'ing him up.

What was the tweet that Dyondree deleted that FightMA247 posted?

If B Martin did not play would we all still be questioning the lineups?????? We all know and dance around it but he should not be playing anywhere near the minutes he’s playing.

You guys need to start a Daddy's little boy chant next game and then you can stop complaining behind the scenes. Frank will then hear ya loud and clear.

inthescoop wrote: Thu Jan 12, 2023 3:36 pm You guys need to start a Daddy's little boy chant next game and then you can stop complaining behind the scenes. Frank will then hear ya loud and clear.

Per MMGA (see page 7), the PA can't even get the 'U' -> 'MASS' chant going, so this sounds hard.