Game 29, 2022-23: at Duquesne (3/1)

[DoctorJ]

Second half was much better. Just hoping we can finish the season with a .500 winning percentage.

I'm a little deflated and thinking about who will return and how we will fare in the portal.

Players whom I most want to return:
Noah, Cross, DD, RJ, Keon, Gapare, Wildens, Weeks ... in that order and hoping to retain six of the eight.

Players whom I expect to be considering going elsewhere: Diggins, Gianni, Woodley

Frank is giving Gapare equal minutes with Brandon, kid isn't ready yet but he got a lot of minutes in and out of conference and right now he is an America East level player. But he has huge upside. I want him back. He's ahead of where DD was his first year and he hasn't had a year of prep.

RJ and Keon were awesome gets. Both will get better. Wish we didn't have to throw them to the fire so much this year but losing Noah was a season changer.

Three guards/wings coming in - all look good but will be freshmen. Can only expect so much.
I think Cross will be back and hope Noah will too. I also think Wildens and DD return.

Sawyer Mayhugh is a big question mark. I'm sure we will be looking for another big and that could push out Woodley.

Going to be interesting game of musical chairs. I'd bet we lose five players but I don't know who.

[NilesGold]

^ I'm not sure if anyone knows the rules regarding transferring anymore, but while anyone can now transfer their first time without consequence, and graduates can transfer without sitting, I believe that the NCAA is becoming a bit more stringent on all other instances in terms of who it allows to transfer and be allowed to play immediately.

Due to the above, it might be difficult for Cross, Diggins, and Gianni to transfer out even if they wanted to.

I seem to be in the minority, I don't really care if Gapare leaves, he's so out of control and I've seen zero progress in him from the start of the season to the end.

[stevemaz]

^ I'm not sure if anyone knows the rules regarding transferring anymore, but while anyone can now transfer their first time without consequence, and graduates can transfer without sitting, I believe that the NCAA is becoming a bit more stringent on all other instances in terms of who it allows to transfer and be allowed to play immediately.

Due to the above, it might be difficult for Cross, Diggins, and Gianni to transfer out even if they wanted to.

I seem to be in the minority, I don't really care if Gapare leaves, he's so out of control and I've seen zero progress in him from the start of the season to the end.

Niles, I agree with you. Who is responsible for making Gapare a 4 star recruit?

Personally, i feel the writing is on the wall and neither Noah or TJ will be back. I think guys like Gianni (should have stayed at BC as they are headed to NCAA next year) and Rashool would have to sit out a year if they wanted to leave, but that may not be a bad thing for either of them. Wildens.. hard pass for me as he is just terrible offensively. I like Dre's spirit so I want him back, but he has to play better defense next year (i also expect him not to be back).

My guess is that we do actually have an overhaul of the roster with Cross, RJ, and Keon (maybe Dre) being the holdovers. I would like to see them get a PG, a two guard, and a big who all either have one or two years left who will join Cross and RJ in the starting lineup. Bench would be Dre, Keon,and two freshmen to round out my top 9.

[Floyd]

I could see 5 guys gone this year, maybe 6. Maybe not a bad thing, we need some scorers. Team looks deflated and I wonder what the team chemistry is like

You want ANOTHER roster turnover? Especially when Frank is incredibly tough on first-year guys in his program? How on Earth would that be a good thing?

Noah and Cross are terrific players, but over the years we have lost better players and not been THIS bad. With Baker taking over the NCAA it's only a matter of time until Bamford jumps ship to help run the NIL program Baker talked about today. In some ways I can't blame him.

I'm not even angry anymore. I'm just sad about where UMass is minus women's hoops.

Didn't say I WANT another turnover but I don't think it's an implosion if there is. There's a good core to build around, but there definitely is room for improvement.

[InnervisionsUMASS]

Loved the fight in the 2nd half, but once again just fucking brutal in the 1st and dug themselves too much of a hole to get out of.


Not much else to say at this point... the staff and players aren't solving problems that have been there all year, and there's nothing anyone can do about Cross and Noah being injured... it is what it is at this point.

[inthescoop]

^ I'm not sure if anyone knows the rules regarding transferring anymore, but while anyone can now transfer their first time without consequence, and graduates can transfer without sitting, I believe that the NCAA is becoming a bit more stringent on all other instances in terms of who it allows to transfer and be allowed to play immediately.

Due to the above, it might be difficult for Cross, Diggins, and Gianni to transfer out even if they wanted to.

I seem to be in the minority, I don't really care if Gapare leaves, he's so out of control and I've seen zero progress in him from the start of the season to the end.

Niles, I agree with you. Who is responsible for making Gapare a 4 star recruit?

Personally, i feel the writing is on the wall and neither Noah or TJ will be back. I think guys like Gianni (should have stayed at BC as they are headed to NCAA next year) and Rashool would have to sit out a year if they wanted to leave, but that may not be a bad thing for either of them. Wildens.. hard pass for me as he is just terrible offensively. I like Dre's spirit so I want him back, but he has to play better defense next year (i also expect him not to be back).

My guess is that we do actually have an overhaul of the roster with Cross, RJ, and Keon (maybe Dre) being the holdovers. I would like to see them get a PG, a two guard, and a big who all either have one or two years left who will join Cross and RJ in the starting lineup. Bench would be Dre, Keon,and two freshmen to round out my top 9.

You'd be crazy to think that Gapare's athleticism would not excel at the high school level.

I think he did not expect the level of talent to drastically increase so much from the high school level to college. His game is very raw as he is still learning the fundamentals but quite frankly his development has hit a plateau at the moment. On the bright side, there is so much room for improvement however I think that it has to go beyond being in the gym, he needs to watch tape and increase his basketball IQ. He is making the same mistakes he was making early in the season.

[NilesGold]

Personally, i feel the writing is on the wall and neither Noah or TJ will be back. I think guys like Gianni (should have stayed at BC as they are headed to NCAA next year) and Rashool would have to sit out a year if they wanted to leave, but that may not be a bad thing for either of them. Wildens.. hard pass for me as he is just terrible offensively. I like Dre's spirit so I want him back, but he has to play better defense next year (i also expect him not to be back).

My guess is that we do actually have an overhaul of the roster with Cross, RJ, and Keon (maybe Dre) being the holdovers. I would like to see them get a PG, a two guard, and a big who all either have one or two years left who will join Cross and RJ in the starting lineup. Bench would be Dre, Keon,and two freshmen to round out my top 9.

Maybe there's an overhaul of the roster, but aside from knowing we have 4 freshmen coming in and currently 2 open spots, there's nothing to indicate that's anything but conjecture.

I can go up and down the roster and come up with good reasons for all of them to stay, and for all but one of them to leave. There's not a single person that I have any confidence in being able to predict what they're going to do, aside from probably Matt Cross.

I don't think Cross could transfer without sitting, and I don't really know why he would, so I doubt he leaves.
If anyone is going to leave, it feels to me like TJ is probably the most likely, but that's not based on any inside information or any obvious clues.

Assuming Cross stays, I think the other two really important guys to keep are Noah and RJ. If you have that trio, it wouldn't be that hard to build a team around them from scratch. But after that trio, I would hope Dyondre & Keon stay. After those 5, I'm pretty indifferent to whether the rest of the guys stay or go.

[Floyd]

I could see 5 guys gone this year, maybe 6. Maybe not a bad thing, we need some scorers. Team looks deflated and I wonder what the team chemistry is like

Floyd, I know others have mentioned roster turnover as a bad thing. When I see this product on the court, I want some roster turnover. I'd keep 6 guys and the rest can be replaced (I'm including Noah in those 6, hoping he comes back).
Noah
Cross
DD
Keon
RJ
Gapare

Yeah, I pretty much agree with that. I like Wildens. Good attitude, good size, and I'd like to see him back. Gapare needs to have a big off-season. Potential is a nice word but he's been wildly erratic, and a little disappointing this year

[Plano Minuteman]

I want to see everyone who is eligible come back. Continuity is winning basketball. Obviously, though, some will be leaving though given the number of scholarships promised vs. the number we have.

[kd68]

I was hoping we would at least reach .500 this year but that looks doubtful. I am almost 77, and a snowbird
and still think of the glory years back in the 90’s when I had season tickets,went to the final four, and Cal was the coach. Was hoping Martin could return us to some glory. Not so sure anymore.

[capezona]

I was hoping we would at least reach .500 this year but that looks doubtful. I am almost 77, and a snowbird
and still think of the glory years back in the 90’s when I had season tickets,went to the final four, and Cal was the coach. Was hoping Martin could return us to some glory. Not so sure anymore.

Don't give up. Cal didn't have a great 1st year either.