UMassHoops.com

2 stats that may have gone unnoticed.

Rivera had 8 blocks. I counted 5 or 6 and thought that was awesome, but the box score always wins.
Curry had 5 steals and a few of them led to easy baskets.

Gotta give these guys credit, they played a tough, physical game and I thought defensively they turned it up a bit. Marqui is coming on, more confidently pushing the pace and taking it strong to the hoop. He looked much better last night, playing with little hesitation.
Curry had his best game in a while. When he shoots well, it really gets the other parts of his game going too. Couple nice steals and he was more locked in defensively.
Rivera I thought had his most impactful game. He was very aggressive, and kept the ball alive and fought for every loose ball. Hit a few FTs as well. They had a tough time with him all night.

This team still has some weaknesses but when they hit shots and play defense aggressively, they're tough. Raise the FT %, get a healthy DHS back, and get Rahsool out of his slump, and they should be in most games. I give them credit for not giving in to the sluggish start they've had. Shows character

What a difference when they come out of the gates with a purpose and focus instead of letting the other team get out to a double digit lead.

I was really pleased with a couple of the transfers that I thought had been terrible so far, Rivera and Malek. Those guys both had probably their best games of the season. Malek got us going early on and Rivera was what we all hoped he would be, a scrappy tenacious force that seems to be everywhere. We need to see more of that from those two.

It was a win, no doubt. Still lots to improve on.

69MG wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 11:45 pm 2 stats that may have gone unnoticed.

Rivera had 8 blocks. I counted 5 or 6 and thought that was awesome, but the box score always wins.
Curry had 5 steals and a few of them led to easy baskets.

8 blocks? And another double double? Read the comments on the board here - he is a net negative and does not nothing for this team.

Rivera is improving. As long as he keeps his outside shooting to a minimum, and knows when to not force it upon hitting brick walls going towards the paint, he'll continue to improve.

61% Free throws is not going to cut it.

bmc24 wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 10:36 am 61% Free throws is not going to cut it.

15th place in the A10

JoleonLescottsHair wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:28 pm

DoctorJ wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 8:52 pm Nobody likes you.

Deeply hurtful.

More comedy from the board troll. It’s amazing how many people get into it with this guy.

About free throw shooting from this game. Fatigue or pressure? I haven't looked at other games, so this only applies here.

With 5:01 left in the game we were 16/21 from the line, close to 80%. We were 3/10 after that. 0/2, 0/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2.

Camby4Life wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 11:31 am

JoleonLescottsHair wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 9:28 pm

DoctorJ wrote: Wed Dec 18, 2024 8:52 pm Nobody likes you.

Deeply hurtful.

More comedy from the board troll. It’s amazing how many people get into it with this guy.

Sent me a threatening DM and then deleted it. I will no longer engage as this person has serious mental issues beyond just being a troll. Every town has their village idiot and UMassHoops has this one sadly.

69MG wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 1:12 pm About free throw shooting from this game. Fatigue or pressure? I haven't looked at other games, so this only applies here.

With 5:01 left in the game we were 16/21 from the line, close to 80%. We were 3/10 after that. 0/2, 0/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2.

I don't recall many other games either, although the one pressure game recently was CCSU and FT shooting near its end was good. Turnovers and defensive misses led to that close loss. Would expect the older, veteran teams to be stronger finishers but UMass should often have the deeper bench (did last night) so hard to predict.

bmc24 wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 10:36 am 61% Free throws is not going to cut it.

Neither is getting outrebounded 50-38 by a much smaller team.

eldonabe wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 1:52 pm

bmc24 wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 10:36 am 61% Free throws is not going to cut it.

Neither is getting outrebounded 50-38 by a much smaller team.

I admit, and Frank complained about it, that we did a lousy job of rebounding. But they were bigger than us at 3 positions, from 1 inch to 5 inches. Rivera was even and Malek had an inch over their starting center. Effort (and did anyone see our guys box out?) was a factor but they were athletic, strong and had good hops. Our bench bigs did nothing so our height advantage was of no use.

69MG wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 3:33 pm

eldonabe wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 1:52 pm

bmc24 wrote: Thu Dec 19, 2024 10:36 am 61% Free throws is not going to cut it.

Neither is getting outrebounded 50-38 by a much smaller team.

I admit, and Frank complained about it, that we did a lousy job of rebounding. But they were bigger than us at 3 positions, from 1 inch to 5 inches. Rivera was even and Malek had an inch over their starting center. Effort (and did anyone see our guys box out?) was a factor but they were athletic, strong and had good hops. Our bench bigs did nothing so our height advantage was of no use.

There were also a bunch of weird bounces and air balls. Yes, proper boxing out would have covered for much of that. But, man they caught a lot of air balls and long caroms.