Game 15, 2024-25: Richmond (1/4/25)

[Juice Stand]

Game write up in the Gazette: https://www.gazettenet.com/UMass-basket ... d-58763101

This is a major problem:

...Richmond is a team that gives effort and takes pride in each game. Despite the Spiders shooting just 36 percent from the field compared to UMass’ 42 percent, they hustled for 12 offensive rebounds and provoked 17 Minutemen turnovers. Because of that, Richmond took 13 more field goal attempts than UMass.

[BillGASox1]

Martin claimed, numerous times during the off season, that this was “his team”. It very well may be from a recruiting perspective, however, wrt growing their potential and “in game” coaching, he’s the worst UMass coach in a looong time.
Atrocious, he & Bamford need to be shown the door.
Also, thanks to Bamford, the baseball program, once a proud program, is in line for another season of mediocrity.

[Juice Stand]

Bill, Frank just got an extension. Unless someone wants to buy him out, he's not going anywhere for at least a year or two unless he decides to walk away on his own.

Also, what's up with baseball? They just had their best season in quite some time, getting a 6 seed in the A10 tournament.

[Quann]

^^^^
I was about to say that. Baseball has been bad going back 25 years but they actually put together a great season last year. Can get mad at Bamford for many sports but not the baseball program.

[dennisdent]

Martin claimed, numerous times during the off season, that this was “his team”. It very well may be from a recruiting perspective, however, wrt growing their potential and “in game” coaching, he’s the worst UMass coach in a looong time.
Atrocious, he & Bamford need to be shown the door.
Also, thanks to Bamford, the baseball program, once a proud program, is in line for another season of mediocrity.

Actually this should be a good season for the baseball team. The OC schedule is set-up for wins and the team is returning a lot of good players. They added a bunch of transfers who should add a lot depth to the pitching staff. Sorry don't want to hijack the basketball section. The baseball program is on the way up and should be a good fit in the MAC.

[NilesGold]

What cost us the game was turnovers, no other reason. They had 22 points off of our 17 turnovers, many of which were unforced. We had 8 points off of their 8 turnovers. That's a 14-point spread. You can criticize certain players for certain plays, but as a team, for me turnovers were today's issue.

Now, for the long-range synopsis. Frank mentioned on the post-game interview that we are getting dominated at the center position every single game and he is right. We did get 10 boards today between Shahid and Malek, but only 2 points. Richmond got 13 points and 11 boards from their 2 centers.

I agree that turnovers were the biggest problem, which is uncharacteristic for this team, usually that's one of their relative strengths. Unfortunately part of what makes this team bad is that they're weak in so many areas, in any given game one or more of those aspects is bad enough to cost them the game.

In addition to turnovers there were a series of things in the game that irked me, either while they were playing, or upon further reflection.

End of 1st half not holding for the last shot.
Having a lower Off reb % than Richmond, one of the weaker rebounding teams in the A10.
Diggins only took 11 shots, he should be taking more.
Ndjigue was arguably the most effective UMass player on the floor, but he inextricably only played for 23 minutes.
Poor decision by Frank to switch to a zone for stretches in the 2nd half, it gave up open shots and left UMass open to give up off rebounds to Richmond.
This team is loaded with poor decision makers.

The center position continues to be a major issue. Despite Frank over and over praising the importance of a back to the basket center you can run an offense through, in 3 seasons he's brought in roughly 10 centers and only had 1 of them be a clear success.

[minutefanjsf]

What cost us the game was turnovers, no other reason. They had 22 points off of our 17 turnovers, many of which were unforced. We had 8 points off of their 8 turnovers. That's a 14-point spread. You can criticize certain players for certain plays, but as a team, for me turnovers were today's issue.

Now, for the long-range synopsis. Frank mentioned on the post-game interview that we are getting dominated at the center position every single game and he is right. We did get 10 boards today between Shahid and Malek, but only 2 points. Richmond got 13 points and 11 boards from their 2 centers.

I agree that turnovers were the biggest problem, which is uncharacteristic for this team, usually that's one of their relative strengths. Unfortunately part of what makes this team bad is that they're weak in so many areas, in any given game one or more of those aspects is bad enough to cost them the game.

In addition to turnovers there were a series of things in the game that irked me, either while they were playing, or upon further reflection.

End of 1st half not holding for the last shot.
Having a lower Off reb % than Richmond, one of the weaker rebounding teams in the A10.
Diggins only took 11 shots, he should be taking more.
Ndjigue was arguably the most effective UMass player on the floor, but he inextricably only played for 23 minutes.
Poor decision by Frank to switch to a zone for stretches in the 2nd half, it gave up open shots and left UMass open to give up off rebounds to Richmond.
This team is loaded with poor decision makers.

The center position continues to be a major issue. Despite Frank over and over praising the importance of a back to the basket center you can run an offense through, in 3 seasons he's brought in roughly 10 centers and only had 1 of them be a clear success.

Jayden is too much of a liability when not scoring. He did great to start the game. Then either wouldn’t or couldn’t get open to score. I think he scored 11 points in about 4 of those 23 minutes.

[NilesGold]

Jayden is too much of a liability when not scoring. He did great to start the game. Then either wouldn’t or couldn’t get open to score. I think he scored 11 points in about 4 of those 23 minutes.

Wait, what? Jayden's value comes primarily from what he does that is not him directly scoring the ball. He is not a good scorer, I do not want him looking for shots.

[69MG]

Niles, you are correct about Jayden. His value is about all of the little things he does.

[minutefanjsf]

Niles, you are correct about Jayden. His value is about all of the little things he does.

Yes. That is his value. When no is scoring and Jayden won’t/can’t he will be replaced by someone who has a stronger offensive game. The team needs to score to win. I love what Jayden brings to the team. He is one of my favorites. In a game where he had visible trouble on the offensive end, his contributions were outweighed by his turnovers and inability to score.

[TheOFFSeason]

Jayden is too much of a liability when not scoring. He did great to start the game. Then either wouldn’t or couldn’t get open to score. I think he scored 11 points in about 4 of those 23 minutes.

Wait, what? Jayden's value comes primarily from what he does that is not him directly scoring the ball. He is not a good scorer, I do not want him looking for shots.

Jayden does things that help others score, Cohen should send him a portion of his NIL deal for all the entry passes he made to him right on the money last year, unfortunately he doesn’t have a post player to throw it to this year. He does, however, know what they are supposed to be doing on offense and makes the ball move…not sure if anyone else is as tuned in from what I can see.
He isn’t perfect and will make a glaringly bad play from time to time but he almost always makes up for it quickly if he stays in…FM seems to have a quick trigger with him and definitely doesn’t get the most out of him because of it.
Unless he is in foul trouble, I believe the team has the best chance to win if he plays 32-34 minutes a game. There were 2 games last year, 1 was Harvard and I can’t remember the other, that UMass lost because FM benched Jayden down the stretch. When I was sitting there during the announcement of the starting lineups against UNH and he wasn’t in the starting lineup I was in shock and honestly I don’t think they have had the right chemistry since.

[minutefanjsf]

Jayden is too much of a liability when not scoring. He did great to start the game. Then either wouldn’t or couldn’t get open to score. I think he scored 11 points in about 4 of those 23 minutes.

Wait, what? Jayden's value comes primarily from what he does that is not him directly scoring the ball. He is not a good scorer, I do not want him looking for shots.

Jayden does things that help others score, Cohen should send him a portion of his NIL deal for all the entry passes he made to him right on the money last year, unfortunately he doesn’t have a post player to throw it to this year. He does, however, know what they are supposed to be doing on offense and makes the ball move…not sure if anyone else is as tuned in from what I can see.
He isn’t perfect and will make a glaringly bad play from time to time but he almost always makes up for it quickly if he stays in…FM seems to have a quick trigger with him and definitely doesn’t get the most out of him because of it.
Unless he is in foul trouble, I believe the team has the best chance to win if he plays 32-34 minutes a game. There were 2 games last year, 1 was Harvard and I can’t remember the other, that UMass lost because FM benched Jayden down the stretch. When I was sitting there during the announcement of the starting lineups against UNH and he wasn’t in the starting lineup I was in shock and honestly I don’t think they have had the right chemistry since.

Again, I love him as a player. He had three turnovers in those 23 minutes. He has regressed a bit this year. He seems to be trying to do more than he is capable of. Off balance/out of control/rushed shots are more common with him this year and he is trying to dribble on the wing a lot more and it isn’t working for him. You’ve identified the issue, glaringly bad plays for a guy who started all last year, shouldn’t happen with the frequency he makes them. The net result is not great.

[NilesGold]

Niles, you are correct about Jayden. His value is about all of the little things he does.

Yes. That is his value. When no is scoring and Jayden won’t/can’t he will be replaced by someone who has a stronger offensive game.

And who should replace him in the lineup? Who provides more offensive value at that 3 spot?

[minutefanjsf]

Niles, you are correct about Jayden. His value is about all of the little things he does.

Yes. That is his value. When no is scoring and Jayden won’t/can’t he will be replaced by someone who has a stronger offensive game.

And who should replace him in the lineup? Who provides more offensive value at that 3 spot?

Going to a three guard lineup with Sool, Curry, and Nate. Or go big and have Rivera (or another stretch guy) at the 3. The turnovers are the issue, especially the timing and nature of them. When he doesn’t turn it over, he stays in. If he isn’t scoring he can’t turn it over. It’s that straightforward.

[TheOFFSeason]

Wait, what? Jayden's value comes primarily from what he does that is not him directly scoring the ball. He is not a good scorer, I do not want him looking for shots.

Jayden does things that help others score, Cohen should send him a portion of his NIL deal for all the entry passes he made to him right on the money last year, unfortunately he doesn’t have a post player to throw it to this year. He does, however, know what they are supposed to be doing on offense and makes the ball move…not sure if anyone else is as tuned in from what I can see.
He isn’t perfect and will make a glaringly bad play from time to time but he almost always makes up for it quickly if he stays in…FM seems to have a quick trigger with him and definitely doesn’t get the most out of him because of it.
Unless he is in foul trouble, I believe the team has the best chance to win if he plays 32-34 minutes a game. There were 2 games last year, 1 was Harvard and I can’t remember the other, that UMass lost because FM benched Jayden down the stretch. When I was sitting there during the announcement of the starting lineups against UNH and he wasn’t in the starting lineup I was in shock and honestly I don’t think they have had the right chemistry since.

Again, I love him as a player. He had three turnovers in those 23 minutes. He has regressed a bit this year. He seems to be trying to do more than he is capable of. Off balance/out of control/rushed shots are more common with him this year and he is trying to dribble on the wing a lot more and it isn’t working for him. You’ve identified the issue, glaringly bad plays for a guy who started all last year, shouldn’t happen with the frequency he makes them. The net result is not great.

I’m not saying he has a lot of glaringly bad plays, I’m saying the ones that he has tend to stick out more.
I’m also a believer that his net result is a positive and second only to DHS this season when they both play together.
It’s fine if you see it different, and I definitely think there is much more to turning things around than more playing time for Jayden, but there isn’t anyone who can replace the things he does to help you win when he’s not in there.