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Discuss....

I am looking forward to seeing what they look like after two promising performances. URI losing to the Dukes last night takes a little shine of that win now.

Davidson should be a true test - or at least the truest test so far - of what Umass is this year.

Agreed, this should be the toughest game Umass has had so far. But it's at home and they've had plenty of time to prepare. It will be a test of how representative the 4-1 league record is.

I agree a test of where this team is at and where the coaching staff is at. Plenty of time to prepare for this game and how they want handle Davidson

This will be a very tough game. First, Davidson's size and rebounding are an issue. They are a +8 per game in rebounds. The starters are 6'3, 6'5, 6'7, 6'9 and 6'10.

They also shoot the 3 very well and about 45% of their shots are threes. Most of them are taken by their 3 leading scorers; Grady, Lee and Collins - who hit them at 39%, 46% and 40%.

I'd like to see Dibaji back and healthy enough to start. That put us close enough to them in size and helps our defense. I don't know if we have anyone who can guard Grady, who is 6'5.

I watched their game yesterday. Grady is definitely the guy that scares me the most.

I'm much more pessimistic about Davidson than I was about SLU. As I said elsewhere, we beat SLU just last year. Davidson, we weren't even in the game last year. Although we did somehow beat them 2 years ago. Grady had a terrible game and Pierre went 5-7 from three.

Davidson always scares me because McKillop is a first class coach. Regardless of the players that Davidson has on the floor, you know they're going to be in the right places and make smart plays. That game down in Charlotte last year was ugly from the tip. According to this website, they scored more in the first half than we did all game. https://umasshoops.com/wiki/doku.php?id ... scoreboard Hopefully McCall was taking notes.

As dumb as it sounds, and it sure does sound dumb, the shots that fall vs the ones that doink off the rim are probably going to be the difference because I don't think McCall can hang with McKillop from a coaching standpoint at this point in his young career. Hopefully the shots fall for us and not them.

^ No points from doinks.

Doinks don't score no points.

Is there a story to why Umass never recruited Grady? He got offers from multiple A10 teams and the locals BU, NU, and HC.

Camby4Life wrote: Thu Jan 21, 2021 4:25 pm Is there a story to why Umass never recruited Grady? He got offers from multiple A10 teams and the locals BU, NU, and HC.

Those offers meant nothing as he grew up a huge Steph Curry fan and was focused only on going to Davidson.

Game 9, on January 24, yikes.
In the past two seasons, game 9 was on December 4.
Then again, the Ivy wiped out their entire season, so at least we have something.

Anyway, carry on with the Davidson talk.

Preview:
https://bustingbrackets.com/2021/01/22/ ... -schedule/

Well informed author, someone we know, yes?

^ Yes. One of ours - hoops and pucks.