UMass hoops 2013-14 - Tourney or Bust

AbbyNoho

broke her neck in costa rica
SoSH Member
Jan 20, 2006
12,177
Northampton, Massachusetts
They got an extra possession that resulted in a 3-pointer when the ref missed that Martelli called timeout before the turn-over. That was a huge momentum shift with just a few minutes remaining, they were pretty fortunate there.  A win is a win, though. 
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
They're looking like complete horse manure so far this afternoon vs St. Bonaventure. Down 8 with 3:35 left in the half.
 
Shooting like crap, making bad decisions, playing mediocre defense, and seeming like they have no desire whatsoever to be on the Mullins Center floor right now or listen to anything Kellogg's telling them.
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
And the shitstorm continues. Down 12 now with 11:30 left in the game. They're playing with some renewed vigor, but still failing to execute -- especially on D. 
 
Charlon Kloof is eating them alive with 14 pts on 4-of-9 from the floor and 7-of-8 from the stripe to go with 7 assists. Bonnies shooting 50%, and they've out-boarded UMass 27-22 (10-8 on the offensive glass). Minutemen are losing the turnover battle 16-11, they've missed 7 of 19 free throws, and they've got ZERO fast break points.
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
Lalanne with a nice left baseline move -- FINALLY -- to draw a foul down low (before the shot). Until then, virtually their entire offense was the ol' pass-the-ball-back-and-forth-around-the-perimeter-and-throw-up-a-shitty-shot-as-the-clock-winds-down. 
 
Chaz has been borderline useless (4 pts on 1/7 FG, and just 4 FTA).
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
And just as I post that, Chaz with the sweet alley-oop to Putney out of the time-out, and they set up the press and get a back-court turnover. Chance to cut it to 7 here with 7:35 left.
 
EDIT - And they do, with a Lalanne lay-in off a nice bounce pass from Chaz. 
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
2-point game with 1:30 left, and now the Bonnies turn it over.
 
The UMass pressure has finally paid some dividends.
 

Grimace-HS

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Jun 8, 2012
844
Huge comeback still underway....kind of sloppy game, but really tightening up the D and a clutch three.  Mullins is rocking.
 

Grimace-HS

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Jun 8, 2012
844
This is something....even down by 11-13 points, you just had the feeling that they were going to close in and make a serious run.  They never let up with the energy, and the crowd seemed to anticipate that as well.  This team is so much fun to watch...wasn't pretty, but sure was fun.
 
Now carry on the mojo over to the Patriots tonight....
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
Grimace-HS said:
This is something....even down by 11-13 points, you just had the feeling that they were going to close in and make a serious run.  They never let up with the energy, and the crowd seemed to anticipate that as well.  This team is so much fun to watch...wasn't pretty, but sure was fun.
 
Now carry on the mojo over to the Patriots tonight....
 
I wasn't so sure until Kloof headed to the bench with 4 fouls, and then sat out for what seemed like an eternity. Without him, SBU's entire game plan and tempo seemed to fall apart in the face of the UMass pressure.
 
It was like watching Private Downey stammer on the witness stand in A Few Good Men while Lance Corporal Dawson was powerless to help.
 

RedSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 30, 2001
4,768
What a win, the cardiac kids pull it off again!! 26-8 run over the final 9:30. I honestly didn't think they were going to come back today; SBU was looking like they weren't going to miss for much of the game. Let's hope UMass can ride this momentum into their upcoming road trip.
 

Grimace-HS

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Jun 8, 2012
844
mabrowndog said:
 
I wasn't so sure until Kloof headed to the bench with 4 fouls, and then sat out for what seemed like an eternity. Without him, SBU's entire game plan and tempo seemed to fall apart in the face of the UMass pressure.
 
It was like watching Private Downey stammer on the witness stand in A Few Good Men while Lance Corporal Dawson was powerless to help.
What an analogy....and a good movie too!!
 
Hopefully they will at least hold at #19, but the key is the end of the season.  Kellogg has really brought excitement and fun back to Amherst though.  The guys seem like they are having a blast playing right now.
 

Orel Miraculous

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 16, 2006
1,710
Mostly Airports and Hotels
Hard fought game so far.  
 
What UMass has done up to this point has been outstanding, but the A10 is a beast this year and it wouldn't shock me if they end up with just 9 or 10 conference wins. The A10 is a better conference than the SEC, AAC, and maybe the new Big East too.  It might produce 5 bids and every road game is going to be a battle.
 

BoSoxFink

Stripes
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
7,646
South Park
That was one of the most atrocious defensive halfs of basketball I've seen umass play. Just letting George Mason do whatever the hell it wanted to. It was easy lanes to the basket the whole half for GMU after the first 5 minutes.

Not only that, but umass was atrocious on the defensive boards as well. Just a horrendous half in the defensive end for umass that half.
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,291
First team to play defense wins. I really hope the recent comeback wins haven't/won't lead to bad habits.
 

BoSoxFink

Stripes
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2006
7,646
South Park
This is really difficult to fucking watch right now. They are utterly atrocious on the defensive side of the court still this half. Horrendous rebounding and allowing GMU to easily drive the lane and this is why they are down in this one. The screens by GMU are killing Umass
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
Horrible sequence there with Chaz falling on a drive through traffic (no call), the subsequent turnover, two clear travels by GMU on ball-fakes, and the driving layup plus the blocking foul on what looked like a charge.
 

BigA27

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 26, 2006
1,409
How was that not a charge. There have been a lot of terrible calls in this game almost all against us.
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
Orel Miraculous said:
 
Moving slightly does not make it a block.  This is one of the most persistent misconceptions in basketball.
 
Correct. It's the establishment of vertical position.
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
If they pull this one out, I'll crap my pants.
 
I'll probably crap them regardless, but this would be a great excuse.
 

mabrowndog

Ask me about total zone...or paint
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 23, 2003
39,676
Falmouth, MA
I'm shocked they didn't call Esho for an over-the-back after Chaz missed the lay-in.
 
Happy, but shocked.
 

BigA27

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 26, 2006
1,409
Wow. How in the hell did that just happen? I guess karma from all the missed calls evened out.
 

Orel Miraculous

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 16, 2006
1,710
Mostly Airports and Hotels
Like I said, every single road game in the A10 is going to be a battle.  UMass actually got a little lucky with their schedule in that they don't have to play at VCU or SLU this year, but they'll probably be underdogs at GW and Dayton and it'll be close to even money at SBU, SJU, and Richmond.  Even the game at URI will be tough--that's a young team that's proven it can play with just about anybody on any given night.
 

Grimace-HS

Well-Known Member
Gold Supporter
SoSH Member
Jun 8, 2012
844
Orel Miraculous said:
Hard fought game so far.
 
What UMass has done up to this point has been outstanding, but the A10 is a beast this year and it wouldn't shock me if they end up with just 9 or 10 conference wins. The A10 is a better conference than the SEC, AAC, and maybe the new Big East too. It might produce 5 bids and every road game is going to be a battle.
This season gets more interesting with each game. I envy those of you up there in the UMass tv market, as you are all really getting treated to some fun basketball. I bolded your statement because I had started to realize this building up over the past few years. When I was in the 4th-6th grade "park and rec" league in the mid-80s, I remember going to a game at the Cage with our basketball team. I had asked our coach if he ever thought UMass would ever make it to national tv and be a big time program. Not surprising, his answer was an unequivocal "no". But then Calipari and crew came along, the Mullins got built (although I have since periodically wavered over whether they'd have been better off just renovating and expanding the Cage for that unbeatable home court advantage...that place was electric; saw Reggie Lewis play there with Northeastern...but I digress....).
 
The main point is that the general feel for many of us that followed UMass sports since at least the 80s (and I know many go back even further) was that they were always perpetually in a lower tier. Even with the '95-96 run, there was that feeling that we were on borrowed time unless we could really get on the map with a major conference. But with Gonzaga's success followed by Butler, the push to get into those major power conferences I think has gotten less. And the A-10 has become a seriously good basketball conference. Looking at UMass' early season difficult schedule, there was a relieving feel to the victories, but I still had this feeling as if the A-10 games would be very tough....and I can't say that the in-conference schedule had that feeling all that long ago (the thought of getting past Big 10, ACC, SEC, and Big East teams never would have been considered the lighter part of the schedule). In fact, I'm not sure there really is a light stretch in this schedule...they've really earned the record to date.
 
I'm just excited about what is going on up there.....and I agree that there could really be 4-5 bids this year. Not too long ago, I'd suggest to get to the games and support the team. It is nice to finally have that changed around to "I hope there are tickets available"... The season still has a lot left, but this really is officially fun again :)
 
Can't wait for the next game...
 

gmogmo

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
768
Hingham, Ma
Any road win in the A-10 is a good one this year.  Wouldn't be shocked to see UMass lose any of it's remaining road games - Richmond, St Bonnies, URI, GW, Dayton, Duquense (they shouldn't lose to Duquense).
 
Will be incredibly difficult for UMass to end up with a 4-5 seed  in tourney, but ending with 5 conference losses should keep them in 6-8 seed range.