Archive for January, 2010

31
Jan
10

Two steps forward, one huge step back.

By bittym87 3 Comments
Categories: Basketball and Hockey
Tags: , , , , ,

First, the good.

UMass hockey bounced back nicely last night with a 4-1 win at Providence. They proved a few things in that game; first, they showed they can, in fact, beat good goaltending, as in one of Hockey East’s elite keepers in Alex Beaudry (who single-handedly stole a game from the Minutemen on Halloween). They also showed that they can, in fact, win with Dan Meyers in net; after a couple putrid performances in front of the backup goalie, the Minutemen won with him for the first time since the thriller at Yale. And, lastly, they showed that Providence College is an absolutely atrocious team this season, but we all knew that.

So, thanks to BC’s sleepwalk through the last month or so, UMass is still in position where 2nd place is within reach, especially with two key games against the Eagles coming up in February. This includes next Friday’s monster of a showdown, in front of the NESN cameras and what will almost surely be one of, if not the largest crowd in Mullins Center history. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go camp out in line for a week to get primo seating.

Oh, and ‘grats to Eddie-O for his first career goal. It was nice to see the box score and find names like Olcyzk, Carzo, and Mikey among the goal-scorers, proving that UMass can get scoring from guys other than Casey, Jimmy and Ortiz. (Still, it would be nice to see some more offense; after scoring 5 goals in 3 of their first 4 games, the Minutemen haven’t put up more than 4 since the Wellman hat trick game at Vermont before Thanksgiving!)

More about BC later this week. Now, let’s turn our attention to UMass’s other big sport on campus.

…

Ugh. Do we have to?

The Minutemen had their chance to turn around a fickle student population with a rare Saturday night home tilt, in front of a national TV audience on ESPNU, hosting Charlotte with the chance to avenge the Valentine’s Day Massacre….and they completely and utterly blew it. I overheard one of the students (yes, we had a legitimate student section, and it only took TV cameras and a big-screen TV giveaway to get them to come!) refer to this as the “make or break game” for UMass’s students. And, for brief flashes, they played like it, especially in a fantastically entertaining stretch to start the second half, where UMass closed a 10-point deficit to one off a couple nice plays by Ricky Harris.

That was the 16:10 remaining mark in the 2nd half. UMass went on to score five points in the next eleven minutes. Raise your hand if any part of that sentence surprises you. Okay, you with the hands up – I’m guessing you only saw the Memphis game? (Did that even happen, by the way? I’m getting less and less sure with each day that the Memphis game wasn’t a pizza-and-beer-induced dream sequence. I could have sworn I saw Hashim Bailey actually playing some semblance of defense…)

Matt and I are at rope’s end with this team. Yeah, it seems uncanny that everyone we play seems to have a guy (in this case, Derrio Green) who can hit contested three-pointers seemingly all day long. But instead of continuing to contest that guy, our defense just gives up (in this case, letting Green take those shots uncontested). Our offense seems content with letting non-shooters (Matt Hill?!) jack up threes, failing to generate anything resembling offensive penetration or ball movement, going on little spurts with runners, floaters, and right-place-at-the-right-time layups. In other words, even when things are going well, it’s still sloppy as hell, and you almost feel embarrassed to cheer. The defense is atrocious, nobody can hit free throws, the guys commit stupid fouls…it just goes on and on.

Yes, I know they’re mostly freshmen or transfers who took a year off (and the guys who we have back are either playing through pain a la Pretty Ricky, not that good to begin with a la Gary Correia, or the frustrating enigma that is David Gibbs). Yeah, Charlotte’s actually a pretty good team. But these guys are starting to make me wonder if they’ll even make the A-10′s this year. That’s setting the bar awfully low, I’m aware, but really – I had no idea that the Memphis game was going to be a turning point in the wrong direction for UMass. If this keeps up, the question for me is not going to be when these guys realize their enormous potential, but if that’ll even happen at all with these guys.

And after all that…I’m still probably going to be there Wednesday for the Xavier game, if I’ve got nothing better to do. Hey, it’s hard to turn down the chance at a free 42″ TV, what can I say? I want these guys to prove me wrong.

-Max

30
Jan
10

Tonight: No. 15 UMass Minutemen (15-10-0 (10-8-0 HEA)) vs. Providence Friars (9-14-1 (4-12-1 HEA))

By heavydrexler 2 Comments
Categories: Hockey
Tags: , , , , ,

What can be said about the Providence Friars that cannot be said about Afghanistan? That shit is bombed out and depleted. The Friars are once again trapped in the Hockey East basement and that is truly where they deserve to be. They score, by far, the fewest goals of any team on Hockey East (ONLY 1.88GPG in Hockey East play). They don’t have a single player with double-digit goals on the season, let alone in conference play, and only three skaters with double-digit point totals in Hockey East action (Mark Fayne 3-9-12, Kyle MacKinnon 6-5-11, Matt Bergland 4-7-11). Meanwhile, the defense is giving up 3.00 goals per game. That is an average margin of 1.12 goals!  The Friars’ defense also makes their vaunted goalie face almost 35 shots a game in Hockey East play.

If Providence has one saving grace, it is their outstanding netminder, Alex Beaudry. Up until last night, Beaudry was probably the best goaltender in Hockey East, narrowly edging out Carter Hutton. (Hutton is clearly the premier goalie in Hockey East now) However, even his game looked poor last night as he gave up five goals on only fourteen shots in one period of play. (He was replaced by Justin Gates who shutout BC on 22 shots for the remainder of the game) Beaudry is still a formidable opponent, and he will be looking to make up for last night’s shitshow with a strong performance tonight.

The Minutemen are not without their own problems. UMass is coming off back to back losses in which Paul Dainton has not played at the high level we have come to expect from him. In the loss to Vermont last Sunday, Dainton gave up two goals on only eighteen shots. One of those two was a ridiculously slow moving puck that probably should have been a cake save for Dainton. The Minutemen still should have won this game, but Rob Madore had the game of his life, and got extremely lucky (I personally witnessed Madore being shocked to find out that a shot had been taken and hit him right in the glove at least twice). Last night at Boston University, both the defense and Dainton let the team down. While the offense was busy barraging Kieran Millan with 41 shots on goal, the defense was letting BU’s lackluster offense shred them for 37 shots on net. Dainton let six of these shots find the back of the net behind him. (Add to this the fact that the UMass power play went 1 for 14 in these two games)

These last two games aside, there are a couple of rather disquieting statistics that have plagued the Mass Attack all year. In Hockey East play, the Minutemen are 1-6-0 when giving up the first goal and 0-6-0 when trailing after one period. These numbers suggest a lack of resolve and mental toughness that parallel the team’s playing down to the level of its opposition the previous two seasons. All Dave Chappelle jokes aside, tonight is a game that the Minutemen MUST WIN. The Friars have lost four in a row, and I am sure that Alex Beaudry wants this game on a personal level. It’s time for this team to dig deep and show us all that they are not the Minutemen of the past two years.

(UMass and Providence split a home-and-home series earlier this season, the Minutemen came away from Providence with a 5-3 victory, but lost 2-1 the following night at the Bill)

The Rundown:

Offense: UMass (by a lot)
Defense: slight edge to UMass
Goaltending: Providence
Special Teams: UMass (please get the power play back on track, boys)
Other Factors: Providence

Prediction:

UMass 2 – 0 Providence
(If Dainton’s in net, it’s about fucking time for him to get a shutout.)

Other Hockey East action tonight:

Merrimack vs. No. 13 New Hampshire
No. 19 Maine vs. No. 17 Vermont

-Derek

30
Jan
10

Kid Arrrrrrrrg

By blindspots88 4 Comments
Categories: Hockey
Tags: , , , , ,

Thom Yorke was wrong. The Best you can isn’t good enough. That is, assuming that the Minutemen gave all they had last night.

Me and Max had the pleasure of reliving the 40′s and listening to this game on the radio while drinking. Obviously, Max’s listening skills are far superior to mine because I find it hard to pinpoint why we sucked, I just know we sucked. Hard.

I’ll let Max’s recap of last night stand, but there is one thing I would like to point out. Right now, if the season ended, we would be playing BU in the Hockey East semifinals. Yes, it is at home, but how much confidence do you have in this team against BU?  That first game was a fluke. We barely beat a team that has gotten better over time on our home ice. The other two times we played? Hockey abortions. I don’t want to see this team again. I will take Lowell, I will take Northeastern. I will take Maine. Hell, I would take Lowell Maine on the road rather than play BU under any circumstance. They are too dangerous, they are in our heads. Our chances are minimal.

Here’s to a hopeful Providence victory and a Hashim Bailey DNP

-Matt

30
Jan
10

Not so much.

By bittym87 Leave a Comment
Categories: Hockey
Tags: , , , ,

Well, once again, a visit to Agganis Arena resulted in a blowout loss for the Minutemen, almost as if to mock my pregame predictions of a much closer game.

To be fair, from all accounts, the Minutemen played a hell of a lot better than in their previous four-goal defeat at BU, dominating the first period but trailing 1-0 as the Terriers got the first of many timely goals. Alas, regardless of the Jack Parker influence on this game (i.e. whenever something didn’t go BU’s way, it was argued extensively to the point where a makeup call was a foregone conclusion), the Minutemen simply didn’t capitalize on their early chances, and, as in games like the 4-2 home loss to UNH and the Bentley loss in the UConn tournament, appeared to let their frustrations derail their play down the stretch.

Not a good sign, and not a good showing by the defense (which, we must add, continues to miss Doug Kublin, who was so good in those Lowell games and the “turning point” Northeastern game), but a loss is still a loss, even if it throws UMass into the negative as far as their Hockey East pythagorean is concerned. If it’s any consolation, UNH got edged at Lawler by Merrimack, which basically just never wins on the road and never loses at home this season. Also, Lowell got the smug wiped off their faces with another 2-1 loss to Northeastern, this time one which counts in Hockey East play (and, it must be said, where the Huskies had a significant shots-on-goal advantage for the entire game – Carton Hutton continues to stand on his head in vain for the Eastern Mass. State-Lowell River Rats). The “consolation from elsewhere in HEA” parade ends with Maine throttling Vermont (we love seeing Lowell drop out of home ice, but we’re not particularly fond of Maine jumping back into it either) and BC making PC their bitch tonight as well, grabbing sole possession of 2nd place back.

So, umm, yeah, as long as the games are being played at Agganis Arena, we’d love to not see the Terriers again this year, though if the season ended today Jackie and his crew would be in Amherst for the quarterfinals. Even in that first game at the Bill, where the Minutemen severely outplayed BU for most of the game, the final was a narrow win for UMass. This is a team that simply matches up well with the Mass Attack, unfortunately. That said, shots on goal were 41-37 in favor of UMass, and if Millan doesn’t stand on his head for the first period, this game would have taken a different direction. UMass didn’t play nearly as bad as they did a month ago, and so let’s hope that tomorrow night we draw the same Alex Beaudry who let up 5 first-period goals to the previously-floundering BC Eagles tonight.

-Max

29
Jan
10

Last-minute musings, or, We’re shipping back to Boston (whoooah-ohhh)

By bittym87 Leave a Comment
Categories: Hockey
Tags: , , , ,

Well hey, it’s been a couple days, hasn’t it? Well, we’ll admit, as students, there’ll be weeks like this one (the first “real” week of school of the semester) where we don’t have much to say in the middle of the week. Deal with it.

First of all, a special shout-out to Sam and Neil, the sports directors at WMUA and co-hosts of its Sportsline program, for giving me a couple minutes to plug the blog yesterday. Matt was there too, but there was already a shortage of microphones in a very crowded master control room. Anyway, I’m hoping that now that I finally can do the show without a total scheduling conflict, I’ll be able to contribute this semester with some hockey and basketball talk (and MLB when that comes around). SportsLine airs 4:30-5:30 on 91.1 FM WMUA and you can stream it with the link in our links section.

Now that the name-dropping is out of the way, in less than an hour, the Mass Attack will take to the ice against the defending champions, and the team I followed throughout high school, the BU Terriers, for the rubber match of their three-game season series. For the first time, I will not be behind a microphone for this one, having called both the thrilling 3-2 victory at the Mullins Center and the embarrassing 7-3 debacle at Agganis a few weeks back for WMUA. Tonight, sadly, with no bus trip being coordinated and with BU’s exorbitant ticket prices being a little too much for our college-kid budgets to absorb, we’ll be stuck listening or streaming the game from the warm comforts of the North Apartments. Luckily, if you haven’t listened to a UMass game all season, the new guys, Hennessey and Hines, are a couple of experienced hockey broadcasters with delightful voices and great chemistry, enough so that we’ll let slide the occasional “C.J. Snyder.”

So what  can we expect tonight? BU has certainly been decidedly not bad this second half of the year so far, although you have to wonder how much of their success is contingent on the fact that the Terriers are a motivationally-challenged team which has played its archrival, in what is (in our Hockey East-tinted glasses) the fiercest rivalry in all of college hockey, twice, once at Fenway Park and once on enemy ice. This, by the way, is also a caveat to the “hey, look, BC’s not that good after all, like we thought coming into the season!” crowd, though the Eagles did just stink up the joint last weekend against the formerly down-and-out River Rats.

Anyway, based on recent comments in the Collegian, it appears (at least according to Bronco) that the Minutemen miiiight have looked past the Terriers last time they played; this coupled with the disparity in rest (remember, 3 games in 5 days for UMass, first game in a month for BU) are a bad combination for a team that already relies heavily on speed rather than physicality. With the rest situation much more even, and Toot Cahoon surely reminding his boys on a daily basis of the final score of that last meeting, and with the Beanpot coming up this week, it would be shocking if the Terriers were to blow out the Minutemen again, especially given the way the Minutemen have played lately.

That power play (2 for its last 23 I believe) needs to get going, although I’m hoping for a much less whistle-happy game than the slopfest we saw at the beginning of the month. But as long as the defense continues to play as well as they’ve been doing of late, I’m confident that the Minutemen can bounce back from an offensive perspective. I’m looking for a 4-2 or 5-3 win, but it’ll probably be closer than that. A tie would be acceptable, barely, if the Minutemen can bounce back tomorrow night; I’ve accepted the fact that one is inevitable given that UMass is one of like 3 teams in the country that has yet to play to a draw.

Fear the Triangle’s Twitter just popped up that Langeraap and Coco are back in the lineup, but Kublin (who’s been playing very well on the blue line) and Hobbs are both out. Here’s hoping neither is a lasting injury, especially since we don’t know what to expect from Chase yet.

I’ll have reactions and a look at the Providence game (and tomorrow’s Charlotte basketball game) later on or in the morning, depending on my level of sobriety. Go UMass!

-Max

25
Jan
10

Our Sing Along Songs Will Be Their Scripture

By blindspots88 4 Comments
Categories: Hockey
Tags: , , , ,

Sunday was not a very good day. So far gone from the throughly enjoyable saturday night 3-1 win, with Casey netting 2 goals and an assist (is it possible to make the Top 10 for the Hobey Baker without making the initial list?) that its hard to be at all optimistic about this team. Max is right, we do need to stay positive (wooOOOOooah) but its hard after attending a 3 O’clock game with a so-so student section and a team that showed nothing.

Saturday was a good night for fight mass, we partied hard, dabbled on playa hatin’, and throughly enjoyed the first hockey game of the young semester. Sunday we, both the student fans and student athletes, were far too tired. Yes, we came out strong chanting loud and often. However, when we all realized that the game would be dominated by incompetent refs and snowcone ice things degraded into something that turned we into an old grumpy fan.

Yes, rant coming

First, the student section was half empty. Whatever, I get it, you are Umass students on a sunday morning and don’t care. Fine, but don’t act like you give a shit when we play BC. I get it, every team is comprised of more fair-weather fans than those who would call themselves die hard. But as “die hards” do we have to sit idle when the student population decided to not show up for an important televised conference game against a frozen four team because it was at 3??? Its not a noon football game assholes, it was the early evening, show up.

And those who did show up were mesmerized by 2 groups of southwest skanks who, in their attempt for 5 seconds of TV time on ESPN’s college network (that was competing with NFL playoffs) decided to show up with their bellies painted to spell “Zoomass”. Uck. I know I sound like some puritan asshole but they have never showed up to a game. Ladies, if you want to get on TV so bad, go blow Gary Tanguay, just GTFO of the Mullins. You make the real fans look bad. (Oh and guys who are so depraved of pussy that you hare kissing their asses, you are no better. Go to southwest if you want to get laid, not a hockey game)

By the 3rd the Mullins sounded like a church. Not that the hockey team gave us a reason to give a shit. We were down by 1 and 2 for the majority of the game, and we did have chances. However never, at any point past the 1st, did I think we were pulling this game off. I know its a cop out to say “we just didn’t have it” but guess what, we just didn’t have it.

By the end, with 30 seconds left, I heard a student say “come on score, I just want to do the chant”. Well sir, we didn’t deserve to do the chant, and if they scored and we chanted we would have looked bad, and I for one would have felt bad. This season isn’t over and I’m not pessimistic for the rest of the year, I just want to forget this weekend.

-Matt

BTW, follow our twitter assholes

http://twitter.com/fight_mass

24
Jan
10

Kneejerk Reactions: Whoa-oh, we gotta stay positive

By bittym87 Leave a Comment
Categories: Hockey
Tags: , ,

Well, for the second time in three tries, our beloved Mass Attack have pulled a dubious feat in front of ESPNU’s cameras and hockey demigod Barry Melrose, getting shut out for the first time all year, 3-0. UMass ends up with a weekend split against the Catamounts, after last night’s 3-1 triumph.

Honestly, though, unlike Melrose’s “60 minutes of ineptitude” jab, which came as UMass was allowing a season-high 7 goals at BU, this is an outcome we can live with. UMass dominated the shots on goal department, and the part of the team that wasn’t missing three regulars – the defense – was solid as usual, allowing just two goals plus an empty-netter. Since the back-to-back touchdowns-against debacle, UMass has allowed a stingy eight goals in five games, and accordingly has a 4-1 record in those games. On top of all that, UMass still has the tiebreaker in the season series against UVM, and 2-1 against a top-20 PWR team on the season is nothing to sneeze at.

It’s true that, considering the weekends Lowell and UNH had, the Minutemen could have used those extra points. But given the circumstances (no Coco, still no Langeraap or Lecomte, day game after night game, etc.), this 3-0 loss hurts a lot less. It’s up to the Minutemen to keep the defensive pressure up now, and hopefully the offense emerges from its slump against Hockey East’s worst defensive team, BU, next weekend – I’d rather them not be facing the prospects of another three-game losing streak if they can’t solve Alex Beaudry on Saturday.

So again, in the words of The Hold Steady’s Craig Finn…we gotta stay positive.

-Max

21
Jan
10

Weekend Preview: I swear to god I’m going to pistol whip the next guy who says, “shenanigans.”

By heavydrexler 1 Comment
Categories: Hockey
Tags: , , ,

No. 17 Vermont Catamounts (11-7-2 (5-6-2 HEA)) vs. YOUR No. 15 UMass Minutemen (14-8-0 (9-6-0 HEA))

The Mass Attack have two games this weekend (Sat. 7PM, Sun. 3PM) against a tough Hockey East foe. Vermont has won games this year against Denver and Minnesota Duluth and have taken two out of three from Boston College. The Catamounts’ strength lies in their defense. Their 28.4 shots on goal against per game average in Hockey East play is second lowest only to BC and of the nineteen skaters who have played in ten or more games, ten have positive plus/minus ratings (Brayden Irwin is tied for best plus/minus rating in Hockey East at +13).

While Vermont excels at team defense, where they fail is pretty much everywhere else. Their offense ranks sixth in Hockey East with 3.20 goals per game. This is a team lacking any bona fide scorers. It boasts only three skaters with double-digit points in Hockey East play (Brayden Irwin 6-6-12, Justin Milo 6-6-12, Colin Vock 3-7-10). Compare this to a UMass team with five players whose point totals meet or exceed 12 in Hockey East action (James Marcou 5-18-23, Casey Wellman 10-7-17, Justin Braun 2-14-16, Will Ortiz 8-7-15, Matt Irwin 4-8-12). Not to mention that Marcou leads the nation in scoring and Wellman is tied for the lead in goals.

Take your pick between the two Vermont goaltenders, neither have a save percentage above .900 in Hockey East play. The starter, Rob Madore, has played poorly (.896 save%, 2.84 GAA in Hockey East play) while their second goalie, Mike Spillane, has been abysmal (.871 save%, 3.96 GAA in Hockey East). Madore’s relatively low GAA is attributed to his facing only 250 shots on goal in his 10 Hockey East games. Vermont’s special teams are lacking, as well. UVM has killed penalties at a rather unimpressive clip of 79.4% in Hockey East while their power play is scoring on ONLY 13.0% of its chances in conference. UMass meanwhile has killed 81.0% of its penalties and scored on a robust 25.4% of its power play chances in conference play.

Vermont comes into this weekend riding a pretty hot streak. They have been 4-1-0 in their last five games including a win against No. 4 Minnesota Duluth. BUT, the other three wins were against sub-.500 teams including lowly Dartmouth (4-13-0) and Alabama-Huntsville (5-13-2), and they lost a game to the Northeastern Huskies, who have struggled mightily with the lose of Brad Thiessen this season. UMass comes in riding a three game win-streak, including a sweep of last weekend’s game with rival Lowell. Special teams have been strong in this stretch with the power play netting five goals in nineteen opportunities (26.3%) and the penalty kill a perfect 16-for-16.

In the previous meeting of these two teams this year, the Minutemen came away with a convincing 6-2 victory over the Catamounts at Gutterson Fieldhouse behind the performances of Casey Wellman, who had a hat trick and four total points and James Marcou, who had five, count ‘em, five assists in the tilt. UMass also received multi-point efforts from Will Ortiz and Justin Braun while David Pecan and Brian Roloff chipped in goals for the Catamounts.

All the Mass Attack have to do against the Catamounts this weekend is play solid, fundamental hockey. We all know this is an offense that loves to pass and look for the perfect plays that will beat great goaltenders, but Vermont has a defense that can pick off passes and turn them into offense. Vermont’s goalies, meanwhile, are certainly not the greatest we (as fans, as well as the players) have seen this season. Throw a lot of rubber on whoever’s in net for Vermont. Make high percentage plays, use screens, and look to score ugly goals. On the other end, simply don’t make anything easy for UVM. No odd-man rushes and no dumb penalties. The Catamounts do not have the offensive skills to beat the UMass defense and Paul Dainton on even terms.

This is a series that UMass could come away from four points richer, and I would love to make that prediction. However, there is one thing that concerns me. The Sunday game is an afternoon game, with the puck set to drop at just past 3:00. This means both that two games will be played on the same ice within twenty hours and the outside temperature will likely be in the high-30s for this entire game and, let’s face it folks, the ice at the Bill has a tendency to get very sloppy anyway. The poor ice will better suit the Catamounts’ defensive game while taking something away from the skating game the Minutemen like to play.

The Rundown:
Offense: UMass
Defense: Vermont
Goaltending: UMass
Special Teams: UMass
Other Factors: Draw

Prediction:
Saturday: Vermont 1 – 3 UMass
Sunday: Vermont 1 – 1 UMass
(and I will gladly take three points out of this matchup if I can get ‘em)

Interesting games around Hockey East:

No. 11 Boston College (12-6-2 (9-4-2 HEA)) vs. No. 19 UMass Lowell (12-9-2 (6-6-2 HEA))
Saturday, 7:00 PM, Tsongas Arena
Boston College comes into this game as the number two team in Hockey East and is currently riding a two-game winning streak. We all know UML struggled last weekend against UMass. However, BC’s last two victories came against a Scott Darling-less Maine and lowly Providence, and they lost their last three games prior. Meanwhile, Lowell is a team that scares me when its backed into a corner. I know first-hand since UML soundly beat UMass after coming off a three-game losing streak earlier this season then went on to win their next game. I doubt head coach Blaise MacDonald has taken it easy on his team this week given their complete lack of discipline in last weekend’s games against UMass. UML also has a tune-up against Merrimack on Friday that they should win easily, giving them some positive momentum. Boston College will also be coming off what will probably be an emotional game against BU on Friday night.

Prediction: Boston College 1 – 2 UMass Lowell
(Carter Hutton stands on his head and his teammates give him just enough help to down the Eagles)

Boston University (7-10-3 (5-8-2 HEA)) vs. No. 11 Boston College (12-6-2 (9-4-2 HEA))
Friday, 7:00 PM, Agganis Arena
BU has played poorly this year, mainly due to the loss of several top players to the NHL, but they always play BC hard and Boston College will be looking to avenge their loss at Fenway Park. It should be an exciting game.

Prediction: Boston University 2 – 4 Boston College

Other Hockey East action:

Friday
Merrimack vs. No. 19 UMass Lowell
No. 16 New Hampshire vs. Providence

Saturday
No. 16 New Hampshire vs. Boston University
Providence vs. Merrimack

-Derek

21
Jan
10

The Patron Saint of Underwhelming Play

By blindspots88 1 Comment
Categories: Basketball

I had the absolute pleasure of sitting on the end of the bench for the last game, and while I second Max on many observations, I’m probably less optimistic than he, if that is possible.

First off, is it so fucking hard to get something that resembles a student section for basketball games? Its coming to the point where there are more missed 3′s than students, and that is sad. Not that having a great crowd would make the team any better, but having a good crowd would at least reflect well on Umass, even if we have to yell “fuck” alot (more on that debate later)

First and foremost, the love affair with Big City is absolute bullshit to the point that it makes me angry. From what I saw, he was neither a good player nor good teammate. He was last to get off the bench on timeouts, his interactions with teammates (few and far between btw) were awkward and contrived. On the court, he is nothing short of a liability on both sides of the court. Offensively, he has no hunger for the ball, often just lazily standing in the low post, yet not posting up, especially in crunch time (the managers/coaches i was next to were berating him to please post up and want the ball). Defensively, all he has is his body. He is always a step behind and a second slow on switches. That one charge he got was not a charge at all from my perspective, as he was needlessly moving his feet to anticipate contact. And his free throws speak for themselves, although he wasn’t as terrible last night.

Freddie Riley is also a liability, albeit to a lesser extent. His terrible shot selection killed the minutemen against Fordham and did the same thing last night. He took 3 dumb 3′s during crunch time, thankfully making one. But its not whether it goes in or not that concerns me. If this is, in fact, a rebuilding year, i want the freshmen to learn fundamentals that will pay off in future years. By allowing Riley to shoot those without reproach, we are creating a player that, at best, will be a Antoine Walker clone, occasionally doing the right thing, but more often than not taking terrible shots.

Oh, and that “tie the shoe” play was not a moment of staggering genius, it was idiocy from a very raw player. Lets not commend incompetence.

Another problem with the team, that I have a better understanding of after last night, is their inability to run plays, Out of a time out, DK drew up a great double screen for Ricky, that proved effective in the game (whether it went in isn’t important (to be honest I don’t remember) but the play got the open shot). However, when they went back to the play later, and it broke down, the team had no idea what to do. The inability to reset and run a second play has killed this team this year, and I don’t know whether its a failure of coaching or players, but it is certainly an overwhelming failure.

David Gibbs, on the other hand, pleasantly surprised me last night. He was extremely savvy on defense, and proved that he can actually drive, making him an asset to this offense. If the dribble drive is about driving and kicking, then Gibbs should be our PG in a more permeant role. Both PG’s had ankle/knee problems last night, and having not seen the team so close ever, I won’t even try to guess whether this is a conditioning problem, or rather a fluke. Either way, I really like Gibbs for this team (although his tattoos leave alot to be desired)

Lastly, I hope DK learned his lesson last night and PRESSES MORE OFTEN! and I’m not talking about their pseudo press where they only throw the guards and leave the bigs back. With the exception of Big Shitty (lol, this is fun) this team was made for the full court press. a bunch of long armed, athletic swingmen? Its Pitino’s dream.

Its time to come to terms with this team. We will be in the bottom of the A-10 this season, and probably middle of the pack next year. However this team will be good in due time. Terrell Vinson might be a pro some day, and, despite their downfalls, watching Ricky Harris and Anthony Gurley all season is a treat.

Enjoy the freshmen, they are all we have to hope for.

Also, Fuck Vermont and their varieties of cheese. Lets hope for some points this weekend at the Mullins.

-Matt


21
Jan
10

Kneejerk reactions: When words fail

By bittym87 6 Comments
Categories: Basketball
Tags: , , , ,

Our somewhat-less-beloved UMass men’s basketball team lost tonight. At home. To St. Bonaventure.

…There are no words. I’ll try to sum it up for you: UMass played horrible defense against a horrible team in a slop-tacular game with horrible referees in front of a horrible crowd and came away with what must be the worst loss at home for the Minutemen in my four years of watching this team. It’s not Valentine’s Day Massacre-bad as far as repercussions, but that’s only because this team didn’t have realistic expectations of success before the game, and they certainly don’t now. The Minutemen, since the collective sploogefest of the upset win against Memphis in Boston (the thought of which, in retrospect, might be enough to get the team, coaches, and collective fanbase to want to drown themselves in barbecue sauce), have done the following:

  • Lost a winnable game against our most hated opponent, in their arena but in front of a pro-UMass crowd, despite BC’s horrid shooting;
  • Lost a winnable game at Davidson;
  • “Defeated” one of the worst teams in all of college basketball by two, on a last-second shot;
  • Lost a winnable game in Springfield to La Salle in which they held a sizable lead near halftime;
  • Lost a winnable game at Richmond in which the Spiders couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn, we had the last shot of regulation only for our best player to forget how much time was left, and in which a Spider set the conference record for blocks in a game;
  • Got smoked by a good Temple team,
  • …and now this.

This wasn’t a fall-from-ahead job like Fordham. UMass actually had to rally just to tie the game late in the second half after trailing by as many as 10 points. You read that correctly: 10 points. At home. Against St. Fucking Bonaventure. Bright spots? You want bright spots? Uhh, I guess…Ricky Harris and Anthony Gurley hit some awkward floaters. Big City hit a pair of free throws nothing but net (!). David Gibbs drove to the lane and scored, for perhaps the first time ever. The Minutemen even pulled off the “hey look, Riley is tying his shoe, everyone leave him alone and guard Ricky instead and OH WAIT JUST KIDDING OPEN 3″ trick.

But in that same game, Freddy looked mortal, airballing a 3 at one point and missing treys on the final two possessions, both of which could have won the game. UMass actually got away with a few blatant hacks and still couldn’t win. Gibbs’s one drive to the hoop was just that: a one-time thing. Big Shitty (yeah, we’re going there) couldn’t have guarded James Marcou going to the basket in the last five minutes, let alone any of the Bonnies’ mediocre forwards. TV and Sean Carter were shockingly ineffective. Blah, blah, blah.

Matt and I are quickly reaching the ends of our ropes about this team. Like I said a few weeks ago, I’ll follow the UMass hockey team wherever it goes, in Toot we trust, oh captain my captain, and so on. I love DK and what he’s trying to do with this team (and with the fans), and I’m not foolhardy enough to expect too much from what is, at this point, most definitely a rebuilding year. But the point of a rebuilding year is to make progress, and at this point, I’m not really sure that’s what we’re seeing. I want to see this team grow and come together before our eyes. Perhaps I’m spoiled by the teams of old, back when we may have been underdogs to make the NCAAs, but where we at least expected UMass to beat St. Bonaventure by 30. But rebuilding year or not, this performance is just plain unacceptable. Our rope can only go so far before we, like (sadly) so many of the other die-hards, decide to do better things with our Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons.

It’s like a decidedly less-expensive version of the Big Dig, where we’re still holding out hope that the end result will be beautiful – but maybe we should stop watching them build it, because the construction has been rather ugly.

-Max

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...a UMass sports (primarily hockey) blog created by, and written for, UMass students, alumni, and fans.

About the Author

Max Bitter (Communication/Journalism '10) created Fight Mass during his junior year. Born in Concord and raised in Leominster, he currently works and resides in Merrimack, NH. He is an avid Boston sports fan, plays guitar in his spare time, and is a fitness and nutrition enthusiast. Never try to tell him Shipyard Pumpkinhead is quality beer.

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The views and opinions of Fight Mass, while right, are not affiliated with anyone but ourselves. This includes the University of Massachusetts, the hockey team or anyone directly associated with it, any of UMass's media outlets, or your mother. If you're easily offended by cussing (read: uptight), we're all adults here, so consider yourself warned, and don't bring little Timmy or Grandma to the party. Unless she's THAT kind of Grandma after a couple gin and tonics. Eh, even still.

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