UMass Lowell

[MACHETE]

My sentiments are the same. It’s hard to even watch. And during his press conference he seems like everything is great and he’s completely lost. Really discouraging to see this was our hire after so many bad years of basketball. I didn’t understand the hire and still don’t. Hope he proves otherwise.

Have to agree with you here. He just seems "off" as a coach. Way too lackadaisical.

 

[57jacket]

Ha Ha . The whinners are out after 3 games.

 

[Jacket4Life]

Ha Ha . The whinners are out after 3 games.

Honestly not whining but if we are going to play street ball then the man best be able to recruit like I said. I hope he can or his time will be short here.

 

[stinger78]

Honestly not whining but if we are going to play street ball then the man best be able to recruit like I said. I hope he can or his time will be short here.

There's no whining going on. Alumni, fans, supporters are simply making observations about losing a game we should have won. We understand it's his first season. He's got grace.

 

[Root4GT]

Because basketball isn't a sequence to extrapolate out. What Pastner did in 2018 has no impact on what he was returning in 2023. We were returning a back court in an extremely good condition. A 5th year PG (Sturdivant) who finished last year strong (12.5 points and a near 3 to 1` A/T ratio) a 5th year wing (Terry) who averaged double digits last year and shot 39% from 3, a junior wing (Kelly) who averaged 14.4 and shot 38% from 3, another junior wing (Coleman) who averaged 9.5 and struggled a bit shooting last year but shot over 40% as a freshman on 100+ attempts. We were also scheduled to return a junior PG who averaged 8 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.7 assists (to 1.3 TOs).

We also had a 4star shooting guard signed in Blue Cain. Not committed. Signed So you're wrong about no recruits of note coming in.

That back court situation alone warranted belief that we should be competitive in conference and compete for an NCAAT spot. You aren't going to have that level of experience and proveness in today's game that often.

As far as the inside goes it was where we had, and still have a weakness. But the claim we had no D1 players is either an extreme exaggeration or shows you don't understand what D1 actually is. Regardless Howard was an okay piece although a weakness teams could target, but Moore had tremendous potential and rebounded at a good rate. It would be reasonable to assume he would improve into a quality piece as a junior the same way we saw several players under Pastner do just that. It's also reasonable that Pastner would find a serviceable big in the portal. You say his portal success was meh, but Banks, Usher, Parham, Sturdivant, Terry, and Franklin were all good pieces for us. Not world beaters but good. The back court we had scheduled to return, with Moore taking a step forward and one good inside transfer piece should have been enough to contend for the dance. Now would we have? No way of knowing, but the expectation would have been NCAAT regardless.



I've already said one game isn't the end of the world the same as when we had some early season losses under Pastner, and I pointed to the injuries as possible issues just like when we had Jose injured and Ush sitting out.

But just like I called out Pastner for his over reliance on tiny ball line ups and neglecting getting his bigs the game experience they need, I'm going to do the same for Staudamire when he's having players come off the bench who are clearly outplaying starters and we're lamenting slow starts.

I'm also not going to pretend the year 1s are the same or even similar situations. Pastner inherited a team that lost it's top 5 players. Staudamire inherited a team returning 4 of it's top 5 players and is working with the portal system that allows for easier quick fixes. I'm not expecting a miracle, but there is enough there for Staudamire to work with to be respectable. And we very well could end up being that.

And even if Staudamire fails this year, it isn't guaranteed that he will always do so. It's possible he's a tremendous recruiter who will be able to recruit his way to success or he could learn how to deal with new pieces better since he likely didn't have to deal with that too much at pacific. He'll have his opportunity regardless.

But questioning the decision to start Abram and Gapare is a very reasonable criticism even three games in.

That you think pastner would get this team to an NCAAT says a lot. He had the conference player of the year and the conference defensive player of the year on his best team and got in as a 9 seed by winning the ACCT. That seeding should tell you how close that team was to being a bubble team. No other team of his sniffed the NCAAT in 7 years.

If you consider Howard any more than a practice player you are mistaken. He got virtually zero minutes in the games GT won over the dregs of the ACC down the stretch last year.

CDS is trying to determine who can play together and what combinations work. If Gaparee and Abrams don't work well as starters I don't expect him to stick with that as his starting lineup until February as Pastner did with his lineups.

This team was projected to be a bottom 1/3rd team in the ACC for a reason. As an aside thru 3 games Blue Cain is playing 20 minutes a game, shooting 32% overall, 25% on 3s and 0-2 on FTs.

Good grief. We fired Pastner because he didn't win and he didn't win because his roster was a bottom tier ACC roster except when two projects turned into All Time great GT players their senior year.

The returning GT roster for 2023-24 had Pastner stayed was still a bottom tier ACC roster.

CDS will prove or disprove himself over the next several years.

 

[sgreer]

I agree, watching his press conferences doesn’t inspire me at all.

Not nearly as entertaining as Pastners LOL

 

[kg01]

Ha Ha . The whinners are out after 3 games.

But we're they ever in?

 

[GTNavyNuke]

We played poorly, but it is way too early to give up on the season. CDS needs some time to develop this team.

Agree entirely. I'm not happy with losing in a game we should have won. But there is a lot of development which can /should happen. 3 games is nothing.

But I come from a baseball perspective where I gave Hall a decade to produce with the talent he has recruited and hasn't. So I'm fine with chilling for at least two years to see what happens in basketball.

 

[lv20gt]

That you think pastner would get this team to an NCAAT says a lot.

Only that you lack reading comprehension. I said the expectation would be making the NCAAT. Whether he would or not would depend on how he utilized the portal, developed the players, and got the most out of them. Same as the current staff.

And you keep bringing up years that have nothing to do with the current situation. How does the 2018 team not making the NCAAT have anything to do with the current roster and whether it could make the NCAAT? It doesn't.

 

[CEB]

Untrue.

Fair… but the NBA plays a totally different defense. College Ds have options / advantages that NBA teams don’t, by rule.
I am all for showcasing an “NBA ready” philosophy for our players / recruits, but if we are playing NBA D or building an offense to attack NBA D, we are putting ourselves at a disadvantage that I don’t believe we can recruit ourselves out of.
I haven’t seen enough to know, and to be fair, it’s game 3, so nobody really has.
I’m hoping a philosophy and approach comes into focus soon. CDS clearly isn’t satisfied so I won’t pass judgement on the work in progress.

 

[forensicbuzz]

Honestly not whining but if we are going to play street ball then the man best be able to recruit like I said. I hope he can or his time will be short here.

It looks like street ball because it's sloppy right now. I have a feeling it won't look sloppy forever (or there'll be new people playing), and will resemble a better basketball team. 3 games, considering how much change we went through, is a real small window. Let's see how this plays out. It doesn't surprise me that we play the best when the 3 guys who have been playing together for almost 3 seasons are in together.

 

[awbuzz]

Super laid back. Wonder if team is playing off his energy.

Thought the same listening to it.

 

[awbuzz]

Not crazy about the statement, "I know what I signed up for and I'm still committed." That sounds ominous to me. A few explanatory words might be helpful. Is it roster imbalance? Talent level? Patchwork transfer lineup? Bad fundamentals? Poor S&C? All of the above? If so, what is the plan to address it?

+1 to all the above.

I went back and listened again to make sure that I heard what I thought I heard...

 

[awbuzz]

Defense, Defense, Defense, rebound, rebound, rebound. 80 pts is enough.

Should be!

 

[MidtownJacket]

I will say I feel spoiled from watching the morphing zone we played with under the previous regime. I know it was an assistant’s scheme that Josh picked up and ran with, but man did I love watching us flow in and out of it.

I thought it was telling when CDS said basically he asked the guys if they needed to go to zone and they took it as a ding and said they’d stick with man.

We don’t seem to be - through three games - showing up as great on ball defenders. I’m not sure I love sticking with all man, all the time myself but I’ve never been paid to offer thoughts let alone coach a team.

I’ll wait and hope we improve because I’m really ready for big time basketball to return to the flats.

 

[Root4GT]

Only that you lack reading comprehension. I said the expectation would be making the NCAAT. Whether he would or not would depend on how he utilized the portal, developed the players, and got the most out of them. Same as the current staff.

And you keep bringing up years that have nothing to do with the current situation. How does the 2018 team not making the NCAAT have anything to do with the current roster and whether it could make the NCAAT? It doesn't.

There would be zero expectations to make the NCAAT if Pastner came back. We ouuld have been picked 10th ir below in the ACC.

Good lord you are the one mentioning 2018. I said the last two years we were terrible which was reflective of his tenure less the one ACC Championship year.

Believe what you want. I will sell you some fairy dust cheap.

Lol - GT expected to make the NCAAT. LOL

 

[kg01]

Fair… but the NBA plays a totally different defense. College Ds have options / advantages that NBA teams don’t, by rule.
I am all for showcasing an “NBA ready” philosophy for our players / recruits, but if we are playing NBA D or building an offense to attack NBA D, we are putting ourselves at a disadvantage that I don’t believe we can recruit ourselves out of.
I haven’t seen enough to know, and to be fair, it’s game 3, so nobody really has.
I’m hoping a philosophy and approach comes into focus soon. CDS clearly isn’t satisfied so I won’t pass judgement on the work in progress.

But why would any college coach do this?

 

[Tundeballer]

Feels like a lot of people who didn’t like the Stoudamire hire are turning on him quickly. It’s three games into a season. Still have a few things to figure out with rotations, but still expect this team to be at worst an NIT team this year. Miles will figure out the free throw issues, and the rotation will tighten up by the time we get into conference play if guys aren’t performing.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Who's Lowell? Wasn't he one of the guys in Paper Chase? Not sure.

I remember Lowell from Wings. Had no idea he had a plan to beat our team.

 

[Techwood Relict]

Outside of Deebo, the team was 1/21 from three point.

Just brutal