Game 25: University of Massachusetts, Wednesday, February 13th, 7 PM, ESPN+

[Steve33]

That crowd was embarrassingly pathetic last night, absolutely refused to stand up during crucial possessions at the end of regulation and late in overtime. As bad as our crowds usually are, that was the worst I've ever seen at such crucial moments so late in a game.

Agreed 100% I dont know what it will take to get at least the student section to stand the entire game and bring the enthusiasm throughout an entire game. Id love to see our student section act like a big power 5's student section but thats just not possible at this point.
Also, am i the only one that gets pissed when i see the stands empty out 30 seconds before halftime so people can rush to the Green & Gold rooms. then dont came back till 2,3,4 minutes into the second half? This irritates me beyond belief.

 

[PoorManProfit]

The league blows and there aren't any teams to get excited about. I don't even blame the "fans" anymore to be honest.

 

[Five Two]

We continue to play at the level of our opponent and thats a dangerous way to play. But like others said, an ugly win is better than a pretty loss.

Wood from UMass plays with an attitude; I like him. DP was trying to get Otis to back up into the paint because "he can't shoot". Wood then hits 3 outside shots in a row.

Miller's D is still a work in progress, but it looks like he understands spacing as he is always open for an easy layup. and his long arms make it easy for him to finish plays near the basket.

Not sure what is happening with Boyd.

We missed a ton of FT's early, but we won that game at the line in the 2nd half. we shot 20 more FTs than UMass. And I agree with whomever mentioned this about the Green Machine member- stop yelling at Otis when he is about to shoot a FT.

Interesting strategy by DP to give two fouls late in the game in order to go to a hack-a-shaq on Halloway. There was one time Halloway did get the ball and DP was screaming at Reuter for not fouling him. DP had told the ref they were going to foul if Halloway had possession.

 

[dr. gunnie]

I like the Halloway strategy because it forced UMass to take him out which was good - that was the best I’ve seen him play against us on both ends. I always like when we can dictate what the other team does and not the other way around.

At this point I don’t care how we get the wins or what they look like, we just need wins. A year from now, nobody will remember the stat lines. They will remember our tournament seed. Just win!

The Duquesne loss was big. I would guess that if we went 3-3 in the last 6 including a win over Duquesne, we would get a top 4. If we lose vs Duquesne, we probably need to go 4-2. Just my guess.

 

[Falco]

Agreed 100% I dont know what it will take to get at least the student section to stand the entire game and bring the enthusiasm throughout an entire game. Id love to see our student section act like a big power 5's student section but thats just not possible at this point.
Also, am i the only one that gets pissed when i see the stands empty out 30 seconds before halftime so people can rush to the Green & Gold rooms. then dont came back till 2,3,4 minutes into the second half? This irritates me beyond belief.

The team hasn’t been relevant for nearly 10 years now. The casual fan doesn’t understand the importance of a top 4 finish. Can’t really blame them for not getting excited.

 

[mkaufman1]

The crowd looked bleak on tv too, but I can’t help but think playing teams like Umass or Lasalle aren’t going to excite people. All we can do is continue to cheer and tell people to stand up instead of sleeping.

That said the next three home games (Richmond vcu and Duquesne homecoming), should have more energetic crowds. If nothing more two regional rivalry games plus Homecoming.

 

[mason89]

And I agree with whomever mentioned this about the Green Machine member- stop yelling at Otis when he is about to shoot a FT.

...and at the beginning of the game when we have the ball at the band-end of the court. What's up with the loud chanting when we have the ball? When was the last time we scored on the first possession of a home game? I love the band's enthusiasm, but they need to understand the game a bit better.

 

[Jack Strop]

I’m kinda getting the feeling that Boyd is tired of being a 6th man and it’s showing in his effort. He’s thrown some really lazy passes these past few games.

Both of Boyd's legs were wrapped up with a noticeable bulge around his right knee. Nagging injuries are common at this point of the season.

 

[Jack Strop]

The league blows and there aren't any teams to get excited about. I don't even blame the "fans" anymore to be honest.

Why don't you move to Kansas, then? Please!?!?!

 

[99 Patriot]

I'm not going to hate on the band. They were the only cheering energy most of the night. If they sometimes make noise when they shouldn't, oh well, at least someone is.

I think we're probably also at the point where Javon needs his own appreciation thread. Plenty on these boards wanted to label him a bust last year because his shot wasn't falling, but kid is a player. Great defender, incredible rebounder for a guard and has found his niche on the offensive end. Mix in the attitude he plays with and I can see him being the leader of this team in two years.

 

[GMU1983]

Agreed 100% I dont know what it will take to get at least the student section to stand the entire game and bring the enthusiasm throughout an entire game. Id love to see our student section act like a big power 5's student section but thats just not possible at this point.
Also, am i the only one that gets pissed when i see the stands empty out 30 seconds before halftime so people can rush to the Green & Gold rooms. then dont came back till 2,3,4 minutes into the second half? This irritates me beyond belief.

Yes but know one is taking control not the cheerleaders or the green machine someone needs to take charge. Hell even do a YELL leader like Texas A&M. We have been bad for so long the students are apathetic...

 

[EXpatriot13]

Agreed 100% I dont know what it will take to get at least the student section to stand the entire game and bring the enthusiasm throughout an entire game. Id love to see our student section act like a big power 5's student section but thats just not possible at this point.

My last year in 2013 the students stood for the entirety of the game, outside of timeouts/halftime. The years of losing that followed has definitely hurt, hopefully we can be consistently relevant for the fans to feel/want to be more engaged. But, even going back to when the student section was decent there was never cohesion between everyone. We'd try to jump up and down & yell during opening tip and crucial moments, but only small groups within the student section would partake. Others would look at you and have no idea what you're doing. Probably the product of a good chunk of students just not knowing/understanding what a good student section at a CBB game should be.

A crazy, dedicated student section can go a long way to masking the complacency of the rest of the arena. Hopefully we get there someday.

 

[Five Two]

...and at the beginning of the game when we have the ball at the band-end of the court. What's up with the loud chanting when we have the ball? When was the last time we scored on the first possession of a home game? I love the band's enthusiasm, but they need to understand the game a bit better.

I thought the band was going to continue to chant until we scored. Do Syracuse fans still stand until they score?

 

[GreenLantern]

Both of Boyd's legs were wrapped up with a noticeable bulge around his right knee. Nagging injuries are common at this point of the season.

I thought they were his balls. I've heard they are quite massive.

 

[Washingtonian]

From the UMass boards:

Funny/irritating moment early first half. Ball goes out of bounds off UMass. McCall tries to get Baptiste into the game. Baptiste hustles to the scorer's table, points at the scorer, scorer points at Baptiste (no horn sounds) and (I assume) Baptiste took that as a signal to go in. Unfortunately, the refs did not see eye-to-eye with our 6-on-5 defensive scheme, and we were assessed a technical as the Mason guy was dribbling the ball up court. They make one of two technical free throws and my first thought was this game better not go to overtime.

 

[GreenLantern]

From the UMass boards:

Funny/irritating moment early first half. Ball goes out of bounds off UMass. McCall tries to get Baptiste into the game. Baptiste hustles to the scorer's table, points at the scorer, scorer points at Baptiste (no horn sounds) and (I assume) Baptiste took that as a signal to go in. Unfortunately, the refs did not see eye-to-eye with our 6-on-5 defensive scheme, and we were assessed a technical as the Mason guy was dribbling the ball up court. They make one of two technical free throws and my first thought was this game better not go to overtime.

His frustration is my gain!

 

[GMU_DCU]

So does Mar earn his starting spot back next year? Hard to deny that Miller has given us more production from that spot than we got from Mar when he was healthy this year.

 

[mason89]

So does Mar earn his starting spot back next year? Hard to deny that Miller has given us more production from that spot than we got from Mar when he was healthy this year.

We start using a UMASS 6-player line up...

 

[GMUSig03]

Also, am i the only one that gets pissed when i see the stands empty out 30 seconds before halftime so people can rush to the Green & Gold rooms. then dont came back till 2,3,4 minutes into the second half? This irritates me beyond belief.

Hey, maybe some of them have to change their kids diapers... (but usually I'm just getting beer)

 

[GMUgemini]

So does Mar earn his starting spot back next year? Hard to deny that Miller has given us more production from that spot than we got from Mar when he was healthy this year.

That depends? Does Grayer come back? If yes, it’ll be a battle between miller and mar. If no, I’d like to see mar start at the 3 and either Mar or AJ start at the 4.

Either way I don’t think it’s a foregone conclusion that he starts in day one.