Not much good to say about this Buffalo team after this past week of play, the only thing good about this week is that its over for the Bulls. Now they get to play the "weaker" western division but with how the Bulls looked, I would probably expect them to 3-3 after what I saw today and Wednesday.
I'm not really going to discuss game specifics with numbers and such, because looking at them myself would probably make me vomit. Both games made me recognize how lucky we have been in the past. In a few of the games in the past we backed up off the ball handler and made them shoot from the outside a lot, and it worked since teams were just flat out missing. We'll that lucky streak came to an end... Kent St seemed like they drained everything, Ohio wouldn't miss when they were open, and once they start making these shots out defenders go for the ball/head fakes and get blown away while they're in the air. Terrible defense all around.
Another thing that really bothers me is Titus and Watt getting into foul trouble. Every game the both take either dumb fouls, or just get manhandled down low. Every game Titus has to go to the bench before the halfway point of the first half, so our most athletic player cant return the start of the second half. Then does the same thing early in the second half, so hes taken out with 3 fouls and has to miss a good 7 minutes then too. Watt and Alston do the same thing too, so our what seemed to be a good 4 man balance at the forward position turns into a struggle to find quality minutes, actually not even quality minutes, just minutes period. Watt, Alston, Boudreau, and Robinson all do certain things well in the post, and all have different styles, and when used properly can cause match up problems for other MAC teams. Boudreau can use his size to back down and get back to the basket buckets (if we ever decide to feed the post), Titus can use his athleticism and quickness, Watt is lefty so its different for other teams to guard, and Alston does a really good job getting offensive boards and put backs. But all of this doesn't work when at least 2 of the 4 of them are in foul trouble every single goddamn game. Our guards start chucking up shots and continue to not go down low, the opposing team can play whoever they want because they're not in foul trouble, just a tumble weed of bad terrible things.
Buffalo has gone from looking like a strong pic to be the favorite in the MAC, to just a mediocre team who really needs to work to get into the top 4 at the end of the year. At least we aren't fighting for an at large birth into the tourney (just like every year) so we can just use the next 6 weeks to prepare for Cleveland. Join me soon when I discuss how much I cant stand the set-up of end of year tourneys. Until then, enjoy being back to reality about our mediocre basketball team.
I'm not really going to discuss game specifics with numbers and such, because looking at them myself would probably make me vomit. Both games made me recognize how lucky we have been in the past. In a few of the games in the past we backed up off the ball handler and made them shoot from the outside a lot, and it worked since teams were just flat out missing. We'll that lucky streak came to an end... Kent St seemed like they drained everything, Ohio wouldn't miss when they were open, and once they start making these shots out defenders go for the ball/head fakes and get blown away while they're in the air. Terrible defense all around.
Another thing that really bothers me is Titus and Watt getting into foul trouble. Every game the both take either dumb fouls, or just get manhandled down low. Every game Titus has to go to the bench before the halfway point of the first half, so our most athletic player cant return the start of the second half. Then does the same thing early in the second half, so hes taken out with 3 fouls and has to miss a good 7 minutes then too. Watt and Alston do the same thing too, so our what seemed to be a good 4 man balance at the forward position turns into a struggle to find quality minutes, actually not even quality minutes, just minutes period. Watt, Alston, Boudreau, and Robinson all do certain things well in the post, and all have different styles, and when used properly can cause match up problems for other MAC teams. Boudreau can use his size to back down and get back to the basket buckets (if we ever decide to feed the post), Titus can use his athleticism and quickness, Watt is lefty so its different for other teams to guard, and Alston does a really good job getting offensive boards and put backs. But all of this doesn't work when at least 2 of the 4 of them are in foul trouble every single goddamn game. Our guards start chucking up shots and continue to not go down low, the opposing team can play whoever they want because they're not in foul trouble, just a tumble weed of bad terrible things.
Buffalo has gone from looking like a strong pic to be the favorite in the MAC, to just a mediocre team who really needs to work to get into the top 4 at the end of the year. At least we aren't fighting for an at large birth into the tourney (just like every year) so we can just use the next 6 weeks to prepare for Cleveland. Join me soon when I discuss how much I cant stand the set-up of end of year tourneys. Until then, enjoy being back to reality about our mediocre basketball team.