Has Jim Whitesell had his shot?

Over the past 6-7 years we have become accustomed to be either out right better than everyone else in the conference, or at the very least one of the top two to three teams in the MAC.

This persisted through two coaches, attrition, and even a few unfortunate talent departures.

Last season was Jim Whitesell’s first, it was also the first time in many eyars where the Bulls did not make it to Cleveland for the MAC tournament.

Now, I liked the hire at the time. The players liked him and I’m a big fan of continuity when there is an appropriate candidate on staff. I was also more than willing to give him a mulligan on 2020 because in addition to losing a coach UB lost a ton of talent.

Further to that I’m not expecting a miracle this year. I was not expecting to be ranked or even to be at the top of the conference. But so far this is a very meh season despite the fact Buffalo clearly has the talent to be winning a lot of games they end up losing.

Of particular concern is the number of times a late lead has been squandered. This team, while as talented as anyone in the conference, is not good enough to go to sleep for the last five minutes of a game.

That it’s happening pretty consistently points at coaching. I don’t know if it’s a schematic gap in dealing with late game presses or if it’s a lack of mental conditioning.

Now I could be wrong, a lot of people had questions about Bobby Hurley after season one, and that worked out pretty well. But right now, and based on his experience in the Horizon League, I am beginning to wonder how much longer you give Whitesell?

What do you think, am I out of line here?