11/15 | Stony Brook | 7:00PM (YurView/ESPN+)

[Jersey77]

Not sure why you're attacking my point so hard.

We clearly would be vastly better with a healthy ready to go Bray, Carey, Ant Harris, Bilau and Brandon Weston.

I mean we just lost two very close games and won a game by double digits with literally half of the players we thought we'd have producing.

All teams are dealing with injury issues? No they aren't and I question there are very many teams dealing with worse.

Do tell me when was the last time we opened the season with three guys injured (Bilau, Carey, Weston) Then Bray is all in his head and can't play and then Ant Harris isn't eligible.

Maybe the 04-05 year is the last time we had this many injury problems. Like one year ever pretty much.

I'm not here saying we go to the tournament with everybody, but we've been competitive with a skeleton of a team.

Everyone is available except Bilau and he will return sometime in December.
I wouldn't put him in the same category as other teams losing a significant impact player for an indefinite period.
He was not going to give us 20+ wins or top tier A10.

Yes, we would have more depth upfront and we may be slightly better, but that's about it.

There are probably very few teams out there, that don't have some players banged up.

Archie is certainly not making any excuses for our losses or poor play, and neither should we.

OMG

Why won't you let me speculate how much better we would be if we had everyone including Harris???

I just don't think you are grasping what I'm trying to say at all dude.

I'm simply trying to be positive about Archie Miller's coaching. He has made a severely depleted and banged up team look competent! So I'm just trying to say we are further ahead than it looks like because, if we had everyone available and healthy the first three games, INCLUDING HARRIS IF HE WAS ELIGIBLE, like Archie had planned....we would easily be 3-0 and the rebuild would not look as daunting.

Besides that

No. Hardly any teams have had as many injuries as we have. Sorry you're wrong. Like why even sat "we have everyone but Bilau available"??? Yeah NOW he's the only one not available. For the first three games that was not the case. Weston hurt no? Carey banged up no? Bray mentally not there which is basically an injury no?

So uh no we haven't had all our eligible players ready to go at all.

I'm talking about the first three games man.

Bray just played poorly and got down on himself.
Carey only missed the game we won.
Weston was available every game.

Why would you think our situation is any worse than VCU without Ace or Dayton without Smith.
Both those teams are actually competing for an NCAAT bid.

Actually, my biggest argument is that you said it cost us 3 straight 20+ seasons.
I think that was a pipe dream.

[reef]

I thought the refs were awful all game long in that Texas St game and obviously the offensive goal tending was the worst

I agree with those that this year is more about the process of improving rather than the wins and losses

Let’s all enjoy the ride it will be a fun one

[PeterRamTime]

Everyone is available except Bilau and he will return sometime in December.
I wouldn't put him in the same category as other teams losing a significant impact player for an indefinite period.
He was not going to give us 20+ wins or top tier A10.

Yes, we would have more depth upfront and we may be slightly better, but that's about it.

There are probably very few teams out there, that don't have some players banged up.

Archie is certainly not making any excuses for our losses or poor play, and neither should we.

OMG

Why won't you let me speculate how much better we would be if we had everyone including Harris???

I just don't think you are grasping what I'm trying to say at all dude.

I'm simply trying to be positive about Archie Miller's coaching. He has made a severely depleted and banged up team look competent! So I'm just trying to say we are further ahead than it looks like because, if we had everyone available and healthy the first three games, INCLUDING HARRIS IF HE WAS ELIGIBLE, like Archie had planned....we would easily be 3-0 and the rebuild would not look as daunting.

Besides that

No. Hardly any teams have had as many injuries as we have. Sorry you're wrong. Like why even sat "we have everyone but Bilau available"??? Yeah NOW he's the only one not available. For the first three games that was not the case. Weston hurt no? Carey banged up no? Bray mentally not there which is basically an injury no?

So uh no we haven't had all our eligible players ready to go at all.

I'm talking about the first three games man.

Bray just played poorly and got down on himself.
Carey only missed the game we won.
Weston was available every game.

Why would you think our situation is any worse than VCU without Ace or Dayton without Smith.
Both those teams are actually competing for an NCAAT bid.

Actually, my biggest argument is that you said it cost us 3 straight 20+ seasons.
I think that was a pipe dream.

In the summer we thought we'd have Ant, Carey, Bray, Bilau and Weston all ready to go.

Ant not eligible
Carey banged up for two games, out for one.
Weston barely played the opener hurt. Was still banged up in the third.
Bilau out
Bray MIA


If Bray just continues to have these issues then he doesn't count. But until then I'm betting we have an all A-10 caliber player.

VCU and Dayton in the summer thought they'd have Ace, Smith and everyone else.

I'll say it's a safe bet our situation is worse.

You also have to think about how much better we gel with everyone available.

So yeah, to me we would have 100% blown out Stony Brook with a full healthy roster. Not impossible to beat Quinnipiac and Texas State by 20.

[Jersey77]

OMG

Why won't you let me speculate how much better we would be if we had everyone including Harris???

I just don't think you are grasping what I'm trying to say at all dude.

I'm simply trying to be positive about Archie Miller's coaching. He has made a severely depleted and banged up team look competent! So I'm just trying to say we are further ahead than it looks like because, if we had everyone available and healthy the first three games, INCLUDING HARRIS IF HE WAS ELIGIBLE, like Archie had planned....we would easily be 3-0 and the rebuild would not look as daunting.

Besides that

No. Hardly any teams have had as many injuries as we have. Sorry you're wrong. Like why even sat "we have everyone but Bilau available"??? Yeah NOW he's the only one not available. For the first three games that was not the case. Weston hurt no? Carey banged up no? Bray mentally not there which is basically an injury no?

So uh no we haven't had all our eligible players ready to go at all.

I'm talking about the first three games man.

Bray just played poorly and got down on himself.
Carey only missed the game we won.
Weston was available every game.

Why would you think our situation is any worse than VCU without Ace or Dayton without Smith.
Both those teams are actually competing for an NCAAT bid.

Actually, my biggest argument is that you said it cost us 3 straight 20+ seasons.
I think that was a pipe dream.

In the summer we thought we'd have Ant, Carey, Bray, Bilau and Weston all ready to go.

Ant not eligible
Carey banged up for two games, out for one.
Weston barely played the opener hurt. Was still banged up in the third.
Bilau out
Bray MIA


If Bray just continues to have these issues then he doesn't count. But until then I'm betting we have an all A-10 caliber player.

VCU and Dayton in the summer thought they'd have Ace, Smith and everyone else.

I'll say it's a safe bet our situation is worse.

You also have to think about how much better we gel with everyone available.

So yeah, to me we would have 100% blown out Stony Brook with a full healthy roster. Not impossible to beat Quinnipiac and Texas State by 20.

PRT it is very difficult to go down that road especially with a new roster like ours.

Remember Texas State was also without their 2nd best player and top big Ceaser, who is a proven player.

Also, Quinnipiac lost highly anticipated Notre Dame transfer big Taylor for the season in Oct with a torn ACL.

Again, I always hate to go down the path of "what ifs".

[NYGFan_Section208]

Not sure why you're attacking my point so hard.

We clearly would be vastly better with a healthy ready to go Bray, Carey, Ant Harris, Bilau and Brandon Weston.

I mean we just lost two very close games and won a game by double digits with literally half of the players we thought we'd have producing.

All teams are dealing with injury issues? No they aren't and I question there are very many teams dealing with worse.

Do tell me when was the last time we opened the season with three guys injured (Bilau, Carey, Weston) Then Bray is all in his head and can't play and then Ant Harris isn't eligible.

Maybe the 04-05 year is the last time we had this many injury problems. Like one year ever pretty much.

I'm not here saying we go to the tournament with everybody, but we've been competitive with a skeleton of a team.

Everyone is available except Bilau and he will return sometime in December.
I wouldn't put him in the same category as other teams losing a significant impact player for an indefinite period.
He was not going to give us 20+ wins or top tier A10.

Yes, we would have more depth upfront and we may be slightly better, but that's about it.

There are probably very few teams out there, that don't have some players banged up.

Archie is certainly not making any excuses for our losses or poor play, and neither should we.

OMG

Why won't you let me speculate how much better we would be if we had everyone including Harris???

I just don't think you are grasping what I'm trying to say at all dude.

I'm simply trying to be positive about Archie Miller's coaching. He has made a severely depleted and banged up team look competent! So I'm just trying to say we are further ahead than it looks like because, if we had everyone available and healthy the first three games, INCLUDING HARRIS IF HE WAS ELIGIBLE, like Archie had planned....we would easily be 3-0 and the rebuild would not look as daunting.

Besides that

No. Hardly any teams have had as many injuries as we have. Sorry you're wrong. Like why even say "we have everyone but Bilau available"??? Yeah NOW he's the only one not available. For the first three games that was not the case. Weston hurt no? Carey banged up no? Bray mentally not there which is basically an injury no?

So uh no we haven't had all our eligible players ready to go at all.

I'm talking about the first three games man.

Clearly you must not be following PSP (proper speculation protocol)...and that has to be nipped in the bud

[adam914]

I'm just looking forward to the days (and they are coming!) where we don't need to have the "if we just had these guys" discussion every year. Seems like thats been the story for like 5 years now, and even in the early Hurley years.

[Jersey77]

I'm just looking forward to the days (and they are coming!) where we don't need to have the "if we just had these guys" discussion every year. Seems like thats been the story for like 5 years now, and even in the early Hurley years.

Probably won't stop.
I just hate that conversation and I am sure our competition probably says the same thing.

It was a shock though when EC went down with a torn ACL in 2015.

[Billyboy78]

I'm just looking forward to the days (and they are coming!) where we don't need to have the "if we just had these guys" discussion every year. Seems like thats been the story for like 5 years now, and even in the early Hurley years.

Probably won't stop.
I just hate that conversation and I am sure our competition probably says the same thing.

It was a shock though when EC went down with a torn ACL in 2015.

As bad as that was, I think Hass being hurt against Oregon was worse.

[RamStock]

OMG

Why won't you let me speculate how much better we would be if we had everyone including Harris???

I just don't think you are grasping what I'm trying to say at all dude.

I'm simply trying to be positive about Archie Miller's coaching. He has made a severely depleted and banged up team look competent! So I'm just trying to say we are further ahead than it looks like because, if we had everyone available and healthy the first three games, INCLUDING HARRIS IF HE WAS ELIGIBLE, like Archie had planned....we would easily be 3-0 and the rebuild would not look as daunting.

Besides that

No. Hardly any teams have had as many injuries as we have. Sorry you're wrong. Like why even sat "we have everyone but Bilau available"??? Yeah NOW he's the only one not available. For the first three games that was not the case. Weston hurt no? Carey banged up no? Bray mentally not there which is basically an injury no?

So uh no we haven't had all our eligible players ready to go at all.

I'm talking about the first three games man.

Bray just played poorly and got down on himself.
Carey only missed the game we won.
Weston was available every game.

Why would you think our situation is any worse than VCU without Ace or Dayton without Smith.
Both those teams are actually competing for an NCAAT bid.

Actually, my biggest argument is that you said it cost us 3 straight 20+ seasons.
I think that was a pipe dream.

In the summer we thought we'd have Ant, Carey, Bray, Bilau and Weston all ready to go.

Ant not eligible
Carey banged up for two games, out for one.
Weston barely played the opener hurt. Was still banged up in the third.
Bilau out
Bray MIA


If Bray just continues to have these issues then he doesn't count. But until then I'm betting we have an all A-10 caliber player.

VCU and Dayton in the summer thought they'd have Ace, Smith and everyone else.

I'll say it's a safe bet our situation is worse.

You also have to think about how much better we gel with everyone available.

So yeah, to me we would have 100% blown out Stony Brook with a full healthy roster. Not impossible to beat Quinnipiac and Texas State by 20.

I think you are going a little overboard. Eventually Archie Miller will make this a winning program again, but it most likely isn’t going to be this year. You keep bringing up Bilau. The guy averaged a couple points rebound a game at junior college. Carey is an average player. Hopefully Bray and Weston get better as they are the two big pieces for the future. I get the feeling we will never see Ant Harris. We didn’t beat those teams by 20 points and lost two games where we have supposedly much talent. It is nice that you are seeing the positives and as this team will get to be good over the next couple of years, but many of the guys who are here now probably won’t be the reason. Hutchinson looks very good, Abdou has potential and we need Bray and Weston to improve along with many new faces that can hopefully shoot. A guy like Thomas Sebastian is more of a complementary player on a good team and not someone playing this many minutes. I just don’t think Carey and Bilau are difference makers. We will see

[steveystuds06]

OMG

Why won't you let me speculate how much better we would be if we had everyone including Harris???

I just don't think you are grasping what I'm trying to say at all dude.

I'm simply trying to be positive about Archie Miller's coaching. He has made a severely depleted and banged up team look competent! So I'm just trying to say we are further ahead than it looks like because, if we had everyone available and healthy the first three games, INCLUDING HARRIS IF HE WAS ELIGIBLE, like Archie had planned....we would easily be 3-0 and the rebuild would not look as daunting.

Besides that

No. Hardly any teams have had as many injuries as we have. Sorry you're wrong. Like why even sat "we have everyone but Bilau available"??? Yeah NOW he's the only one not available. For the first three games that was not the case. Weston hurt no? Carey banged up no? Bray mentally not there which is basically an injury no?

So uh no we haven't had all our eligible players ready to go at all.

I'm talking about the first three games man.

Bray just played poorly and got down on himself.
Carey only missed the game we won.
Weston was available every game.

Why would you think our situation is any worse than VCU without Ace or Dayton without Smith.
Both those teams are actually competing for an NCAAT bid.

Actually, my biggest argument is that you said it cost us 3 straight 20+ seasons.
I think that was a pipe dream.

In the summer we thought we'd have Ant, Carey, Bray, Bilau and Weston all ready to go.

Ant not eligible
Carey banged up for two games, out for one.
Weston barely played the opener hurt. Was still banged up in the third.
Bilau out
Bray MIA


If Bray just continues to have these issues then he doesn't count. But until then I'm betting we have an all A-10 caliber player.

VCU and Dayton in the summer thought they'd have Ace, Smith and everyone else.

I'll say it's a safe bet our situation is worse.

You also have to think about how much better we gel with everyone available.

So yeah, to me we would have 100% blown out Stony Brook with a full healthy roster. Not impossible to beat Quinnipiac and Texas State by 20.

I think the biggest hurdle so far is Bray. I know part of that is on our coaching staff, but no one could have imagined that he would play like this. We have a few people on here that seem to really like Umass... Imagine if Noah Fernandes forgot how to play basketball and was a huge liability. You could say that about most teams. If your best player disappears, it's going to be tough to win many games. Especially in a rebuild...

I hope Bray goes off against Kansas St, and we get a surprise win. We need him.

[hrstrat57]

PRT I’m diggin’ your take!

Don’t let any gloomy gus get you down.

Go Rhody!

[Jersey77]

Bray just played poorly and got down on himself.
Carey only missed the game we won.
Weston was available every game.

Why would you think our situation is any worse than VCU without Ace or Dayton without Smith.
Both those teams are actually competing for an NCAAT bid.

Actually, my biggest argument is that you said it cost us 3 straight 20+ seasons.
I think that was a pipe dream.

In the summer we thought we'd have Ant, Carey, Bray, Bilau and Weston all ready to go.

Ant not eligible
Carey banged up for two games, out for one.
Weston barely played the opener hurt. Was still banged up in the third.
Bilau out
Bray MIA


If Bray just continues to have these issues then he doesn't count. But until then I'm betting we have an all A-10 caliber player.

VCU and Dayton in the summer thought they'd have Ace, Smith and everyone else.

I'll say it's a safe bet our situation is worse.

You also have to think about how much better we gel with everyone available.

So yeah, to me we would have 100% blown out Stony Brook with a full healthy roster. Not impossible to beat Quinnipiac and Texas State by 20.

I think the biggest hurdle so far is Bray. I know part of that is on our coaching staff, but no one could have imagined that he would play like this. We have a few people on here that seem to really like Umass... Imagine if Noah Fernandes forgot how to play basketball and was a huge liability. You could say that about most teams. If your best player disappears, it's going to be tough to win many games. Especially in a rebuild...

I hope Bray goes off against Kansas St, and we get a surprise win. We need him.

Yes Stevey, hopefully Bray comes around and plays the way we expected him to.

[Jdrums#3]

It would be nice to see a solid all around game from Bray against K State - especially since I picked him as my leading scorer for the contest.

I will add that when I was formulating my total record for the contest, I had us at 3-0 at this point with Bray, Weston and Carey key pieces in that start. Oh well, things don’t always go as expected. Adapt and overcome.

PRT, speculate away. I enjoy the thought exercise whether I agree fully, in part or not at all. Just a thought from the cheap seats.

[PeterRamTime]

Bray just played poorly and got down on himself.
Carey only missed the game we won.
Weston was available every game.

Why would you think our situation is any worse than VCU without Ace or Dayton without Smith.
Both those teams are actually competing for an NCAAT bid.

Actually, my biggest argument is that you said it cost us 3 straight 20+ seasons.
I think that was a pipe dream.

In the summer we thought we'd have Ant, Carey, Bray, Bilau and Weston all ready to go.

Ant not eligible
Carey banged up for two games, out for one.
Weston barely played the opener hurt. Was still banged up in the third.
Bilau out
Bray MIA


If Bray just continues to have these issues then he doesn't count. But until then I'm betting we have an all A-10 caliber player.

VCU and Dayton in the summer thought they'd have Ace, Smith and everyone else.

I'll say it's a safe bet our situation is worse.

You also have to think about how much better we gel with everyone available.

So yeah, to me we would have 100% blown out Stony Brook with a full healthy roster. Not impossible to beat Quinnipiac and Texas State by 20.

I think the biggest hurdle so far is Bray. I know part of that is on our coaching staff, but no one could have imagined that he would play like this. We have a few people on here that seem to really like Umass... Imagine if Noah Fernandes forgot how to play basketball and was a huge liability. You could say that about most teams. If your best player disappears, it's going to be tough to win many games. Especially in a rebuild...

I hope Bray goes off against Kansas St, and we get a surprise win. We need him.

Yeah I can't really hold that on the staff. That's just such a weird situation.

[reef]

I think we are all shocked by the Bray situation including the coaches , let’s hope he comes around soon

[rhodylaw]

I think we are all shocked by the Bray situation including the coaches , let’s hope he comes around soon

I am not totally shocked by Bray having some adjustment issues. I think learning to play with some structure is going to take some time. To me the bigger surprise has been Carey. Hopefully he gets better and can play to the level I think he can. I was really looking to Carey and Martin to hold it down early while other younger guys get going. Martin is doing his part so far, need Carey to get healthy fast. Ish doing his job too.

[bigappleram]

I don’t know what Carey holding it down means.
He’s never shown in 4 years of cbb that he can be a consistent offensive player. At his best he is a guy who can have some athletic moments and get you 6-8 points. Expecting anything more than that is probably foolish at this point.

[Jdrums#3]

BAR, in my case of expecting more from Carey, I was going off of Archie’s positive preseason comments about him.

Things don’t always work out as expected, however.

[Rhody15]

I don’t know what Carey holding it down means.
He’s never shown in 4 years of cbb that he can be a consistent offensive player. At his best he is a guy who can have some athletic moments and get you 6-8 points. Expecting anything more than that is probably foolish at this point.

Carey will go down as one of the biggest “what if” players we’ve had recently.

We all know and have seen his athletic ability and highlight reel plays, expecting it to come together and dominate every now and then. Just never has.

[PeterRamTime]

I don’t know what Carey holding it down means.
He’s never shown in 4 years of cbb that he can be a consistent offensive player. At his best he is a guy who can have some athletic moments and get you 6-8 points. Expecting anything more than that is probably foolish at this point.

And he only makes extremely difficult step back jumpers lol

[steveystuds06]

I don’t know what Carey holding it down means.
He’s never shown in 4 years of cbb that he can be a consistent offensive player. At his best he is a guy who can have some athletic moments and get you 6-8 points. Expecting anything more than that is probably foolish at this point.

Don't forget when he dropped 26 and 14 against Uconn and Oregon as a freshman...So random.

[RhodyRams916]

I felt Lou deserved a video of his breakout game.

A freshman having a breakout game this early is a great sign.

[phipsiGD'11]

Had to watch from my phone, but pumped for the team to get their first win.

I'm not going to reiterate what everyone else has said already, except that this team is already starting to be fun to watch because of the ball movement. I got the feeling in the 2nd half that everyone knew the outside shot wasn't really falling, but our ball movement kept getting people open in good positions. if those shots start falling later in the year, it is going to be fun to watch them develop into the A10 tournament.

I am still obviously keeping expectations low for this team, and maybe that is why they are already more fun to watch.

Phipsi, what app did you use to watch it on your phone?

Excellent comments, btw. I really am enjoying the comments from those who are able to watch in-person on from elsewhere.

sorry i was away from the computer all weekend. I watched it on ESPN+ on my phone.