I heard them mention during the game how UMES did not play last season so It’s hard to judge where they should be ranked. As of right now, they are 2-5. Just looking at their schedule, the most lopsided loss was at Temple 72-49, and the other losses vs St Joe’s, Campbell, and Liberty were by 2, 11, and 12 respectively. Not the greatest competition, but It’s not like they haven’t been competitive and getting blown out in all 5 losses. UMES lost to Campbell by 11. Duke played Campbell a couple weeks back and won 67-56. So, maybe UMES isn’t “that” bad…
We’ll see if there is some accountability come Saturday
Because not playing makes you well rested for the next season. If only we had a coach who was genius enough to try that. We might be able to, oh I don’t know, squeeze out a win over Yale?
I think we have to start changing the way we look at who’s “not good” and “good”. On any given night a team can play waaaaay above their heads. It doesn’t mean the more talented team(UConn) is no longer good. It just means the UMES that played in the XL Center tonight is not the same UMES that lost against liberty. They may never play this well again. But the fact of the matter is tonight they didn’t “suck”. Did UConn make some boneheaded mistakes? Yes. But that isn’t why UMES hung around. They were putting tough shots in the basket. Sometimes, just sometimes you pat the other team on the butt, say good game, and move on. If this becomes a trend, I’ll be concerned. But I chalk it up to UMES having one of those nights. You know the saying, “anybody could be beaten on any given night”. Rest up, clean it up, and destroy Grambling St.
Well said
Don’t hold your breath
The Mensah guy played 2 minutes against Liberty and was 4/5 from 3 with most heavily contested against us.
They got us on the same pump fake about 3-4 times. It was infuriating. And you’re right this was like St John’s last year, except St. John’s was obviously more talented. Same issues. I hate the Adama and Whaley starting together period. But I definitely hate it against a 5 out offense. Put Hawkins in the starting 5 and replace Whaley with Martin and we’d be more successful
Well playing like they did last night and posting a 2-4 record at tip off, yes it is possible they are underrated.
They just look like they expect to win, make plays etc. with a high degree of confidence. Maybe their coach inspires that confidence; especially when they follow his game plan and instructions. As previously said by others their 4 guard 5 out picked our defense apart. That's a real cause for concern if we don't adjust. And if we needed an adjustment wouldn't having Akok in there as a quick shot blocker help against that kind of offense?
AJAX has a lot of work to do
In the last four games in regulation we scored 83, 64, 59,72. The VCU game was ugly. But even in that game we scored 14 points in 5 minutes in overtime. We are still the highest scoring team in the big east by average I believe. The question is, what changed after the Auburn game? Some of it has to be attributed to fatigue, some of it is definitely lack of real time adjustments by Hurley. But the biggest culprit is basketball IQ in my opinion. Outside of Cole(who is a culprit at times as well) we are not a very smart team. Strong, yes. Athletic, yes. Tough, yes. Talented, yes. Smart? Hell no. For example, Sanogo was triple teamed in the post last night with a WIDE OPEN Jordan Hawkins open right in front of him, and didn't make the pass. That's not coaching. That's just a basic routine play that should have been made. This happens constantly with this team. Hurley almost always has these guys amped up, but sometimes they over do it and fail to execute. Example B, Sanogo in the first play of the second half, was defending the post player and had him in prison, but he was being over aggressive and went for the fake. Hurley's teams are always aggressive but lack execution. Hurley in a sense is the same way. The next step in his development is to learn to win with IQ instead of brute force. Or his teams will always have a lower ceiling. All in all, our "offense" isn't the problem. Our problem from the players to Hurley is all in between the ears. And i'm confident we will figure it out.
I guess I agree. I dont see this being an issue in the coming years with the guys we're recruiting. I think Hurley understands he needs more natural scorers on this team
Maybe, but probably not. I wouldn't worry about it.
