Seventeen games in and the tough non-conference slate is over. There are no more excuses to be made for the defending Mid-American Conference Champs. Buffalo Bulls Men?s Basketball is not a good team this year, and unless if they start making me eat crow very soon, that?ll remain a true statement.
It?s been a season where the Bulls can?t string together more than one good game at a time and a lack of team chemistry is at the forefront of it. To put it lightly, a lot of these players do not seem like they?re on the same page as head coach Nate Oats despite having bought into his coaching to win a MAC title last year.
In 2005, driver-crew chief combination Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus had just fell short once again at winning a NASCAR title. The duo were plagued by the same chemistry issues as the aforementioned UB team?bickering constantly on the radio during races and trying to do everything themselves. Car owner Rick Hendrick sat the duo down at the end of the season with Mickey Mouse paper plates, chocolate chip cookies, and a half-gallon of milk. Hendrick declared, ?If we're going to act like kids, we're going to have cookies and milk and we'll have some down time where we can talk about what you don't like about each?. Like any team should, they hashed out the problems each other were having at the time in light of being called out by their boss.
Johnson and Knaus won a record five consecutive titles after that conversation.
I bring that story up because it?s the dose of reality that UB Men?s Basketball needs right now, especially when I have to write this into a recap article:
The Bulls were forced to change their starting lineup due to off the court issues from Nick Perkins and Willie Conner. Blake Hamilton hasn?t been putting in his best effort in practice. And worst of all, senior Raheem Johnson ? who was supposed to give a good dose of depth to UB?s front court this season ? is suspended without a time table.
Say what you want about Bobby Hurley?s antics as a coach, but I don?t remember this kind of thing being talked about when UB was 6-6 in MAC play in their championship year. The players bought into Hurley and then assistant coach Oats and they won the Bulls their first-ever MAC title because of it.
The same thing happened last year, but this time around it looks like only half the team has bought in. While players like Caruthers, Massinburg, Kadiri, Rakicevic, and Smart are playing as a team, others are trying to do too much by themselves.
When Blake Hamilton sees the offense not faring well around him, he tries to take the whole game into his hands?leading him to shoot the ball 16 times a night and scoring only 14 points with that many chances. Another example is Nick Perkins, relying heavily on shooting the three-ball even though he?s 5-25 from beyond the arc as of late. Meanwhile, when he does decide to take it down low, he?s a machine. It?s as if the game with Pitt didn?t happen.
At this rate, Buffalo is going start the MAC tournament on the road, which almost kills their MAC title hopes to begin with. For a team that returned enough talent to go through a tough non-conference with just three losses and be 7-10 overall is an unfortunate sight. This is the time for them to forget the past and forge a future though, and they need to do it quick. March is creeping up on them.
As Rick Hendrick said, ?Sometimes you?re so close to perfection, or you?re so close to being able to accomplish your goals and there?s just this little piece and it?s communication. You?ve got to make sure that?s good.?
That quote rings true and you can see the same from their basketball counterparts on the women?s side. Although their season hasn?t been perfect, UB Women?s Basketball is chock full of team chemistry and superb communication. They?ll do anything necessary to pull out a win?even if it means putting two freshmen into the starting lineup of a upperclass ladened team. There?s a reason why they?re 12-4 and not 7-10.
If the team that showed up for the first 20 minutes of UB?s matchup with Ohio stuck around all season, then there?s a really good chance to win a third consecutive MAC title. But, that?s a big ?if? because we could also get the UB from the last 20 minutes of that game where the offense dried up, too much was undertaken by a single person, and desperation threes were commonality. This is on the players and whether they want to win. In their minds they want to, but they have show it.
It?s been a season where the Bulls can?t string together more than one good game at a time and a lack of team chemistry is at the forefront of it. To put it lightly, a lot of these players do not seem like they?re on the same page as head coach Nate Oats despite having bought into his coaching to win a MAC title last year.
In 2005, driver-crew chief combination Jimmie Johnson and Chad Knaus had just fell short once again at winning a NASCAR title. The duo were plagued by the same chemistry issues as the aforementioned UB team?bickering constantly on the radio during races and trying to do everything themselves. Car owner Rick Hendrick sat the duo down at the end of the season with Mickey Mouse paper plates, chocolate chip cookies, and a half-gallon of milk. Hendrick declared, ?If we're going to act like kids, we're going to have cookies and milk and we'll have some down time where we can talk about what you don't like about each?. Like any team should, they hashed out the problems each other were having at the time in light of being called out by their boss.
Johnson and Knaus won a record five consecutive titles after that conversation.
I bring that story up because it?s the dose of reality that UB Men?s Basketball needs right now, especially when I have to write this into a recap article:
The Bulls were forced to change their starting lineup due to off the court issues from Nick Perkins and Willie Conner. Blake Hamilton hasn?t been putting in his best effort in practice. And worst of all, senior Raheem Johnson ? who was supposed to give a good dose of depth to UB?s front court this season ? is suspended without a time table.
Say what you want about Bobby Hurley?s antics as a coach, but I don?t remember this kind of thing being talked about when UB was 6-6 in MAC play in their championship year. The players bought into Hurley and then assistant coach Oats and they won the Bulls their first-ever MAC title because of it.
The same thing happened last year, but this time around it looks like only half the team has bought in. While players like Caruthers, Massinburg, Kadiri, Rakicevic, and Smart are playing as a team, others are trying to do too much by themselves.
When Blake Hamilton sees the offense not faring well around him, he tries to take the whole game into his hands?leading him to shoot the ball 16 times a night and scoring only 14 points with that many chances. Another example is Nick Perkins, relying heavily on shooting the three-ball even though he?s 5-25 from beyond the arc as of late. Meanwhile, when he does decide to take it down low, he?s a machine. It?s as if the game with Pitt didn?t happen.
At this rate, Buffalo is going start the MAC tournament on the road, which almost kills their MAC title hopes to begin with. For a team that returned enough talent to go through a tough non-conference with just three losses and be 7-10 overall is an unfortunate sight. This is the time for them to forget the past and forge a future though, and they need to do it quick. March is creeping up on them.
As Rick Hendrick said, ?Sometimes you?re so close to perfection, or you?re so close to being able to accomplish your goals and there?s just this little piece and it?s communication. You?ve got to make sure that?s good.?
That quote rings true and you can see the same from their basketball counterparts on the women?s side. Although their season hasn?t been perfect, UB Women?s Basketball is chock full of team chemistry and superb communication. They?ll do anything necessary to pull out a win?even if it means putting two freshmen into the starting lineup of a upperclass ladened team. There?s a reason why they?re 12-4 and not 7-10.
If the team that showed up for the first 20 minutes of UB?s matchup with Ohio stuck around all season, then there?s a really good chance to win a third consecutive MAC title. But, that?s a big ?if? because we could also get the UB from the last 20 minutes of that game where the offense dried up, too much was undertaken by a single person, and desperation threes were commonality. This is on the players and whether they want to win. In their minds they want to, but they have show it.
