bosiydid

I was up at 4am rewatching this game on a count of a very painful right ear infection...couldn't sleep. Hooley will be the next great UA goard!

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HoopAholic

This team has the potential to be a respectable contender, especially in the America East Conference, but the real issues are not being addressed. As a matter of fact, EVERYONE seems to be pretending that the issues don't exist.
1. Brett Roseboro was supposed to be a dominant, game changer and he has done absolutely nothing. He has no offensive arsenal to speak of or a willingness to rebound or defend. They do better when he is not on the floor. He has been a huge disappointment.
2. Brian Neller is absolutely awful. He is not a streak shooter. Streak shooters go on streaks EACH GAME where they hit multiple shots in a row. This guy hits a shot every once in a while. Given the fact that he plays no defense and actually has moved out of people's way a few times, I can't understand how or why Thomas starts him and plays him 30+ minutes, to boot. He couldn't guard the mascot! Neller should be playing 5-10 minutes /game , if that.
3. Aki Thomas has some good ideas and game plans. UMBC comes out looking good in every game. He does his homework and comes prepared. Unfortunately, thats only one part of coaching, arguably the easiest. The problem is, the opposing coaches make adjustments to counter what Thomas is doing and he never adjusts from there. He just keeps trying to have success with what was working in the beginning. All good/great coaches know when and how to make adjustments. Thomas will be a good coach one day, when he learns to counter and adjust to the situations.
4. The rotation is suspect! It looks like an open and shut case of "buddy ball" from here. I'm sure Thomas has built close relationships with most of the returning players, being the assistant for the last 5 years. Now he feels obligated to start them and play them heavy minutes in a featured role. Why else would Neller be playing 30+ minutes, when he would not touch the court AT ALL on most teams in america. With regards to the Freshman, they are being mismanaged IMHO. Morgan is talented and confident but he's a dog off the leash and he plays nearly the ENTIRE GAME, no matter what he does or doesn't do. He is going to burn out before conference play. Joey Getz should be getting much more minutes, as he did a wonderful job last year in the absence of Dela Rosa. Malik Garner is being totally wasted. The kid has not been aggressive on the offensive end or looked for his shot but defensively, he has been impressive. He's everywhere on defense and he rebounds well, especially considering that Thomas is playing him at the 4 position, when he is a 2 or 3. I don't see how any sane coach can afford to have Garner sitting on the bench behind so many kids that can't play. They score 8-10 points and give up 16-20 points. I'd rather have someone score 6-10 points and give up 0-2 points per game. Garner would be much more effective at the 3.
5. The "Anti-Randy" movement. People can try to blame the horrible seasons 100% on Randy Monroe but its just not accurate. The players play the games. If John Calipari was coaching UMBC last year, the record would still have been awful. Its about having pieces and knowing how to use them. I think this would have been a turn around year for Randy and UMBC. Randy coaching along with Thomas' input, implementing some of the new stuff he's trying, would have paid dividends.
6. Where is the rest of the team? Where are the Bigs? Where is Will Wise and the 6'9 Sophomore? Will Wise did not blow us away last year but he did better than anything Roseboro has done. With Roseboro playing like he's 5'10 instead of 6'10, I don't understand why Thomas plays with a lineup of 3 guards. Morgan, Neller, Cook. Its sad when your shooting guard is your leading rebounder.
7.* Defense wins games. Offense keeps you in games. Thomas has promised more defensive team this year, however, it seems the kids the play the most minutes, play the least defense. The opposing teams get wide open jumper after wide open jumper after wide open layup. Out of the starting five, who has a defensive presence? Morgan? Neller? Cook? Plummer? Roseboro? ...NOPE. If they want defense you have to start and/or give 25-30 minutes to players that are willing and able to defend. ...Satchell, Garner, Getz
8. No one expected UMBC to beat Marquette, but it's another example of a winable game. Dear Coach Thomas.... You are playing guys too much and they are burning out in the FIRST HALF! Look at every game!! First Half=Good, Second Half=HORRIBLE. It doesn't take a rocket scientist...
9. Best Chance of winning... Starters: Morgan, Cook, Garner, Satchell, Plummer. Rotation: Getz, Cook, Garner, Plummer, Roseboro. 2nd Rotation: Getz, Morgan, Neller, Satchell, Roseboro

UVM Hoop Cat

Roseboro's basketball career has been in decline since he graduated HS. It's pretty unreasonable to expect he'd be a "dominant, game-changer" given his track record. That being said, it is reasonable to expect he'd be productive and help UMBC, as he's much better than who they had last year as a big man (Nobody). This is also the first time in his college career he's ever really played enough minutes to produce. I bet he gets better as season progresses and will help UMBC- especially in conference play.

Agree with your assessment on Neller. Looks like a D2 player every time I've seen him.

On a positive note, Ryan Cook has been fantastic for UMBC. Can't believe that kid was ever a walk-on.

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005

UVM Hoop Cat

An All-Former Walk-On AE Team would look pretty good:

G Ryan Cook
G Jacob Iati
G Jimmy Gray
F Clancy Rugg


Must be missing some others....pretty thin line these days between walk-on & AE impact player

__________________
"Let's win this game for all the small schools that never had a chance to get here"
- Hoosiers,
& UVM mens basketball NCAA's 2005

HoopAholic

Agree 100% on Cook. He is a player. Roseboro though.... I'm not willing to say that he's better than what they had last year because he's giving them NOTHING this year so far. Nothing!

ball_of_rubber

Wise is suspended for the first eight games.

__________________
Stop calling us the Terriers.

http://retrieverbasketballrallymonkey.com/

umbc32244

1) Completely agree, Roseboro is a huge bust. He's not even a good defender, so that's a huge disappointment for us. I was hoping for a solid 12/8 from him.
2) I think Neller is a D1 player being used in the wrong way. He shouldn't be only taking 25 foot jump shots....when he drives, takes the pull-up J, he's consistently solid. Don't know why he doesn't do that more often. Monroe turned him into a three point freak, not a three point threat.
3) Morgan/Cook/Neller/Plummer/Roseboro is the best lineup we have, even if Roseboro is just a body down there. A Satchell/Plummer frontcourt will not survive an entire season in this conference anymore, and Garner has not impressed me much, besides in the game against DIII Eastern.
4) Getz, Satchell, Garner, and Jones should be the only guys off the bench this season. Maybe give Wise a chance, but he didn't look great last year.
5) Please, please, pleaseeeee don't call for Basalyga (6'9 So.).....just no.
6) Randy Monroe was one of the main problems the past few seasons at UMBC. I'm not saying Aki Thomas is the long term answer, but the team looks so much stronger this year. I strongly agree the defense needs improving, though.

I think we are headed for a better season this year....it's all we can hope for right now.

HoopAholic

When a team is this bad, it's more than just a coach. It's the mentality, the approach, the administration, the coaches but most importantly THE PLAYERS!

Neller is USELESS and you blame Randy Monroe? Thats funny.
Neller, Brian......FIELD GOALS 15-48 31% Shooter but he plays 26mins/gm
And he does NOTHING else. and he's a Senior. and you think he should be in the "best" line up. That explains why theres a losing culture there.

Defense wins games. Scoring is not the issue.
You're not impressed with Garner because he doesn't shoot 4 airballs per game, like Neller? Garner is not a Power Forward. He's a wing, best suited for the perimeter slashing in or shooting. He played lock down defense everytime I saw him, rebounded and hustled. Satchell and Plummer are more productive than Roseboro.

Roseboro, Brett.... Pts /gm 5.6, Rebs per/gm 5.6, only 5 FT in 5 games
But he starts and plays 22 minutes a game. Are you serious?

Morgan, Aaron...... FG Attempts 11-37 29% with 20 Asst and 22 TOs in 35mins/gm
Really? Is that good for a point guard? That impressed you huh? Wow.

I'm not trying to beat these guys up, I'm just saying that people are dellusional to think that Randy Monrow was the whole problem and until people open up there eyes and minds and stop making excuses for players that can't play, UMBC will never be a good program.

HoopAholic

The team was going to look stronger regardless, with the new additions. Randy Monroe certainly has to take ownership of how bad the teams have been over the last few years. There's no question. But I think its stupid to place all the blame on him. The players last year just weren't good enough. To his credit, he put together a better team this year and was gone before he could do anything with it. With Morgan, Garner and Roseboro added to Plummer, Cook and Getz they're bound to be better, especially if players are used the right way and in the right combonations.

umbc32244

You do realize that every player you apparently dislike on this team was recruited by MONROE. So yes, the fact that we have "wasted players" on our roster is MONROE's fault. You credit him for adding Morgan and Roseboro, yet bash them at the same time. I'm just confused what you're trying to say...

Roseboro's "pathetic" 5.6/5.6 is more than Satchell has done in his 3+ years here, so I'm not sure why you're making that push.

I don't dislike Garner, I'm just saying there is no justification to put him in the starting lineup at this point in the season. He's only played in five games, and he's had limited success thus far. Let him mature off the bench first.

...and the fact that you don't like Aaron Morgan (Morgan, Aaron) is a joke. If you don't think Aaron Morgan will be a good player at UMBC, you should probably root for a Big East team or something.

uvm4life20

I don't see Roseboro stats being that bad. You play him 30 minutes that's about 8 and 8. That should be fine numbers from a transfer center.

You can blame the players all you want but it's the coach who gets the players. It always goes back to the coaches fault. Freshmen will play like freshmen. You need to give them time. Very few freshmen are ready to play their freshmen year in the AE. You might as well give them minutes because this season isn't the 1.

Big Petey

Roseboro had his best offensive game against D3 Eastern with 10 points making 5 of 8 shots. With only 5 games played that skews his stats a bit. Against D1 teams he is averaging 4.5 pts/games and a pretty abysmal 30% from the field. He also seems to commit a ton of fouls.

I would like to see Satchel take some of Roseboro's minutes and Getz take some time from Neller and Morgan. I think Morgan can be a good AE point guard over the next few years, but I wouldn't mind Lane or Jones getting a few minutes at point either.

The team's biggest problem is defense. I would like to see less zone, but this team is probably going to be bad defensively no matter what players are on the floor or what system they are using. Man, it would be nice if we could get to half a dozen wins for the first time in years.

HoopAholic

Roseboro isn't the greatest but he's an upgrade from what was there last year, agreed. The problem I have is that he is not working hard. He seems uninterested. I don't see a lot of effort on his part. The guy is being handed an opportunity and he knows it. I hope he can get it together. But right now he's dogging it. Atleast Satchell comes out there with an effort, especially on the defensive end. And if Satchell has exhausted his chances to produce in three years...so has Neller. Im just saying.

Garner hasn't done much offensively, but honestly, neither has Neller. Playing him sends a message to the rest of the team that you can play no defense and jack up shots all you want and you will still play and start. I think overall, its time to give other people opportunities. I do disagree that Garner has been unseccessful. He has been very successful doing what most of the team and the "fans" ignore....PLAYING DEFENSE.

Noooooo... I do like Morgan....a lot! I'm just saying that he's logging too many minutes and needs to be tamed just a bit. But I think he's a beast.

goBing

Forgot Mohammad Jabbi

Alumni96

Yeah that kid was like finding Ulysses S. Grant in my couch cushions.