2024-25 Season

[Juice Stand]

He definitely had a mea culpa and was somewhat remorseful for those decisions, but also, he's a very experienced head coach getting paid close to $2mil, so do a better job. Rahsool is a player, you can't let his desire to become a point guard dictate your roster construction.

Prior to this year, I had seen Rahsool play point guard and knew it wasn't his strength. Frank and staff should also have known that. They're getting paid handsomely to know that and act accordingly.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

You heard that interview very differently than I did. He literally started that segment acknowledging he messed up the roster by having too few guards and went against his own thinking for building a roster. He also said transfers are not recruited to come off the bench in today’s NIL landscape. Hence why an experiment to use transfers in the starting rotation over a sophomore returnee aligns with what he said. I didn’t hear what he said as contradictory at all. He said he was responsible for what has happened. Why he did what he did. And said it didn’t work. And now let’s move forward.

Yeah, I guess we heard it differently or at least have different take aways. I didn't hear him say he messed up the roster. He did say he knew we’d be in trouble if one went down. And, I did hear him say you can never have too many point guards and then he proceeded to make decisions that resulted in us being thin at that very position. I don’t recall the part about NIL transfers not coming off the bench, but if that’s his belief than he did do exactly what he said he wouldn’t do to his returning guards. That is, recruit over them. He may have said ‘why he did what he did’ but he is all over the map and contradictory in his actions versus philosophy with regards to how he organizes a roster, how hard work is rewarded, and what positions are most important.

[minutefanjsf]

You heard that interview very differently than I did. He literally started that segment acknowledging he messed up the roster by having too few guards and went against his own thinking for building a roster. He also said transfers are not recruited to come off the bench in today’s NIL landscape. Hence why an experiment to use transfers in the starting rotation over a sophomore returnee aligns with what he said. I didn’t hear what he said as contradictory at all. He said he was responsible for what has happened. Why he did what he did. And said it didn’t work. And now let’s move forward.

Yeah, I guess we heard it differently or at least have different take aways. I didn't hear him say he messed up the roster. He did say he knew we’d be in trouble if one went down. And, I did hear him say you can never have too many point guards and then he proceeded to make decisions that resulted in us being thin at that very position. I don’t recall the part about NIL transfers not coming off the bench, but if that’s his belief than he did do exactly what he said he wouldn’t do to his returning guards. That is, recruit over them. He may have said ‘why he did what he did’ but he is all over the map and contradictory in his actions versus philosophy with regards to how he organizes a roster, how hard work is rewarded, and what positions are most important.

Go back and listen again. He was very candid, IMO. When he discussed losing RJ, etc. He said the dilemma (don’t think he used that word) was that recruiting transfers, especially those who will be paid , definitely means you are recruiting guys you expect to start and that it is not fair/doesn’t jive with the reward players who have put in the work mantra. You can’t ignore the transfer portal though. We had guys leave. Need to try to replace them with approximate experience instead of all freshmen. The contradiction is inherent in the system was what I heard. That is why recruiting upperclassmen transfers while not perfect fits with the putting the work in idea. His praise for Jayden throughout that podcast was clear. He also said results matter on the court. Jayden was not producing on the offensive end. He wasn’t alone in that, either. Malek not playing much at all now shows that, too.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

I went back and listened and I heard him make a very general, almost an afterthought, point around the 42nd minute about NIL transfers not coming to sit on the bench. It was a ‘state of the game’ comment and hardly central to his roster discussion. More importantly, that’s a long way from him saying he brought Rivera in to sit Jayden. And it came at the tail end of the show, not within the first 10 minutes when he was specifically talking about lack of point guard depth, Jayden’s off-season, and his philosophy of not recruiting over returning players.

And, yes, results matter. But what does that have to do with starting the season with Jayden on the bench? He wasn’t producing offensively because nobody was. The season had not started, and Frank was very clear that Jayden worked hard in the off season. None of what he said adds up or exhibits any consistency of thought.

And, fwiw, Abdelgowad sitting more is a good thing and perhaps one clear example of Frank rewarding results. But it also reinforces how badly Frank messed up this years roster by loading up on pretty marginal front court players when he was so slim on ball handlers and shooters.

[minutefanjsf]

I went back and listened and I heard him make a very general, almost an afterthought, point around the 42nd minute about NIL transfers not coming to sit on the bench. It was a ‘state of the game’ comment and hardly central to his roster discussion. More importantly, that’s a long way from him saying he brought Rivera in to sit Jayden. And it came at the tail end of the show, not within the first 10 minutes when he was specifically talking about lack of point guard depth, Jayden’s off-season, and his philosophy of not recruiting over returning players.

And, yes, results matter. But what does that have to do with starting the season with Jayden on the bench? He wasn’t producing offensively because nobody was. The season had not started, and Frank was very clear that Jayden worked hard in the off season. None of what he said adds up or exhibits any consistency of thought.

And, fwiw, Abdelgowad sitting more is a good thing and perhaps one clear example of Frank rewarding results. But it also reinforces how badly Frank messed up this years roster by loading up on pretty marginal front court players when he was so slim on ball handlers and shooters.

Don’t know man. I listened to to the whole discussion and did not break it down into segments. It was one 50 minute talk. It was not a multi episode serial drama. Taking this one episode at face value, Frank identified his shortcomings this year, how his philosophy and the landscape of transfers are at odds, and how that hamstrung the team when guards got hurt/sick. A team has to start somewhere; Frank decided to start with Rivera at the three and it failed, so he changed it up. You can’t have it both ways. DHS’s injury also put a spot light on the front court deficiencies. I definitely see a logical progression and consistent thought process with what he said. He was very transparent. No use dwelling on what happened. They seem to learn from their mistakes. Defense was horrible Saturday, IMO, but offense was the best I’ve seen all year.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

Ok. We just obviously view it very differently. I don’t break it down by segments either, but it was suggested that he came right out of the gate and said he messed up the roster. I didn’t hear that at any point. Rather than by segment, I listen for context, and I didn’t hear anything that suggested Frank believed he miscalculated the roster. Instead, he found a few ways to suggest the landscape had changed and that he was all about loyalty. Both points which I completely agree on, btw. Otherwise, I find his takes lacking in consistency and I hear a guy who hasn’t figured out the new realities that he doesn’t like. And, again, he has my sympathy. But he messed up bringing in a few of the dudes he did and then deciding who to go with over the season. And while he doesn’t need to apologize for shit (like he said, nobody wants to be the head coach, although that’s debatable), his bad misreading of the roster is concerning and his explanations for failure don’t hit the mark of what he says is a priority or important.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

..but offense was the best I’ve seen all year.

Agree, and I don’t think that was by accident.

[doubledribble]

..but offense was the best I’ve seen all year.

Agree, and I don’t think that was by accident.

Also, Luka helped out on the defensive end

[minutefanjsf]

..but offense was the best I’ve seen all year.

Agree, and I don’t think that was by accident.

Also, Luka helped out on the defensive end

Yes he did.

[inthescoop]

DC is a tough location for UMass fans - is anyone going to the last A10 tournament?

[TruBluMaroon]

^ Sure beats Cleveland……..

[bunkerhill87]

just watched a podcast w/ Frank on Coach Red and Company ( episode 6) Exceptional half hour on the NIL and recruiting etc. The more i see him and his experiences we have a pretty good guy . i dont see him staying into the MAC years . College basketball has greatly fallen in this NIL moment. he makes a great point that Umass is the only A10 team w/ FBS Football and D1 Hockey that vies for the pot of NIL. anyway great segment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbzbSqyQvro

[inthescoop]

..but offense was the best I’ve seen all year.

Agree, and I don’t think that was by accident.

We were down 10 with 10 minutes left and then Diggins and DHS saved us by basically scoring all of our points with 10 to go. It was more the high tempo matchup, than the scoreboard. I think we've had better performances this year.
Besides the crazy triple OT Fordham game, the win against URI and the loss against URI, were our highest scoring conference games of the year. URI on the other hand scored 88 points against us both times.
It would be more of a statement if our highest scoring games were not against bottom 5 A10 teams.

That win was big though, a rival win no less, the crowd was the best all year and really brought some fuel to the players. Only thing from here is to bounce back and keep winning. Next is Mark Schmidt, the UMass killa.

[MikeUMA]

We went into today shooting 28.69% from 3. Can't get much worse, right?

Minutemen today: hold my beer.
Today's 1-21 performance dragged that down almost a full point
We're now 27.89%

Still not dead last though. Cal State Fullerton is at 26.78%, last among the 355 in NCAA's D-I stats. We're solidly in 354th place.

[m626t]

^
Stevie Wonder might have made this team as a 3pt specialist.