2020-21 Season

[TheInsider]

By all accounts hes better than any guard we have now. They also said he was one of the best players on the Brewster team down the stretch. We will see.

[JoleonLescottsHair]

By all accounts hes better than any guard we have now.

Maybe, but that leaves aside the fact that he hasn’t played a minute of college ball. EVERY year recruits get hyped and even when they have decent seasons we immediately turn our attention to how much better the next class of recruits are going to be. Some people really, really get into following recruiting for recruiting sake without any real interest in what happens to the actual recruits once they have landed somewhere.

[69MG]

Is there cause for optimism next year, and how much optimism? Here's my take on this, with 3 assumptions:
1. TJ comes back healthy
2. None of these players transfer (Tre, Dibaji, Carl, Samba, Preston, TJ)
3. We get a big and we get Fernandes (who sits)

I'll base it on who is leaving and who is replacing them (upgrade, even or downgrade). There isn't anything else to talk about or watch on TV so it's an exercise in combating boredom.

Baptiste vs. a big - I'll call this one even since we don't know who it will be
Chatman vs. Dyondre - Upgrade because we got nothing from Sy.
Jackson vs. McCrory - Upgrade
Clergeot vs. TJ - Upgrade
Kolton/East/Buggs (one of them will probably go if we sign Fernandes) vs. Garcia - Upgrade
Bonus - Fernandes, even if he has to sit.

For me, this raises the level of our talent significantly.

[Floyd]

Why is there even a question about TJ coming back healthy? He had a hernia not brain surgery. Hernias happen all the time in sports and rarely is it an issue

[Slapthefloor93]

I have seen a few posts that are optimistic about next season. I see little evidence that the team will be any better in 20/21. Neither of the two known recruits appear to be game breakers. As of now the team would be very thin up front. There is the possibility that both Keon and Carl move on. They have given UMass 3 years, and both deserve a chance at post season play should they want that. The McCall learning curve seems to have flattened.
Please feel free to add any omissions, or defend a more positive view.

You lost me with this one. Our second best player missed conference play but will be back. Tre was good to start the season but straight unstoppable towards the end - have to think that he'll be on the short list for A10 PotY if he continues at his current rate. Most people who have seen Garcia play extensively think he will instantly be the best PG on the team. Dibaji will be able to get into the flow of the team from the very start of the season, and Dominguez is a 6'9" kid who can hit 3's and pound the glass. As far as being thin up front, I'll trade Djery for DD 8 days a week, and I love Djery, but if we are just talking about talent and potential, then come on. Also, we are not done with signings/people leaving and will be adding another big anyway.

Add all of that to the fact that we started A10 play 1-5 but finished it off 7-5. We were finally, for the first time in about five years, playing good basketball for an extended period of time. I'd have to think that momentum and confidence carries over with a nothing-but-older, more talented and more versatile squad.

Call me crazy, but I just have a hard time seeing a team with a non-freshman Tre Mitchell and even decent depth finishing in the bottom half. We should have the best depth we've had in years. Give me 11-7 with a 13-5/14-4 type of ceiling. I really see no reason to not feel great.

[Slapthefloor93]

I have seen a few posts that are optimistic about next season. I see little evidence that the team will be any better in 20/21. Neither of the two known recruits appear to be game breakers. As of now the team would be very thin up front. There is the possibility that both Keon and Carl move on. They have given UMass 3 years, and both deserve a chance at post season play should they want that. The McCall learning curve seems to have flattened.
Please feel free to add any omissions, or defend a more positive view.

You lost me with this one.
1. Our second best player missed conference play but will be back.
2. Tre was good to start the season but straight up unstoppable towards the end - have to think that he'll be on the short list for A10 PotY if he continues at his current rate.
3. Most people who have seen Garcia play extensively think he will instantly be the best PG on the team.
4. Dibaji will be able to get into the flow of the team from the very start of the season.
5. As far as being thinner up front, Dominguez is a 6'9" kid who can hit 3's and pound the glass. I'll trade Djery for DD 8 days a week, and I love Djery, but if we are just talking about talent and potential, then come on. Also, we are not done with signings/people leaving and will be adding another big anyway.
6. Haven't even discussed what we might have with Cairo, how much Preston improved as time went on, the fact that Kolton's hand will be healed and he might actually be able to do something on offense, etc.

Add all of that to the fact that we started A10 play 1-5 but finished it off 7-5. We were finally, for the first time in about five years, playing good basketball for an extended period of time. I'd have to think that momentum and confidence carries over with a nothing-but-older, more talented and more versatile squad.

Call me crazy, but I just have a hard time seeing a team with a non-freshman Tre Mitchell and even decent depth finishing in the bottom half, and we should have the best depth we've had in years. Give me 11-7 with a 13-5/14-4 type of ceiling. I really see no reason to not feel great.

[DanaDingle3]

I agree we'll be better on paper next year in every respect. This is the year McCall earns his paycheck (and not by just taking lumps). The team turned it on once Kolton and Preston entered the starting lineup. I don't think that by itself had a ton to do with the improved play, but it looked like the priorities shifted. We weren't going to be a team to run around the court pressing for 40 mins and hoping to hit enough 3s to win. The team decided to dig in, play defense, rebound, run offense through Tre, but maybe more importantly, it looked like McCall had a better sense of his team, their strengths, weaknesses, and how he could put guys in position to succeed. It kind of looked like a light flipped on at some point. I can't remember the last time a UMass team improved through the season and finished strong.

Coach will have a challenge of balancing all these guys, putting everyone in a position to succeed, with total buy-in. If that happens, the floor is battling for top 4 in A10 and an NIT slot.

[uz2b-len]

Call me crazy, but I just have a hard time seeing a team with a non-freshman Tre Mitchell and even decent depth finishing in the bottom half, and we should have the best depth we've had in years. Give me 11-7 with a 13-5/14-4 type of ceiling. I really see no reason to not feel great.

Not crazy, just repetitious.
All kidding aside, I'm on the bandwagon for the best A10 season since the Chaz years. Just looking at the finish, 5-4 over the last half of the season, which would translate into 10-8 for a full season. So this exact roster, with three guys injured and on the bench, one guy far away who knows where, this exact roster could be expected to finish 10-8 next season. Then add in the return of TJ, which, to me, translates into victories replacing losses in our three close games (at StL, at GM, an of course Senior Night). So with TJ, a 13-5 season is totally reasonable to expect. And give me one more win just from more experience for the young players and lots of new talent/depth. You may question how good Javohn Garcia is but I guarantee you he's better than Kolton Mitchell. So, I think 14-4 is a reasonable expectation, as long as TJ and Tre stay healthy. And yes, it's on McCall to make it happen.

[natwam2547]

I have seen a few posts that are optimistic about next season. I see little evidence that the team will be any better in 20/21. Neither of the two known recruits appear to be game breakers. As of now the team would be very thin up front. There is the possibility that both Keon and Carl move on. They have given UMass 3 years, and both deserve a chance at post season play should they want that. The McCall learning curve seems to have flattened.
Please feel free to add any omissions, or defend a more positive view.

You lost me with this one.

To be fair this post was from 2 months ago.

[Roadtrip]

^Thanks, Nat, post was to promote discussion in more dismal times.

[Worcester_To_Amherst]

I agree we'll be better on paper next year in every respect. This is the year McCall earns his paycheck (and not by just taking lumps). The team turned it on once Kolton and Preston entered the starting lineup. I don't think that by itself had a ton to do with the improved play, but it looked like the priorities shifted. We weren't going to be a team to run around the court pressing for 40 mins and hoping to hit enough 3s to win. The team decided to dig in, play defense, rebound, run offense through Tre, but maybe more importantly, it looked like McCall had a better sense of his team, their strengths, weaknesses, and how he could put guys in position to succeed. It kind of looked like a light flipped on at some point. I can't remember the last time a UMass team improved through the season and finished strong.

Coach will have a challenge of balancing all these guys, putting everyone in a position to succeed, with total buy-in. If that happens, the floor is battling for top 4 in A10 and an NIT slot.

Completely agree on McCall. I first noticed it in the Duqeusne game, and there was the Davidson stinker sprinkled in, but he seemed to greatly improve as an in-game coach the 2nd half of A10 play. Maybe it's the players playing better, but he did seem to have more control over the game.

[Floyd]

I agree with that as well, I did notice a change in him. I think he truely likes and cares about his players but is now more their coach instead of trying to have them like him. And I think having Tony around has helped that as he may have a more personal relationship with a lot of the kids because he had them at Woodstock. Plus I think the staff overall does a better job

[DoctorJ]

URIne just lost Mekhi Long, 4 star recruit, to transfer.

[eldonabe]

Rumors suck....

"Um, he's sick. My best friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with a girl who saw Ferris pass out at 31 Flavors last night. I guess it's pretty serious."

[69MG]

Just saw that we have booked home games against 3 teams that beat us on the road last year. Maybe we can repay them. We'll also play Fairfield at home and most likely the annual game with Lowell.

Rutgers (20-11)
Harvard (21-8)
Akron (24-7)