Game 3: NM State (at Springfield)
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pursuitofanother
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Refuse2Lose83
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I'm expecting this game to be very competitive and UMass's best played game of the season. I was rather surprised by how NMS looked against Arizona. After watching that game I came away believing that if UMass plays the way they are capable of (doesn't have to be their absolute A game though) and if the crowd can get behind them (like they have in Springfield) then I see us winning this one. I would not have thought that while walking out of Mullins on Wednesday night.
Things they need to do: Take good shots AND make them. They can not afford to miss shots like they did in the first 5 minutes of the 1st half against SH. I believe our guys are very capable of driving past their defenders to get in the paint and score or set each other up for 3. Along with driving the ball, they need to continue to work hard to get to the line and make their FT's.
I see the biggest key being our defense/rebounding. I'm grouping it as one because the defense needs to set the tempo and get New Mexico state going at a speed they are uncomfortable with. In the halfcourt, we need to have great ball pressure and take them away from what they want to do. NMS is most comfortable IMO running their stuff in the half court. If our defense can take them out of this, they will force them to take bad shots. That is the key-forcing bad looks and it all stems from getting NMS to play at a pace they don't want to and out of their sets. This is where rebounding comes in. UMass has not rebounded the ball like they did last year and are capable of doing so this year. Part of the reason is the slow starts from TV and Sean Carter. If they can get back on track then our rebounding will be back because guys like Sampson Carter and Hill and Bailey are doing great on the boards. adding these two will make this team a great rebounding team, and that is what they need tomorrow. They can't afford to give up second chance points. Also need to clean up some of their sloppy turnovers they've had in the 1st two games.
All in all though, I think we're going come out and do most of these things fairly well. I know the first 2 games haven't been that pretty but we've seen some good things and I think they start to put them togther tomorrow night.
It'll be a close competitive game and it's probably because I'm a UMass fan but I have a feeling they'll pull this one out in a very exciting game.
UMass 74 New Mexico State 70
Things they need to do: Take good shots AND make them. They can not afford to miss shots like they did in the first 5 minutes of the 1st half against SH. I believe our guys are very capable of driving past their defenders to get in the paint and score or set each other up for 3. Along with driving the ball, they need to continue to work hard to get to the line and make their FT's.
I see the biggest key being our defense/rebounding. I'm grouping it as one because the defense needs to set the tempo and get New Mexico state going at a speed they are uncomfortable with. In the halfcourt, we need to have great ball pressure and take them away from what they want to do. NMS is most comfortable IMO running their stuff in the half court. If our defense can take them out of this, they will force them to take bad shots. That is the key-forcing bad looks and it all stems from getting NMS to play at a pace they don't want to and out of their sets. This is where rebounding comes in. UMass has not rebounded the ball like they did last year and are capable of doing so this year. Part of the reason is the slow starts from TV and Sean Carter. If they can get back on track then our rebounding will be back because guys like Sampson Carter and Hill and Bailey are doing great on the boards. adding these two will make this team a great rebounding team, and that is what they need tomorrow. They can't afford to give up second chance points. Also need to clean up some of their sloppy turnovers they've had in the 1st two games.
All in all though, I think we're going come out and do most of these things fairly well. I know the first 2 games haven't been that pretty but we've seen some good things and I think they start to put them togther tomorrow night.
It'll be a close competitive game and it's probably because I'm a UMass fan but I have a feeling they'll pull this one out in a very exciting game.
UMass 74 New Mexico State 70
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InnervisionsUMASS
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UmAstudent
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I was referring to the early line. I found it on sportsnetwork.com. I used to work there, so believe me, that might have been wrongUmAstudent wrote:What line are you looking at? UMass is -4 vs MMSU.UMatt wrote:Opening line I see has NMSU favored by 3.
By the way, accuscore has us winning 70.6 to 70.4. I guess we'll just round those to 71-70. It had us winning 71-63 the last game...pretty damn close.