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Up Next - UMASS

Umass is terrible, their coach is even more out of touch with reality than ours is, VCU thumped them by what close to 30 the other night? The only thing giving me pause is that it's a road game but this is "a team we should beat" and we generally take care of business against a helpless foe. I will go with UR 68, Umass 61
 
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They lost 87-79 in 2019 in Amherst to a team with worse record than them. I don’t see promise. Hey, if the Truthers like to talk about the past so can I.
 
Is this an established team? If they are all new and cobbled together within the last few months, we may have problems.
 
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They lost 87-79 in 2019 in Amherst to a team with worse record than them. I don’t see promise. Hey, if the Truthers like to talk about the past so can I.
I think we have won 8 of our last 9 against them. And, I am the one that cherry picks??
 
what team will we face?
This is a good question. Per my tweet I pasted above, it seems the @#$# is hitting the fan on Umass season. Guessing Martin will be using his best US vs The World, rally the troops, Defeat the Haters speeches this week. Whether it will work is another story. Could see this one going either way, in a big way. Jump on Umass early and they could quit, or if they get off to a good start - they buy into the narrative. Wed. night in Amherst, could see this being a very dead environment.
 
Frank the Tank and Umass went from the darling to the hated, very quickly. Frank was recently having SI articles written about him, now he is battling the interwebs. Guessing Umass will either be fighting mad, or sad and defeated this week.

Yikes. You know what you get from Frank Martin. He is old school for sure. But generally not a great look to attack your own fanbase. Be like Mooney, just ignore them.
 
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Just out of curiosity, Spiders4ever & SpiderDad75, do you guys know who each other are?
 
Frank Martin has always been an a-hole who coaches college basketball. He proves it every time he opens his mouth.

As stated a few weeks ago, his players either buy his mental game-playing, and play their butts off for him, or they withdrawal and limp along as a bunch of nothing. Sounds like the players nor the fans have climbed all the way on Martin's train yet.
 
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Just out of curiosity, Spiders4ever & SpiderDad75, do you guys know who each other are?
I don't believe I've met Spiders4ever, but I do forget things(I take my moms excuse...I have half-timers)...I have met several really nice guys from the board though.
 
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I don't believe I've met Spiders4ever, but I do forget things(I take my moms excuse...I have half-timers)...I have met several really nice guys from the board though.
Let me introduce you.

Ever, Dad75 is Dji (#4) dad.

Dad75, Ever is the resident VCU poster...

Just so you both know what you're dealing with, lol.
 
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Yes, I think we will be in a good position in this game. Martin had the team playing well early, now they are pretty unstable, and Martin seems to have gone off the deep end. BUT, we all know these college guys can react differently to his psychological ploys, so who knows. I'll never forget how Shaka used that little trick of burning the February page of the calendar and voila - Final Four :):):).
Only difference in this case, it seems much of Frank's anger seems to have been triggered by criticism of his son's play. And IMO if his kid is getting minutes that other guys think they should be getting, that could be an issue. Students are still on break apparently (not that many show up anyway), mid week game, snow predicted. I have been to these mid week games in Amherst and will likely be a scrimmage feel to it with the lack of crowd. Interesting to see which team is more motivated.
 
Yes, I think we will be in a good position in this game. Martin had the team playing well early, now they are pretty unstable, and Martin seems to have gone off the deep end. BUT, we all know these college guys can react differently to his psychological ploys, so who knows. I'll never forget how Shaka used that little trick of burning the February page of the calendar and voila - Final Four :):):).
Only difference in this case, it seems much of Frank's anger seems to have been triggered by criticism of his son's play. And IMO if his kid is getting minutes that other guys think they should be getting, that could be an issue. Students are still on break apparently (not that many show up anyway), mid week game, snow predicted. I have been to these mid week games in Amherst and will likely be a scrimmage feel to it with the lack of crowd. Interesting to see which team is more motivated.
Agreed...great points. Martin did go off on da old twitta machine😂 Haven't seen them play but if his kid is producing, there shouldn't be an issue, but don't know, just hope we bounce back. Praying no "BAD TOs" tomorrow. Coaching your kid is tough at any level and can't imagine it at this level. That said...I can't imagine any type of favoritism being shown by Coaches, esp one who has a kid playing, nope none so ever. Coaches don't do that, those fans must be mistaken😱😂
 
Big chance for a huge bounce back win after last Friday. Last time the Spiders met with @UMass it ended up being a loss. I remember that game because Holloway killed us. Gotta bounce back after that performance on Friday.
Holloway was a load. Big fella to say the least.
 
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The "cult of Frank"

Taking a gander at the Umass board, it seems like Frank uses same tactics with players now. Hey, we get on MOon for being too soft, but Frank seems to be on the other end. Not much different than tactics some of us older guys were used to from our h.s. coaches (having discussed in years past with my 30 over league buddies following the Mike Rice incidents), however not sure how this flies today. And how it flies when you are giving your son shooting 28% 19 minutes/game. It seems things have escalated quickly to the "cult of Frank" in Amherst. LInked article is from K state departure.
 
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The "cult of Frank"

Taking a gander at the Umass board, it seems like Frank uses same tactics with players now. Hey, we get on MOon for being too soft, but Frank seems to be on the other end. Not much different than tactics some of us older guys were used to from our h.s. coaches (having discussed in years past with my 30 over league buddies following the Mike Rice incidents), however not sure how this flies today. And how it flies when you are giving your son shooting 28% 19 minutes/game. It seems things have escalated quickly to the "cult of Frank" in Amherst. LInked article is from K state departure.
Nice find...thats tough. Yeah he's a little Cray Cray 😂
 
Yes, I think this was more of the norm 20 years ago, but not really work with todays players. Though it seemed to work for Martin all the way to a final 4 in South Carolina. So he has results. It just seems that things have gotten out of control really really quickly in Amherst. Maybe his wife decided it sucks there. I mean winter in southern New England is no peach (though mild so far this year) but you get around Amherst and it is gray, cold, the lakes are frozen, etc. Maybe he is shooting his way out of town already and wants to get a buyout. In any event, this is a team on the brink.
 
I’ve always found it odd how retread coaches r viewed so favorably when hired. Not just college hoops but all sports. There will always be exceptions that do great but my feeling is new coaches coming from lower level or those without head coaching experience actually outperform retreads overall. Need the analytics there too!
 
Yes, that is what I thought are model needed to be. JB perfect example. After 2011-2012 we would have been perfectly placed to get an up and comer, wash/rinse/repeat. But alas Moon was scared and smart enough to not take the BC job or similar. So here we are, with a 50/50 shot to beat a mediocre Umass team tomorrow, OK, 55%.
 
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Yes, that is what I thought are model needed to be. JB perfect example. After 2011-2012 we would have been perfectly placed to get an up and comer, wash/rinse/repeat.
if we ever make the move, I hope Boyden gets a good long look. I wouldn't hold it against him that he's an assistant here. he's been around.
 
I like everything I have seen or heard about Boyden so far. I am in the camp preferring head coaches with upward trajectory, but I do think otherwise Boyden checks a lot of boxes - at least how I imagine he would be as a HC.
 
I like everything I have seen or heard about Boyden so far. I am in the camp preferring head coaches with upward trajectory, but I do think otherwise Boyden checks a lot of boxes - at least how I imagine he would be as a HC.
if down the road we considered this, I think a deal could be structured where he'd get paid below market in the overlap years, more on the backend. easier for us to fund, and he's not turning that down.
 
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I didn't realize Noah Fernandes was still out. I think his ability to play and play well is big factor in the game. Even with him, this seems like a team that is down. Hopefully we don't come out slow and give them life. Saw someone on the Umass board say expecting less than 1,000 for the game.
 

I didn't realize Noah Fernandes was still out. I think his ability to play and play well is big factor in the game. Even with him, this seems like a team that is down. Hopefully we don't come out slow and give them life. Saw someone on the Umass board say expecting less than 1,000 for the game.
So missed 5 then played 4, now missed 3 again?

I didn't know Martin was 299-209...
 

I didn't realize Noah Fernandes was still out. I think his ability to play and play well is big factor in the game. Even with him, this seems like a team that is down. Hopefully we don't come out slow and give them life. Saw someone on the Umass board say expecting less than 1,000 for the game.
I was reading their game thread as well, was surprised to see that the crowd could be lighter due to expected snowfall. I thought they would be used to winter weather that deep into New England.
 
I was reading their game thread as well, was surprised to see that the crowd could be lighter due to expected snowfall. I thought they would be used to winter weather that deep into New England.
Yes, thinking that is really an excuse, not sure how far there fans travel - would think if mostly local a non issue. I know I drove 1.5 hour plus in the snow one year :).
 
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