After watching tonight’s 68-59 loss to Ohio (3-2, 12-6), I’m starting to think the O-Zoner’s right and my UB Bulls (0-5, 6-11) might just be the worst team in the MAC. The Bulls are winless in league play for a simple reason: they don’t know how to win games.
Against the Bobcats, the Bulls had several chances to cut into Ohio’s second-half lead or even overtake them but came up empty each and every time. I don’t know what it is — inexperience and a lack of talent certainly come to mind — but the 2007-08 UB Bulls have a seemingly innate knack for making the wrong play at the wrong time. If it’s not Sean Smiley and Rodney Pierce missing 3-of-4 desperately needed freebies in the final two minutes of the game then it’s a collective failure to block out on the defensive boards and give second chances to an Ohio team that clearly did not need them. Indeed, the most telling stat of the game may very well be the Bobcats outscoring the Bulls on second chance points 16-3.
I wish I could be optimistic heading into Sunday’s scrap with the Toledo Rockets (2-3, 5-12) at Savage Hall in Toledo but there’s no reason to be. Coach ‘Spoon’s side hasn’t won on the road in league play since, well, fuck if I can remember. Adding to the misery is that the Bulls have now gone a full month without a win; with the last one coming against DI newbies South Carolina-Upstate on December 22nd. While the Rockets are nobody’s idea of a great team, they’ve held serve in both the MAC games they’ve played in Toledo.
Unless the Bulls undergo a sudden, dramatic, and, not to mention, exceedingly unlikely transformation over the next two and a half days, the regular season will be all but a lost cause for UB. Realistically, the Bulls best chance for their next win doesn’t come until when they host an equally terrible Ball State (2-3, 3-14) side.
Sphere: Related Content
on Jan 24th, 2008 at 12:31 am
[...] Tim wrote a fantastic post today on “UB Bulls Beat: Is Buffalo The Worst Team In The MAC?”Here’s ONLY a quick extractmy UB Bulls (0-5, 6-11) might just be the worst team in the MAC. The Bulls are winless in league play for a simple reason: they don’t know how to win games. Against the Bobcats, the Bulls had several chances to cut into Ohio’s … [...]
on Jan 26th, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Well, Tim… I hate to tell you, but that “terrible” BSU team is up by 12 at Ohio at the half. BTW… they ain’t terrible, but terribly undersized and have a really short bench. With people like Stovall and Newell on the court, there is no way that they can be terrible.
If they are shooting well, they’ll win games (as they have 40% of the time in MAC games thus far) and stay in many others (like they did against G-Town and many others). They rebound and defend really well, but suffer from the same shooting woes they’ve had forever.