The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

I’m not sad about it either. Norton and Darling are both replaceable players. Neither was decent defensively, and their offensive stats aren’t unheard of. I think Norton was a good true pg, but he wasn’t going to be a leader to carry this team a long way next year. We will see what happens next year, but we have a lot of talent coming in and returning at this point. The team could be playing a completely different style next year. I hate to see anybody leave, but Bryant is the only loss I felt would have been crippling.

(04-02-2018 02:28 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 10:46 AM)UABslant Wrote:  I think some of our fanbase forgets the freshman season for Lee, Cokley, Norton, and Sullivan and what was accomplished with a bunch of new faces.

And by what they accomplished you mean...won 3 more games than we lost (thanks to a top-heavy conference - 9 out of 14 teams were .500 or below in conference play), won our hometown C-USA tournament (thanks, in part, to playing a 16-15 team in the final), and then won an NCAA game...all on the back of Robert Brown.

Obviously, we must resume the inspiring Fire Ray Watts chant.

(04-02-2018 12:31 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  http://thechronicleherald.ca/sports/1558...eaving-uab

“Honestly, I wasn’t really happy in the city,” Darling said on Monday afternoon. “I’m a northern guy, being in the south wasn’t the right fit for me. Also, I’m looking for a new style of play, kind of an up tempo, shoot-a-lot-of-threes-type team. UAB is kind of the opposite of that right now, so I felt like I needed a move.”

That says it right there. You look at the guys coming in, and how we've played since Haase, I don't see us changing much of anything next year, again.

(04-02-2018 02:34 PM)jthrashr Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 12:31 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  http://thechronicleherald.ca/sports/1558...eaving-uab

“Honestly, I wasn’t really happy in the city,” Darling said on Monday afternoon. “I’m a northern guy, being in the south wasn’t the right fit for me. Also, I’m looking for a new style of play, kind of an up tempo, shoot-a-lot-of-threes-type team. UAB is kind of the opposite of that right now, so I felt like I needed a move.”

That says it right there. You look at the guys coming in, and how we've played since Haase, I don't see us changing much of anything next year, again.

So you rednecks in Birmingham are running off all the Yankees?

Seriously, that sounds like someone justifying a decision that may not have been his own.

(04-02-2018 02:47 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 02:34 PM)jthrashr Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 12:31 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  http://thechronicleherald.ca/sports/1558...eaving-uab

“Honestly, I wasn’t really happy in the city,” Darling said on Monday afternoon. “I’m a northern guy, being in the south wasn’t the right fit for me. Also, I’m looking for a new style of play, kind of an up tempo, shoot-a-lot-of-threes-type team. UAB is kind of the opposite of that right now, so I felt like I needed a move.”

That says it right there. You look at the guys coming in, and how we've played since Haase, I don't see us changing much of anything next year, again.

So you rednecks in Birmingham are running off all the Yankees?

Seriously, that sounds like someone justifying a decision that may not have been his own.

Alabama wasn't ready for those side burns.

I don’t take anything Darling is saying seriously in terms of our future style. To me it seems apparent that the style is going to be changing. Ehsan seems to be recruiting a team of athletic players capable of driving to the basket. The last time we seemed to have such a clear cut effort to recruit athletes of this style IMO was in the Mike Anderson days. Only these guys are (on paper) more skilled than the majority of Anderson’s recruits.

That’s not to say we will be better than those teams because I very much still have doubts about Ehsans coaching abilities. But the roster he is putting together is pretty exciting.

I'm in favor of recruiting a bunch of athletic wings, but you also can't be one dimensional. Need at least a couple guys that can reliably hit threes to keep the paint open. Also need a serviceable big guy to clean up misses, play physical defense, and catch dunk lobs.

(04-02-2018 04:23 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I'm in favor of recruiting a bunch of athletic wings, but you also can't be one dimensional. Need at least a couple guys that can reliably hit threes to keep the paint open. Also need a serviceable big guy to clean up misses, play physical defense, and catch dunk lobs.

This is where I think the higher skill level that these newcomers possess is key. It’s easier to refine and improve an athletic guard’s 3pt shooting ability than it is to teach a guy to jump or how to drive to the basket. Long arms and speed too are things you just can’t teach. Recruiting perimeter shooters is of limited benefit for most teams, especially when you consider the trade off liabilities. IMO if you bring in a bunch of tall, quick, athletic players who can drive to the basket and jump in passing lanes, you’re going to win a lot of games.

(04-02-2018 04:32 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:23 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I'm in favor of recruiting a bunch of athletic wings, but you also can't be one dimensional. Need at least a couple guys that can reliably hit threes to keep the paint open. Also need a serviceable big guy to clean up misses, play physical defense, and catch dunk lobs.

This is where I think the higher skill level that these newcomers possess is key. It’s easier to refine and improve an athletic guard’s 3pt shooting ability than it is to teach a guy to jump or how to drive to the basket. Long arms and speed too are things you just can’t teach. Recruiting perimeter shooters is of limited benefit for most teams, especially when you consider the trade off liabilities. IMO if you bring in a bunch of tall, quick, athletic players who can drive to the basket and jump in passing lanes, you’re going to win a lot of games.

The Anderson way.

(04-02-2018 04:32 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:23 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I'm in favor of recruiting a bunch of athletic wings, but you also can't be one dimensional. Need at least a couple guys that can reliably hit threes to keep the paint open. Also need a serviceable big guy to clean up misses, play physical defense, and catch dunk lobs.

This is where I think the higher skill level that these newcomers possess is key. It’s easier to refine and improve an athletic guard’s 3pt shooting ability than it is to teach a guy to jump or how to drive to the basket. Long arms and speed too are things you just can’t teach. Recruiting perimeter shooters is of limited benefit for most teams, especially when you consider the trade off liabilities. IMO if you bring in a bunch of tall, quick, athletic players who can drive to the basket and jump in passing lanes, you’re going to win a lot of games.

The Anderson way.

(04-02-2018 04:34 PM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:32 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:23 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I'm in favor of recruiting a bunch of athletic wings, but you also can't be one dimensional. Need at least a couple guys that can reliably hit threes to keep the paint open. Also need a serviceable big guy to clean up misses, play physical defense, and catch dunk lobs.

This is where I think the higher skill level that these newcomers possess is key. It’s easier to refine and improve an athletic guard’s 3pt shooting ability than it is to teach a guy to jump or how to drive to the basket. Long arms and speed too are things you just can’t teach. Recruiting perimeter shooters is of limited benefit for most teams, especially when you consider the trade off liabilities. IMO if you bring in a bunch of tall, quick, athletic players who can drive to the basket and jump in passing lanes, you’re going to win a lot of games.

The Anderson way.

The Anderson way sure is working for Arkansas...

I thought all season our greatest weaknesses were guard play. CUSA took advantage of our guards liabilities.
Recruting bigger guards that can play multiple positions is a must. In addition to having 4-5 players in the floor to handle the ball,guard the ball,shoot the ball,rebound the ball.

(04-02-2018 05:14 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:34 PM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:32 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:23 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I'm in favor of recruiting a bunch of athletic wings, but you also can't be one dimensional. Need at least a couple guys that can reliably hit threes to keep the paint open. Also need a serviceable big guy to clean up misses, play physical defense, and catch dunk lobs.

This is where I think the higher skill level that these newcomers possess is key. It’s easier to refine and improve an athletic guard’s 3pt shooting ability than it is to teach a guy to jump or how to drive to the basket. Long arms and speed too are things you just can’t teach. Recruiting perimeter shooters is of limited benefit for most teams, especially when you consider the trade off liabilities. IMO if you bring in a bunch of tall, quick, athletic players who can drive to the basket and jump in passing lanes, you’re going to win a lot of games.

The Anderson way.

The Anderson way sure is working for Arkansas...

Sure saw him and Davis in the big tournament in March.

(04-02-2018 04:34 PM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:32 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:23 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I'm in favor of recruiting a bunch of athletic wings, but you also can't be one dimensional. Need at least a couple guys that can reliably hit threes to keep the paint open. Also need a serviceable big guy to clean up misses, play physical defense, and catch dunk lobs.

This is where I think the higher skill level that these newcomers possess is key. It’s easier to refine and improve an athletic guard’s 3pt shooting ability than it is to teach a guy to jump or how to drive to the basket. Long arms and speed too are things you just can’t teach. Recruiting perimeter shooters is of limited benefit for most teams, especially when you consider the trade off liabilities. IMO if you bring in a bunch of tall, quick, athletic players who can drive to the basket and jump in passing lanes, you’re going to win a lot of games.

The Anderson way.

The Anderson Way is all that plus intense defensive pressure with the intent of forcing steals and turnovers, yielding offensive points on run outs. It comes at the cost of writing off a more traditional assist oriented offense. Anderson's teams have always struggled if forced to play half court ball.

I loved the Fastest Forty. I grew up on Phi Slamma Jama and the Showtime Lakers. That said, if last season's team simply played better defense, particularly at the three point line, we'd have been much better off. We don't have to play Anderson'ts defense to be better if we bring in guys who score as well or better and we upgrade the defense to better than average.

(04-04-2018 10:02 AM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 05:14 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:34 PM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:32 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:23 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  I'm in favor of recruiting a bunch of athletic wings, but you also can't be one dimensional. Need at least a couple guys that can reliably hit threes to keep the paint open. Also need a serviceable big guy to clean up misses, play physical defense, and catch dunk lobs.

This is where I think the higher skill level that these newcomers possess is key. It’s easier to refine and improve an athletic guard’s 3pt shooting ability than it is to teach a guy to jump or how to drive to the basket. Long arms and speed too are things you just can’t teach. Recruiting perimeter shooters is of limited benefit for most teams, especially when you consider the trade off liabilities. IMO if you bring in a bunch of tall, quick, athletic players who can drive to the basket and jump in passing lanes, you’re going to win a lot of games.

The Anderson way.

The Anderson way sure is working for Arkansas...

Sure saw him and Davis in the big tournament in March.

Firstly, what does Davis have to do with the "Anderson way"? Davis' style is the complete antithesis of it. Secondly, Mike Anderson had significantly greater success in his 4 years at UAB than he has had in 7 years at Arkansas. His style is not as effective in today's game.

(04-04-2018 10:22 AM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(04-04-2018 10:02 AM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 05:14 PM)demiveeman Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:34 PM)Big Dee Wrote:  

(04-02-2018 04:32 PM)Blazer85 Wrote:  This is where I think the higher skill level that these newcomers possess is key. It’s easier to refine and improve an athletic guard’s 3pt shooting ability than it is to teach a guy to jump or how to drive to the basket. Long arms and speed too are things you just can’t teach. Recruiting perimeter shooters is of limited benefit for most teams, especially when you consider the trade off liabilities. IMO if you bring in a bunch of tall, quick, athletic players who can drive to the basket and jump in passing lanes, you’re going to win a lot of games.

The Anderson way.

The Anderson way sure is working for Arkansas...

Sure saw him and Davis in the big tournament in March.

Firstly, what does Davis have to do with the "Anderson way"? Davis' style is the complete antithesis of it. Secondly, Mike Anderson had significantly greater success in his 4 years at UAB than he has had in 7 years at Arkansas. His style is not as effective in today's game.

Getting great athletes to make the tournament duh. He made the tournament so there's some effectiveness in today's game.

I just want something different than the 40 Minutes of Minor Annoyance defense we've been employing lately. I'd settle for all five staying down in a good stance for the full shot clock, getting more pressure on the shooter than a belated hand in their face, and blocking out when the shot goes up. Doesn't have to be more complicated than that to be an improvement.

Anything is an improvement over the 40 Minutes of Smell defense we have been rolling out there for the past 2 years.

I have found the team to be pretty much unwatchable in the Rob Ehsan era. I am not alone, you can clearly see by the lack of attendance in Bartow Arena that fans are tired of what is being trotted out there. Let's hope that HCRE has the vision and the acumen to pull off this roster overhaul. IF he is not successful, and I define success by NCAA tournament appearances, in the next 2 seasons then he should be shown the door.

I want Loyola-Chicago type defense.

It used to be called the Butler defense then it turned to the Wichita State defense now its Loyola-Sister jean, clamp down defense.